Anthony Strollo
Encyclopedia
Anthony C. Strollo aka "Tony Bender", was a New York mobster who served as a high ranking member of the Genovese crime family
.
near the Manhattan Bridge
with two brothers, Emilio and Dominick. He married a woman named Edna Goldenberg who bore him several children. During Prohibition
, Strollo gained a formidable reputation as a bootlegger
and hitman
. He was a cousin of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
mob family member Lenine Strollo (born c. 1930 Youngstown, Ohio
) and Dante Strollo who is another reputed member of the Youngstown La Cosa Nostra syndicate. Lenine was officially inducted into the Pittsburgh Mafia in 1917 and served under Michael Genovese
. In the early to mid 1920s, Strollo worked for gang boss Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria. However, as the Castellammarese War
heated up, Strollo defected to Salvatore Maranzano
and become a trusted lieutenant and gunman. At this time, Strollo also became acquainted with then-Maranzano lieutenant, Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno
.
. Strollo became a capo (lieutenant) for boss Charles "Lucky" Luciano and underboss Vito Genovese
. He assumed control of the Greenwich Village Crew
operating illegal gambling in New York's Greenwich Village
and Lower Manhattan. During this time, Luciano became suspicious of rival Michael "Little Apples" Reggione's growing influence and ordered his killing. On November 25, 1932, hitmen Joe Valachi
and Peter Maione shot and killed Reggione with three gunshots to the head.
In 1936, boss Luciano went to prison on a pandering charge. Strollo and capo Michael "Trigger Mike" Coppola stepped up to help new acting boss, Vito Genovese. In 1937, there was another leadership change in the Luciano family as Genovese fled to Italy
to avoid a murder indictment. Frank Costello
now became acting boss and kept Strollo as a top capo. Strollo successfully operated a string of Greenwich Village
nightclubs, including the popular Black Cat, the Hollywood, the 19th Hole (some say Christopher "Christy Tick" Furnari
of the Lucchese crime family
ran the 19th Hole), and the Village Inn.
and pledged loyalty to him.
On April 8, 1962 Strollo disappeared from his residence in Fort Lee, New Jersey
. It has never been determined who killed him, or why he was killed. Joe Valachi would later testify Strollo was probably killed on orders of Genovese, who suspected that Strollo had conspired with Luciano to send Genovese to prison. FBI recordings of mob conversations during the 1960s confirm Valachi's testimony. As his body was never recovered, Strollo's murder is unsolved and remains a mystery. There were rumors in late 1960s that Strollo was still alive, and had faked his death to avoid arrest. However, there is no substantiation to this story.
Genovese crime family
The Genovese crime family , is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime...
.
Early years
Born in New York City, the son of Calabrian immigrants Leone and Giovannina Nigro. Strollo grew up in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
near the Manhattan Bridge
Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan with Brooklyn . It was the last of the three suspension bridges built across the lower East River, following the Brooklyn and the Williamsburg bridges...
with two brothers, Emilio and Dominick. He married a woman named Edna Goldenberg who bore him several children. During Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, Strollo gained a formidable reputation as a bootlegger
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
and hitman
Hitman
A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
. He was a cousin of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
mob family member Lenine Strollo (born c. 1930 Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
) and Dante Strollo who is another reputed member of the Youngstown La Cosa Nostra syndicate. Lenine was officially inducted into the Pittsburgh Mafia in 1917 and served under Michael Genovese
Michael James Genovese
Michael James Genovese was an alleged boss of the Pittsburgh crime family. References to Michael Genovese as the brother of Vito Genovese are to a different Michael Genovese; Michael James Genovese was first cousin to New York mob boss Vito Genovese.-Early years:Genovese was born to Ursula...
. In the early to mid 1920s, Strollo worked for gang boss Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria. However, as the Castellammarese War
Castellammarese War
The Castellammarese War was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American Mafia between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and those of Salvatore Maranzano. It was so called because Maranzano was based in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily...
heated up, Strollo defected to Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano was an organized crime figure from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss in the United States. He instigated the Castellammarese War to seize control of the American Mafia operations, and briefly became the Mafia's "Boss of Bosses"...
and become a trusted lieutenant and gunman. At this time, Strollo also became acquainted with then-Maranzano lieutenant, Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno
Joseph Bonanno
Joseph Charles Bonanno, Sr. was a Sicilian-born American mafioso who became the boss of the Bonanno crime family. He was nicknamed "Joe Bananas," a name he despised.-Early life:...
.
Luciano family
Following the death of Maranzano, Strollo joined the Luciano crime family, which became part of the National Crime SyndicateNational Crime Syndicate
The National Crime Syndicate was the name given by the press to a loosely-organized multi-ethnic organized crime syndicate. Its origins are uncertain....
. Strollo became a capo (lieutenant) for boss Charles "Lucky" Luciano and underboss Vito Genovese
Vito Genovese
Vito "Don Vito" Genovese was an Italian mafioso who rose to power in America during the Castellammarese War to later become leader of the Genovese crime family. Genovese served as mentor to future mob boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante...
. He assumed control of the Greenwich Village Crew
Greenwich Village Crew
The Greenwich Village Crew is a crew within the Genovese crime family, active in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan. Original controlled by Don Vito Genovese from the early 1920s up until his arrest in the late 1950s. In the early 1980s Capo Vincent Gigante, was made the new boss of the...
operating illegal gambling in New York's Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
and Lower Manhattan. During this time, Luciano became suspicious of rival Michael "Little Apples" Reggione's growing influence and ordered his killing. On November 25, 1932, hitmen Joe Valachi
Joe Valachi
Joseph "Joe Cargo" Valachi , Italian American, also known as "Charles Chanbano" and "Anthony Sorge" was the first Mafia member to publicly acknowledge the existence of the Mafia. He is also the person who made Cosa Nostra a household name.-Career:Joseph Valachi was born in East Harlem, New York...
and Peter Maione shot and killed Reggione with three gunshots to the head.
In 1936, boss Luciano went to prison on a pandering charge. Strollo and capo Michael "Trigger Mike" Coppola stepped up to help new acting boss, Vito Genovese. In 1937, there was another leadership change in the Luciano family as Genovese fled to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to avoid a murder indictment. Frank Costello
Frank Costello
Frank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...
now became acting boss and kept Strollo as a top capo. Strollo successfully operated a string of Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
nightclubs, including the popular Black Cat, the Hollywood, the 19th Hole (some say Christopher "Christy Tick" Furnari
Christopher Furnari
Christopher "Christie Tick" Furnari, Sr. is a Lucchese crime family mobster serving life in prison. During the 1980s, Furnari served as the family consigliere until his 1986 racketeering conviction.-Early years:...
of the Lucchese crime family
Lucchese crime family
The Lucchese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The family originated in the early 1920s with Gaetano "Tommy" Reina serving as boss up until his murder...
ran the 19th Hole), and the Village Inn.
Genovese family
In 1957, after a failed assassination attempt, Costello relinquished control of the family to Genovese. Strollo now oversaw operations for the Genovese family. However, in 1959, Genovese was sent to prison for 15 years on an allegedly trumped up narcotics charge. Showing his usual adaptability, Strollo soon met with Gambino family boss Carlo GambinoCarlo Gambino
"Don" Carlo Gambino, was a Sicilian mafioso who became Boss of the Gambino crime family, that still bears his name today. After the 1957 Apalachin Convention he unexpectedly seized control of the Commission of the American Mafia. Gambino was known for being low-key and secretive...
and pledged loyalty to him.
On April 8, 1962 Strollo disappeared from his residence in Fort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 35,345. Located atop the Hudson Palisades, the borough is the western terminus of the George Washington Bridge...
. It has never been determined who killed him, or why he was killed. Joe Valachi would later testify Strollo was probably killed on orders of Genovese, who suspected that Strollo had conspired with Luciano to send Genovese to prison. FBI recordings of mob conversations during the 1960s confirm Valachi's testimony. As his body was never recovered, Strollo's murder is unsolved and remains a mystery. There were rumors in late 1960s that Strollo was still alive, and had faked his death to avoid arrest. However, there is no substantiation to this story.
Further reading
- Bernstein, Lee. The Greatest Menace: Organized Crime in Cold War America. Boston: UMass Press, 2002. ISBN 1-55849-345-X
- Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
- Joey, David Fisher. Joey the Hit Man: The Autobiography of a Mafia Killer. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2004. ISBN 1-56025-393-2
- Kwitny, Jonathan. Vicious Circles: The Mafia in the Marketplace. New York: W.W. Norton, 1979. ISBN 0-393-01188-7
- Valentine, Douglas. The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs. New York: R.R. Donnelly & Sons, 2004. ISBN 1-85984-568-1
- Winter-Berger, Robert N. The Washington Pay-Off: An Insider's View of Corruption in Government. New York: Dell Publishing, 1972.
External links
- The American "Mafia": Who was Who ? - Anthony Strollo
- Dying of the Light: The Joe Valachi Story – Chapter 7: The Trouble with Tony by Thomas L. Jones at Crime LibraryCrime LibraryThe Crime Library is a website documenting major crimes, criminals, and trials, forensics, and criminal profiling from books, police reports, crime television shows, and writers...