Vincent Mangano

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Vincent Mangano
Born March 28, 1888
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Died April 19, 1951
New York, USA

Vincent Mangano (March 28, 1888 - April 19, 1951) was the head of what would become known as the Gambino crime family from 1931 to 1951. He had two brothers, Philip and Lawrence Mangano that worked in Chicago including Venero Mangano a.k.a. Benny Eggs who later worked for the Genovese family.

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[edit] Vince as head of the Gambino family

Mangano made the waterfront his family's main income producer. He and his associates would threaten to prevent cargo from being loaded or unloaded if the shipping company refused to pay a tribute. Mangano would force workers to pay a fee for every day they worked on the docks - because of this, the mob knew exactly what was on each ship and could choose what to steal.

Mangano and Camarda established the City Democratic Club, which promoted bedrock American values in the front room, while illegal activities were hatched in the backroom. It became a regular meeting place for the members of Murder, Inc., the infamous gang of assassins who, for a price, did the bidding of the Italian mobsters. Philip Mangano frequented the club, as did Vincent's underboss, Albert Anastasia.

[edit] Feud with Anastasia

Mangano was the only one of the bosses who retained the old ways so resented by the new breed of mob leaders, including Anastasia. Anastasia grew to prefer the company of other mob bosses such as Luciano, Frank Costello and Louis Lepke, and Mangano grew to resent and mistrust his second-in-command. The two men regularly argued and fought, having to be pulled apart - possibly for the protection of the elder Mangano who was no physical match for his younger underboss.

[edit] Disappearance

Although it ultimately took a full 20 years of working together for matters to come to a head, Mangano eventually met his end at the hands of Anastasia, or so it is believed.

In 1951, Anastasia is believed to have heard of a plot to kill him being formed by his boss, and decided to take pre-emptive action in what he would ultimately describe as "self defence". Philip Mangano was found murdered near Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn on April 19, 1951. Vincent also vanished the same day without trace. His body has never been found. Though Anastasia never admitted to having a hand in the Mangano murders, he managed to convince the heads of the other families that Vincent Mangano had been plotting to have him killed (a claim backed up by Frank Costello), and he was named as the new boss of the family.

[edit] Further reading

  • Bonanno, Joseph. A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2003. ISBN 0312979231
  • Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
  • Davis, John H. Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family. New York: HarperCollins, 1993. ISBN 0-06-016357-7
  • Jacobs, James B., Christopher Panarella and Jay Worthington. Busting the Mob: The United States Vs. Cosa Nostra. New York: NYU Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8147-4230-0
  • Mannion, James. 101 Things You Didn't Know About The Mafia: The Lowdown on Dons, Wiseguys, Squealers and Backstabbers. Avon, Massachusetts: Adams Media, 2005. ISBN 1-59337-267-1
  • Milhorn, H. Thomas. Crime: Computer Viruses to Twin Towers. Boca Raton, Florida: Universal Publishers, 2005. ISBN 1-58112-489-9
  • Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-30094-8
  • Schatzberg, Rufus, Robert J.Kelly and Ko-lin Chin, ed. Handbook of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1994. ISBN 0-313-28366-4

[edit] External links

Preceded by:
Francesco "Frank" Scalise		 Gambino Crime Family Boss
1931-1951		 Succeeded by:
Albert Anastasia
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