King of the Brooklyn Docks

Albert Anastasia (1902-1957)

Betrayal

In 1957, the Mafia Commission became aware that Anastasia's crime family was selling Mafia memberships. Underboss Frank Scalise was known to be filling his pockets through the practice. The sale of membership was expressly forbidden, as it exposed the organization to untrustworthy individuals and to law enforcement infiltration.

It appears that Anastasia attempted to rectify the situation himself by ordering the execution of Scalise. Because Scalise was a friend of Luciano and the recently deported Adonis, Anastasia decided to send word to his two old colleagues in Italy before the deed was done.

Mafiosi have never been particularly strong in the forgive-and-forget department. Though Anastasia was taking proper corrective action, the Scalise problem - coupled with the earlier Moretti problem - left Anastasia with two black eyes. Anastasia was momentarily weakened.

Frank Costello bandaged after an attempt on his life

Luciano and Adonis were learning of Scalise's death sentence just as New Yorkers became aware of an assassination attempt on Frank Costello. Costello was fine - the bullet just grazed his scalp.

Some in the city believed that the botched hit at Costello's apartment house was the result of a falling out between Costello and Anastasia. Those in the know suggested that it merely indicated that Vito Genovese's patience was at an end.

Genovese left the United States before the Second World War, hiding out in Mussolini's Italy. After the war, he came back across the Atlantic. Upon his return, he was more ambitious, more ruthless and more impatient than ever. He was kept in check for a while only through threats (and some say there was an actual physical beating) from exiled Charlie Luciano, but eventually he sought to take family leadership from Costello and decided that a hit was the easiest way.

Even the screwup turned out to be sufficient. Costello got the message, along with a new part in his hair. He retired as family boss. Genovese took over the family and next moved to take over the Commission.

Anastasia and Lucchese remained as a voting block on the ruling council. Anastasia, devoted friend of Costello, became instantly opposed to Genovese and vaguely swore revenge on whoever was responsible for the hit on Costello. Though Bonanno and Profaci also had little use for the uncouth and unSicilian Genovese, they saw an opportunity to break up the alliance that had been their nemesis. They cooperated as Genovese moved against Anastasia.

At 10:20 in the morning on Oct. 25, 1957, Anastasia stopped into the barber shop at the Park Sheraton Hotel (the same hotel at which Arnold Rothstein was killed years earlier) for a shave and haircut. He frequented the establishment operated by Arthur Grasso. That morning, he sat in the fourth of twelve barber chairs and leaned back as barber Joseph Bocchino placed a hot towel on his face.

Two masked gunmen burst into the shop and unloaded handguns into the 55-year-old Anastasia's body. The former Murder Inc. chief was hit in his head, back, right hip and left hand. Witnesses said he lunged from the chair and attacked the reflection of his attackers in the mirror in front of him before collapsing dead in a pool of blood on the floor.

Anastasia's body on a barbershop floor

Anastasia had once slipped free of the electric chair only to meet his end in a barber chair.

Police investigators puzzled over the absence of Anastasia's driver and bodyguard Anthony Coppola at the time of the boss's murder. Coppola would say nothing to police except that he was at his home in Fairhaven, New Jersey, when he learned of Anastasia's death. Police held Coppola in custody as a material witness.

Whodunnit?

With Anastasia responsible - directly and indirectly - for so many deaths, vendetta was certainly a possible motive for his assassination. Underworld competition was another possibility. Police set to the task of sorting through the long list of the mob boss's enemies.

Eventually, the story of the Anastasia hit came together. It suggests that Genovese cultivated a momentary alliance with Bonanno and Profaci and a similarly conservative Sicilian named Carlo Gambino, who was Anastasia's underboss, in order to rid himself of Anastasia.

Without a Murder Inc. entity to assign the job to, the Commission allegedly handed responsibility to Profaci's family. Joe Profaci is said to have assigned the task to "Crazy Joe" Gallo and his brothers. Gallo, who subsequently led a revolt within the Profaci-Magliocco-Colombo family, seemed to admit involvement in the assassination later in his life.

An alternative history has been proposed in more recent years. In that account, the assignment is handed to Joe Biondo, a member of Anastasia's own family. Biondo reportedly directed members of his crew to eliminate the boss.

With Anastasia gone, Gambino became boss of the family. Biondo became his underboss. The conservative Sicilians - Bonanno, Profaci and Gambino - gained some strength and prestige (though not enough to keep Genovese in check).

The press published many theories relating to the Anastasia assassination. Some suggested that the crime lord had fallen victim to his own ambition, running into a conflict over the numbers racket with Vito Genovese or over garment district rackets with Johnny Dioguardi. Some felt Anastasia was bumped off by an Irish mob looking to establish its influence along the docks or by a young faction in the Mafia trying to wipe out the old guard.

An intriguing speculation published in New York newspapers in January 1958 involved Anastasia being disciplined for attempting to move into Havana gambling without permission from Santo Trafficante (Tampa) and Meyer Lansky, who controlled that racket. It seems that Anastasia did meet with representatives of the Cuban government just before meeting his end.

One simple theory seemed to capture the truth: Anastasia had gotten too big.

Saying Goodbye

Anastasia's murder is front page news around the country

There was no Mass of Christian Burial for Anastasia. His family did not request one, feeling that it would be inappropriate considering the way he lived his life and his unrepentant nature. As many as 30 murders were directly attributed to Anastasia. The Murder Inc. organization he helped to found and to run was believed to be responsible for many more deaths.

A poorly attended Sunday night wake was held in Parlor C on the second floor of Andrew Torregrossa's funeral home at 1305 79th Street in Brooklyn. Police were keeping an eye out for underworld characters who might choose to pay their respects. They identified only Augie Pisano.

Early the next morning, the press noted that William V. Bradley and Thomas W. Gleason, officials of the International Longshoremen's Association, showed up to pay their respects. Neither man would speak with reporters.

A simple ceremony was conducted in front of an inexpensive coffin (the press said it cost $900, in contrast with the many thousands of dollars spent on brother Giuseppe's coffin). Elsa wept loudly and nearly collapsed. She was led to a chair by Albert Jr., then in his twenties and recently graduated from college. Father Salvatore Anastasio prayed over his brother's corpse and the placed two rosaries in the dead man's hands. The priest did not travel to the cemetery.

The coffin was closed at 10:40 a.m. and a small crucifix was placed on it. The funeral cortege consisted of one car of flowers, the hearse and four cars for family members.

Anastasia could not be buried in a Catholic cemetery. He was interred in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery.

In February 1958, Elsa Bargnesi Anastasia left the family home in Fort Lee, New Jersey, and returned to Canada. Reporters located her at a large, two-story brick house in the North End neighborhood of Toronto's North York suburb. Her decision to leave was apparently a hasty one. On March 10, 1958, a Newark, New Jersey, court dismissed her application for U.S. citizenship because she did not appear for a hearing.

"Tough Tony" Anastasio remained a force on the New York waterfront until his death after a heart attack on March 1, 1963.

The author relied on the sources cited in the Bibliography web page for information contained in this article.