History of the Mafia Section IV - 1932-1949 National Syndicate is born with retooled Mafia at its head, seeks new rackets. Click highlighted names to open bios. 1935 1940 1945 Return to Section III (1920-1931) Advance to Section V (1950-1986)
Year	Month	Day	Location	Persons	Description of Event
1932					The Mafia officially closes its membership rolls. After huge membership leap during Castellamarese War, Mafia leadership feels smaller numbers would increase profits and reduce risks. Some sources indicate that the closed membership is an order from Charlie Luciano.
1932			Chicago, US	Al Capone, Frank Nitti, Tony Accardo	Nitti takes over day-to-day operations of Chicago underworld while Capone is in prison. Accardo serves as underboss. Chicago becames virtually united under the new regime and Chicago Family leadership becomes a cooperative group effort rather than the brutal dictatorship it was under Capone.
1932	Feb.	9	New York, US	Vincent Coll, Owney Madden, Dutch Schultz	"Mad Dog" Coll is gunned down in a telephone booth in a 23rd Street drugstore. Schultz is believed partly responsible. It is also believed that Owney Madden cooperated on the hit, as it was Madden who was on the other end of the phone conversation. The drugstore was just a short distance from Madden's home in the London Terrace apartments.
1932	Sept.	1	New York	James J. Walker	Mayor Walker resigns.
1932			New York	Carlo Gambino, Paul Castellano	Gambino becomes a minor Mafia boss and brings relative Paul Castellano into the organization.
1932			Rome	Vito Cascio Ferro	Dies in prison.
1932			New York, US	Louis Buchalter, Charlie Luciano	Luciano establishes formal relationship between Mafia and Lepke-run Murder, Inc., group. Buchalter's professional killers will be employed for Syndicate-ordered hits.
1933	March	7	Philadelphia, US	Salvatore Sabella, John Avena, A. Domenico Pollina	Philadelphia Mafia leadership comes to trial for May 1927 slayings of Cocozza and Zanghi. Defendants are found not guilty in one-day trial.
1933			Chicago, US	Sam Giancana, Tony Accardo	Giancana, noticed for taking a recent prison stretch "with honor," is appointed to be Accardo's chauffer and bodyguard. Accardo is an important man in the post-Capone Chicago mob but not yet the boss.
1933			New York	Fiorello LaGuardia	Reformer LaGuardia is elected mayor of New York City.
Twenty-first Amendment ends Prohibition - Dec. 5, 1933.
1934			Chicago	Phil D'Andrea	D'Andrea is president of Chicago's Unione Siciliana.
1934	spring		New York, US	Meyer Lansky, Johnny Torrio	Torrio and Lansky believed to have taken leadership roles in an underworld conference at the Waldorf Astoria hotel as the details of the nationwide criminal Syndicate are ironed out.
1934	July	2	Hartford, CT, US	Paul Castellano	Castellano robs a Hartford shop. Is identified and arrested for armed robbery upon his return to New York. Castellano serves just over three months of his one-year sentence before being released.
1934	Oct.		New York	Fiorello LaGuardia, Frank Costello	LaGuardia takes on Costello by smashing 1,000 of Costello's slot machines. (Costello had permits for the machines.)
1934	Dec.		Brooklyn, US	Paul Castellano	Upon his release from the Hartford County Jail, Castellano is highly regarded by hometown Mafiosi.
1935	March		Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, US	Salvatore Sabella	Sabella is arrested, convicted and imprisoned for three months for illegally distilling alcohol.
1935			Hot Springs, Ark.	Owney Madden	Madden leaves New York and settles in Hot Springs, where he establishes gambling operations and forms political attachments.
1935	July	16	New York	Ignazio Lupo	Lupo is charged with extortion. He has been working to compel Italian bakers to join his "union."
1935			New Jersey	Arthur Flegenheimer (Dutch Schultz), Charlie Luciano	Luciano-led syndicate commission authorizes the murder of Dutch Schultz. Schultz had been planning to assassinate New York State prosecutor Thomas Dewey.
1935	Oct.	23	Newark, NJ, US	Arthur Flegenheimer	Schultz is murdered, along with his gang leadership, at Palace Chophouse in Newark, NJ.
1935	Dec.	21	New York	Fiorello LaGuardia, Ciro Terranova	LaGuardia temporarily prohibits the purchase or sale of artichokes within the city limits. Also authorizes the police to arrest Terranova as soon as he is seen crossing into Manhattan.
1936	Jan.	4	New York	Ciro Terranova	Police arrest Terranova, charging him with vagrancy, as he attempts to enter Manhattan.
1936			New York	Charlie Luciano, Thomas Dewey	Dewey focuses his attention on Luciano and wins a conviction, linking the crime boss with prostitution. Luciano is jailed at Dannemora.
1936			Philadelphia, US	John Avena, Lanzetti Brothers, Joe Bruno	The Lanzettis gun down Philly mob boss Avena at the corner of Washington and Passyunk Avenues. Joe Bruno steps to leadership of the local Mafia organization. Bruno (Joe Dovi) runs Philadelphia affairs from his headquarters in New Jersey.
1936	July	15	Washington, D.C.	Ignazio Lupo, Franklin Roosevelt	FDR finds that Lupo has violated the terms of his conditional release, sends him back to prison to serve the remainder of his counterfeiting sentence.
1936	Aug.		New York	Ciro Terranova	Arrested again for vagrancy as he attempts to enter Manhattan. Terranova subjected to intense questioning and ridicule, wilts under the pressure.
1937			New York	Ciro Terranova	Arrested again as a vagrant. Without income, he loses his Pelham Manor home.
1937			New Orleans	Nicola Gentile	Arrested for drug trafficking in New Orleans. Mafia higher-ups order Gentile, who has been profoundly unhappy with the disrespect shown to him since 1931, to flee to Sicily and avoid trial.
1938			New York	Ciro Terranova	Quietly returns to live in the city.
1938	Feb.	19	New York	Ciro Terranova	Admitted to hospital after a stroke, Terranova dies the next day. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Brooklyn.
1939			Chicago. US	Sam Giancana	Giancana begins a three-year prison stay.
1939	Summer		Los Angeles, US	Jack Dragna, Benjamin Siegel	Government pressure forces the shutdown of Dragna's offshore gambling ships, which had been doing good business since the 1920s. Siegel, who participated in the gambling racket in L.A. and became involved in the motion picture industry, turns his attention to Las Vegas. Dragna fails to see the possibilities and L.A. Family is among the last to stake a claim to the nearby desert.
1939	Aug.	24	New York, US	Louis Buchalter, J. Edgar Hoover, Walter Winchell	Law enforcement agencies and the public clamor for prosecution of Lepke. Through Winchell, Lepke turns himself in to Hoover to face flimsy federal charges. But, while in custody, New York City prepares capital case against the Murder, Inc., leader, which will later result in his execution.
World War II begins in Europe - Sept. 4, 1939.
1939			Sicily	Nicola Gentile	Out on bail, Gentile flees back to Sicily to escape prosecution.
1939			Philadelphia, US	Willie Lanzetti	War between Philly Mafia and Lanzetti brothers results in the death of William Lanzetti. His remains were found in a burlap bag. The remaining Lanzettis flee the city.
1939			Sicily	Vito Genovese	Genovese is wanted by police. Escapes to Sicily.
1939			Chicago	Alphonse Capone	Capone is released from Alcatraz, but he is mentally incompetent, the result of a lost battle with syphillis.
1940	Feb.	2	Brooklyn, US	Abe Reles	"Kid Twist" Reles is arrested for a 1933 murder. His legal predicament causes him to begin feeding authorities information about Murder Inc. and the national crime Syndicate.
1940	May	23	New York, US	Abe Reles, Harry Maione, Frank Abbandando	Thanks largely to Reles' information, the state wins a conviction against Harry Maione and Frank Abbandando for the May 25, 1937, killing of George Rudnick. While the conviction is overturned on appeal, a second trial results in another conviction and a death sentence for the hitmen.
1941	June	12	New York, US	Abe Reles, Harry Strauss, Bugsy Goldstein	Strauss and Goldstein are electrocuted. The two were found guilty of murder based on Reles testimony.
1941	Nov.	12	New York, US	Abe Reles, Louis Buchalter, Albert Anastasia, Frank Costello	Abe "Kid Twist" Reles dies after plunge from his room window in the Half Moon Hotel. Hitman Reles was key witness in the case against Lepke Buchalter and Murder, Inc. By the time of Reles's unfortunate accident, Lepke was already on death row. Reles was about to begin testifying in state case against Anastasia. That would have brought law enforcement right into the underworld's ruling Commission. It is believed that Costello paid police officers guarding Reles to see to it that he did not testify.
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brings U.S. into World War II - Dec. 7, 1941.
1942	Feb.	19	New York, US	Harry Maione, Frank Abbandando	Death sentence against Maione and Abbandando is carried out.
1942	May	12	Comstock, NY, US	Charlie Luciano	Luciano is moved to Great Meadow Prison in Comstock, NY, while he provides assistance (the precise nature of which is unknown) to military intelligence. Luciano had been doing his time in the isolated and dreary Clinton State Prison at Dannemora. The move to Comstock permitted greater visitation by attorney Moses Polakoff and friend/business associate Meyer Lansky.
1942			Chicago, US	Sam Giancana, Tony Accardo	Upon Giancana's release from prison, he becomes the top adviser and enforcer for Accardo.
1943	Jan.	25	Newark, NJ	Gaetano Lucchese	Lucchese is naturalized a citizen of US.
1943			Chicago, US	Frank Nitti, Phil D'Andrea, Paul Ricca, Tony Accardo	A federal grand jury indicts Chicago Mafia leadership for extortion relating to the show business industry. Among the accused are Frank Nitti, Phil D'Andrea, Paul Ricca and John Roselli. Nitti is believed to have committed suicide upon learning of the indictment. Accardo becomes the leader of the Chicago Family.
1943	Oct.	28	Los Angeles, US	Carlo Matranga	Matranga dies of natural causes. He was an influential member of Mafia organizations in New Orleans and Los Angeles.
1944	March	4	New York, US	Louis Buchalter	Lepke is sent to the electric chair.
1944			Palisade, NJ, US	Joe Adonis	Longtime Brooklyn Mafia power Adonis leaves his Brooklyn empire and moves to Palisade, NJ.
1944			Sicily	Calogero Vizzini	Vizzini, who survived the Mafia purges by siding with the Fascists, switches sides and embraces the invading Allies. He becomes overall Mafia head in Sicily and a political power.
1945			Sicily	Charlie Luciano	As payment for his perceived assistance with Allied landings in Sicily, Luciano is freed from prison but deported to Italy.
1945			New York	Vito Genovese. Frank Costello, Charlie Luciano	Genovese returns from Sicily, faces murder trial and is acquitted. In Luciano's absence, Genovese and Costello compete for dominance in the Luciano "Family" and on the Syndicate commission.
Japanese surrender ends World War II - Sept. 2, 1945
1946	Jan.		New York, US	Charlie Luciano, Thomas Dewey	Gov. Dewey announces that Luciano will be freed and deported, reward for his service to military intelligence during the war.
1946	Feb.	2	Ellis Island, NY, US	Charlie Luciano	In preparation for his departure, Luciano is moved from Great Meadow Prison to Ellis Island.
1946	Feb.	9	Ellis Island, NY, US	Charlie Luciano	After a big underworld send-off, Luciano departs for Italy aboard the Laura Keene.
1946	July		Atlantic City		A small Mafia gathering is noted by federal agents in this city.
1946			Philadelphia, US	Joe Bruno, Joe Ida	Joe Ida takes control of the Philadelphia Mafia organization.
1946			Palermo, Sicily	Charlie Luciano, Calogero Vizzino	Luciano and Vizzini meet in Palermo, decide to increase cooperation between Sicily and U.S. Mafia groups. Luciano becomes a lieutenant to Vizzini.
1946	Oct.		Havana, Cuba	Charlie Luciano, Meyer Lansky	Luciano travels to Havana to meet with Lansky and other business associates.
1946	Dec.	22	Havana, Cuba	Charlie Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Benjamin Siegel	A convention of the U.S. crime Syndicate is held at Havana's Hotel Nacional. At the meeting, it is believed that the Syndicate decides to eliminate Benjamin Siegel.
1947	Jan.	25	Miami, US	Al Capone	Capone dies in Miami of the physical and mental damage caused by a long bout with syphilis.
1947			Palisade, NJ	Albert Anastasia	Anastasia follows Adonis from Brooklyn to Palisade, NJ, moving into a home just a short distance from Adonis's. The two begin meeting regularly, along with the Moretti brothers and Tony "Bender" Strollo at Duke's Bar & Grill in Cliffside, NJ.
1947	May	30	New Orleans, US	Sam Carolla, Carlos Marcello	Carolla is deported to Sicily. New boss of New Orleans Mafia is unknown. It may have been Marcello, who certainly had the attention of law enforcement, but another may have held the job behind the scenes until around 1950, when Marcello was certainly in command.
1947	June	20	Beverly Hills, CA, US	Benjamin Siegel	After losing financial control of a mob-sponsored Flamingo hotel construction project, Siegel is assassinated under orders from the commission. He is shot through a window at the home of girlfriend Virginia Hill.
1947	Sept.	20	New York, US	Fiorello LaGuardia	Former mayor LaGuardia, who battled organized crime in New York City for more than a decade, dies after a battle with cancer.