Edward Monk Eastman was a mobster who dominated street crime in New York City around the turn of the 20th century. By some measures he was the last of the old-school hoods who came before the Italian-American Mafia and truly organized crime. Though often referred to as one of the city’s great Jewish gangsters, it’s…
Joe Magliocco – 31 year Colombo Family Consigliere
Giuseppe “Joe” Magliocco was born in Castellammare del Golfo in Sicily in 1898. Magliocco was related by marriage to consigliere and underboss Salvatore Mussachio, Buffalo crime family boss Stefano Magaddino, Bonanno crime family founder Joseph Bonanno, and his closest confidant, Profaci family founder, Joseph Profaci. When he arrived in the United States he quickly took…
Gaetano “Tommy” Lucchese – Lucchese Family Namesake, Part I
Gaetano Lucchese was born on December 1, 1899 in Palermo Sicily and immigrated with his parents Giuseppe and Maria in 1911. They settled in East Harlem, an Italian neighborhood of Manhattan where Lucchese’s father worked as a laborer hauling cement. Lucchese worked in a machine shop to help this family earn money until an accident…
Albert Anastasia – The Original Murder Inc. Part II
Spring 1942 Anastasia, who was under constant scrutiny from the FBI and local law enforcement secretly ordered the murder of associate Anthony Romeo. Like Reles, Romeo had been arrested and was talking to authorities to implicate Anastasia in several murders. By the end of June, Romeo’s body was found beaten and shot multiple times near…
Frankie Yale – Forgotten Boss
Most discussions of Prohibition-era mob bosses focus on Al Capone, Johnny Torrio and Joe Masseria, the kingpins who thrived off booze and blood. Less remembered, but equally important was Frankie Yale, a murderous leader who straddled two underworlds and played a key part in the early Mafia. Francesco Ioele, also known as Frankie Uale and…
Carmine Galante- Joe Bonanno Protege
Carmine Galante was born February 21, 1910 in East Harlem and had two brothers and two sisters. His parents immigrated from Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily in 1906 where his father worked as a fisherman. Galante was a handful for his parents early on and by 1920 at the age of 10 had been in and…
Vito Genovese – Head of the Family
Vito “Don Vito” Genovese was an early boss and namesake of the Genovese crime family in New York. From Prohibition to Apalachin, he used his wits and reputation for violence to help maintain the organization’s place of infamy among the city’s “five families.” Born in Naples in 1897, Genovese got an early start in crime….
Salvatore Lucania a.k.a. Lucky Luciano – Building a Mafia Empire
Charles “Lucky” Luciano was born Salvatore Lucania on November 24, 1897 in Lercara Friddi, Sicily. He immigrated to the United States in 1906 where his family settled on the Lower East Side of New York where Lucky promptly integrated himself in the neighborhood as a small time hoodlum. By his 10th birthday, Salvatore Lucania had been…
Gaspar DiGregorio – The Banana Boss
Gaspar DiGregorio was a New York Mafia boss who led the Bonanno crime family during the so-called “Bannana Wars” of the 1960s. He played a key role in one of the bloodiest periods in mob history and helped transition his family from its original management to a new generation of leaders. DiGregorio was born in…
Albert Anastasia – The Original Murder Inc. Part I
Born in Calabria, in southern Italy on September 26, 1902, Albert’s birth name was Umberto Anastasio. His parents were Raffaelo Anastasio and Louisa Nomina de Filippi. Raffaelo was a railway worker who died after World War I, leaving behind nine sons and three daughters. Albert’s brothers included Salvatore, Frank, Joseph, Gerardo, and Tony Anastasio who…