Vincent Mangano (1888-1951) was the head of what would become known as the Gambino crime family from 1931 to 1951. Image File history File links Vincent_mangano. ... The Gambino crime family is one of the Five Families that controlled some organized crime based in New York City, New York, USA within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known familiarly as the Mafia (also known as La Cosa Nostra). ...

Early life and career

Mangano was born in 1888 in Sicily and, like so many fellow Mustache Petes, travelled to the United States during the 1920s and swiftly became involved in organised crime. He was accompanied by his brother, Philip and Joseph Profaci, a future mob boss in his own right. Joe Profaci (1896 - 1962) was a New York Mafia boss who was the head of the Columbo Family for over three decades. ...

The Castellammarese War saw the killing of many of the old order of Mafia men, but in part due to his close relationship with the vice president of the International Longshoremen's Association, Emil Camarda. This relationship allowed Mangano tight control of rackets on the New York docks - something the ultimate victor of the Castellammarese War, Charles "Lucky" Luciano, could make good use of. Thus Luciano, when dividing the powerbase of the newly-formed National Crime Syndicate, elected Mangano one of the heads of the Five Families. 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. ... The International Longshoremens Association is a labor union representing longshore workers along the East Coast of the United States and Canada, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, and inland waterways. ... Lucky Luciano. ... The National Crime Syndicate was the name given to an organized crime syndicate, set up in the 1930s, by Charles Lucky Luciano and based out of New York City. ...

As head of the Gambino family

Mangano made the waterfront His family's main income producer. He and his associates would threaten to prevent cargo from being loaded or unloaded if the shipping company refused to pay a tribute. Mangano would force workers to pay a fee for every day they worked on the docks - because of this, the mob knew exactly what was on each ship and could choose what to steal.

Mangano and Camarda established the City Democratic Club, which promoted bedrock American values in the front room, while illegal activities were hatched in the backroom. It became a regular meeting place for the members of Murder, Inc., the infamous gang of assassins who, for a price, did the bidding of the Italian mobsters. Philip Mangano frequented the club, as did Vincent's underboss, Albert Anastasia. Murder, Inc. ... Albert Anastasia (February 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. ...

Feud with Anastasia

Mangano was the only one of the bosses who retained the old ways so resented by the new breed of mob leaders, including Anastasia. Anastasia grew to prefer the company of other mob bosses such as Luciano, Frank Costello and Louis Lepke, and Mangano grew to resent and mistrust his second-in-command. The two men regularly argued and fought, having to be pulled apart - possibly for the protection of the elder Mangano who was no physical match for his younger underboss. Frank Costello (January 21, 1891 - February 18, 1973) was an Italian-American gangster who was one of the most powerful and influential Mafia bosses in American history. ... Louis Lepke Buchalter (6 February 1897 - 4 March 1944) was a Jewish American mobster who was the notorious head of Murder, Inc. ...

Disappearance

Although it ultimately took a full 20 years of working together for matters to come to a head, Mangano eventually met his end at the hands of Anastasia, or so it is believed.

In 1951, Anastasia is believed to have heard of a plot to kill him being formed by his boss, and decided to take pre-emptive action in what he would ultimately describe as "self defence". Philip Mangano was found murdered in the aera of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn on 19 April 1951, and Vincent himself vanished the same day without trace. His body has never been found. Though Anastasia never admitted to having a hand in the Mangano murders, he managed to convince the heads of the other families that Vincent Mangano had been plotting to have him killed (a claim backed up by Frank Costello), and he was named as the new boss of the family. Body of water Sheepshead Bay is a bay separating the mainland of Brooklyn, New York City from the eastern portion of Coney Island, the latter originally a barrier island but now effectively an extension of the mainland with peninsulas both east and west. ...