| AMERICAN MAFIOSO |
| The Castellammarese War |
| In New York City there were five Families and there still is today. The number five was not preordained, it just happened that way as Sicilian immigrants settled in the five boroughs of New York City. The different clans of Sicilians settled in all five boroughs, within these subgroups of Sicilian immigrants emerged five different crime Families, mostly based from other Families that operated on the island of Sicily. During the late 1920's a Family led by Gaetano "Tom" Reina controlled the Bronx. Another New York City Family was based on the Brooklyn waterfront under the leadership of Alfredo Manfredi known as Al Mineo. On the Lower East Side of Manhattan was a large Family under the control of Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria. A much smaller Family operated out of neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Staten Island. This Family was under the leadership of Joe Profaci along with his brother-in-law Joe Magliocco as his under boss The Profaci Family was the only Family in New York to remain neutral during the Castellammarese War. In the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn was a small tightly-knit clan of Castellammarese Sicilians that made up the fifth and final Family in New York. This Family was led by Cola Schiro who gave up control to Salvatore Maranzano in 1929 as the Castellammarese prepared for war. These were the leaders of the 5 Families in New York City as of 1930 at the start of the war between Masseria, Maranzano and their various allies in the other New York Families. The root cause of this war did not only start in New York but had developed over time in the Midwest, Chicago and Detroit. In order to understand the true origins of the Castellammarese War we must start with the Brooklyn born Neapolitan whose surname translates into Italian as "a castrated male chicken." Alphonse "Scarface" Capone. |
| Al Capone started out working for Frankie Yale a Brooklyn Capo and group leader in the New York Family of Masseria. In 1921 Al Capone was sent to Chicago to work for another Mafiosi who had started out in Brooklyn, Johnny Torrio. Capone went to work under Torrio with the approval of both Yale and Joe The Boss Masseria who expected a kickback from their profits in Chicago. In 1925 Torrio took early retirement and left Capone in control of the Chicago rackets. Around the same time as Capone took over in Chicago, two men from the clan of Castellammarese in Brooklyn, Gaspar Milazzo and Stefano Magaddino left New York after coming under police suspicion over the murders of several men from within the rival Buccellato clan. Magaddino would settle in upstate New York where he became the Castellammarese Boss over Buffalo. Milazzo settled in Detroit where he became recognized as the Castellammarese leader in that city. Milazzo became a close friend and strong ally of Giuseppe "Joe" Aiello the Castellammarese leader in Chicago who was at odds with Capone. In December of 1929 Milazzo of Detroit and Aiello of Chicago met with Masseria who was recognized as the Sicilian Don of New York. Aiello told Masseria that he considered Al Capone an intruder in his city and that he wanted him out. Masseria reminded Aiello that he was supporting Capone in Chicago and the only alternative to the presence of Al Capone would be that of Masseria himself. Aiello then told Joe Masseria that he better go back to New York before the city of Chicago became to dangerous for him. Masseria returned to New York and contacted Gaspar Milazzo in Detroit who had been present at the meeting between Masseria and Aiello. Masseria asked Milazzo to betray Aiello and throw his support behind Capone. Milazzo felt insulted by the proposition since he and Aiello were not only allies and friends but Milazzo was Godfather to Aiello's son. With the refusal of Gaspar Milazzo, Masseria contacted Stefano Magaddino the elder Castellammarese leader of Buffalo who held the respect of the other Castellammarese leaders all over the country. Joe The Boss demanded that Magaddino and Milazzo come see him immediately, Magaddino who feared a trap refused to meet with the Don of New York City which sent Joe Masseria into a rage. He declared war on all Castellammarese Sicilians calling them thick skulled and unruly. |
| In February of 1930 Gaetano "Tom" Reina was killed by Vito Genovese on orders handed down from Masseria to Charlie "Lucky" Luciano. Masseria ordered the murder of a man he thought of as an allie but he heard that Reina had sided with Salvatore Maranzano and the Brooklyn clan of Castellammarese. After the murder of Reina, Masseria appointed Joe Pinzolo as head of the Family. In May of 1930 Gaspar Milazzo was shot and killed along with Sasa Parrino outside a Detroit fish market. Sasa Parrino was a young Castellammarese soldier who had left Brooklyn to work for Milazzo. The in July of 1930 Vito Bonventre, the wealthiest Castellammarese man in all of Brooklyn was murdered on orders from Masseria. Salvatore Maranzano made his first move on Joe Masseria on August 15, 1930 with the murder of his number two man, Peter Morello also known as Don Petru along with his money collector Joe Pariano. The Masseria backed boss of the Reina Family was killed on September 9 of 1930 on the orders of two men, Gaetano "Tommy" Gagliano and Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese. Tommy Gagliano took over the Family with Tommy Lucchese as his under boss and the men became strong allies of Maranzano. In October of 1930, Joe Aiello was killed in Chicago while he led his small clan of Castellammarese Sicilians into war against Al Capone who was backed by Joe The Boss Masseria in New York. |
| In November of 1930 Alfredo Manfedi known as Al Mineo and his under boss Steve Ferrigno were killed in an ambush by Maranzano forces during an attempt to kill Joe Masseria himself. Francesco "Frank" Scalise took over the Mineo Family and became a strong ally of Salvatore Maranzano. Masseria went into hiding as the war raged on into 1931 with dozens of murders on both sides. On April 14, 1931 Charlie Luciano and Joe Masseria were eating lunch at a restaurant on Cony Island. When Lucky Luciano went to the bathroom, 4 unknown men walked into the empty restaurant and killed Joe Masseria. The four unknown men were Albert Anastasia from the Family of Frank Scalise along with Joe Adonis, Benny Siegel and Vito Genovese from the Luciano crew. |
| The Castellammarese War ended on April 14 of 1931 after the murder of Giuseppe "Joe The Boss" Masseria. But there was one last man who standed in the way of the younger generation of Sicilian Mafiosi from gaining complete control over the Honored Society or Cosa Nostra in New York City and the rest of the United States. Salvatore Maranzano declared himself the new Boss of Bosses/Capo de tutti Capi, he held a meeting with the other Family leaders in Chicago hosted by Al Capone and founded what he called the Commission. He would be the Supreme Commander of the New York based Commission with the other Families in New York City along with Stefano Magaddino of Buffalo and Al Capone of Chicago. The war was over but Maranzano would not be alive for long. In September of 1931 Maranzano was shot and stabbed to death in his office by four men posing as IRS agents. Tommy Lucchese of the Gagliano Family was at the office in order to identify Maranzano to the four assassins. After the death of Maranzano, Giuseppe "Joe" Bonanno known as Don Peppino took over the Brooklyn clan of Castelllammarese and made peace with Charlie Luciano. Frank Scalise was forced to step down as head of the Mineo Family in Brooklyn because of his close alliance with Maranzano. He was replaced as head of the Family by Vincent Mangano known as Don Vincenzu. |
| The Castellammarese War was so named because of the ethnic clan of Sicilians who hailed from the coastal town of Castellammare del Golfo located 66 miles west of the Sicilian capital Palermo and 41 miles northeast of Trapani. The dominant Mafia clans in Castellammare had long been the Bonanno's, Magaddino's and their rival Buccellato's. Giuseppe Bonanno Sr. led the Bonanno Family between the 1850's & 1880's with close ties to Giuseppe Garibaldi. He had four sons, the eldest Giovanni Bonanno moved to Tunesia and settled in Tunis. The next son, Stefano was not cut out for the leadership role but would serve as the consigliere (advisor) to his younger brother. Giuseppe Jr. known as "Don Peppe Bonanno" was the third son and namesake of Giuseppe Bonanno. He assumed command of the Bonanno clan in Castellammare sometime during the 1880's. He was a close friend and a strong ally of Stefano Magaddino in their war against the Buccellato clan. The youngest son of Giuseppe was Salvatore who studied at a seminary school in Trapani while his brother's ran the Family business in Castellammare. In 1899 the war came to a head when the Buccellato clan organized the murders of Stefano & Giuseppe "Don Peppe" Bonanno. The young Salvatore Bonanno left his seminary school and returned home to Castellammare del Golfo. He assumed command of the Bonanno Family and avenged the death of his brother's by murdering several men from the Buccellato clan. Salvatore married Catherine Bonventre in 1901 and on January 18, 1905 she gave birth to a son Giuseppe Bonanno who would prove to be a symbol of peace for the Castellammarese. Salvatore Bonanno appraoched his main rival, Felice Bucellato in the townsquare and asked him to be Godfather to his first born son. Buccellato agreed and the peace was made between Bonanno and Buccellato. But Stefano Magaddino just could not trust the Buccellato clan. In 1908 Salvatore took his wife Catherine and 3 year old son Giuseppe to America and settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn in New York City. Giuseppe known as "Peppino" in Sicily became known as Joseph or "Joe" to his young classmates in America. Salvatore Bonanno known as Don Turridru was known as a "man of respect" among the Castellammarese immigrants and became widely known by other clans of Sicilian Mafiosi in New York. Turi Saracino was a Mafiosi from Castellammare del Golfo and with Salvatore Bonanno was the prominant power among the Castellammarese in New York. In 1911 Salvatore and his family returned to Sicily where the peace he established had turned to war with Magaddino and the Buccellato's. In 1912 Salvatore Bonanno was drafted in the Italian Army during World War I. He returned home to Castellammare in November of 1912 after being wounded in battle and died in December of that year. The war between Magaddino and the Buccellato's continued after the death of Salvatore Bonanno. In 1913 Stefano Magaddino and his nephew Pietro Magaddino were ambushed by the Buccellato's, the nephew was killed but Magaddino escaped. After the murder of Pietro his brothers Antonino and Stefano left Castellammare del Golfo and immigrated to America settling in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. The fighting came to an end with the murder of the Buccellato Family patriarch Felice Buccellato, the Godfather to Giuseppe Bonanno. Felice Buccellato whose first name means Felicity was hacked up, placed in a burlap bag and thrown into a ditch where he would be found by his family. This was the end of the Buccellato Magaddino War in Castellammare del golfo but the feuding would countinue in America with the immigration of young Sicilians from Western Sicily including members and allies of both the Buccellato and Maggadino clans. |