New York Mob Wars

New York's underworld at war

New York's gang conflicts of the era ran along two fronts. On the Brooklyn waterfront the Irish White Hand Gang fought to hold the docks and their lucrative loading rackets against the rising Italian organizations pressing in from the surrounding neighborhoods. Elsewhere in the city the Italian American underworld turned on itself in a struggle for supreme control. Both fights were about the same thing: who would command the smuggling, extortion, and labor rackets that Prohibition had made enormously profitable. The outcome reshaped organized crime in the largest American city and set patterns that would last for decades.

The White Hand and the Castellammarese War

The White Hand Gang's dominance of the Brooklyn piers faded through the 1920s as its leaders were killed off and Italian crews took over the waterfront rackets. The larger transformation came with the Castellammarese War of 1930 to 1931, a bloody contest between the factions of Joe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano for leadership of the New York Mafia. Masseria was killed in 1931 after his own lieutenants turned against him, and Maranzano's own murder followed months later. In their place a younger generation led by Charles Luciano set up a governing Commission to divide territory and settle disputes among the Five Families, ending the old wars of succession by replacing single bosses with a shared structure.

Written by Aubrey Research from Castellammarese War on Wikipedia, cited as a reference and not reproduced.

Where these engagements were fought

All 10 are placed on the map. Select a marker to see the engagement.

Documented engagements

Engagements and locations are compiled from published sources: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); Chronicling America (Library of Congress historic newspapers) (public domain).