Top Hoodlum
Page 31
Pope, Paul David. The Deeds of My Fathers: How My Grandfather and Father Built New York and Created the Tabloid World of Today. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2010.
Poulsen, Ellen. The Case Against Lucky Luciano: New York’s Most Sensational Vice Trial. Oakland Gardens, N.Y.: Clinton Cook Publishing Corp., 2007.
Quinn, Anthony, with Daniel Paisner. One Man Tango. New York: HarperCollins Publishing, 1995.
Raines, Robert K. Hot Springs: From Capone to Costello. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2013.
Reppetto, Thomas A. Shadows Over the White House: The Mafia and the Presidents. New York: Enigma Books, 2015.
Sciacca, Tony. Luciano: The Man Who Modernized the American Mafia. New York: Pinnacle Books, 1975.
Selvaggi, Giuseppe. The Rise of the Mafia in New York. Ed. and trans. William A. Packer. New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc. 1978.
Servadio, Gaia. Mafiosi: A History of the Mafia from Its Origins to the Present. New York: Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1976.
Smith, Richard Norton. Thomas E. Dewey and His Times. The First Full-Scale Biography of the Maker of the Republican Party. New York: Simon and Shuster, 1982.
Summers, Anthony. Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover. New York: G. Putnam’s Sons, 2011.
———, and Robbyn Swann. Frank: The Life. New York: Knopf, 2005.
Thomas, Evan. The Man to See: Edward Bennett Williams. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.
Tully, Andrew. Treasury Agent: The Inside Story. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1958.
Whalen, Robert Weldon. Murder Inc : Gangsters and Gangbusters in La Guardia’s New York : Oxford University Press, 2016.
White, Richard D. Jr. Kingfish: The Reign of Huey P. Long. New York: Random House Inc., 2006.
William, Dr. T. Harry. Huey Long. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1969.
Wolf, George, and Joseph Dimona. Frank Costello: Prime Minister of the Underworld. New York: William Morrow & Company, 1974.
Court Cases
U.S. v. Frank Costello, C141/9 (USDC SDNY) (1953)
U.S. v. Frank Costello, Civil 133-28 (USDC SDNY) (1958)
U.S. v. William V. Dwyer, et.al., Case No. A-553 (USDC SDNY) (1926)
Court Decisions
Frank Costello (Deceased) and Loretta B. Costello, Petitioners v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Respondent. Docket Nos. 48467,65107, United States Tax Court. Decision filed December 29, 1976.
Matter of Haim v. O’Connell. N.Y. State Supreme Court, 195 Misc. 612 (N.Y. Misc 1948)
Mills Novelty Co. V. Farrell, Chief of Police, 64 F.2d 476, (USCA 2nd Circuit) April 1933.
Mills Novelty Co. v. Bolan, Commissioner of Police, et al. 3 F. Supp 968 (USCD EDNY) May 1933.
Philip Kastel v. Commissioner, Docket No. 105129. United States Tax Court. 1945 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 44’ 4 T.C.M. 1006.
The People of the State of New York, Appellant, v. 1400 Packages Containing Scotch Whiskey, etc., Respondent. 236 H.Y. 596 (Court of Appeals of New York) 1923.
United States of America, Appellee v. Frank Costello, Appellant, 221 F. 2d 668, (USCA 2nd Circuit), 1955.
Government Reports
Hearings before the Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, United State Senate, Eighty-First Congress (Second Session) and Eighty-Second Congress (First Session), Part 7. July 1950 to March 1951.
The Activities and Associations of Persons Identified as Present at the Residence of Joseph Barbara Sr. at Apalachin, New York, on November 14, 1957, and the Reasons for Their Presence. Report by Arthur L. Reuter, Acting Commissioner of Investigation of the State of New York, to Averell Harriman, Governor of the State of New York, April 23, 1958.
New York State Joint Legislative Committee on Crime, Its Cause, Control and Effect on Society. Report for 1970, September 1970.
State of New York Executive Department Office of The Commissioner of Investigation, letter report of William Herlands dated September 17, 1954 to Governor Thomas Dewey “on all the facts and circumstances leading to the commutation of the sentence of Charles Luciano and the Granting of Parole for Purpose of His Deportation. The document found in collection of Thomas E. Dewey papers at the University of Rochester, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections.
Newspapers and Periodicals Consulted
Albany Times Union
Arizona Republic
Chicago Tribune
Daily News (N.Y.)
Daily Star (Queens)
Long Island Daily Press
Long Island Star Journal
Newsday (Long Island)
PM (N.Y.)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Rome Daily Sentinel (Rome, N.Y.)
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle
The Evening World (N.Y.)
The New York Herald
The New York Sun
The New York Times
The New York Tribune
Time
Websites
www.americanmafia.com
www.bestofneworleans.com
www.biography.com
www.fbi.gov
www.findagrave.com
www.fultonhistory.com
www.germangeneologygroup.com
www.loc.gov
www.montauklife.com
www.nara.gov
www.nationalprohibition.weebly.com/immigrants.html
www.nyc.gov
www.nexis.com
www.usinflationcalculator.com
www.wikipedia.com
www.youtube.com
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing and researching Top Hoodlum was a gigantic project, spanning many decades of the history of New York’s organized crime scene. But luckily I had some important assistance. The first to get the nod of thanks is Noel Castiglia, who is Frank Costello’s first cousin, twice removed. Noel has been an amazing student of Costello’s family history as a member of the Castiglia clan and was generous in sharing with me documents and photographs that had until now been part of his private archives. By talking to members on the Castiglia family tree, Noel was able to resurrect long forgotten stories which he shared with me.
Another Costello fan who gets my thanks is Casey McBride, who curates the Facebook page “Uncle Frank’s Place.” Casey’s lively page is dedicated to the history of Frank Costello and is a font of information and interesting photographs, some of which he helped secure for use in this book.
Nick Pileggi gets my thanks for suggesting the idea of a book about Costello and giving me the impetus to take on the project. Editor Gary Goldstein and my agent, Jill Marsal, did much to help.
The Brocato family, notably Joseph D. Brocato and Robert Maestri Brocato get my thanks for allowing use of a historic picture taken in New Orleans of their grandfather with Costello and his wife.
Two sources of information referred to me by Noel Castiglia— Tom Cognato and Robert Golden—provided additional interesting materials as well.
Alexandra Mosca of New York and Rossana Del Zio of Rome, Italy, get a special mention for the expertise they provided. Alexandra imparted to me critical knowledge of New York cemeteries and their architecture, and was able to locate various graves. Rossano, an accomplished expert on Italian cuisine as well as organized crime, provided perspective on nineteenth century Italy and the rise of the brigands. Margaret Stacey had nice recollections of Costello from when she was a young girl.
Kevin Reilly, Carey Stumm, and Tom McAnear at the National Archives and Records Administration helped me retrieve files and information about Costello from government records.
Cindy Miller provided help with her recollections of the night Costello was shot and her friendship with him and his wife Loretta. Joel Winograd, a noted criminal defense attorney in New York, also gets my thanks. Posthumous mention has to be made of Frank Bari, an attorney who was the grandson of the late gangster and Costello friend Anthony Carfano, who over the years told me stories about Costello.
Assist
ance was also provided by the staffs of the New York Municipal Archives, The Historic New Orleans Collection and The University of Texas at Austin. Thanks also to author J. P. Andrieux of Canada and former Daily News writer William Sherman.
At Newsday, assistant managing editor Mary Ann Skinner not only helped get approval for me to do this book but also toiled diligently to find old photographs taken of Costello in 1950. Laura Mann of the Newsday library found the negatives and provided me with the necessary help in getting permission to use the images.
Frank Costello (FAR RIGHT) in Hot Springs, Arkansas,
in the 1930s with some unidentified gentlemen.
Costello often visited the resort town for vacations and gambling.
(Photo courtesy Noel Castiglia)
The stone house owned by the Castiglia family in Westport, Connecticut.
The estate was a favorite getaway for Frank Costello and his wife,
Loretta, as well as other relatives of Domenico Castiglia, a cousin.
(Photo courtesy Noel Castiglia)
Frank Costello and his wife, Loretta, enjoying a moment on the patio of their home
in Sands Point, during an interview with Newsday columnist Jack Altshul in June 1950.
The photograph was taken by Newsday photographer Edna Murray.
(Photo courtesy Newsday LLC)
Frank Costello, on left, with women identified as two of his sisters
and a man who was unidentified. The inscribed photograph was found
in a family collection by Costello relative Noel Castiglia.
(Photo courtesy Noel Castiglia)
Photo depicting noted New Orleans restaurant owner Diamond Jim Brocato
standing behind Frank Costello and his wife, Loretta, at Brocato’s famed La Louisiane
in the French Quarter. At lower left, raising a glass of wine, may be Meyer Lansky.
(Photo courtesy Joseph Brocato)
Mugshot of Johnny Torrio, the fabled gangster from Chicago,
who along with Costello chaired a meeting of mobsters in Atlantic City in 1929
in which they sorted out bootlegging business and convinced Al Capone
to take a “vacation” by getting arrested. The ploy was for Capone to go away
for a short while to tone down the violence in Chicago.
(Photo courtesy Library of Congress)
Charles “Lucky” Luciano, the main architect of what became the
Five Families of New York City, boss and close friend of Frank Costello.
He is shown in an NYPD mug shot.
(Photo courtesy Wikimedia)
Thomas Dewey, former Governor of New York and the prosecutor
who secured a conviction of Luciano in the 1936 vice case.
Dewey tried but failed to implicate Costello in wrongdoing.
Dewey later pardoned Luciano and allowed him to be deported to Italy
after World War Two because of the gangster’s efforts to help the war effort.
(Photo courtesy Library of Congress)
New York City Mayor
Fiorello La Guardia,
who became the nemesis
of Frank Costello
by going after his
slot machine businesses
in the 1930s.
La Guardia is shown here
looking at a giant catch
at the Fulton Fish Market.
New York City Mayor
Fiorello La Guardia
lecturing on the evils
of organized crime.
(Photos courtesy Library of Congress)
Cops in New York City pouring alcoholic beverages seized during
a Prohibition raid down the sewer. During Prohibition,
the city had as many as an estimated 30,000 speakeasies,
which were stocked by the smuggling operations of
Frank Costello, William V. Dwyer, and others.
(Photo courtesy Library of Congress)
Frank Costello and his wife, Loretta, enjoy a smoke in the living room
of their home in Sands Point, in June 1950. The photo was taken during
an interview the Costellos had with Newsday columnist Jack Altshul.
The photo was taken by the newspaper’s photographer, Edna Murray.
(Photo courtesy Newsday LLC)
Signature of Frank Costello on a statement he gave during his 1926 federal bootlegging case.
(Author’s collection)
The Costello family
mausoleum in
St. Michael’s Cemetery,
Queens, New York.
Note the initials
“F” and “C”
on the bronze door.
Cash dealings over
the construction of
the mausoleum
led to Costello’s
conviction on federal
income tax charges.
(Author’s collection)
Louis “Lepke” Buchalter, a major mob figure in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as an associate of Frank Costello, shown here after his arrest in New York. The man on the left of the picture, to whom Buchalter is shackled, is identified as FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.
Owney Madden,
a bootlegger, nightclub
owner, and associate
of Frank Costello.
Madden, a major
Irish racketeer of his day,
was beset by legal problems
and left New York City
for Hot Springs, Arkansas,
in 1933. He died there
of natural causes in 1965.
(Photos courtesy Library of Congress)
A jaunty Meyer Lansky exiting a Manhattan courthouse in 1958.
Vito Genovese, the man who nearly had Frank Costello killed
and supplanted him as boss of the old Luciano crime family,
shown in a prison mug shot after his conviction on a federal narcotics case.
(Photos courtesy Library of Congress)
Chicago crime boss Al Capone, seen in a mug shot taken in a federal penitentiary.
(Photo courtesy FBI)
Frank Costello pruning a tree at his Sands Point home during a visit in 1950 by Newsday reporter Jack Altshul and his wife Edna Murray, who took the photographs. The negatives for the Newsday photographs were among those found during a search of the newspaper’s old negatives.
(Photo courtesy Newsday LLC)