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The legacy of Vincent Mangano, the original boss of what would eventually become the Gambino Family, is not as legendary as the two men that would sequentially replace him. Mangano was not known for the violence of an Albert Anastasia or the cunning of a Carlo Gambino. Still, what Mangano did do in his 20-year tenure as boss is establish his group in the businesses that would be the cornerstones of the family’s rackets. Mangano arrived in America in 1922 with his father and another future underworld boss, Joe Profaci. Almost immediately the 34-year old went to work with Brooklyn rackets boss Al Mineo – the original king of the Brooklyn waterfront. Mangano continued to serve Mineo until shooting broke out in the famous Castellamarese War and Mineo was killed. Mangano took control of what he could of Mineo’s interests, including the waterfront, and became closely allied with Lucky Luciano, pledging allegiance to whichever side in the War that Luciano did. When Salvatore Maranzano emerged as the victor from the Castellamarese War and established the Five Family system, Mangano was designated an original boss. Considered “out of touch” with the new wave of gangsters like Anastasia and Gambino, Mangano nonetheless managed to lead his family into very lucrative rackets. While controlling an empire heavily involved in numbers, hijacking, smuggling (both drugs and illegal aliens), bootlegging, and loansharking, the true gem of his organization was control of the Brooklyn waterfront. Mangano controlled the waterfront at many levels. Emil Camarda, a vice president of the International Longshoreman’s Association, was a close associate of Mangano. Together the two created the City Democratic Club, boasting charter members of consigliere Albert Ananstasia and Vince’s underboss/brother Philip Mangano. Anastasia was also a feared presence on the docks, as was his brother, Anthony Anastasio, a rising ILA official. No person worked, no ship sailed, nothing was done on the docks without the approval of Mangano. Without the proper payment or compensation to Mangano and associates, a shipping company’s cargo would not move. If a dockworker wished to work, a portion of the daily wages had to go to both the union and into the pocket of a designated mob enforcer. If the dockworker couldn’t afford these payments, there were always loansharks looming to lend him the money with high interest. And if the gangsters happened to see a shipment they felt they could make money off of, they simply stole it. The moneymaking schemes on the waterfront were endless. Things began to unravel for Mangano as Anastasia grew in power. Always one with close ties to syndicate powers like Luciano, Frank Costello, and Lepke Buchalter, Anastasia actually had better relationships with these men than his own boss. This closeness with other higher-ups, especially Costello, drew the ire of Mangano. Mangano constantly scolded Anastasia, bringing tensions to the breaking point. With encouragement from ally Frank Costello – who wanted the backing of Anastasia and his entire family in his power struggle with Vito Genovese – Anastasia decided to make a move against the Manganos. On April 15, 1951, the body of underboss Philip Mangano was found in marshlands near the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn. He had been shot three times in the back of the head. Police went to question Vince about his brother’s murder but the boss was nowhere to be found. At some point during that same day Vince Mangano was kidnapped and has never been seen again. Anastasia was logically behind the coup, as he took over the top spot in the family. There are, however, theories that other members of the Commission knew that his murder was imminent. Costello, the leader of the Luciano Family, certainly had an idea of what was coming. Some say that Joe Bonanno did too, as he left town shortly before Mangano’s disappearance, not to return until the job was done. Whether or not the Commission knew about the hit beforehand was ultimately inconsequential. Anastasia was unanimously approved as the new leader of the Mangano Family, overseeing the same waterfront rackets that his precessor originally established. |