Mangano crime family
| Also Known As | Mangano Family Mangano organization Former D'Aquila–Mineo family |
|---|---|
| Origins | |
| Founding Location | New York City |
| Territory | Brooklyn Manhattan The Bronx New York waterfront |
| Lineage | |
| Predecessor(s) | D'Aquila organization Mineo-led former D'Aquila family Frank Scalise administration |
| Successor(s) | Anastasia family Gambino crime family |
| Profile | |
| Structure | Sicilian-American Mafia borgata with Palermitani and Agrigentine wings |
| Activities | Waterfront labor racketeering Gambling and policy Extortion and protection Construction and business interests Murder and violent enforcement |
| Politics | |
| Leader | Vincent Mangano (1931–1951) |
| Notable Members | Philip Mangano Albert Anastasia (underboss in later accounts) Frank Scalise Giuseppe Traina Emil Camarda Anthony Anastasio |
| Activity | |
| Status | Continued under Anastasia and Gambino |
| Years Active | 1931–1951 (Mangano-led phase) |
The Mangano crime family was the New York Mafia borgata led by Vincent Mangano from 1931 until his disappearance in 1951. It was the direct organizational successor to the D'Aquila–Mineo–Scalise formation and later continued under Albert Anastasia and Carlo Gambino. “Mangano family” therefore identifies a leadership and coalition phase of a continuing organization—not a new Palermitani gang that split from the D'Aquila crime family.
Historian David Critchley describes the 1930s family as primarily Palermitani, while also identifying an Agrigento-linked Manhattan element and later non-Sicilian members.[1]
Succession from D'Aquila and Mineo
[edit]Salvatore D'Aquila's organization benefited from the 1910 imprisonment of Giuseppe Morello and Ignazio Lupo. After D'Aquila's 1928 killing, Manfredi Mineo led the former organization as an ally of Giuseppe Masseria. Mineo and Stefano Ferrigno were killed on November 5, 1930 during the Castellammarese War.[1]
Salvatore Maranzano then placed Frank Scalise over the fragmented Mineo family. Joseph Bonanno later referred to Scalise as the “Mineo Family head.” Critchley reports that Maranzano initially required Scalise to arrange Vincent Mangano's killing; Scalise did not carry out the order.[1] Vincent Mangano replaced Scalise in 1931 after the war and the reorganization of New York's families.
This sequence supports direct organizational succession:
- D'Aquila organization → Mineo-led former D'Aquila family → Scalise administration → Mangano family.
It does not support describing the Mangano family as an unrelated organization founded from scratch in 1931.
Palermitani coalition
[edit]Vincent and Philip Mangano were Palermo-born, while Giuseppe Traina and Frank Scalise belonged to the Palermitani leadership environment inherited from the D'Aquila family. Critchley's description of the family as primarily Palermitani refers to a regional-origin coalition, not a formal parent organization commanded from Palermo.[1]
The family also contained an Agrigento-linked Manhattan wing. Nicola Gentile later described mediating between internal elements, demonstrating that common regional background did not create a monolithic hierarchy. Albert Anastasia, a Calabrian-born non-Sicilian, became a major power and was later described as Mangano's underboss.[2]
Waterfront power
[edit]The Mangano brothers developed a major base on the Brooklyn waterfront. Philip Mangano was described by police in 1951 as a waterfront racketeer.[3] The organization cultivated influence around longshoremen, docks and related businesses, with figures including Albert Anastasia, his brother Anthony Anastasio and Emil Camarda.
The waterfront relationships supported labor racketeering, extortion and control of employment opportunities. They should not be projected onto every dockworker or union member, and a person's employment on the waterfront does not establish Mafia membership.
The family also participated in gambling, policy, construction and other business interests. These activities developed through multiple factions and associates rather than a single enterprise personally managed by every senior member.
1951 disappearance and succession
[edit]Philip Mangano's body was found near Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn on April 19, 1951. He had been shot three times in the head.[3] Vincent Mangano disappeared at about the same time and was never found. Contemporary investigators questioned dozens of people but did not publicly solve the case.[4]
Later accounts commonly attribute the removal of the brothers to Albert Anastasia, but no murder conviction established responsibility. Anastasia assumed control of the surviving family. After Anastasia's 1957 killing, Carlo Gambino became boss, giving the continuing organization its later conventional name.
The Mangano, Anastasia and Gambino labels represent successive administrations and coalition changes within one lineage, not three corporate gangs merging or being newly chartered at each transition.
References
[edit]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 David Critchley, The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891–1931 (New York: Routledge, 2009), pp. 136, 157, 174, 184 and 187.
- ↑ [https://mafiahistory.us/a009/f_albertanastasia.html Thomas Hunt, “Ambition Toppled Brooklyn King Anastasia,” The American Mafia, originally published in Informer's Eight Cities Special Issue, 2016.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 “Aide of Joe Adonis Is Found Shot Dead”, The New York Times, April 20, 1951.
- ↑ “No Clue in Mangano Case”, The New York Times, April 22, 1951.