The Power Struggle For Mafia Control - The Castellammarese New York Mafia War

from February 1930 to April 1931 the top Mafia families of New York were engaged in a bloody struggle for power called the Castellammarese a war on the surface this conflict seemed like a fight between the Masseria and Maranzano families the two most powerful New York criminal organizations of the time however in reality this mafia war was almost a generational conflict waged between old traditionalists and younger more forward-thinking members of Italian organized crime by the end of the war the entire hierarchy of the Mafia was shaken up and completely reinvented with several prominent Mafia bosses murdered and new corporate minded figures running the show so how did the Castellano race of war start and how did it lead to the sprawling mafia organization of La Cosa Nostra that were familiar with today let's take a look at this violent period of US history to discover the answers in the first two decades of the 20th century Italian gangs were mostly small-time disorganized operations in New York without much power and reach beyond their own small communities in East Harlem Little Italy and Williamsburg they bore little resemblance to the Mafia we think of today the organized far-reaching committee based La Cosa Nostra from the Godfather and most of Martin Scorsese's film career that all changed with the prohibition amendment ratified On January 16 1919 and going into effect a year later On January of 1920 the 18th amendment to the US Constitution banned the manufactured transport and sale of intoxicating liquors since the war on alcohol was about as effective as the war on drugs is today prohibition didn't do much except create a thriving bootleg liquor market thanks to this during the 1920s mafia organizations in New York reached new heights of profitability and power italian-american gangsters producing and selling tons of bootleg liquor increasing their reach and influence in the u.s. business and politics to an unprecedented degree still even though it was a profitable time to be a mobster tensions existed not only between different families but between old-world Sicilian mobsters and the rising generation of mafiosi as well one of the most powerful mafia figures of the Jazz Age was Giuseppe Masseria better known as Joe the boss based in New York he controlled the u.s. mafia operations throughout the 20s with well-known name like Charlie Lucky Luciano Vito Genovese and Frank Costello on his team things were humming along until the Sicilian mafiosi oh by the name of Don Vito federal decided to vie for control of the US Mafia federal gave orders to his new york-based associate salvatore maranzano to seize control of new york operations for him with federal monitoring the operation from a Sicilian base of Castellammare del Golfo the town that gave the Castellammarese a war its name although Sicily would almost certainly prefer that we associate cast al Ahmar a with pretty beaches rather than bloody gang violence today thus the Castellammarese a war swung into full gear as a conflict between the criminal factions of the Masseria and the Maranzano somewhat unlike a traditional war the loyalties of supporters were always fluid in changing people frequently switch sides and shot their own allies after deciding to join the opposition part of the reason for this was that a deeper generational conflict was going on behind the scenes the old guard of the Mafia known as the mustachio Pete's thanks to their long mustaches and staunch traditional views refused to do business with non Italians and insisted on blind loyalty in tribute from their underlings most of these men had migrated to the u.s. from Italy as adults or near adults and committed their first murders in the old world the new guard known as Young Turks was a group of Italian Americans who started their criminal careers in the US and thought that traditions such as refusing to work with non Italians were misguided and got in the way of business Masseria had fled from Sicily to New York in 1903 at the young and not so innocent age of 17 to avoid a murder charge he joined the Morello crime family widely known in the US as the first Mafia family which operated out of Harlem in Little Italy Masseria quickly became one of their top most feared enforcers after the assassination of the Morello boss left the job opening Masseria fought with a rival named Valenti for control of the Morello family eventually as with most mafia promotions killing the right people got Masseria the job and as a boss he quickly expanded the Morelos operations in bootlegging in other rackets even though Masseria was an old-school Sicilian mobster he was anything but gentlemanly his reputation was that of an uncouth man who deeply enjoyed eating and killing explaining both his weight in his violent murder sprees Masseria is violent nature made him a formidable character in New York as did his narrow escapes from death on August 9th 1922 two men attempted to kill Masseria as he walked out of his apartment when Masseria took cover in a second Avenue store the gunmen emptied their rounds into the entire storefront confident they had killed Masseria and fled right after the shooting police found Masseria in this apartment dazed but still alive with only a single bullet hole through his straw hat realizing how lucky Masseria is escape was other mafiosi gave him the nickname the man who can dodge bullets and feared him all the more Maranzano entered the picture in the mid 1920s when he immigrated from Sicily to Brooklyn most biographies of Maranzano claimed that he'd studied to become a priest back in Sicily presumably after realizing there wasn't much money in the priesthood Maranzano took a hard right in life and joined the Mafia instead in Brooklyn he set up a respectable real estate business and then used it as a front for his less than respectable bootlegging business Maranzano 'he's crime family included feared mobsters of the time like joe aiello stefano the undertaker Magaddino and joseph Joe bananas Bonanno there was always tension between the Masseria and Maranzano sides both were vying for a bigger share of the New York bootlegging market and in the 1920s they started hijacking each other's alcohol trucks it's still unclear who declared war on who because surprisingly the testimonies of all mafia hitmen about who started the war turned out to be conflicting and untrustworthy regardless many sources believe that Masseria fired the first shot of the war by killing Gaetano Reyna though Reyna was a mafia ally of mysterious rumors had reached the Sicilian boss that Reyna had switched loyalties to Maranzano it's unclear whether Reyna was actually a traitor but since the Mafia doesn't really require proof like reasonable doubt these rumors were enough to sign rayna's death warrant Masseria ordered Lucky Luciano to arrange marinas murder and on February 26 1930 Masseria is hit man shot Reyna as he was leaving an apartment in the Bronx after rayna's death the Reina family threw their support behind Maranzano and the violence between Maria's men and Maranzano smen quickly escalated Maranzano ordered the killing of a Masseria enforcer known as Giuseppe Morello in August of 1930 and on September 9th set the Reina family to kill rayna's replacement in masari's gang a man named Joseph Pinzolo Masseria retaliated with surprise another murder and this time of the Chicago bus joe aiello a prominent mafioso and financial backer of Maranzano's in further retaliation Maranzano yeah you guessed it murdered a few more Masseria supporters and gang members at this point Lucky Luciano who was Masseria second-in-command as well as high-ranking Masseria mafioso Vito Genovese I felt the tide turn against their family in the war they'd been lukewarm about the idea of a protracted war from the start believing that all the murders and violent rivalry were pointless and sidetracking the Mafia from their more profitable bootlegging racketeering and smuggling pursuits in fact as an informal leader of the progressive Young Turks within the Mafia Luciano had come into conflict with Masseria even before the war Luciano had conducted business with Jewish mobster Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky the latter of which was Luciano's childhood friend Masseria disapproved believing his gang should deal only with Italians Luciano and other young mobsters like him saw the millions that could be made by forging alliances with Jewish and Irish gangs and believed Masseria was out of touch and incapable of pushing the Mafia into the future because of the troubling developments in the Castellammarese a war and Luciano's beliefs about Masseria Luciano and Genovese I started talking secretly to Maranzano and offered to betray Masseria if Maranzano would agree to end the war on April 15 1931 as Luciano Masseria and various associates were eating at the nuova villa tomorrow restaurant in Coney Island Luciano excused himself from the table to go to the bathroom suddenly multiple men reportedly including Vito Genovese and Bugsy Siegel fired on Masseria Joe the boss formerly the most powerful mob boss in New York died of multiple bullet wounds to his head back and chest perhaps saddest of all for the mafioso with a deep love of food autopsy reports indicate that he died on an empty stomach Maranzano feeling flush with success after his wartime victory declared himself couple dead tutti capi boss of all bosses the most powerful man in the entire New York Mafia five months later he was murdered in a not all surprising twist Lucky Luciano who had initially betrayed Masseria eventually betrayed Maranzano as well on September 10th 1931 he sent a squad of Jewish hitmen led by Bugsy Siegel to kill Maranzano in his Manhattan office Luciano arranged the hit partly after realizing Maranzano was even more close minded than Masseria believing the Mafia should only deal with Sicilians and disregard other Italians entirely so he decided to take the reins of the New York Mafia himself The Young Turks displaced the old Sicilian power structure almost entirely the testimony of mafioso Joseph Valachi as well as various rumors at the time stated that a massive purge of old-school mafiosi happened after the execution of Maranzano which was called the night of the Sicilian Vespers however no definitive proof of such a purge has been found since Goodfellas Thomas that mafia members once caught just cannot tattle on their friends fast enough valet cheese account of this night to the police are still debatable regardless Luciano was now in power and he wanted to change the way that the Mafia was run Luciano and his followers envision to the Mafia as a corporation and established the Commission as a board of directors that would oversee mafia activity and mediate disputes between families hopefully avoiding bloody rivalries like the one that had brought about the Castellammarese a war the commission consisted of seven families five in New York one in Chicago and one in Buffalo Luciano appointed himself as chairman of the entire Commission and also head of one of the New York families the heads of the other New York families included Vincent Mangano Tommy Gagliano Joseph Bonanno and Joe Profaci the head of the Chicago family was the infamous Al Capone while Stefano Magaddino would run the Buffalo Mafia family some of the original New York families are still infamous today albeit under different names descendants of the original New York five include the Genovese a Gambino and Luce families according to the founding members the Commission would meet once every five years or whenever a major dispute necessitated a meeting of the families the Commission also had the power to approve all new bosses and new proposed members before they could joined the organization or become made men in the language of the Mafia in accordance to Luciano's and other young turks beliefs Jewish mobsters like my Erlang C & Siegel were allowed to work with the new mafia families and even participate in some commission meetings Luciano held on to his position as chairman from 1931 through his incarceration in 1936 up to his eventual deportation back to Italy in 1946 the establishment of the Commission initiated a golden age of the Mafia when the organization infiltrated a slew of illegal markets and drugs gambling and prostitution expanded its reach and even added new crime families from Philly Delphian Detroit however the prominence of certain Mafia families and their bosses drew the attention of law enforcement who started to take a closer look at italian-american organized crime and even infiltrated certain families in the 1980s eventually then US attorney Rudolph Giuliani indicted eleven senior organized crime members in 1985 including the five heads of the New York families for extortion labor racketeering and murder for hire according to law enforcement reports though the Commission still exists today it boasts fewer numbers and less influence as it's down to just six families the last official Commission meeting that included all five New York bosses was reported to be in 1985 with John Gotti calling one last meeting with partial attendance in 1988 higher law enforcement scrutiny following the 1985 Mafia Commission trial has forced the Mafia further underground since the Mafia is carefully hiding its activities more than ever no one can be sure how powerful the current criminal organization is right now the latest news from the Commission was heard by law enforcement in October 2017 when Italian Canadian Dominico vol II was promoted to underboss of the Buffalo crime family and wiretap confirmed that the Commission had approved this decision could another violent gang war for territory control be in the Mafia's future or is it already happening but hidden so far underground the public doesn't even know about it if you enjoyed this video and want to see more then click on this video right here or for insane stories click on this video over here instead and as always don't forget to like share and subscribe see you next time

Channel: The Infographics Show

Views: 412,068

Rating: 4.8980479 out of 5

Keywords: new york, mafia, mafia wars, evil, gangster

Id: qVph2qG9DCw

Length: 12min 35sec (755 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 28 2020