Giosuè Gallucci (; December 10, 1864 – May 21, 1915), also known as Luccariello, was a crime boss of Italian Harlem in New York City affiliated with the local Camorra. He dominated the area from 1910 to 1915 and was also known as the undisputed "King of Little Italy" or "The Boss", due to his power in the criminal underworld and political connections. He held strict control over the policy game (numbers racket), employing Neapolitan and Sicilian street gangs as his enforcers.
Born in Naples, Italy, Gallucci became one of the most powerful Italians politically in the city. With his ability to mobilize the vote in Harlem and register immigrants, he delivered a significant number of ballots. He gained near immunity from law enforcement by allying with Tammany Hall, a Democratic political machine that ruled Manhattan and New York City politics almost unopposed. Despite his power and political clout, Gallucci was subject to Black Hand extortion and his rule was challenged frequently. In 1915, he was killed by a rival gang. The fight over the lucrative numbers rackets left behind by Gallucci was known as the Mafia–Camorra War.
Early life and career
Giosuè Gallucci was born in Naples, Italy, on December 10, 1864, to Luca Gallucci and Antonia Cavallo.According to his passport application available on He was also known by his nickname Luccariello.Gangs Took Life for Small Cause, The Sun (New York), December 26, 1917, p.8. His name is also often spelled as Galucci. In Italy, a Naples court sentenced Gallucci in 1883 for breaking parole, resisting arrest and perjury and in 1885 for assault and attempted extortion. On March 11, 1892, he arrived in New York City on the SS Werkendam from Rotterdam, the Netherlands.Passenger Giosuè Gallucci (dead link), Ellis Island/Port of New York Records. The name is misspelled as Giorne Gallucci. Other passenger records show that a Giosuè Gallucci arrived on Ellis Island on August 8, 1899, from Bremen (Germany), identified as a 35-year-old male Italian citizen from Naples. Another Giosuè Gallucci arrived on October 4, 1906, from Naples with the Prinzess Irene, identified as a 42-year-old U.S. citizen, travelling with his niece Emma who would stay at her uncle's address at 339 East 109th Street. Passenger record Ellis Island In doing so, he violated Italian emigration laws and was convicted in absentia for fraud. According to an Italian police report, he again left Italy on July 24, 1896.Criminals Sent From Italy, New York Herald, June 21, 1898, p.10Cast-Off Criminals; How those of Europe find an asylum in America, Kansas City Journal, July 10, 1898, p.18Letter from the Prefect of Naples, Naples 23 May 1898, National Archives Record Group 59: General Records of the Department of State, Series: Letters Received, File Unit: M179 - Miscellaneous Letters of the Department of State, 1789-1906, June 18–30, 1898 It was rumored that Gallucci had killed a man just before coming to New York, but he publicly denied this.Swear Revenge As Italy Boss Dies, New York Herald, May 22, 1915, p.8
In April 1898, he was arrested in New York in connection with the murder of Josephine Inselma (or Giuseppina Anselmi), who was portrayed as Gallucci's companion by the police. Inselma was murdered with "her throat cut from ear to ear" in her apartment at 108 Mulberry Street within a block of the infamous Mulberry Bend.Woman Killed, No Clew To Slayer, New York Herald, April 19, 1898, p.10 Gallucci's apprehension took place while he was operating a fruit wagon in the neighborhood; he was described as "a young grocer and expressman, with a store at 172 Mott Street". Gallucci said he had no reason to kill the woman and provided an alibi.Dead With Her Throat Cut, The New York Times, April 19, 1898, p.12
A grand jury dismissed the charges. New York City Police Department detective Joe Petrosino, who was in charge of the investigation, urged his superiors to inquire for more information in Italy. The police prefect of Naples responded, describing Gallucci as a "bad character" and "a dangerous criminal, belonging to the category of blackmailers" who had been placed under police surveillance and charged several times with theft, blackmail, and other crimes.Nest of Italian Thugs; The police stumble across a big one in this city, The Sun (New York), June 21, 1898, p.5 His wife, the prefect added, was also "of bad character".
The criminal background of Giosue's brothers in Italy was even more extensive. Vincenzo Gallucci spent two terms in prison and was convicted sixteen times for assault, attempted murder and other crimes. Francesco Gallucci was convicted six times for attempted murder, theft, and assaulting the police. Vincenzo was shot in New York City on November 20, 1898, supposedly on orders from an Italian "secret society similar to the Mafia".Grades in Murder, The Sun (New York), April 29, 1899, p.8 He died the next day. Francesco D'Angelo and Luigi LaRosa were accused of the killing; both pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to 20 years and 15 years in prison, respectively.
According to Petrosino, the Galluccis were only three of the more than 1,000 Italian "rascals" from Naples and Sicily who had made New York City their home. They did not attract much attention because, "as a class, they rob their own people, and the Italian scheme of 'fix it myself' interferes to throw the police off the scent." Since they had been in the country for more than a year, the Galluccis could not be deported.
Dominance in Little Italy and East Harlem
Gallucci built businesses in Little Italy and East Harlem, first on Mulberry Street and later in a three-story brick house with a bakery and an attached stable at 318 East 109th Street,Million Dollar Leader and Son Shot by Assassins Who Have Slain 10 of His Aids, New York Herald, May 18, 1915, p.7 and a cigar store at 329 East 109th Street.Italian "Bad Man" Strangely Slain, The New York Times, November 15, 1909 It was rumored that he ran a brothel at the intersection of East 109th Street with Second Avenue.
In 1910, he became the undisputed boss of Little Italy following the imprisonment of the Sicilian-American mafia leaders Giuseppe Morello and Ignazio Lupo on counterfeit charges. He owned many tenements in the area and controlled the coal and ice business, cobbler shops, the olive oil business and the lottery in the Italian neighborhoods. He was one of the biggest moneylenders and held strict control over the policy game (numbers racket), employing Neapolitan and Sicilian street gangs as his enforcers.
Gallucci ran what was supposed to be the New York office of the Royal Italian Lottery, which was a front for his own policy game selling thousands of tickets every month throughout Harlem. He ran the lottery from the basement of his home and had agents in many cities with Italian communities. Every month there was a grand drawing. There was only one prize of $1,000, but the winner of the prize was commonly robbed of the money when it was paid.Amazing Tale of 23 Italian Gang Killings, New York Herald, November 30, 1917, p.2 According to the New York City Police Department, most of Gallucci's income originated "from his control of the policy playing in Harlem, gambling houses and houses of prostitution, all located in that section of Harlem known as Little Italy."
Gallucci was an imposing man, "a big fellow with a pleasant face and a hearty laugh." He was often seen in Harlem swinging a loaded cane, immaculately dressed in tailored suits with a magnificently waxed mustache, an expensive $2,000 diamond ring and $3,000 diamond shirt studs. He denied the allegations that he was involved in criminal activities. "My enemies say that I am the head of the 'Black Hand' business, that I run the blackmail bomb business and that I own all the lotteries," Gallucci complained a week before he was killed. "They are wrong. I own bakeries, ice and wood shops, shoe shining and repair shops and similar places, but I am not king of the 'Black Hand'." Due to his political influence, he was also called "King of Little Italy" or "The Boss".
Political influence
He gained near immunity from law enforcement by allying with the Tammany Hall, the Democratic political machine that ruled Manhattan and New York City politics virtually unopposed. The political patronage of Tammany Hall controlled the city's police and bureaucracy that handed out the construction contracts and licenses. With his ability to mobilize the vote in Harlem and register immigrants, he delivered a significant number of ballots. According to the New York Herald, he was "certainly the most powerful Italian politically in the city, and during campaigns was exceptionally active." His political connections allowed for "a certain measure of immunity from police interference."
According to Salvatore Cotillo, who would become the first Italian-born Justice of the New York Supreme Court and who grew up in Italian Harlem, "to Gallucci all people were either hirelings or payers of tribute. It was a matter of concern in the neighborhood if you were looked down upon by Gallucci." According to Cotillo's biographer, Gallucci boasted that situations could be arranged with the police, that murder could be contracted out and stories circulated that witnesses disappeared. When Gallucci was arrested for carrying concealed weapons, Cotillo was asked to testify as a character witness on his behalf, but refused. In doing so, the Neapolitan-born Cotillo distanced himself from the local underworld that tried to offer him their "services".
The Italian consul in New York from 1895 to 1905, Giovanni Branchi, painted a bleak picture of the situation of the Italian immigrant community at the time:
Under these circumstances Gallucci could easily deny the charges against him. "I have been accused of being interested in horse thieves, blackmailing, extortion from shop keepers, bomb explosions, kidnapping of children and other crimes, including murder," he told a reporter from the New York Herald who claimed to know him. "My enemies are lying. They are jealous of my prosperity. I am blamed for every criminal deed which takes place here, but it is not the truth," he told the Herald reporter. "Many of the murders down here are the results of quarrels among the blackmailers themselves. They gamble, which leads to fighting, and they dispute the division of spoils. If a leader thinks another is trying to become boss, that man is marked for death."Harlem's "Murder Stable Feud" Counts 21st Victim, New York Herald, January 7, 1917, p.2
Death of brother, Gennaro Giosue's elder brother, Gennaro Gallucci, was shot dead on November 14, 1909, in the back room of the family bakery. The assassin entered the bakery and yelled for Gennaro. When he appeared, he was shot and killed immediately. His activities as a collector of protection payments had caught the attention of the authorities earlier, and he had to leave New York City for a while. Gennaro arrived in New York from Italy in December 1908, having escaped from prison after serving 23 years of a life sentence for murdering two men. He lived on East 109th Street with his brother, Giosuè, and sister-in-law, Assunta.Slayer in Hiding Is Shot Down by Unknown Avenger, New York Herald, November 15, 1909, p.1 Soon after his arrival, the police began receiving complaints about extortion practices, but when the plaintiffs were told that they had to confront him in court, they dropped the charges.