A man gets shot in a barbers chair while getting a shave and haircut, millions of dollars are stolen from JFK Airport, a powerful don wanders the streets of Greenwich Village in a bathrobe ranting like a madman while ordering hits on his enemies. What do all of these things have in common? They are all crazy crimes connected to the New York Mafia.
The Mafia has evolved over time, but something's remain constant. The Mafia is Italian in origin, and they were involved in some of the most unbelievable crimes in history. There are a lot of myths and Hollywood exaggerations of what the Mafia has done, but the truth is actually even crazier. From its inception the New York Mafia has been in control of organized crime and brutal murders in the city.
There were Italian gangs in New York before the Mafia, but the organization we think of today started with La Cosa Nostra, which translates to “our thing.” This organization had its roots in Sicily. The Sicilian Mafia was brought to the United States when Giuseppe Esposito and other members of the gang emigrated after they murdered the chancellor, vice chancellor, and eleven rich landowners of a Scicilan province.
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| What Italian Mafia Actually Did in America |
Two primary factions were fighting for control over the Mafia’s organized crime activity in the 20’s. One was led by Joseph Masseria the other by Salvatore Maranzano. Both of the crime bosses were fighting for control not only in New York, but throughout the United States as well, so there was a lot at stake.
This battle for control led to its bloody culmination during the “Castellammarese War.” Hundreds of Mafioso's and civilians were injured or killed during the conflict, and in 1931 Maranzano came out on top when he paid off one of Masuria's top soldiers to kill his boss. This is just one of many examples in Mafia history where money and betrayal changed the power structure of the organization.
With every murder the crimes of the New York Mafia would become more and more infamous. It was at this point that the organization was given the official name “La Cosa Nostra” and a code of conduct was put in place for the way the Mafia would conduct business. Maranzano was now the boss of all bosses, but this wouldn’t last long.
If nothing else, no one Mafia boss can maintain control forever. In order to keep the organization running smoothly Maranzano divided the Mafia into the family structure. This would eventually lead to the Five Families that rule much of the gang related businesses of New York even until this day. It should come as no surprise that the other bosses didn’t like reporting to, and paying, Maranzano from their profits, so you can probably guess what happened next; they had him killed.
It was clear that the leaders of the families would never agree to follow a single boss, so they established The Commission. The Commission would oversee decisions that would affect all of the Five Families of the New York City Mafia. Having five factions would lead to some of the most brutal murders and crazy crimes in history as each family fought to maintain, or gain, more control of the illegal enterprises in New York.
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If you thought that the assassination of a chancellor and the a bloody feud war weren’t crazy enough, you won’t believe some of the crimes the Five Families committed. And just to be clear, murder is always a crime, sometimes we forget that since the Mafia do it so often. Two of the Five Families came directly from La Cosa Nostra. They were the Gambino Family and the Genovese Family. Unfortunately, the Gambinos and Genoveses hated each other.
This would lead to countless hits and murder son both sides of the families. But one of the most brutal crimes occurred within the Gambino Family itself. The first head of the Gambino Family was Vincent Mangano, but he did not get to enjoy his position of power very long. Albert Anastasia, also known as the “Mad Hatter” and “Lord High Executioner” due to his brutal methods, seized power when Mangano mysteriously disappeared.
It is almost certain Albert Anastasia had him killed. This was just one of the thousands of deaths Anastasia was responsible for during his reign as head of the Gambino Family. He was even labeled as one of the most deadly criminals of all time by the FBI. Like many of the deadliest Mafia members Anastasia started out in an organization called Murder Inc.
This organization was a for hire branch of the New York Mafia made up of mostly Italian and Jewish gangsters. Most of the members tended to be from Brooklyn because the organization’s headquarters was in the back of a Brooklyn candy shop. It has been estimated that Murder Inc was responsible for somewhere between 500 and 1,000 contract killings.
Unfortunately for Anastasia he would meet his end in a gruesome way. Anastasia was sitting in a barber's chair relaxing before he received a fresh shave and haircut. Suddenly, two men burst into the barber shop with scarves covering their faces. They opened fire on the defenseless mob boss, unloading their clips into him and sending blood splattering across the barber’s mirror.
In an attempt to try and attack his two assailants Anastasia lunged out of his chair at the men. But in his state of shock all he did was assault their reflections in the mirror. The hit men continued to fire round after round in to Anastasia as he leaned against the mirror. His lifeless body slid down onto the floor and the assassins ran out of the barber shop never to be caught.
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The press were able to capture pictures from the massacre of Anastasia wrapped in white towels stained with his own blood. Paul Castellanos, also known as “The Howard Hughes of the Mob,” or “Big Paulie” also committed some crazy crimes for the Gambino family. He was able to help the Family reach massive financial success during his time in the upper ranks.
He moved the organization away from drug trafficking and towards money laundering and extortion. He often called hits on people who got in his way or he disliked. One of the craziest hits he put out had to do with his daughter Constance. Constance’s boyfriend had supposedly disrespected“ Big Paulie,” so the mafioso put a hit out on him.
This was not the worst of his crimes against Constance’s lovers however. He allegedly chopped up her ex-husband into tiny pieces and threw them into the ocean when “Big Paulie” found out that the ex-husband had been abusing his daughter. And if you thought the Gambino Family was the craziest La Cosa Nostra faction, the Genovese Family takes it to a whole new level.
For a long time the head of the Genoveses’ acted literally crazy. The Genovese Family handled much of the gambling and loan-sharking in New York. In a city with big money coming in from Wall Street and people looking to start businesses to become wealthy, the Genoveses were thereto provide financial resources... with high interest rates of course.
The Genoveses’ crimes consisted of prostitution and narcotics trafficking. However, it was Vincent "The Chin" Gigante who may have been the craziest of all the Genovese Mafia leaders. His main focus was on controlling union and construction rackets. He forbade the men in his organization to speak his name and if word got out that someone had said his name they would be killed.
Gigante was most famous for wandering Greenwich Village in his bathrobe while ranting like a lunatic. This tactic was to convince the FBI he was literally insane. The investigators did not buy his act, he was dubbed The “Odd father" and "The Enigma in the Bathrobe" by the media. Although wearing a bathrobe around New York City is not a crime, the people he had murdered and the racketeering ventures most certainly were.
One of the absolute craziest crimes carried out by the Mafia in New York was orchestrated by the Lucchese Family. The organization was vigilant about keeping their name out of the headlines. They believed it was better to work in secrecy. However, in 1973 the Lucchese boss, Carmine Tramunti, was arrested for smuggling heroin into the United States. Upon his arrest the Lucchese Family was thrust in to the spotlight.
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His successor Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo tried to bring the family back into the shadows. He conducted illegal business via car phone and was always on the move. In 1978 members of the Lucchese Family carried out the Lufthansa Heist at JFK Airport. This robbery would later inspire a scene in the movie Good fellas--so much for staying out of the spotlight.
The heist was one of the craziest robberies in history. On December 11, 1978 an estimated 5.87 million dollars--equivalent to around 23.3 million dollars today--was stolen from the Lufthansa cargo building at JFK airport. They stole 5 million dollars in cash aloneand somewhere around 875,000 dollars in jewelry, making it the largest cash robbery in the United States at the time.
Members of the Lucchese Family pulled up to the hangar under the cover of night. They used bolt cutters to snap the lock on the door, entered, and forcefully subdued the security guards. The Mafia members ransacked the hanger stealinge very thing they could get their hands on. They had the inside help of one of the employee sat the airport, and once they had all of the loot they could carry, they threw everything in the van and drove away.
The robbers warned the guards at the facility they had to wait until 4:30 AM before calling the cops or they’d be killed. The guards complied, and at 4:30 in the morning, the police received the call that the Lufthansa hangar had been robbed. Although it would later come out that the robbery was orchestrated by members of the Lucchese Family none of them were arrested.
The only person who was arrested was Louis Werner, the airport worker who helped plan the heist. Allegedly the reason none of the Lucchese Family members were arrested was because Jimmy Burke, the mastermind behind the heist and high ranking member of the Lucchese Family, may have had all the robbers killed to keep them from implicating him in the heist.
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The money and jewelry from the Lufthansa heist were never recovered. Each of the Five Families committed crazy crimes, so let’s continue to follow these Mafia families down their path of corruption and murder. The Bonanno Family is one of the oldest Mafia organizations in the country. From the beginning they ordered assassination son the heads of other families to gain more power and control.
This would eventually lead them to an internal war that would come to be known as the “Banana War.” This was a civil war within the Bonanno Family that lasted for four years. While the then don Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno was in jail Gaspar DiGregorio seized control of the family. However, upon Bonanno’s release DiGreforio did not relinquish his power and a struggle for leadership ensued.
After months of bloodshed DiGregorio contacted Bonanno about a peace meeting. Unfortunately, being in the Mafia means that peace meetings are often just setups, and this was definitely the case. As Bonanno and his associates approached the house where the peace talks were to take place a barrage of bullets was shot at them.
No one was wounded, but it was clear that DiGregorio was not going to give up his power willingly. That same year DiGregorio was hit by machinegun fire from his rival. He was only wounded, but the stress and struggle for power eventually got to DiGregorio when he had a heart attack that incapacitated him. The Commission overseeing the Five Families were tired of the bloody civil war that was costing them money and resources and decidedto intervene.
They put their support behind a new don for the Bonanno Family, Paul Sciacca. Both DiGregorio and Salvator Bonanno were forced to move out of New York City and accept The Commission's decision since they did not have the manpower to fight the other families during their Banana War. During the fierce fighting countless people were shot and property destroyed.
The Mafia was also carrying out their everyday crimes even when they were at war with themselves. Following the Banana War, Carmine Gallantries through the ranks of the Bonanno family. He had been arrested several times and was diagnosed as having a psychopathic personality. His crimes would mirror this diagnosis.
He was called “The Cigar” for his persistent smoking habit. Galante became the don of the Bonnano Family in 1974, but his position was not sanctioned by The Commission. This would cost him in the end. Galante used murder and bribes to control most of the narcotics market in New York without sharing any of his profits with the Five Families.
This obviously made the other bosses upset. The Genovese Family don, Frank Tieri, convincedThe Commission to put a hit out on Galante and remove him from power. Galante was gunned down five years after becomingthe head of the Bonanno Family while having lunch at a Joe and Mary’s Italian-American Restaurant in Brooklyn.
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When police and reporters arrived at the scene Galante was dead with a still lit cigar hanging from his mouth. The Mafia is active in New York even today and they are still committing crazy crimes. In 2011 more than 100 Mafia members were arrested by the FBI for their involvement in illegal activities. Frank Cali, leader of the Gambino family, was assassinated in a mob hit in 2019 at his Staten Island mansion.
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