The Mob and the City: The Hidden History of the How Mafia Captured New York Chapter Two: Prohibition and the Rise of the Sicilians enclaves. In 1910, 41% of its residents had been born outside America. While Germans and Irish were the largest immigrant groups in the 1800s, Jews and Italians were the largest groups by the early 1900s. “Within the brief span of less than a generation the ethnic composition of the metropolis altered radically,” explains demographer Ira Rosenwaike. “[P]ersons of Jewish and Italian background had become numerically superior to those of Irish and German descent.”58 Table 2–1 Demographic Trends in New York City, 1890–1940, ~ Total Numbers and Percentages of New York City Population59 Census Irish Jewish Italian Black NYC Total Year Population 1890 624,000 (26%) 175,000 (7%) 67,000 (2%) 35,000 (<2%) 2,321,000 1900 710,000 (20%) 510,000 (14%) 216,000 (6%) 60,000 (<2%) 3,437,000 1910 676,000 (14%) 1,050,000 (22%) 544,000 (11%) 91,000 (<2%) 4,766,000 1920 616,000 (10%) 1,600,000 (28%) 802,000 (14%) 152,000 (2%) 5,620,000 1930 613,000 (8%) 1,800,000 (25%) 1,070,000 (15%) 327,000 (4%) 6,930,000 1940 518,000 (6%) 1,785,000 (23%) 1,785,000 (23%) 458,000 (6%) 7,454,000 In Chapter Three: The Racketeer Cometh, we will see how these demographic trends bolstered the Mafia’s labor racketeering. Now, let us look at their social effects on the underworld. THE SOUTH ITALIAN COLONIAE IN NEW YORK CITY South Italians especially favored living among fellow paesani. “No other nationality in New York City is so given over to aggregation as the Italians,” observed a writer. Settlement patterns Chapter Two: Page 51 The Mob and the City: The Hidden History of the How Mafia Captured New York Chapter Three: The Mafia Rebellion of 1928–1931 and the Fall of the Boss of Bosses Table 3–1 The Fall of the “Boss of Bosses”: Boss of Bosses, Mafia Families and Major Participants Giuseppe “The Clutch Hand” Morello, Boss of Bosses, ?–1910: Morello was the “boss of bosses” until 1910 when he was convicted for counterfeiting. Sent to Atlanta Federal Penitentiary until release in 1920, then joined Masseria Family. Salvatore “Totò” D’Aquila, Boss of Bosses, 1910–1928: D’Aquila was the highly-secretive “boss of bosses” during most of Prohibition. He was murdered by unknown assailants in Lower Manhattan in 1928. Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria, Boss of Bosses, 1928–1931: Masseria rose from obscurity to become boss of bosses after death of D’Aquila. Became embroiled in a series of gang fights. Masseria was assassinated in 1928 at Coney Island restaurant by cabal organized by his lieutenant Charles “Lucky” Luciano. Pro-Masseria Family Coalition: Anti-Masseria Coalition: Al Capone “Outfit” (Chicago) Joseph Aiello Family (Chicago) Chester LaMare faction (Detroit) Gaspare Milazzo Family (Detroit) Stephen Magaddino Family (Buffalo) Joseph Pinzolo (Bronx/Harlem): Reina Family faction (Bronx/Harlem): Would-be successor boss to Reina Family Tom Gagliano and Tommy Lucchese Alfred Mineo Family (South Brooklyn): Joseph Profaci Family (central Brooklyn) Steve Ferrigno, lieutenant Joseph Masseria Family (Manhattan): Castellammarese clan (central Brooklyn): Joe Masseria, boss of bosses 1928–31 Salvatore Maranzano, boss of bosses 1931 Giuseppe Morello, Masseria consigliere Joseph Bonanno, Maranzano lieutenant Joseph Catania Nicola Schiro, ex-boss of Castellammarese Vito Bonventre 1931 cabal in Masseria Family: Castellammarese clan’s hit team: Charles “Lucky” Luciano Nick Capuzzi Vito Genovese Sebastiano “Buster” Domingo Frank Livorsi Girolamo “Bobby Doyle” Santuccio Joseph Stracci Joe Valachi Salvatore Maranzano, Boss of Bosses, 1931: Maranzano lead Castellammarese clan in surprise attacks on Masseria. Five weeks after becoming “boss of bosses,” assassinated in Park Avenue office in 1931, by Jewish hit team organized by Charles “Lucky” Luciano, Tom Gagliano and Tommy Lucchese. Maranzano was the last “boss of bosses.” Replaced by power-sharing Commission. Chapter Three: Page 70 The Mob and the City: The Hidden History of the How Mafia Captured New York Chapter Four: The Racketeer Cometh: How the Mob Infiltrated Labor Unions Table 4–1 The Italian-American Workforce: Italian Workers in Unionized Labor Forces in New York City, ca. 1935–1955, ~ Total Numbers and Percentage of Labor Force36 Building Trades Garment Longshoring Waste Hauling Manufacturing 100,000 Italians 100,000 Italians 15,000 Italians 1500 Italians (out of 231,000) (out of 250,000) (out of 24,000) (out of 2000) 43% of labor force 40% of labor force 62% of labor force 70% of labor force South Italians were a significant portion of the 70,000 teamsters so critical to moving goods through the city. Most of the 10,000 independent ice and coal dealers were from southern Italy. About 90% of the 1,300 licensed pushcart peddlers of fruits and vegetables were Italians. Fully one-third of the 18,000 members of New York’s largest musicians’ union were Italians who, along with African-Americans and Jews, were essential to the nightclub business.37 These were all “fragile” sectors prone to extortion or racketeering. WHY THE MAFIA WAS POISED FOR LABOR RACKETEERING Driven into the most labor-intensive jobs, Italian workers ironically came to dominate key labor forces by the 1930s (see Table 4–1). The Little Italies were still thriving enclaves, skeptical of police, the home base of mafiosi and recruiting grounds for young men. At the same time, second-generation Italian-Americans were increasingly accepted as “white” by society. “[T]he Chinese who seeks to leave his Chinatown is under a severe handicap not experienced by Italian Chapter Four: Page 102 The Mob and the City: The Hidden History of How the Mafia Captured New York Chapter Five: The Mafia and the Drug Trade Table 5–1: Characteristics of Mafia Drug Operations from Federal Cases in the New York Area (≤ 1963)79 Name of Case Conspirators Financing Drug Source Families Involved U.S. v. Agueci (1962) 29 Multiple Italy Genovese members investors U.S. v. Bentvena (1962) 13+ Unclear Montreal, Bonanno & Lucchese Canada members U.S. v. Aviles (1959) 15+ Multiple Cuba, Mexico, Genovese & Lucchese investors Puerto Rico members U.S. v. Reina (1957) 8+ Multiple France & Italy Genovese & Lucchese investors members Valachi scheme (1952)80 8 Multiple France Genovese members investors U.S. v. La Gaipa (1937) 70+ Unclear Europe Mangano members THE FRENCH (CANADIAN) CONNECTION When viewed against this background, the famous “The French Connection” case of the early 1960s looks less the mark of something new, and more like another Mafia drug operation. The case was immortalized by William Friedkin’s 1971 Academy Award-winning film The French Connection starring Gene Hackman. The reporter who wrote the book on which the film was based trumpeted the case as “The World’s Most Crucial Narcotics Investigation.”81 It wasn’t. In reality, the scheme was a small, family affair involving Pasquale “Patsy” Fuca, his brother Joe and father Tony. Patsy’s uncle was Angelo “Little Angie” Tuminaro, a trafficker for the Lucchese Family. With their Corsican partners, they refined Turkish opium into heroin in Chapter Five: Page 146 The Mob and the City: The Hidden History of How the Mafia Captured New York Chapter Five: The Mafia and the Drug Trade convicted traffickers. This is astounding given how weak narcotics enforcement was at the time. As late as 1950, the NYPD’s narcotics squad had 18 officers; in 1965, the FBN had only 433 employees nationwide. Many mob traffickers evaded the law. Valachi estimated that about “75 tops, maybe 100” in the 450-man Genovese Family were into narcotics—about one in six.86 MAFIA LEADERS INVOLVED IN DRUGS Contrary to myth, drug trafficking was not confined to low-level mobsters. Table 5–2 below shows that all five Families had high-ranking leaders with early narcotics convictions: Table 5–2: Known Leaders of the New York Families with Narcotics Convictions (≤ 1963) Individual (earliest narcotics conviction) Top Position Obtained Family Charles “Lucky” Luciano (1916) Boss Genovese Dominick “Quiet Dom” Cirillo (1953) Boss Genovese Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno (1958) Boss Genovese Vito Genovese (1959) Boss Genovese Vincent “The Chin” Gigante (1959) Boss Genovese Natale “Diamond Joe” Evola (1959) Boss Bonanno Carmine “Lilo” Galante (1962) Boss Bonanno Anthony “Tony Ducks” Corallo (1941) Boss Lucchese Salvatore “Tom Mix” Santoro (1952) Underboss Lucchese Stephen Armone (1935) Caporegime Gambino Joseph “Joe Piney” Armone (≤1963) Caporegime Gambino Joseph “Jo Jo” Manfredi (1952) Caporegime Gambino Rocco Mazzie (1959) Caporegime Gambino John “Big John” Ormento (1937) Caporegime Lucchese Nicholas “Jiggs” Forlano (1935) Caporegime Magliocco Chapter Five: Page 148 The Mob and the City: The Hidden History of How the Mafia Captured New York Chapter Five: The Mafia and the Drug Trade Table 5–3: Mafiosi in the New York Area with Narcotics Convictions, 1914–1963 (born ≤ 1920 with conviction ≤ 1963)105 No. Individual Year of Year of Approx. Source on Source on Birth Conviction Age Conviction Mafia Affiliation 1. Angelo Abbrescia 1900 1953 53 BOP FOIA FBN 2. Luigi Alabiso 1883 1935 52 FBN FBN 3. James Alescia 1900 1923 23 New York Times New York Times 4. Philip Albanese 1907 1946 47 BOP FOIA FBN; Hearings 5. John Albasi 1910 1955 45 BOP FOIA FBN 6. Charles Albero 1902 1942 40 BOP FOIA FBN; Hearings 7. Dominick Allocco 1913 1948 35 BOP FOIA FBN 8. Michael Altimari 1913 1945 32 BOP FOIA FBN; Hearings 9. Salvatore Ameli 1916 1955 39 FBN FBN 10. Frank Amendola 1899 1939 40 BOP FOIA; FBN FBN 11. Germaio Anaclerio 1917 1937 30 BOP FOIA FBN; Hearings 12. Anthony Annicchiarico 1920 1956 36 BOP FOIA FBN 13.