The Everything Mafia Book (18 page)

The Gambino Family

The Gambino family became the most famous and successful family in America under the leadership of Carlo Gambino and later the “Dapper Don,” John Gotti. From 1957 until his death in 1976, Gambino made the family more powerful than the formidable empires of Lucky Luciano and Al Capone. It also suffered its greatest setbacks under the egotistical Gotti’s flamboyant stewardship. Most recently the family let in an undercover FBI agent, Jack Garcia, known on the street as Jack Falcone. Garcia so ingrained himself into the family’s structure that capo Greg DePalma was going to propose him for membership. But before that could happen the feds closed the operation and took down a sizable chunk of the upper echelon.

The Beginnings

The earliest incarnation of what was to become the Gambino family began in New York in the 1920s during the days of the Castellammarese War. Alfred Mineo and Steve Ferrigno were bosses of the Brooklyn crime outfit. They were taken out of the picture in 1930, more victims of the mob war. Frank Scalise took over briefly, before Vincent Mangano took control. Along with his brother Phil they ruled the roost until they were killed by their ambitious and psychotic henchman Albert Anastasia, who remained boss until his famous barbershop murder in 1957.

Under Anastasia’s watch, which in turn was under the watchful eye of Frank Costello, the crime family grew in power and stature. But Anastasia was not nicknamed the “Mad Hatter” for nothing. Being a don required more subtlety and diplomacy, things Anastasia did not have in abundance. He was a loose cannon who brought unwanted publicity to the Mafia, not to mention his penchant for stepping on other mobster’s shoes, especially in trying to muscle in on the Cuban rackets.

Anastasia’s henchman Carlo Gambino was a collaborator in Anastasia’s murder, and Gambino assumed control of the family as a reward for a job well done.

Changing Leadership

With Vito Genovese in jail and Frank Costello in retirement, Carlo Gam-bino became the unofficial Boss of Bosses. It was unofficial because the structure of the Commission was just that, a committee with no one boss. But Gambino’s family was the strongest; he ran a tight ship. Their reach extended across the Northeast and south into Florida and Louisiana.

When Carlo Gambino became ill in the 1970s, his underlings were jockeying for position as his heir apparent. Gambino did not choose his underboss, Aniello Dellacroce, who would have been next in the chain of command. Instead he made a rare strategic mistake and chose his brother-in-law Paul Castellano. He gave Dellacroce the consolation prize of control of the family’s Manhattan rackets. Carlo Gambino died in 1976, immortalized by the
Daily News
headline, “Carlo Gambino Dies in Bed.”

Carlo Gambino

Courtesy of AP Images

Carlo Gambino, Cosa Nostra organized crime leader, is shown circa 1930s.

Young Punks

The Castellano-Dellacroce leadership was uninspired, and the Young Turk John Gotti was plotting and planning as he waited in the wings. The young soldiers and capos respected Dellacroce; they did not respect Castel-lano. When they learned that Dellacroce was dying of cancer, they waited. In the most famous modern mob murder, Paul Castellano was killed in front of Sparks Steak House during rush hour in December of 1985.

The Lucchese Family

The Lucchese family is the smallest of the big five crime families. It does not have the name recognition factor that the Bonannos or Gambinos have. It has always had smaller membership and has kept a low profile compared to the other families. It does, however, have the distinction of being the family whose activities are the source for one of the best Mafia movies,
Goodfellas.

Lucchese family member Peter Chiodo was shot twelve times in an attempt by the Lucchese family leadership to kill him, but he survived. They suspected he was an informant. In fact he wasn’t an informant, but after being shot gave the government enough evidence to convict the Lucchese hierarchy.

The first don of the Lucchese family was Gaetano Reina. He controlled bootlegging in the Bronx under Joe Masseria. He switched sides and supported Masseria’s rival Maranzano. When Masseria learned of his treachery, he was rewarded with a shotgun blast to the head administered by future crime family boss Vito Genovese. He was followed by a Mafioso with the same first name, Gaetano Gagliano. The next boss too had the first name, but he Americanized his to Tommy. He was Tommy “Three Fingers Brown” Lucchese.

Tommy Lucchese’s area of expertise was corruption in the garment industry. For decades the Lucchese family was a controlling force in New York City’s garment industry, and by default the rest of the country’s garment business. They were involved in all aspects, from shaking down garment companies to controlling the truckers that shipped the merchandise. It was an easy way to keep their coffers full of cash and keep the gangsters in plenty of new suits.

The family was also heavily into gambling, loansharking, hijacking, and drugs. The drug trade was done on the sly. This was the era when the Mafia was becoming increasingly involved in narcotics trafficking despite its outspoken “just say no” stance. The underlings dealt drugs but coyly declined to tell their bosses where the money came from when they handed over the bosses’ take of the profits. The old Mafiosi turned a blind eye to the drug dealing because it was making them a lot of money. The Luccheses even stooped so low as to sell crack cocaine in their own neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

The Lucchese family had a strong New Jersey presence, but with a large number of informants, snitches, and stoolies, their leadership in the Garden State has been decimated. Most recently in late 2007, the leadership was indicted for running a multimillion-dollar gambling operation and partnering with the Bloods in criminal endeavors.

Real Goodfellas

Paul Vario was a powerful capo in the Lucchese family. He controlled a crew in East Brooklyn that specialized in hijacking trucks and selling stolen property. In his circle was Jimmy “the Gent” Burke, a legendary Queens-based Irish gangster. Henry Hill was a punk kid who became enthralled by the neighborhood Mafiosi and fell under the influence of these two older wise guys who schooled him in the ways of gangsterism. Henry Hill’s turncoat testimony, covered in a later chapter, eventually sent both Vario and Burke to prison, where they both died.

Decline and Fall

Tommy Lucchese died in 1967. He was followed by Carmine Tramunti, who served as don until he was jailed for life. His replacement was a man with the nickname “Tony Ducks.” Anthony Corallo was called that because of the many times he successfully beat the rap and ducked prison. He oversaw the Lucchese family’s continued involvement in corrupt labor unions, the private garbage removal business, and construction projects.

Corallo’s downfall was that his car was bugged, and Ducks liked to talk a lot. In 1986, after twelve years as don, his ducking skills failed him, and he was finally imprisoned. He was sentenced to 100 years and died in prison in 2000. His successor, Vittorio Amuso, was not amused when he himself was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1992. Taking over after him was “Little Al” D’Arco. But by then the boss of the Lucchese family was not a good job to aspire to. D’Arco and his successors have all been taken out by the feds.

A Rat Problem

Henry Hill is the most famous rat in the Lucchese family, but this family has had more of a vermin infestation than any other. Hill squealed in 1980 and went into the Witness Protection Program. “Little Al” D’Arco sang for the feds during the Amuso years. So did two badfellas named Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso and “Fat Pete” Chiodo. Even with all these turncoats the family is still active, albeit severely weakened and only a shell of its former self.

CHAPTER 10
The War Years

The beginning of the Mafia’s long reign at the top of the crime heap in the United States began in the years immediately following World War II. Although killings were still common, the gangland landscape began to calm for a time as the crime families took shape, weeding out the competition and solidifying ties with unions, politicians, and foreign governments. It was also the emergence of the next generation of Mafiosi. Some of the older underworld figures were aging, leaving room for the young upstarts to push their way to the front of the line. And as usual money was being made hand over fist.

Murder Incorporated—Myth or Reality?

One of the most murderous elements of the Commission merits a closer look. These gangsters decided it would be beneficial to have an elite corps of killers permanently on the payroll, just as any business will routinely contract the services of an exterminator. These guns for hire were known collectively as Murder Incorporated. Although this group’s very existence has been disputed, there definitely was a group of violent criminals operating in New York at the time. The very name Murder Inc. was invented by, you guessed it, a newspaper reporter.

The Killer Elite

The mythical history of Murder Inc. gives its origins as a group of hit men for hire. Some say they were under the thumb of Lucky Luciano, as his own private army. Murder Incorporated was an internal execution squad. It did not go after law enforcement officials, journalists, or politicians. But other mobsters were fair game. The old saying that the Mafia “only kills its own” was attributed to Bugsy Siegel, a friend of both Luci-ano and Lansky.

Going Dutch

The man who proved that the Mafia expected the mandate of Murder Inc. to be obeyed was Dutch Schultz. Dutch Schultz was born Arthur Simon Flegenheimer in the Bronx in 1902 to Jewish parents. He was something of a mama’s boy and remained close to her until his untimely demise. In a perverse way, he remained true to his mother’s deep faith.