Alfred Mineo
Encyclopedia
Alfredo "Al Mineo" Manfredi (? - November 5, 1930) was a Brooklyn based New York mobster, who headed a strong American Mafia
crime family during the Castellammarese War
. Mineo's organization would eventually become the present-day Gambino crime family
.
in 1910, Salvatore D'Aquila
immediately emerged as a new Italian underworld power in New York City, mostly in Brooklyn but also in Manhattan, and by the mid 1910s was the top New York Mafia boss. As young man, Mineo, whose Mafia faction was based on the east side of the East River in Brooklyn became part of this gang. D'Aquila's continued rise within the New York Mafia climaxed when he announced himself Morello's successor as the "Boss of Bosses" around 1916, but with the advent of Prohibition other Mafia crime families began to gain power and influence, and cemented their positions around the city. One of these crime families was the former Morello crime family
, which had been taken over by Joseph "Joe the Boss" Masseria around 1920. Former boss Giuseppe Morello was released from prison approximately the same time, and quickly aligned himself with Joe Masseria against boss Toto D'Aquila.
, the death sentence on Morello and Valenti was revoked. With Valenti now in his debt, D'Aquila used this opportunity to recruit the feared Mafia leader in order to oppose the new Masseria-Morello alliance. Al Mineo faced the chance of losing power and influence within the D'Aquila crime family to Valenti, but in 1922 Valenti was murdered by Masseria-Morello forces. By the mid 1920s Mineo and his top lieutenant, Steve Ferrigno
began to asses their position within the D'Aquila organization, and understood at this time that the new power in New york was Joe Masseria, so Mineo secretly began to align himself with Masseria.
, who rose to prominence during Prohibition and would become extremely independent and eventually oppose the dominance of boss Joe Masseria and his supporters like Mineo. The rivalries and animosities between the two groups would eventually come to a head and a war within the Italian underworld would erupt and drag every Mafia crime family and faction in New York into the conflict.
What became known as the Castellammarese began in early 1930 and would drag on for the better part of two years as New York Mafia leaders Joe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano
fought for dominance over the New York rackets. Mineo felt secure being aligned with Joe Masseria, who led the most powerful New York Mafia crime family and was recognized as the most influential crime boss in the city. The Masseria-Mineo alliance quickly gained the upper hand in the war as their forces began to move on Castellammarese controlled territories and rackets members, eliminated rivals with every opportunity they could get, but on August 15, 1930 the tide began to change when Masseria's top advisor and war chief, Giuseppe Morello was killed. Mineo was named Masseria's new war chief and strategist, and quickly surmised that the Castellammarese were gaining more support and more ground as the war dragged. Mineo felt the only solution was to find and kill Maranzano before he could kill Masseria, this being the only sensible solution to end the war and re-establish dominance over the New York Mafia.
were shot and killed in the courtyard of an apartment building on Pelham Parkway
in the Bronx. Earlier in the week, several Maranzano gunmen had rented a first floor apartment in the building. Their actual target was Masseria, who had been observed entering the building earlier in the week. However, when the gunmen saw Mineo and Ferrigno in the garden, they seized the opportunity and shot both of them from the apartment window.
After Mineo's death, Francesco "Frank" Scalice became crime family boss. He immediately switched allegiance from Masseria to Maranzano, who was emerging as the winner in the gang war. It has been theorized that Scalise had arranged a secret deal with Maranzano to murder Mineo and become the organization boss, but Maranzano forces were able to eliminate Mineo without Scalise's help. On April 15, 1931, Masseria was murdered in a Brooklyn restaurant and the Castellammarese War was over.
No one was ever charged in the Mineo shooting. In 1963, government witness Joseph Valachi claimed that Girolamo Santuccio was one of the gunmen.
American Mafia
The American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
crime family during the Castellammarese War
Castellammarese War
The Castellammarese War was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American Mafia between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and those of Salvatore Maranzano. It was so called because Maranzano was based in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily...
. Mineo's organization would eventually become the present-day Gambino crime family
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
.
Background
In the early part of the 20th century, New York had five Sicilian crime families. With the imprisonment of powerful Sicilian Mafia boss Giuseppe MorelloGiuseppe Morello
Giuseppe "the Clutch Hand" Morello , also known as "The Old Fox", was the first boss of the Morello crime family and later top adviser to Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria. He was known as Piddu and his rivals the Castellammarese knew him as Peter Morello...
in 1910, Salvatore D'Aquila
Salvatore D'Aquila
Salvatore "Toto" D'Aquila was a New York City mobster from the Mustache Pete-era and the first boss of the Gambino crime family....
immediately emerged as a new Italian underworld power in New York City, mostly in Brooklyn but also in Manhattan, and by the mid 1910s was the top New York Mafia boss. As young man, Mineo, whose Mafia faction was based on the east side of the East River in Brooklyn became part of this gang. D'Aquila's continued rise within the New York Mafia climaxed when he announced himself Morello's successor as the "Boss of Bosses" around 1916, but with the advent of Prohibition other Mafia crime families began to gain power and influence, and cemented their positions around the city. One of these crime families was the former Morello crime family
Morello crime family
The Morello crime family is the direct ancestor of the Genovese crime family, the oldest of New York City's Five Families.-From Corleone to America:...
, which had been taken over by Joseph "Joe the Boss" Masseria around 1920. Former boss Giuseppe Morello was released from prison approximately the same time, and quickly aligned himself with Joe Masseria against boss Toto D'Aquila.
D'Aquila family
Al Mineo would continue his rise within the New York Mafia and eventually become D'Aquila's second in command or underboss, and lead the crime families Brooklyn faction. As rivalries and animosity grew between the D'Aquila and Masseria factions, Mineo would eventually find himself in a precarious position. D'Aquila had previously sentenced Morello to death upon his release from prison, along with his ally Umberto Valenti, but through the intervention of Pittsburgh Mafia leader, Nicola GentileNicola Gentile
Nicola Gentile , also known as Nick Gentile, was a Sicilian mafioso and an organized crime figure in New York City during the 1920s and 1930s. He was also known for publishing his memoirs which, violating the mafiosi code known as omerta, revealed many details of the Sicilian and American underworld...
, the death sentence on Morello and Valenti was revoked. With Valenti now in his debt, D'Aquila used this opportunity to recruit the feared Mafia leader in order to oppose the new Masseria-Morello alliance. Al Mineo faced the chance of losing power and influence within the D'Aquila crime family to Valenti, but in 1922 Valenti was murdered by Masseria-Morello forces. By the mid 1920s Mineo and his top lieutenant, Steve Ferrigno
Steve Ferrigno
Stefano "Steve" Ferrigno was a New York mobster of Sicilian origin who led an important Italian criminal gang in the 1920s. Ferrigno was assassinated along with Alfred Mineo during the so-called Castellammarese War....
began to asses their position within the D'Aquila organization, and understood at this time that the new power in New york was Joe Masseria, so Mineo secretly began to align himself with Masseria.
Family takeover
On October 10, 1928, while standing next to his car, just down the road from his home in the Bronx, Toto D'Aquila, the New York Mafia's "Boss of Bosses" was murdered by gunmen as his family watched in horror. Having recently aligned himself with boss Joe Masseria, Mineo more than likely played a direct role in planning the murder of his boss D'Aquila. After declaring his allegiance to Masseria and showing his distorted loyalty by betraying his former boss, Mineo's place atop the D'Aquila crime family leadership was cemented. By this time Mineo had secured his Brooklyn interests and would now command one of the larger Manhattan based Mafia groups in New York, and with Ferrigno as his second in command and based in the Bronx, the Mineo crime family would control a number of profitable rackets such as bootlegging, gambling, numbers and extortion.Castellammarese War
Strong rivalries continued between various New York Mafia crime families and factions, the most heated rivalry being the one between Mineo's Manhattan based allies in the Masseria crime family and those in the Brooklyn based Castellammarese clan, a group of mafiosi from the Sicilian seaside town of Castellammare del GolfoCastellammare del Golfo
Castellammare del Golfo is a town and comune in the Trapani Province of Sicily. The name is roughly translated "Sea- Fortress of the Gulf", deriving from the medieval fortress in the harbor...
, who rose to prominence during Prohibition and would become extremely independent and eventually oppose the dominance of boss Joe Masseria and his supporters like Mineo. The rivalries and animosities between the two groups would eventually come to a head and a war within the Italian underworld would erupt and drag every Mafia crime family and faction in New York into the conflict.
What became known as the Castellammarese began in early 1930 and would drag on for the better part of two years as New York Mafia leaders Joe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano was an organized crime figure from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss in the United States. He instigated the Castellammarese War to seize control of the American Mafia operations, and briefly became the Mafia's "Boss of Bosses"...
fought for dominance over the New York rackets. Mineo felt secure being aligned with Joe Masseria, who led the most powerful New York Mafia crime family and was recognized as the most influential crime boss in the city. The Masseria-Mineo alliance quickly gained the upper hand in the war as their forces began to move on Castellammarese controlled territories and rackets members, eliminated rivals with every opportunity they could get, but on August 15, 1930 the tide began to change when Masseria's top advisor and war chief, Giuseppe Morello was killed. Mineo was named Masseria's new war chief and strategist, and quickly surmised that the Castellammarese were gaining more support and more ground as the war dragged. Mineo felt the only solution was to find and kill Maranzano before he could kill Masseria, this being the only sensible solution to end the war and re-establish dominance over the New York Mafia.
Death
Oon November 5, 1930, Mineo and his lieutenant Steve FerrignoSteve Ferrigno
Stefano "Steve" Ferrigno was a New York mobster of Sicilian origin who led an important Italian criminal gang in the 1920s. Ferrigno was assassinated along with Alfred Mineo during the so-called Castellammarese War....
were shot and killed in the courtyard of an apartment building on Pelham Parkway
Pelham Parkway
The Bronx and Pelham Parkway is a parkway in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Despite the parkway moniker, Pelham Parkway is a local street, with two main roadways , and two service roads. Like other parkways in New York City, commercial traffic is disallowed, and is redirected to the...
in the Bronx. Earlier in the week, several Maranzano gunmen had rented a first floor apartment in the building. Their actual target was Masseria, who had been observed entering the building earlier in the week. However, when the gunmen saw Mineo and Ferrigno in the garden, they seized the opportunity and shot both of them from the apartment window.
After Mineo's death, Francesco "Frank" Scalice became crime family boss. He immediately switched allegiance from Masseria to Maranzano, who was emerging as the winner in the gang war. It has been theorized that Scalise had arranged a secret deal with Maranzano to murder Mineo and become the organization boss, but Maranzano forces were able to eliminate Mineo without Scalise's help. On April 15, 1931, Masseria was murdered in a Brooklyn restaurant and the Castellammarese War was over.
No one was ever charged in the Mineo shooting. In 1963, government witness Joseph Valachi claimed that Girolamo Santuccio was one of the gunmen.