Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria (17 January 1886 – 15 April 1931) was the boss of the Masseria crime family (the modern Genovese crime family), leading the family from 1922 to 1931. Masseria, assisted by the former crime boss Giuseppe Morello, rose to become one of the most powerful bosses in New York City. He fought against Salvatore Maranzano in the Castellammarese War of 1929-1931, and he was murdered by his own men.
Biography[]
Early career[]
Lucky Luciano and Masseria in 1923
Giuseppe Masseria was born on 17 January 1886 in Menfi, Sicily, Italy, and he arrived in the United States in 1902. Masseria joined Giuseppe Morello's Sicilian gang in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, and he got to know men such as Gaetano Reina and Salvatore D'Aquila. The imprisonment of Morello would lead to civil warfare within his gang, and Masseria began his rise to power. During the late 1910s, Masseria formed a rivalry with D'Aquila, who sent Umberto Valenti to murder him on 9 August 1922. He survived the hit attempt unscathed, and he was nicknamed "the man who could dodge bullets" as a result of this feat; he proceeded to have Valenti killed, earning him the new nickname "Joe the Boss".
Joe the Boss[]
Masseria in Atlantic City
Masseria eventually surpassed Morello in power, becoming the new boss of the Morello crime family. Masseria became a respected figure, and he managed to threaten even the famous Arnold Rothstein, forcing Rothstein's associates Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky to give him 10% of the earnings from their card games on the Lower East Side due to his control over the neighborhood. Masseria became hostile with Rothstein after his two nephews were murdered by Jimmy Darmody, blaming the murder on Lanksy and Luciano. War was narrowly averted, and Masseria instead turned his attention to expanding his operation.
War with Atlantic City[]
In 1923, Masseria's lieutenant Gyp Rosetti, with Masseria's backing, decided to take over the town of Tabor Heights and hijack liquor shipments sent by Atlantic County treasurer Enoch Thompson to Rothstein, disturbing the fragile peace between Masseria and Rothstein. After Rosetti had Babette's Supper Club bombed in a failed assassination attempt on Rothstein and Thompson, Thompson ordered Masseria's assassination. His hitman Owen Sleater and corrupt Bureau of Prohibition agent Stan Sawicki attempted to murder Masseria at a Turkish bath house in Manhattan, but Sleater was gunned down, his body sent in a crate to Thompson's mansion. Later, Thompson would strike back with the assistance of the Chicago Outfit, massacring Rosetti's men in a turf war in Atlantic City. Rothstein managed to make a deal with Thompson; if Thompson gave him 99% of Andrew Mellon's distillery in Pennsylvania, Rothstein would talk Masseria out of supporting Rosetti. Masseria was bribed with 50 pounds of heroin ($100,000 in 1923, $1,399,556 in 2016), and he decided to withdraw his protection from Rosetti. As they left Atlantic City, Al Capone and Chalky White's men ambushed and massacred the entire convoy, and Rosetti was murdered soon after. Masseria and Thompson came to an agreement after Thompson gave him a sizeable bribe.
Castellammarese War[]
Masseria after being gunned down
In 1928, Giuseppe Morello had Salvatore D'Aquila murdered, and the murder of Frankie Yale that same year allowed for Masseria to fight to become the predominant crime boss in the city. Masseria went to war with Salvatore Maranzano in 1929, vying for power against him in the "Castellammarese War". Masseria was the more powerful boss, but the murders of Giuseppe Morello and Alfred Mineo led to Masseria being weakened. Eventually, some of Masseria's minions began to see Maranzano as the more powerful boss, and they plotted to kill him. On 15 April 1931, Masseria was called to a meeting by Lucky Luciano to discuss the war, and they met in a restaurant. Luciano excused himself to use the bathroom, and Bugsy Siegel and Tonino Sandrelli rushed into the restaurant with guns drawn, executing Masseria at the table. Luciano was given Masseria's rackets, and he became Maranzano's second-in-command before betraying him as well.