The Quiet Don: The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino by Matt Birkbeck Page A
Authors: Matt Birkbeck
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Manufacturing Company, all in Pittston, and Dixie Frocks Company, in Wyoming, Pennsylvania. The garments made in those shops would be shipped, usually by truck, to New York, where they’d be sold by jobbers to large, national department-store chains. At the end of World War II, the garment industry had supplanted coal as one of organized crime’s chief businesses, and Russell Bufalino was becoming a major force within mob circles.
F IVE
T he dinner given in honor of Vito Genovese upon his return to America in 1945 was one fit for a king.
Genovese was among the young, extremely violent hoods who, along with Frank Costello and Albert Anastasia, helped Lucky Luciano in his climb to the top of the Commission in 1931. It was Genovese who conspired with Luciano to plot the murders of Giuseppe “Joseph” Masseria, then the “boss of bosses,” and Salvatore Maranzano. Their demise paved the way for the new organization that would dictate future business and settle disputes.
Born in 1897 near Naples, Genovese had a propensity for violence that often left a trail of bodies, including the love interests of women Genovese courted. He was also an ambitious businessman working for Masseria who earned his keep via bootlegging and extortion. Genovese’s business interests in the 1920s led to his introduction to Russell Bufalino and the Magaddino family. The two men shared more than their Italian heritage—both were rising through the ranks of their respective crime families.
Named by Luciano as the leader of one of New York’s five crime families, Genovese was elevated in 1936 to temporarily replace Luciano as head of the Commission after Luciano was convicted for pandering. But Genovese had his own legal problems, having been indicted in a 1934 murder. Fearing imprisonment, Genovese fled to Italy, where he settled and became an early supporter of dictator Benito Mussolini.
That changed in 1944. With the outcome of the war certain, Genovese began working for the Allies as an interpreter. And when he wasn’t helping U.S. forces, Genovese was earning thousands in the black market selling food and supplies stolen from U.S. Army trucks. He was subsequently arrested by the Military Police but never tried. When the war ended, he was returned to Brooklyn to stand trial for the 1934 murder, but the key witness in the case had died after mysteriously taking medication laced with poison.
Upon Genovese’s release, he was feted at a welcome-home dinner in New York attended by top Mafiosi, among them his old friend Russell Bufalino. But the dynamics of the New York crime families had changed, and another old friend, Frank Costello, was now in charge. Costello was born in Calabria, Italy, in 1891 and like thousands of other Italian immigrants arrived by ship into New York Harbor in 1900. He joined a gang as a teen and had several brushes with the law for robbery and petty crimes. By 1920, he counted Luciano and Genovese as friends and business partners. Their business interests swelled with Prohibition, and the young gangsters expanded into other underworld pursuits, including gambling, prostitution and bookmaking.
While Luciano and Genovese provided the muscle for the triumvirate, Costello made alliances with local politicians, judges and key law enforcement officials, providing them with thousands of dollars in payoffs. As Luciano rose to the head of the new Commission, Genovese and Costello were given titles of underboss and consigliere, respectively. Another member of their group, Albert Anastasia, was awarded with a leadership role in the infamous “Murder Incorporated,” the group that carried out dozens of mob executions for the Commission.
But Genovese’s departure to Italy opened the door for Costello’s ascent, and his cerebral management style and political contacts proved lucrative. By 1945, Costello’s position as boss could not be challenged, not even by Genovese, who quietly seethed but decided to bide his time.
F IVE
T he dinner given in honor of Vito Genovese upon his return to America in 1945 was one fit for a king.
Genovese was among the young, extremely violent hoods who, along with Frank Costello and Albert Anastasia, helped Lucky Luciano in his climb to the top of the Commission in 1931. It was Genovese who conspired with Luciano to plot the murders of Giuseppe “Joseph” Masseria, then the “boss of bosses,” and Salvatore Maranzano. Their demise paved the way for the new organization that would dictate future business and settle disputes.
Born in 1897 near Naples, Genovese had a propensity for violence that often left a trail of bodies, including the love interests of women Genovese courted. He was also an ambitious businessman working for Masseria who earned his keep via bootlegging and extortion. Genovese’s business interests in the 1920s led to his introduction to Russell Bufalino and the Magaddino family. The two men shared more than their Italian heritage—both were rising through the ranks of their respective crime families.
Named by Luciano as the leader of one of New York’s five crime families, Genovese was elevated in 1936 to temporarily replace Luciano as head of the Commission after Luciano was convicted for pandering. But Genovese had his own legal problems, having been indicted in a 1934 murder. Fearing imprisonment, Genovese fled to Italy, where he settled and became an early supporter of dictator Benito Mussolini.
That changed in 1944. With the outcome of the war certain, Genovese began working for the Allies as an interpreter. And when he wasn’t helping U.S. forces, Genovese was earning thousands in the black market selling food and supplies stolen from U.S. Army trucks. He was subsequently arrested by the Military Police but never tried. When the war ended, he was returned to Brooklyn to stand trial for the 1934 murder, but the key witness in the case had died after mysteriously taking medication laced with poison.
Upon Genovese’s release, he was feted at a welcome-home dinner in New York attended by top Mafiosi, among them his old friend Russell Bufalino. But the dynamics of the New York crime families had changed, and another old friend, Frank Costello, was now in charge. Costello was born in Calabria, Italy, in 1891 and like thousands of other Italian immigrants arrived by ship into New York Harbor in 1900. He joined a gang as a teen and had several brushes with the law for robbery and petty crimes. By 1920, he counted Luciano and Genovese as friends and business partners. Their business interests swelled with Prohibition, and the young gangsters expanded into other underworld pursuits, including gambling, prostitution and bookmaking.
While Luciano and Genovese provided the muscle for the triumvirate, Costello made alliances with local politicians, judges and key law enforcement officials, providing them with thousands of dollars in payoffs. As Luciano rose to the head of the new Commission, Genovese and Costello were given titles of underboss and consigliere, respectively. Another member of their group, Albert Anastasia, was awarded with a leadership role in the infamous “Murder Incorporated,” the group that carried out dozens of mob executions for the Commission.
But Genovese’s departure to Italy opened the door for Costello’s ascent, and his cerebral management style and political contacts proved lucrative. By 1945, Costello’s position as boss could not be challenged, not even by Genovese, who quietly seethed but decided to bide his time.
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