107th Street Mob
 Giuseppe Morello in 1902; “107th Street Mob” is a later label for part of the organization associated with his family | |
| Origins | |
|---|---|
| Founding Location | East Harlem, Manhattan, New York City |
| Territory | East Harlem East 107th Street and surrounding blocks |
| Lineage | |
| Predecessor(s) | Corleonesi paesani network Early Morello–Lupo organization |
| Successor(s) | Masseria coalition (through Morello–Terranova remnants) |
| Profile | |
| Structure | Retrospective label for the reduced East Harlem Morello–Terranova organization |
| Activities | Factional violence and murder |
| Politics | |
| Leader | Nicolo “Nick” Terranova (after 1910) |
| Notable Members | Vincenzo “Vincent” Terranova Ciro Terranova Stefano LaSalle |
| Activity | |
| Status | Absorbed into later coalitions |
| Years Active | c. 1910–1916 (East 107th Street phase, not a separately chartered gang) |
The 107th Street Mob is a retrospective geographic label sometimes applied to the reduced East Harlem phase of the Morello–Terranova organization after 1910. No qualifying contemporary or scholarly source reviewed uses “107th Street Mob” or “107th Street gang” as a formal name. Contemporary and historical sources instead use “Morello gang,” “Lupo-Morello gang,” “Corleone gang,” Morello organization, syndicate or family.[1][2][3] The safest interpretation is an East 107th Street phase or later nickname within the broader Morello lineage—not an independent gang that later “became” an already existing Morello family.
Origins and neighborhood
[edit]The group's deeper roots lay in the Corleone-centered paesani network and its alliance with Palermo-born Ignazio Lupo. Giuseppe Morello's early operations first clustered around Prince, Elizabeth, Mott and neighboring Lower Manhattan streets before activity moved north toward East Harlem.[4]
Federal convictions imprisoned Morello, Lupo and several associates in 1910. Critchley writes that under Nicolo “Nick” Terranova the reduced syndicate retreated to an East 107th Street saloon headquarters and abandoned counterfeiting. Morello's residence had been at 207 East 107th Street; a separate ornamental-plastering business operated at 229, while other relatives and associates lived or worked nearby.[5] The exact post-1910 headquarters is not securely identified, and the many addresses belong to different years and factions. They should not all be presented as “107th Street Mob” premises.
Organizational relationship
[edit]The East 107th Street phase overlapped chronologically with what historians call the Morello family, Morello organization or Morello–Terranova group. These terms describe perspectives on one evolving formation rather than cleanly separated organizations. Nick Terranova led a small, shallowly organized Harlem remnant assisted by Vincenzo and Ciro Terranova, Stefano LaSalle and Eugenio Ubriaco. Nick Terranova and Ubriaco were killed on September 7, 1916 during the Mafia–Camorra conflict; the death and subsequent prosecutions further rearranged East Harlem's competing factions.[6]
After Giuseppe Morello's release in 1920, he joined Giuseppe Masseria's coalition and became one of Masseria's principal advisers. Personnel and neighborhood constituencies from the East 107th Street circle fed into that coalition, but this was factional and personal continuity—not a one-step renaming of the entire 107th Street group.[7]
References
[edit]- ↑ David Critchley, The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891–1931 (New York: Routledge, 2009), especially pp. 46–60, 80–90, 130–131.
- ↑ William J. Flynn, The Barrel Mystery (New York: James A. McCann, 1919), especially pp. 8–29.
- ↑ “A Woman's Smiles Lure Harlem Gangster to Death by Bullets”, The Evening World, June 5, 1912, p. 2.
- ↑ Critchley, Origin of Organized Crime, pp. 37–60.
- ↑ Critchley, Origin of Organized Crime, pp. 47–54.
- ↑ Critchley, Origin of Organized Crime, pp. 130–131.
- ↑ Critchley, Origin of Organized Crime, pp. 154–155.