Masseria crime family
| Also Known As | Masseria family Masseria organization Masseria coalition Joe the Boss's organization |
|---|---|
| Origins | |
| Founding Location | Lower Manhattan, New York City |
| Territory | Lower Manhattan East Harlem and the Bronx (through allied Morello–Terranova elements) Brooklyn (later residence and alliances) |
| Lineage | |
| Predecessor(s) | Masseria's Lower East Side gang Elements of the Morello–Terranova organization |
| Successor(s) | Luciano crime family Genovese crime family |
| Profile | |
| Structure | Mafia borgata and expanding coalition incorporating several factions and neighborhood networks |
| Activities | Burglary and robbery (early Masseria gang) Counterfeiting associations Bootlegging Gambling and racketeering Extortion Factional violence and murder |
| Politics | |
| Leader | Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria |
| Notable Members | Giuseppe Morello (principal adviser) Charles “Lucky” Luciano Vito Genovese Frank Costello Saverio Pollaccia (reported consigliere) |
| Activity | |
| Status | Reorganized under Luciano after Masseria's killing |
| Years Active | c. 1921–April 15, 1931 (Masseria-led Mafia organization; earlier burglary gang antecedents) |
The Masseria crime family was the New York Mafia organization and coalition led by Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria until his killing in April 1931. It incorporated one major strand of the fragmented Morello–Terranova organization along with Masseria's own Lower East Side network and recruits from other backgrounds.
The organization was not simply the unchanged Morello family under a new name. Nor did it contain every Corleonesi or every ally who recognized Masseria's wider authority.
Early Masseria gang
[edit]Masseria arrived in Manhattan around 1900 and became involved in burglary and robbery. Police connected him with a professional burglary gang after a 1911 New Jersey break-in attempt, and he was convicted after a 1913 Bowery pawnshop burglary attempt.[1]
His early associates and in-laws connected him with multiple Sicilian and Italian criminal circles. Those burglary crews were antecedents, not necessarily a complete Mafia family roster.
By 1921, Nicola Gentile's retrospective account described Masseria as capo of a New York borgata and a growing threat to Salvatore D'Aquila.[1] The exact date when Masseria's street gang became a formal Mafia family is not securely established; “documented by” is safer than one charter year.
Morello–Terranova incorporation
[edit]Federal convictions had imprisoned Giuseppe Morello and Ignazio Lupo in 1910. When they returned, a 1921 Secret Service report said new leaders had arisen and would not allow them simply to resume their old power. Morello and surviving relatives or followers therefore entered new coalitions rather than restoring an unchanged pre-1910 family.[1]
Masseria fought D'Aquila-aligned figures during the early 1920s. Vincenzo Terranova was killed in May 1922, and Masseria survived two assassination attempts involving Umberto Valenti. The violence ended with Valenti's death. Masseria avoided conviction for ordering those shootings.[1]
Morello later joined Masseria as a principal adviser. David Critchley describes Masseria's organization as drawing on Morello personnel while also incorporating people and factions unrelated to the original Corleonesi circle.[2]
The resulting genealogy is one major strand:
- Morello–Terranova elements → Masseria coalition → Luciano family → Genovese crime family.
A separate Corleonesi branch became the Reina–Gagliano and later Lucchese crime family.
Expansion and leadership
[edit]Masseria's coalition included younger figures such as Charles “Lucky” Luciano, Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. Saverio Pollaccia is identified in specialist archival research as Masseria's consigliere.[1] These roles should not be projected backward across the men's entire careers.
The organization was heterogeneous. Masseria was not from Corleone, and his allies included Sicilians from several towns as well as later non-Sicilian associates. National recognition as capo di capi or “boss of bosses” did not mean direct daily command over every American Mafia family.
After D'Aquila's 1928 killing, Masseria became the dominant New York leader. Later narratives attribute D'Aquila's removal to Masseria, but no murder conviction established the order. Manfredi Mineo subsequently led the former D'Aquila family and aligned with Masseria, demonstrating coalition rather than institutional merger.
Castellammarese War
[edit]The Castellammarese War pitted Masseria's alliance against the coalition around Salvatore Maranzano. Masseria's side included Morello, Mineo and other New York factions, while Maranzano drew on the Schiro family, newer Castellammaresi recruits and independent allies in other cities.[2]
The war's faction labels did not equal family membership. A person or organization could assist Masseria without becoming part of his New York borgata.
Morello was killed in August 1930. Mineo and Stefano Ferrigno were killed in November. Their deaths weakened Masseria's position, while some former allies changed sides.
Masseria's killing and Luciano succession
[edit]Masseria was shot to death at a Coney Island restaurant on April 15, 1931. Contemporary reporting called him “Joe the Boss” and described him as a leader in numerous rackets.[3] Police did not obtain a conviction for the murder.
Later Mafia narratives commonly identify Luciano as arranging Masseria's killing through an agreement with Maranzano. The precise shooters and planning remain matters of historical reconstruction rather than adjudicated fact.
Luciano reorganized the surviving family after Masseria's death. The later organization eventually became known as the Genovese crime family. Federal and scholarly sources date the modern Luciano phase to 1931 rather than treating every Masseria ally as automatically transferred.[4]
Organizational limits
[edit]The title “Masseria crime family” refers to his own expanding New York borgata and coalition core. It does not encompass:
- every organization aligned with Masseria;
- the complete former Morello family;
- the separate Reina branch;
- the former D'Aquila–Mineo family as an intact subordinate unit;
- every person who recognized Masseria as capo di capi.
References
[edit]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 “Giuseppe Masseria”, Gang Rule, citing police, court, prison, Secret Service and contemporary newspaper records.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 David Critchley, The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891–1931 (New York: Routledge, 2009), pp. 154–158 and 165–188.
- ↑ “Racket Chief Slain by Gangster Gunfire”, The New York Times, April 16, 1931.
- ↑ “History of La Cosa Nostra”, Federal Bureau of Investigation.