Ciro Terranova
Born	1889 Corleone, Sicily, Italy
Died	February 20, 1938 (age 49)
Status	Deceased
Occupation	Gangster

Ciro "The Artichoke King" Terranova (1889-February 20, 1938) was a New York City gangster and one time leader of the Morello crime family. Year 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Corleone is a small town of approximately 12,000 inhabitants in the province of Palermo in Sicily, Italy. ... Sicily ( in Italian and Sicilian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Gangster (disambiguation). ... Year 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... For other uses, see Gangster (disambiguation). ... The Morello Crime Family was one of the earliest crime families to be established in the United States. ...

Early life

Ciro Terranova was born in the town of Corleone, Sicily. In 1892, Ciro moved to New York with his father, mother, four sisters, brother Vincent, and step-brother Nicholas Morello to meet Ciro's brother Giuseppe "Peter" Morello, who had arrived six months earlier. Years later, Ciro, Vincent, Nicholas, and Peter would found the powerful Morello crime family. Corleone is a small town of approximately 12,000 inhabitants in the province of Palermo in Sicily, Italy. ... Nicholas Morello (1855/1866-September 7/November 6, 1916) was one of the first New York organized crime figures founding the Morello crime family and was later one of the participants in the Mafia-Camorra War of 1916. ... Peter The Clutching Hand Morello (1880-August 1930), also known as The Old Fox, was a prominent member of the Morello crime family and advisor to Joe Masseria. ... The Morello Crime Family was one of the earliest crime families to be established in the United States. ...

Due to lack of work in the New York area, Terranova and his family only stayed there for about a year. They eventually traveled to Louisiana where the father planted sugar cane, then moved to Bryan, Texas, where they worked as cotton pickers. After two years in Texas, malaria struck the family. They moved back to New York in 1896. This article is about the U.S. State. ... Species Ref: ITIS 42058 as of 2004-05-05 Sugarcane is one of six species of a tall tropical southeast Asian grass (Family Poaceae) having stout fibrous jointed stalks whose sap at one time was the primary source of sugar. ... Bryan is a city in Brazos County, Texas, United States. ... For other uses, see Cotton (disambiguation). ... Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. ... Year 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar). ...

Return To New York

Ciro and Vincent went to school and worked at the family business, a plastering store, on evenings and weekends. Ciro later worked as a waiter at a restaurant owned by his step-brother Giuseppe at the rear of the Prince Street Saloon. In 1903 Giuseppe was charged with the barrel murders, but released due to lack evidence. After the trials ended in June 1903, the Morello Crime Family continued to deal with police searches and harassment. On one such occasion Ciro, Vincent, and his nephews Charlie and Nick Sylvester were arrested and held overnight. Another time, Ciro was arrested while trying to find a doctor for Charlie. This article is about the building material. ... Year 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... The Barrel Murders, as termed by the American press, was a method of execution used by early American mafiosi in the 1870s. ... The Morello Crime Family was one of the earliest crime families to be established in the United States. ... Harassment refers to a wide spectrum of offensive behavior. ...

Rise to Power

When Ignazio "Lupo the Wolf" Saietta and Ciro's brother Giuseppe were sent to prison on counterfeiting charges, Ciro, Vincent, and Nick filled the power vacuum. They soon rose to be the top gangsters of East Harlem, running the Morello family. Ignazio Saietta, a. ... A counterfeit is an imitation that is made with the intent to deceptively represent its content or origins. ... Spanish Harlem, also known as East Harlem or El Barrio, is a neighborhood in northeastern part of the borough of Manhattan, one of the largest predominantly Hispanic communities in New York City. ...

Ciro earned his nickname, "the Artichoke King", by purchasing artichokes at $6.00 a crate from California, then selling them in New York at a 30-40% profit. Ciro's violent reputation preceded him, frightening vegetable sellers into buying them. Artichokes are three types of vegetables, two in the daisy family Asteraceae, and one in the deadnettle family Lamiaceae. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ...

In 1906, Joe DiMarco, a gambling joint operator, challenged the power of Ciro and the Morellos. The Morellos then conspired with the Navy Street Gang to kill DiMarco and gave the job to Leo Lauritano, the Navy Street leader. Lauritano in turn passed the job on to Mike Fetto. Fetto went to DiMarco's club to kill him. However, Fetto couldn't identify DiMarco and so he returned without finishing the job. The job was then given to John "Jonny Left" Esposito, with Fetto as his assistant. Espocito couldn't find Dimarco, so he killed Charles Lombardi instead. Fetto eventually caught up with DiMarco and murdered him.

In another account of this story, Fetto shot Lombardi thinking he was DiMarco. A third Morello associate in the room, Giuseppe Verrizano, ended up killing DiMarco. The Mafia-Camorra War was a war fought between of course the mafia which was the Sicilian Morello crime family and the Camorra, the Neapolitan Navy Street gang and Coney Island gang. ...

Change in Power

After the DiMarco murder, the police arrested hitman John Esposito. Esposito then implicated Ciro, who was indicted on the two murders. However, the charges against Ciro were soon dropped. The reason was that the testimony against Ciro was given by co-conspirators and accomplices and under New York law outside corroboration was necessary. Two weeks after the DiMarco hit, but before his arrest, Esposito was ordered to kill Charles Ubriaco and Ciro’s half-brother Nicholas, who were just with rival gang members planning out peace between them. In the common law legal system, an indictment is a formal charge of having committed a serious criminal offense. ... Murder is the crime of causing the death of another human being without lawful excuse, and with intent to kill or to cause grievous bodily harm. ... Charles Ubracio [Umbriaco] (c. ...

By 1920 the Morello-Terranova-Saietta rule was being challenged by Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria, an up-and-coming gangster. Vincent Morello was murdered on East 116 St. A powerful ally of the Morello Family, Umberto "Rocco" Valenti, was killed by Charles "Lucky" Luciano, then a member of the Masseria family. After Valenti's death, many of Ciro's men switched sides to Masseria. Even Peter Morello switched sides and become one of Masseria's most trusted lieutenants, even though the Masseria gang had killed his brother. When the dust settled, Ciro controlled Upper Manhattan and Masseria the Bronx. Joe The Boss Masseria Giuseppe Joe The Boss Masseria (1879–April 15, 1931) was an early Mafia don in the United States. ... Rocco Valenti (d. ... Charles Lucky Luciano (born Salvatore Lucania) (November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was a Sicilian-American mobster. ... This article is about the borough of New York City. ... For other uses, see Bronx (disambiguation). ...

Troubled Murder Contract

On December 7, 1929, the board of directors of the Tepecano Democratic Club threw a banquet in honor of Judge H Vitale at the Roman Gardens in the Bronx. Over 70 guests attended, including Ciro, six of his gun men, and numerous political figures, police officers, and friends. While Judge Vitale was giving his speech at 1:30 A.M. seven gunmen entered the dining room. They stole money and jewelry from the guests, along with the gun of detective Arthur C. Johnson. The incident was to be kept quiet until it could be looked into. However, within three hours, all the stolen items had been returned. is the 341st day of the year (342nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 12-hour clock is a timekeeping convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods called ante meridiem (a. ...

At the time, it was believed that Terranova had staged the Roman Gardens robbery to steal back a murder contract that he had signed. The contract was for 30,000 dollars to murder Frankie Yale and Frankie Marlow. Ciro had paid the hitmen an advance of 5,000 dollars, with 25,000 dollars to be paid after the job was done. However, after the hitmen killed Marlow and Yale, they didn't receive the remaining 25,000 dollars from Ciro. The hitmen then threatened to turn the contract over to the police (although how they would profit from this move is unknown). Terranova supposedly wanted to see the contract to refresh his memory. If the signature was indeed his, he would pay the rest. Instead, Ciro staged the Roman Gardens holdup to get the contract. He was released when everything blew over. Vitale was removed from the bench in March 1930. Francesco Ioele (1893 - July 1, 1928), better known as Frankie Uale or the alias of Yale, was a Brooklyn gangster and original employer of Al Capone, before the latter moved to Chicago to start his own gang. ...

Castellammarese War

While the Castellammarese War was going on, Joseph "Joe Cargo" Valachi, the future mob turncoat, tried to patch up his friendship with Ciro and even befriended Ciro's driver. Gaetano "Tommy" Gagliano (who later became boss of the Lucchese crime family) then asked Valachi to take his side in the gang war. The Castellammarese War is the name given to a bloody internal power struggle between two factions of Italian-American mafia figures that took place in 1930 and 1931. ... Joseph Joe Cargo Valachi (September 22, 1903 – April 3, 1971) {also aka Charles Chanbano/Anthony Sorge} was the first Mafia member to publicly acknowledge the existence of the Mafia. ... Tommy Gagliano Gaetano Tommy Gagliano was the head of the Lucchese crime family between 1931 and 1953. ... The Lucchese crime family is one of the Five Families that controls organized crime activities in New York City, USA, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia (or Cosa Nostra). ...

Valachi's first assignment was to kill Ciro's driver. Instead, Valachi killed Ciro's nephew, Joseph Catania. At Catania's funeral, Terranova swore revenge. Valachi also claimed to have killed Peter Morello, Ciro's half brother, but Lucky Luciano said that Albert Anastasia and Frank Scalise killed Morello. Albert Anastasia (born Umberto Anastasio) (September 26, 1902–October 25, 1957), also known as the Mad Hatter and Lord High Executioner, was a Mafia boss chiefly remembered for running the contract killing syndicate known as Murder, Inc. ... Frank Scalice (1893-June 17, 1957), also known as Don Cheech, was an Underboss of the New York Anastasia crime family who controlled narcotics and labor racketeering. ...

On April 15, 1931, Masseria himself was murdered. Terranova, who drove the killers to the Masseria hit, was reportedly so unnerved after the murder that he couldn't put the car in gear. When the word of this went out, Ciro's reputation suffered. Many viewed this time as the beginning of Ciro's downfall. is the 105th day of the year (106th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Downfall and death

Dutch Schultz eventually took over the number rackets in Harlem. As Schultz' partner, Ciro received only 25% of the profits. Ciro's career briefly rose again after the death of Schultz and his associates. However, Luciano then put Mike Coppola in charge of destroying Terranova. With artichokes as his only legitimate source of income, Ciro didn't last very long. Dutch Schultz (August 6, 1902 – October 24, 1935) was a New York City-area gangster of the 1920s and 30s. ... Mike Coppola (c. ...

On Dec. 21, 1935 New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia appeared at the Bronx Terminal Market and banned the sale, display, and possession of artichokes. Six men were indicted on violation of the anti-trust laws, including Joseph Castaldo, a relative of Terranova and his successor in the artichoke business. La Guardia even had the police keep Terranova out of the city; every time Ciro appeared south of Westchester County he was arrested for vagrancy. In 1937, Ciro was living on borrowed money and lost his house. Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (December 11, 1882–September 20, 1947) was the Mayor of New York from 1934 to 1945. ... Media:Example. ... Westchester County is a suburban county with about 940,000 residents located in the U.S. state of New York. ... A vagrant is a person, almost always poor, without a home or regular work. ...

On February 18, 1938, Ciro Terranova suffered a paralyzing stroke. He died two days later, with his son and wife at his side, at the age of 49. For other uses, see Stroke (disambiguation). ...

In popular fiction

• In the television series The Untouchables, Terranova is portrayed by Jack Weston.

The Untouchables is the name of a television series that ran from 1959 to 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company. ... Weston as Pig in The Cincinnati Kid Jack Weston (August 21, 1924 - May 3, 1996), born Jack Weinstein, was an American movie and television actor. ...

External links

• Biography of Ciro Terranova on GangRule
• Find-A-Grave biography
• A picture of Terranova (no info on copyright)