Anthony Anastasio
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Anthony "Tough Tony" Anastasio (1906-March 1, 1963) was a New York mobster and labor racketeer for the Genovese crime family controlling the Brooklyn dockyards for over thirty years.
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[edit] Early career
A younger brother of Albert Anastasia, Anastasio worked as a longshoreman with Anastasia eventually following his brother into New York's underworld. After gaining control of the International Longshoremen's Association, from which he led as vice president of the Local 1814, Anastasio earned millions for the New York Mafia through kickbacks from dues, stolen merchandise, and payoffs from rival shipping companies.
[edit] Height of power
With his brother Anastasia's position in Murder, Inc., Anastasio held free reign throughout the Brooklyn waterfront. During this time, while helping establish Anastasia as a major force on the New York waterfront, Anastasio's power was at its height and said to be able to severely damage foreign shipping and sabotage ships as a means of Mafia intimidation (presumably on orders from Anastasia). Indeed one account, regarding Charles Luciano's imprisonment, Anastasio organized the bombing of the French luxury liner Normandie in order to convince federal authorities of Luciano's value, not only with the Mafia safeguarding the New York waterfront, but of his connections in Sicily to assist in its invasion during World War II. Although this rumor greatly enhanced his reputation, a federal investigation concluded sabotage was not a factor in which the resulting explosion caused the ship to capsize at the mooring dock.
[edit] Later years
After Anastasia's murder in 1957, Anastasio's influence began to fade although he was allowed by Vito Genovese (the main suspect in his brothers murder) to retain control of the Brooklyn docks until his death from natural causes on March 1, 1963 and buried at Holy Cross Cemetery. Shortly before his death, Anastasio met in an interview with FBI agents in 1962 suspected an attempt on his life from Genovese. Discussing New York mobsters Carlo Gambino, Pete DeFeo, and Thomas Eboli, it was also during this interview, he stated regarding his brothers death "I ate from the same table as Albert and came from the same womb but I know he killed many men and he deserved to die." [1]
It is thought Lee J. Cobb's portrayal of On the Waterfront's corrupt Union boss Johnny Friendly is influenced by Anastasio and earlier labor leaders such as William "Big Bill" McConuick.
His grandson John Scotto, the son of successor New York waterfront racketeer Anthony Scotto, would later become an informant for the LAPD between 1993 and 1996. [2]
[edit] Further reading
- Davis, John H. Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family. New York: HarperCollins, 1993.
[edit] References
- Devito, Carlo. Encyclopedia of International Organized Crime. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. ISBN 978-0-8160-4848-9
- Kelly, Robert J. Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-313-30653-2
- Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-8160-5694-1
