Giosuè Gallucci

in New York, c. 1900 Giosuè Gallucci was born in Naples, Italy, on December 10, 1864, to Luca Gallucci and Antonia Cavallo. He was also known by his nickname Luccariello. In Italy, a Naples court sentenced Gallucci in 1883 for breaking parole, resisting arrest and perjury and in 1885 for assault and attempted extortion. On March 11, 1892, he arrived in New York City on the SS Werkendam from Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In doing so, he violated Italian emigration laws and was convicted in absentia for fraud. According to an Italian police report, he again left Italy on July 24, 1896. It was rumored that Gallucci had killed a man just before coming to New York, but he publicly denied this. In April 1898, he was arrested in New York in connection with the murder of Josephine Inselma (or Giuseppina Anselmi), who was portrayed as Gallucci's companion by the police. Inselma was murdered with "her throat cut from ear to ear" in her apartment at 108 Mulberry Street within a block of the infamous Mulberry Bend. Gallucci's apprehension took place while he was operating a fruit wagon in the neighborhood; he was described as "a young grocer and expressman, with a store at 172 Mott Street". A grand jury dismissed the charges. New York City Police Department detective Joe Petrosino, who was in charge of the investigation, urged his superiors to inquire for more information in Italy. The police prefect of Naples responded, describing Gallucci as a "bad character" and "a dangerous criminal, belonging to the category of blackmailers" who had been placed under police surveillance and charged several times with theft, blackmail, and other crimes. His wife, the prefect added, was also "of bad character". He died the next day. Francesco D'Angelo and Luigi LaRosa were accused of the killing; both pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to 20 years and 15 years in prison, respectively. According to Petrosino, the Galluccis were only three of the more than 1,000 Italian "rascals" from Naples and Sicily who had made New York City their home. They did not attract much attention because, "as a class, they rob their own people, and the Italian scheme of 'fix it myself' interferes to throw the police off the scent." Since they had been in the country for more than a year, the Galluccis could not be deported. ==Dominance in Little Italy and East Harlem==

Gallucci built various businesses in Little Italy and East Harlem; first on Mulberry Street and later in a three-story brick house with a bakery and an attached stable at 318 East 109th Street, and a cigar store at 329 East 109th Street. It was rumored that he ran a brothel at the intersection of East 109th Street with Second Avenue. He became the undisputed boss of Little Italy following the imprisonment of the Sicilian-American mafia leaders Giuseppe Morello and Ignazio Lupo on counterfeit charges in 1910. He owned many tenements in the area and controlled the coal and ice business, cobbler shops, the olive oil business and the lottery in the Italian neighborhoods. He was one of the biggest moneylenders and held strict control over the policy game (numbers racket), employing Neapolitan and Sicilian street gangs as his enforcers. According to the New York City Police Department, most of Gallucci's income originated "from his control of the policy playing in Harlem, various gambling houses and houses of prostitution, all located in that section of Harlem known as Little Italy." Gallucci was an imposing man, "a big fellow with a pleasant face and a hearty laugh." He was often seen in Harlem swinging a loaded cane, immaculately dressed in tailored suits with a magnificently waxed mustache, an expensive $2,000 diamond ring and $3,000 diamond shirt studs. He denied the allegations that he was involved in criminal activities. "My enemies say that I am the head of the 'Black Hand' business, that I run the blackmail bomb business and that I own all the lotteries," Gallucci complained a week before he was killed. "They are wrong. I own bakeries, ice and wood shops, shoe shining and repair shops and similar places, but I am not king of the 'Black Hand'." Due to his political influence, he was also called "King of Little Italy" or "The Boss". ==Political influence==

He gained near immunity from law enforcement by allying with the Tammany Hall, the Democratic political machine that ruled Manhattan and New York City politics virtually unopposed. The political patronage of Tammany Hall controlled the city's police and bureaucracy that handed out the construction contracts and licenses. With his ability to mobilize the vote in Harlem and register immigrants, he delivered a significant number of ballots. According to the New York Herald, he was "certainly the most powerful Italian politically in the city, and during campaigns was exceptionally active." ==Death of brother, Gennaro==

Giosue's elder brother, Gennaro Gallucci, was shot dead on November 14, 1909, in the back room of the family bakery. Soon after his arrival, the police began receiving complaints about extortion practices, but when the plaintiffs were told that they had to confront him in court, they dropped the charges. The New York Police captured him on September 20, 1909, while carrying concealed weapons. Immigration officials began efforts to deport him to Italy, but the courts, oblivious of his criminal background, released him with a suspended sentence. His killing two months later might have been connected to Gennaro's blackmailing activities, according to the police. Only a few months before Gallucci's bakery had been assaulted with bullets smashing through the window. Informants claimed that Giosuè had been responsible for the killing of his brother, according to letters sent to the police later. for the death of his brother. For the next two years there would be frequent clashes and occasional killings between the rivals. Prisco was the head of a Black Hand gang who accused Gallucci of trespassing on his territory. ==Fighting over underworld control==

A police report from 1917, based on the testimony of the gangster and informer Ralph Daniello, described Gallucci's position around 1912: "At that time Gallucci controlled different gambling games and he would get a percentage on the sale of stolen horses and peddled artichokes. If anybody would not pay this percentage he would either be assaulted, receive blackmail letters or be killed." Russomanno was not charged with murder after claiming he fired in self-defense. At the time, the police described him as "the leader of the Italian criminals in Harlem" and that "his consent was necessary before anything out of the way could be done in Harlem's Little Italy." He was well known for being involved with prostitution rackets and was also known as the "King of the White Slavers" in the press. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, a transgression of the Sullivan Act, but was released on a US$10,000 bail. The case failed to reach court, a fact that many attributed to his political connections. Gallucci also got into violent disputes with other rival gangs over his control of illegal rackets. The Neapolitan Del Gaudio brothers, who had connections with the Brooklyn based Navy Street gang, were involved in illegal gambling in East Harlem, but Gallucci allegedly denied them permission to operate a lottery. Nicolo Del Gaudio, brother to Gaetano, owned a barber shop on East 104th Street, which had been proposed as a meeting place between Prisco and Gallucci. Nicolo Del Gaudio attempted to kill Gallucci, but failed. Del Gaudio fled from Italian Harlem, but returned in October 1914 and was subsequently killed. The killing was attributed to Gallucci, but no charges were made. ==Murder==

With Gallucci's prestige beginning to wither, he scrambled to maintain control as the war continued with the remnants of Prisco's old gang. Rival lotteries began to spring up, challenging his dominance. Only a week before he was killed, Gallucci decided not to employ bodyguards anymore, after the latest in a series had been shot and killed. Being a bodyguard for Gallucci was considered a dangerous career, as ten of them had been killed. The year before, Gallucci was wounded and two of his bodyguards were killed when he tried to make a collection in a shop on First Avenue. Fifteen men, mostly friends of Gallucci's, were in the coffee shop, and some returned fire. The funeral was attended by 5,000 people and accompanied by 800 carriages, 22 of which carried flowers alone. The funeral for Gallucci's son was the biggest Harlem had ever experienced up to that time. According to reports, the last carriages were leaving the church in Harlem after the hearse had already arrived at the cemetery in Queens. Gallucci refused to talk to the police, saying he would settle the issue himself, but he died at Bellevue Hospital three days later, on May 21, of a bullet wound in the abdomen. Gallucci's murder remained unsolved. The alleged killers were Gallucci's former bodyguards Generoso "Joe Chuck" Nazzarro and Tony Romano, with the help of Andrea Ricci, of the rival Navy Street gang from Brooklyn. The money for the hit was likely provided by Coney Island Camorra boss Pellegrino Morano, in an effort to take over Gallucci's rackets. Nazzaro held a grudge against Gallucci, who failed to pay Nazzaro's bail when he, Gallucci, and Gallucci's nephew, John Russomanno, had been arrested for carrying concealed weapons in July 1913. Nazzarro spent 10 months in prison, but was released a few weeks before the shooting. Gallucci was asked to buy $300 worth of tickets for a racket for Nazarro's benefit, but he flatly refused. A week later, the shooting occurred. ==Burial and aftermath==

His funeral was closely guarded by police, who feared further gang conflict. Several thousand people filed through Gallucci's apartment to view his body. Around 10,000 people blocked East 109th Street to witness Gallucci's funeral procession, including some 250 police detectives, present due to a rumor that the widow of Gallucci was targeted for murder. The 150 carriages that were expected for the burial procession were reduced to 54 because of fear for hostile demonstrations. The procession was preceded by a 23-man musical band. The funeral service was held at the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, located at 113th Street and First Avenue. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Queens. According to the New York Herald, Gallucci was "perhaps the most influential and wealthiest Italians in the country". The Herald wrote that at the time of his death, he held $350,000 in real estate and was a millionaire. In reality, Gallucci left behind only $3,402 in cash and the property at 318 East 109 Street, which was subsequently rented out. Gallucci's lucrative numbers rackets were left unclaimed, and they soon passed over to the Sicilian Morello gang, while the Camorra gangs took control in Brooklyn. The subsequent fight over those rackets with the Camorra gangs from Brooklyn is known as the Mafia–Camorra War, and would eventually elevate Vincenzo and Ciro Terranova to "boss" status in the Harlem underworld. ==Footnotes==