Salvatore Maranzano

including Louis “Lepke” Buchalter, nicknamed “Lepke” by his mother, Abner “Longie” Zwillman, another Jew, and Zwillman’s partner, Willie Moretti (Gosch, 1975). These unscrupulous characters dominated the illegal liquor trade on the East Coast (“Luciano”, n.d.). Lucania was also an associate of Arnold Rothstein, also known as the Big Bankroll, who had bootlegging and gambling operations (“Luciano, n.d.). As Lucania was becoming more popular, he was recruited as a gunman by crime boss, Joe Masseria. The recruitment to Joe Masseria’s gang, resulted in jealousy from another crime boss competing for Lucania’s attention, Salvatore Maranzano. There was no letup of the pressure from both Salvatore Maranzano and Joe “the Boss” Masseria for Lucania to make a decision and join one or the other (Gosch, 1975). Charles was sure that sooner or later, more sooner than later, Maranzano and Masseria would have a war (Gosch, 1975). The two would never be happy until one of them got rubbed out (Gosch, 1975). “To me, the whole thing was a matter of…

At the age of 22 Luciano was the head of a crime organization that would bring in an estimate of 12 million dollars per year. Luciano was never satisfied in his position and always wanted more, and as a criminal mastermind Luciano knew exactly how to get what he want, weather it was through betrayal; or organized crime lucky always seem to have the right hand. Lucky would finally get what he wanted. As Luciano would settle to be second in command after the Castellammarese War next to Salvatore…

One of the most well-known and infamous organized crime families in the history of the United States is the Bonanno crime family. The Bonanno Italian mafia crime family’s origins go back to the beginning, in Sicily. In 1908 Salvatore Bonanno moved his family to New York. There he quickly took over the Bonanno-Magaddino-Bonventre clan and ran all business in the neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Later he returned to Sicily and died of a heart attack in 1915. The clan went through several…

groundwork that made the mob incredibly loyal and effective as they rose to power. The mob’s history reflects their foundation of secrecy and national unity as one family, which allowed them to remain unopposed by law enforcement throughout the early 20th century. The mob, known to its members as “La Cosa Nostra,” which translates literally to “this thing of ours,” began to first pop up independently in a number of cities at the turn of the 20th century, although there was no overarching unity…

During the Roaring 20’s, gang/ mob activity flourished. With the Prohibition Movement which made alcohol illegal, thousands of Speakeasies (underground drinking facilities) were opened. These were run by some of the most notorious mobsters of all time- Lucky Luciano, Al Capone, and others. These men made a lot of money because of the illegal work they did, and they pretty much ran the underground of the cities. Gang activity increased during the 20’s because of prohibition, people wanting money,…

from small neighborhood operations to citywide and eventually national (Wikipedia). Giuseppe Morello is the first known Mafia member to immigrate to the US (Wikipedia). The site of the first Mafia incident in the US that received both national and international attention is New Orleans (Wikipedia). Black hand is an extortion method used in italian neighborhoods at the turn of the 20th century (Wikipedia). It is sometimes mistaken for the Mafia itself, but it is a criminal society made up of…

One group of immigrants in particular, was the Italians. The Italians were family orientated and selfless. They took care of each other and helped to keep the neighborhood safe for their families. From the coast of Italy to the shores of New York and New Jersey, even across an ocean, traits and traditions did not change for the Italian immigrants. The mafia originated in Sicily, Italy. It came to the United States through immigration. Even though the mafia remained in Italy, the newly formed…

This paper is about the five crime families of New York City which are Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and the Lucchese families. These families were from the Italian American Mafia also known as La Cosa Nostra and the first to be involved in organized crime. Salvatore Maranzano was the person that began the families in 1931. “The Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime. The Genovese family took advantage of lax due diligence by…

wealthy. Both the boss and the head grandfather basically does the same thing but the head grandfather just hold more intimidation with the other crime families. With the boss and the head grandfather they are always on the spotlight not only with their family but also with the law enforcement that want to pick them off the streets to throw them in prison. Making one minor error same with the boss that he is the the one who hands down both the instructions and the decisions that if they make one…

presented to them resulted in excessive greed which eventually ruined the relation between Capone and Yale, and Capone eventually had Yale killed. Yale’s death eventually started a chain events in which lead to the Castellammarese War, which lead to the division of the Italian Mafia in New York to be divided into the Five Families known as The Commision. The Castellammarese War was another product of Prohibition's effect to make those in power to greedy for their own good, and essentially lead…