Giuseppe Balsamo
"Battista"

Balsamo was a Mafia boss in Brooklyn at the dawn of the 20th Century, according to the authors of Under the Clock.

Balsamo was reportedly a transplanted Sicilian Mafioso who settled in Brooklyn in 1895 and became Brooklyn's "first godfather." The book claims that other Mafia leaders, including Giuseppe Morello, Joe Masseria, Frank Uale and Vito Cascio Ferro (who spent some of his younger years in New York), looked to Balsamo for training and guidance, while Balsamo aided his allies in a fight for control of the docks against the entrenched Irish.

The low-key Balsamo reportedly retired from Mafia leadership in the 1920s, turning his organization over to Vincent and Phillip Mangano.

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© 2007 T.Hunt
The American "Mafia"