Tommy Lucchese

Thomas Gaetano Lucchese (born Gaetano Lucchese, ; December 1, 1899 – July 13, 1967), nicknamed "Tommy Three-Finger Brown", was an Italian-American gangster who was a key figure in the Mafia in the United States, an offshoot of the Cosa Nostra in Sicily, for more than thirty years. From 1951 until 1967, he was the boss of the Lucchese crime family, one of the Five organized crime families in New York City.

Early life Gaetano Lucchese was born on December 1, 1899, to Baldassarre and Francesca Lucchese in Palermo, Sicily. The surname "Lucchese" suggests family origins from the Sicilian city of Lucca Sicula. In early 1911, the Lucchese family emigrated to the United States, settling in Manhattan's Italian neighborhood of East Harlem. The family first lived in a building at 213 East 106th Street before moving to 316 East 118th Street; both buildings were in the Italian East Harlem neighborhood.

Lucchese's father worked hauling cement. As a teen Lucchese worked in a machine shop until 1915, when an industrial accident amputated his right thumb and forefinger. In the early 1930s, Lucchese along with his family moved to an apartment at 100-18 Northern Boulevard in Corona, Queens, the area known as the "Little Italy of Queens". Lucchese's daughter, Frances would marry Tommy Gambino, the son of Carlo Gambino, the boss of the Gambino crime family, which formed a strong bond between the two crime families. The officer nicknamed Lucchese "Three Finger Brown", an alias that Lucchese always disliked. of auto theft and sentenced on March 27, 1922 to three years and nine months in prison.

Maranzano soon began, however, to plan Luciano's elimination as well. Later that summer Lucchese, who had become close with Maranzano, alerted Luciano that Maranzano had hired Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll to murder him, as well as his associates Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. Luciano responded by organizing a team to kill Maranzano first. After Lucchese identified Maranzano with a movement of his head the gunmen took Maranzano into his private office, where he was murdered.

In the aftermath of Maranzano's murder Luciano subsequently created The Commission to serve as the governing body for organized crime. The old structure, in which first Masseria and then Maranzano claimed to be boss of all bosses in New York City was abandoned in favor of recognition of five crime families or borgatas, each operating in particular areas and activities, with Luciano the first among equals. Tommy Gagliano, who had risen to leadership of the Reina family during the Castellammarese War, headed one of the five families; Lucchese was his underboss.

Underboss to Gagliano

Due to Luciano's reforms, the New York City underworld entered a long period of peace. From 1932 onward, Gagliano kept a very low profile; almost nothing is known about him from then onward. He preferred to issue his orders through close allies, particularly Lucchese, who was his underboss and the family's public face. In 1946 Lucchese attended the mob's Havana Conference in Cuba as Gagliano's representative.

Luciano's predominance on the Commission did not last; after his conviction on compulsory prostitution charges in 1936 and his deportation in 1946, power struggles within his own crime family and between the five families came to the fore. Gagliano was at a disadvantage in these conflicts, being outnumbered in the Commission by an alliance of the Bonanno, Magaddino, Profaci and Mangano families. L to R future underboss Stefano LaSalle, LA crime family boss Jack Dragna and Lucchese c. 1948

During his years as underboss Lucchese formed an alliance with Louis Buchalter and together they controlled many of the largest locals of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union in the garment district. The Gagliano family also dominated unions in the trucking, construction and food industries and had undisclosed ownership interests in several Manhattan nightclubs.

Lucchese also made millions of dollars throughout his career by offering "knockdown loans" to cash-strapped garment manufacturers and contractors that extracted interest at usurious rates. Lucchese was never denaturalized or deported.

Lucchese concentrated on the core Cosa Nostra values of making money, keeping a low public profile, and avoiding criminal prosecution. The Lucchese family came to dominate Manhattan's garment district and the related trucking industry by gaining control of key unions and trade associations.

During the 1950s, Lucchese controlled a narcotic trafficking network with Santo Trafficante Jr., the boss of the Tampa crime family. Lucchese had maintained a longtime alliance with Trafficante Jr.'s father Santo Trafficante Sr., the former boss of the Tampa mafia family and during the 1940s, helped train Trafficante Jr., in the mafia traditions. On October 25, 1957, Albert Anastasia was assassinated in a hotel barbershop and Carlo Gambino became the boss of the Anastasia (renamed Gambino) family.

In 1957, Genovese called a national mob meeting to legitimize his control of the Luciano family. The meeting was held at the rural home of mobster Joseph "Joe the Barber" Barbara in Apalachin, New York. On November 14, 1957, the New York State Police raided the gathering and arrested 61 fleeing gangsters. With the alliance backing him, Gambino now controlled the Commission.

Lucchese and Gambino In 1962, Carlo Gambino's oldest son, Thomas Gambino, married Lucchese's daughter Frances. Over 1,000 guests attended the wedding, at which Carlo Gambino presented Lucchese with a $30,000 gift. In return, Lucchese gave Gambino a part of his rackets at Idlewild Airport (since renamed John F. Kennedy Airport). Lucchese exercised control over airport management security and all the airport unions. As a team, Lucchese and Gambino now controlled the airport, the Commission, and most organized crime in New York City.

Commission plot In 1963, Joseph Magliocco and Bonanno boss Joseph Bonanno hatched an audacious plan to murder Commission bosses Carlo Gambino, Lucchese, and Stefano Magaddino, as well as Frank DeSimone, and take over the Mafia Commission. Joseph Magliocco gave the murder contract to Joseph Colombo. Colombo either feared for his life, or sensed an opportunity for advancement, and instead reported the plot to The Commission. The Commission, realizing that Bonanno was the real mastermind, ordered both Magliocco and Bonanno to explain. Bonanno went into hiding in Montreal, but a badly shaken Magliocco appeared and confessed everything; he was fined $50,000 and forced into retirement. At the time of his death, he had not spent a day in prison in 44 years.

Lucchese's first choice as a successor had been Antonio "Tony Ducks" Corallo, but Corallo was in prison when Lucchese died. Lucchese's second choice, Ettore Coco, was also in legal trouble and served a short time as boss. Another possible candidate was consigliere Vincenzo Rao, but he too was dealing with criminal charges. The Commission finally selected capo Carmine Tramunti as temporary acting boss until Corallo was released from prison.

In popular culture In the 1981 television film The Gangster Chronicles, Lucchese is portrayed by Jon Polito. In Gangster Wars (1981), Lucchese is portrayed by Jon Polito. He is portrayed by Michael Rispoli on the 2022 TV series The Offer. He is portrayed by Bo Dietl on the Epix TV series Godfather of Harlem.