New York gangster Francesco Castiglia, aka Frank Costello, was born on January 26th, or February 10th, 1891 in Lauropoli, Calabria, Italy. Costello is not a name that readily comes to mind today when discussing NY gangsters – but if he hadn’t existed Hollywood would have invented him.
He was the “civilized” crime boss known as the Mob’s Prime Minister. He dressed well, was soft-spoken – the result of throat surgery not demeanor – dined at the finest restaurants, went to shows and hosted charity events. He was politically connected – in New York and throughout the country. He never carried a gun. Early in his life he was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon, served a ten month sentence and swore off personal firearms from then on claiming he’d be successful by using his brains not violence. And for the most part he was proven correct. What Costello never seemed to grasp was that with his choice of profession – crime boss - he would never receive the respect he craved. His life is also full of anecdotes that read like a novel.
His biography is similar to the other NY gangsters we’ve covered. His family immigrated to the U.S. in 1896 settling in NY’s East Harlem. Reaching adolescence Costello spent less and less time in school and more time on the streets, committing petty crimes and serving three separate jail terms for assault and robbery. He eventually hooked up with Ciro “The Artichoke King” Terranova, a powerful Mafioso in East Harlem and an underboss in the Manhattan Morello crime family. At this time – 1916 – after serving his ten month sentence on a concealed weapon conviction, Francesco Castiglia officially changed his name, swore off guns and met up with Charles “Lucky” Luciano and his Young Turks – including Meyer Lansky, Vito Genovese, Bugsy Siegel and Tommy Lucchese. Prohibition, opportunity and a lot of money were just around the corner.
Much like Luciano, Costello judged his compatriots not on their nationality or religion but on their competence. He and the Young Turks became major players in NY’s bootlegging operations, all bank-rolled by Arnold Rothstein – an underworld financier and allegedly behind the 1919 World Series Black Sox scandal. Rothstein saw a kindred spirit in Costello and became his mentor showing him that money spoke louder than bullets. He introduced a young Costello into NY’s political world via Tammany Hall, the Democratic and at times incredibly corrupt NYC headquarters and the political machine Boss Tweed used to his criminal advantage 50 years earlier. This relationship with Rothstein during the 1920’s – Rothstein was shot and killed in 1928 – was critical in Costello’s maturity as a crime boss where he learned to meld corrupt politicians, businessman and judges into his criminal operations.
During Prohibition Costello’s path crossed with Dutch Schultz and the Irish gangsters – Owney “The Killer” Madden and William “Big Bill” Dwyer – known as “The Combine” and based out of NY’s Hell’s Kitchen and allegedly took over operations when Dwyer was convicted of bribing a Coast Guard official. Costello was also implicated and tried – the verdict – a hung jury which Costello “anticipated”.
He also teamed up with Johnny Torrio – Al Capone’s mentor – illegally importing Canadian and European liquor into the country - this possibly the first nation-wide criminal syndicate operation. This alliance culminating with a crime boss meeting in Atlantic City in May 1929. Among the attendees – Al Capone - remember this meeting, we will revisit it.
Being involved in NY’s crime underworld meant Costello became involved in the Castellammarese War pitting the crime families of Joe “the Boss” Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano against one another. As we know from previous columns both men were killed and in 1931 Charles “Lucky” Luciano assumed the throne of the NY underworld, named Costello as his consigliere – and Vito Genovese as his underboss. As we’ll see over the subsequent years the Costello/Genovese relationship was a “troubled” one.
Costello was given free reign by Luciano to run his own operations – specifically bookmaking, gambling and slot machines (25,000 in New York alone) – which became highly profitable for the Luciano crime family. But trouble was on the horizon.
Part 2 to follow. Costello becomes Boss, visits the Kefauver Hearings, clashes with Genovese and meets Vincent “The Chin” Gigante.
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