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Albert Anastasia, as he was better known, was born in 1903 in Italy and immigrated to America by 1917. His family, consisting of his brother-future caporegime and union magnate Anthony "Tough Tony", settled in Brooklyn. It is reported that by the age of 16 young Albert was employed as a longshoreman on the Brooklyn docks. Anastasia was also thought to have been a part of street gang specializing in mugging. Anastasia then was known to have worked under Brooklyn racketeer and eventual Genovese LCN Family capo Giuseppe "Joe Adonis" Doto. Adonis was a bootlegger and groomed Anastasia into forming a side gang of his own. Anastasia's wealth multiplied and a life long friendship with Adonis began. In 1920 Anastasia was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of longshoremen Joe Torino. Witnesses said that Anastasia murdered and strangled Torino over unloading rights. As a result he spent 18 months on Sing Sing's death row. He was awarded a new trial and released. All witnesses from the original trial disappeared. Anastasia, with Adonis's approval, began organizing Jewish gangsters who had already established control of Manhattan's Garment District and stevedore unions. These included the Jewish gangsters Louis "Lepke" Buchalter and Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro as the primary leaders. The press would name this group "Murder, Inc.' for their untold number of murders and disappearances credited to the gang. It was well known this group did a tremendous amount of contract murders. By 1940 the gang was history, with Buchalter sitting on death row and ivestigations looking into Anastasia's involvement regarding the Brooklyn waterfront. The "Mad Hatter", as he was known by the press, decided to join the service to avoid possible deportation. In 1942 Anastasia enlisted in the US Army and eventually rose to become sergeant. Despite rumors of seeing combat, Anastasia was thought to have bribed offiicials and stayed at a base located in Town Gap, PA. In 1943 Anastasia became a naturalized citizen. In 1944 Anastasia received his discharge papers and was seen parading around Brooklyn in his uniform. |
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By this time Anastasia had acquired a great fortune and purchased a mansion located in Ft. Lee, NJ in 1947. Previously Anastasia had acquired a Pennsylvania based garment manufacturing company. This gave him a legitament front for his lifestyle. On April 15, 1951 Phillip Mangano was found murdered near Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. He had served as underboss to the crime family, which Anastasia served as consigliere, since 1931. By the end of the day his brother and boss Vincent would disappear. and hasnt been seen since. Anastasia is still the primary suspect and was never charged. Anastasia was sitting high now as the new boss. He elevated his brother Anthony as capo and selected old mustache pete Frank Scalise as his underboss. Scalise, a known narcotics peddler, held ties in the Bronx. In 1952 Arnold Schuster,a resident of Brooklyn, had helped lead authorities to known bank robber Willie Sutton . Anastasia heard of such report and was disgusted by Schuster being a rat. Schuster's act of civil duty cost him his life and he was found gunned down on April 8th of that year. This is proof of Anastasia's murderous reputation. Anastasia had a stable of well versed capis (captains) and soldiers. These included Aniello Delacroce of Manhattan, Armand Rava, Joseph "Staten Island Joe" Riccobono, Carlo Gambino, his brother in law/cousin Paul Castellano, Joe Biondo and his own brother Anthony just to name a few. In addition he had forged a long time allegiance and friendship with Manhattan crime czar Frank Costello. With all this, coupled with his control over the Brooklyn docks, Anastasia was a criminal success. This nirvana would only last for so long, his demise would involve the small island of Cuba and a Florida based mob boss. |
 Anastasio with his lawyer |
The year of 1957 would prove an undoing for La Cosa Nostra and usher in a new generation of leaders. On May 2nd of that year Costello was approached by an upcoming gangster named Vincent Gigante. Reportedly saying"This is for you Frank", Gigante pulled a trigger but missed and resulted in gracing the ear of Costello. Charles Luciano's original underboss Vito Genovese had returned from hiding in Italy over a murder indictment and wanted back in the top seat. Costello got the message and retired. On June 17th Anastasia's underboss Frank Scalise was murdered in front of a Bronx fruit stand. His untimely death was reported to have occurred because Scalise was selling seats into his crime family. The average price was thought to have been $50,000. Upon his demise, Brooklyn crime captain and the ever quiet Carlo Gambino was elevated to second in command. This fact shows that Anastasia thought highly of Gambino but this would be his ultimate mistake. On October 25th 1957, between 10:15 AM and 10:20 AM Anastasia set soaking his face under a hot steaming towel. He had just gotten a shave at the Hotel Sheraton barbershop. Another gangster, an alleged to have been behind the Scalise murder, Vincent "Jerome" Squillante sat nex to him. Then two to three gunman quietly walked in and pumped the face of Anastasia with bullets. Known also as the "Lord High Executioner", he too was executed in a very public and grissly manner as he had done with so many in the past. Carlo Gambino, along with the previously mentioned Riccobono and Biondo, were seen as the obvious conspirators behind the murder. All three of them benefited greatly. It is also believed that Vito Genovese supported the move because of personal conflicts with high handed Anastasia. There is one other figure that also is an important factor who is often overlooked. His name is Santo "Louie Santos" Trafficante, Jr. and he came from Tampa, FL. Trafficante, before him his father, had controlled casinos in the Havana, Cuba and a small crime family based in Tampa. Trafficante had been elevated as boss following his father's death in 1954 and proved very capable. He also inherited the title as overlord of Cuba. It is thought that Anastasia was attempting to move into Cuba and upset the peaceful balance of interest held by Trafficante and other eastern La Cosa Nostra families. Evidence states that Trafficante had stayed the night before at Sheraton under an alias. One can speculate he was meeting with Gambino and crew. Another more likely scenario is that Trafficante was arranging a meeting with Anastasia for the next day. Either way, he and Gambino would forge a bond between the crime families that exist to this day. |