Castellammarese War

Castellammarese War, conflict between the Castellammarese and Masseria organized crime families in New York City from 1930 to 1931 that ultimately led to the reorganization of the Mafia. The Castellammarese family was led by Salvatore Maranzano, who was born in the Sicilian town of Castellammare del Golfo. The Masseria family was led by Giuseppe (Joe) Masseria.

Prohibition and the rise of organized crime

During the Prohibition era in the United States (1920–1933), the sale of alcohol was banned. In response, organized crime groups in New York City turned to bootlegging—illegally producing and distributing alcohol—as a source of income. As bootlegging profits soared, so too did tensions among Mafia factions competing for control of lucrative smuggling routes, speakeasies, and protection rackets.By 1930 there had been years of rivalry between the Masseria and Castellammarese families.

The assassination of Gaetano Reina

The murder of Gaetano Reina on February 26, 1930, became the catalyst for the Castellammarese War. Reina had led a smaller Mafia family that controlled parts of the Bronx and Harlem. Although Reina had considered himself a Masseria ally, Masseria had placed the hit. Reina was replaced by Joe Pinzolo as the overseer of Masseria’s ice operations, which were money-laundering schemes that fronted as ice distributors. Members of the Reina family responded by aligning with Maranzano.

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Escalating violence

Castellammarese family members killed Masseria adviser Giuseppe Morello in his office on August 15. Two weeks later the Castellammarese family killed Pinzolo. On November 5 the Castellammarese killed two Masseria supporters, Manfredi Mineo and Steve Ferrigno, after they left a meeting with Masseria. As the war got bloodier, multiple members of the Masseria family crossed enemy lines and joined the Castellammarese family.

Lucky Luciano’s role

To establish dominance and end the war once and for all, Maranzano began negotiations with Masseria’s chief lieutenant, Lucky Luciano. Luciano epitomized a newer, younger generation of Mafia men who had emigrated from Italy as children. The younger mafiosi such as Luciano were more Americanized, eschewing the traditional Italian ways of older figures such as Maranzano and Masseria. They were more willing to work with non-Italians. Most importantly, they were more business-minded and saw the Castellammarese War as a wasteful loss of money and a source of bad publicity. Believing that Masseria would not be able to expand his family even if he won the war, Luciano plotted with Maranzano to kill Masseria so that Luciano could take his place as the head of the family.

On April 15, 1931, Masseria met Luciano for lunch at the Nuova Villa Tammaro, a restaurant on Coney Island. Luciano excused himself to use the restroom, and four of his triggermen—Vito Genovese, Bugsy Siegel, Joe Adonis, and Albert Anastasia—entered the building and shot Masseria in the back at least five times. Luciano took control of Masseria’s faction and created his own crime family with Maranzano’s help.

The death of Maranzano

Maranzano hosted a meeting at a resort hotel in Wappingers Falls, New York, where he recognized the groups that would become the Five Families—then known as the Luciano, Gagliano, Mangano, Maranzano, and Profaci outfits—and demarcated their respective territories. Each family now had, in descending order of authority, a boss (or don), an underboss, lieutenants, and soldiers. Maranzano also declared himself capo di tutti i capi, or “boss of all (the) bosses,” making himself the supreme authority of the Mafia.

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Finding the young Luciano to be too ambitious, Maranzano ordered a hit on him and Genovese. However, according to some accounts, Luciano had been tipped off by Maranzano’s lieutenant Tommy Lucchese. Luciano obtained from leading Jewish gangsters Siegel and Meyer Lansky hit men who would be unknown to Maranzano and his men. On September 10, 1931, the hit men, posing as government agents, entered Maranzano’s office and killed him.

Maranzano’s death marked the true end of the Castellammarese War. Luciano called together a meeting of Mafia bosses who became known as “the Commission,” which initially consisted of the heads of the Five Families, the Buffalo (New York) Mafia, and the Chicago Outfit. Luciano served as chairman but disavowed the capo di tutti i capi title (though he maintained much of the power). The Commission met to discuss shared issues and mediate internecine conflicts. This arrangement, albeit constantly tenuous and outright hostile at times, ushered in a new era of cooperation and success for the Italian American Mafia.

Historical significance

The triumph of Luciano and the younger mobsters has led some historians to see the war as having been as much a conflict between two generations, old Sicilian tradition versus modern American business, as it was a conflict between two crime families. As Luciano reportedly said years later, “Knockin’ guys off just because they come from a different part of Sicily” was bad for business.