Showing posts with label Castellammarese War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Castellammarese War. Show all posts
07 January 2017
The way of all gangster flesh
The final four years of Prohibition saw over two hundred New York City
gangsters shot, garrotted, or stabbed to death with ice picks. Some
simply vanished never to be seen again. My new ebook: ON THE SPOT: Gangland Murders in Prohibition New York City 1930-1933 brings these murders back in full
detail. In addition to all of the bootleggers, drug dealers, gamblers
and other underworld sorts who were "bumped off", "taken for a ride",
and "put on the spot", the reader will learn about the victims of the
gang wars fought between Dutch Schultz and Vincent Coll, Waxey Gordon
and the Bugsy Seigel - Meyer Lansky mob, the Mafia's Castellammarese War
and the battle waged between Brooklyn's Shapiro Brothers and the boys
from Murder, Inc. Over two hundred gangland executions are discussed,
most for the first time since they occurred all those years ago.
Labels:
Book News,
Bug and Meyer Mob,
Castellammarese War,
Dead gangster,
Dutch Schultz,
Gangsters,
Murder Incorporated,
on the spot,
Patrick Downey,
Prohibition,
prohibition gangsters,
Vincent Coll,
Waxey Gordon
Author of: On The Spot: Gangland Murders in Prohibition New York City 1930-1933, Hollywood on the Spot: Crimes Against the Early Movie Stars, Legs Diamond: Gangster. Gangster City: The History of the New York Underworld 1900-1935. Notorious New Yorkers: Two Gun Crowley. Notorious New Yorkers: The Bobbed Haired Bandit. Notorious New Yorkers: Vivian Gordon.
29 December 2016
Behind the Mug: Lucky Luciano's 1931 Arrest... There's more to the story!
Charles 'Lucky' Lucania, 1931. |
On the evening of February 2, all hell broke loose in Manhattan, or so
it has been implied, when two Jersey cops decided to spend their day off
in Big Apple, and crossed paths with one Charles Lucania, aka Lucky.
No News is Good News?
To jump forward a bit, the altercation ultimately provided one of the baddest of
badass mugshots the world of organized crime had seen to that point, but oddly
– very few details of the incident have ever surfaced to accompany the sinister picture. So then,
what happened? If one were to fill in some blanks with their own theories, then perhaps it's safe to say that fate, destiny, and possibly a lot of mouth-running and temper-flaring
led to an physical altercation, subsequent arrest, unusual dismissal, and most peculiar - barely a damn thing ever mentioned in the media. Therefore, this little anecdote is rife with theoretical possibilities. Here's the lowdown on facts, hearsay and outlying oddities:
As Luciano's lengthy rap sheet clearly discloses, he was arrested on February 2, 1931 and charged with two first-degree felony assaults. On February 4, he stood before Judge Joseph F. Mulqueen in the Court of Common Sessions, whereby both felony indictments were discharged; case dismissed.Seems fairly cut and dry, but here's where it all gets interesting...
Fight Club...
"Lucky was accused of participating in a vulgar street brawl, beating up two Jersey City policemen who had ventured across the river into Manhattan." - Hickman Powell, from Lucky Luciano: The Man Who Organized Crime
Back of mugshot. Luciano's chosen alias of the day was 'Charles Reed'. |
Further adding intrigue to the entire scenario was the controversial judge who dismissed the charges. Joseph Mulqueen had chalked up a high number of dismissals during his time on the bench, which was certainly an issue raised by his detractors. That fact, paired with a documented denial of gang existence, makes for all the more conspiratorial fun and conjecture.
Notwithstanding the Judge's record and often-contentious reputation, the case may have been in Luciano's favor simply because the two out-of-town, off-duty cops may have rather saved some face than explain why they were involved in a fight in the first place. Or perhaps the duo of Officers Phillips and Henshaw did appear in court and Mulqueen heard the explanation, dismissing on principal. The answer we do not know... yet. Rest assure, there's one crime historian who's definitely going to dig for the facts, and hopefully divulge a 'part two' to this little underworld mystery.
Also read...
Labels:
1931,
Castellammarese War,
Charles Lucania,
Christian Cipollini,
famous mugshots,
felony assault,
gangster,
Joseph F. Mulqueen,
Judge Mulqeen,
little known facts,
Manhattan,
mugshot,
street brawl,
true crime
Author * Organized Crime Historian * Comic Book Creator -
Diary of a Motor City Hit Man: The Chester Wheeler Campbell Story,
Lucky Luciano: Mysterious Tales of a Gangland Legend,
Murder Inc.: Mysteries of the Mob's Most Deadly Hit Squad,
LUCKY – A Gangster Comic www.ganglandlegends.com
05 November 2016
Turning point of 1930-31 Mafia war
NY Times, Nov. 6, 1930 |
The forces of Salvatore Maranzano scored a major Castellammarese War victory over U.S. Mafia chief Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria on November 5, 1930.
Maranzano gunmen were alerted to a meeting of Masseria and top aides at the Alhambra Apartments, Pelham Parkway, in the Bronx. They moved into a ground-floor apartment with windows looking out on the apartment complex's courtyard and waited for the meeting to break up. The gunmen hoped to get a shot at Masseria himself, but when they spotted Masseria allies Al Mineo and Steve Ferrigno in the courtyard, they opened fire.
Mineo and Ferrigno, leaders of a sprawling Bronx-Brooklyn crime family closely linked to Masseria's Manhattan organization, never had a chance. With the death of his allies, Masseria lost the support of the Mineo-Ferrigno group and was thrown on the defensive in the gangland war.
Joseph Valachi participated in the Alhambra Apartments hit and recalled the event in detail in his memoirs (beginning on Page 283).
Alhambra Apartments, Pelham Parkway (Museum of the City of New York) |
Labels:
Alhambra Apartments,
Bronx,
Castellammarese War,
Ferrigno,
Maranzano,
Masseria,
Mineo,
November 5,
This Date in History,
Thomas Hunt
Writer, editor, researcher, web publisher, specializing in organized crime history. (Available to assist with historical/genealogical research, writing, editing. Email at tphunt@gmail.com.)
Editor/publisher of crime history journal, Informer; publisher of American Mafia history website Mafiahistory.us; moderator of online forums; author of Wrongly Executed?; coauthor of Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia and DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime; contributor of U.S. Mafia history to Australian-published Mafia: The Necessary Reference to Organized Crime; writer/co-writer of crime history articles for several publications.
Visit me on Mastodon
Editor/publisher of crime history journal, Informer; publisher of American Mafia history website Mafiahistory.us; moderator of online forums; author of Wrongly Executed?; coauthor of Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia and DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime; contributor of U.S. Mafia history to Australian-published Mafia: The Necessary Reference to Organized Crime; writer/co-writer of crime history articles for several publications.
Visit me on Mastodon
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