Upon his arrival in New York, he appears to have gone to work with Ciro Terranova's outfit in Italian Harlem. He was arrested in 1907 and convicted of burglary and extortion, but the sentence was suspended. Upon the 1910 imprisonment of boss of bosses Ignazio Lupo, Masseria was one of the Mafiosi who set up shop in lower Manhattan, attempting to step into Lupo's old role.
His plans were set back a bit when he was sentenced to four and a half years for a failed burglary attempt at a Bowery pawn shop. By the time he was released, the Sicilian Mafia groups in New York were having a rough time. A war with a Brooklyn Camorra group had cost the Mafia many of its top members, including acting boss Nicholas Morello and his bodyguard Charles Ubriaco.
Umberto Valenti appeared to be next in line to supervise the Morello-Lupo organization and the city's Mafia, but Masseria had the support of uptown big shot Terranova.
During the early days of Prohibition, Masseria worked overtime to defeat and incorporate the Brooklyn Camorra. His assassination of rival bootlegger Salvatore Mauro on Manhattan's Chrystie Street in 1920 enhanced his prestige among city Mafiosi. That act may have been the final step of the subjugation of the Camorra.
In 1921, Toto D'Aquila proclaimed himself boss of bosses of the American Mafia, but the real power rested with Masseria and Valenti, who turned their guns on each other beginning in 1922.
Newspapers charged that Valenti had been responsible for more slayings than any other man in the city. Valenti or his associates were believed responsible for the murder of Ciro Terranova's brother Vincent in May of 1922. Masseria immediately responded by gunning down Valenti lieutenant Silva Tagliagamba at the Manhattan Liquor Exchange. Joe the Boss was charged with the murder, but the case never went to trial (Terranova's connections within the various branches of the government were exceptional for the time).
Masseria narrowly escaped an ambush as he left his home on the Lower East Side on Aug. 9, 1922, and Joe the Boss established a reputation as a man who could dodge bullets. Masseria apparently slipped out of the way of his would-be assassin's close-range shots. After his escape, the Boss announced his retirement and called a peace conference with Valenti.
Valenti met with Masseria associates at a restaurant on East 12th Street. After the meeting, he was shot down in the street - apparently Masseria was not yet willing to retire. Some sources indicate the killer was a young Charlie Luciano, just emerging as a force within the Masseria organization.
While D'Aquila retained the "capo di capi re" title as far as the outside world was concerned, Joe Masseria became the de facto boss of the Italian-Sicilian underworld in New York beginning in the summer of 1922. In 1928, he bumped off D'Aquila and handed the old boss's organization to Masseria ally Al Mineo.
By that time, Luciano had risen within the Masseria organization's leadership and was overseeing all operations within Manhattan. Frank Uale had been managing affairs across the river in Brooklyn, and, when he was murdered in 1928, Anthony Carfano performed that duty.
Behind the boss's back (Masseria may have been aware but chose not to deal with it), Luciano established relationships with various gang leaders inside of and outside of the Mafia society across the United States. He participated in the Seven Group, a bootlegging cooperative, and planned with Frank Costello for the illicit enterprises the underworld might enter into once Prohibition ended. Luciano maintained contact with Jewish mobsters and childhood companions Meyer Lansky and Benjamin Siegel and established a relationship with Dutch Shultz.
Masseria had grown drunk with power by 1929 and began meddling in the internal affairs of Mafia groups around the country. He sensed that the Mafiosi transplanted from Castellamare del Golfo, Sicily, were combining against him and against his ally Al Capone in Chicago.
To suppress the rebellion and weaken the anti-Capone Aiello Family, Masseria ordered the assassination of Detroit Mafia leader Gaspare Milazzo, the senior Castellamarese leader in the country. Observing that Bronx mob leader Gaetano Reina of the Bronx was siding with a rebellious Castellamarese clan in Brooklyn, Masseria had Reina killed as well. The boss installed his own allies as bosses of the Detroit and Bronx families. He then attempted to do the same with the troublesome Brooklyn group.
He forced a huge cash tribute payment from the gang's leader Cola Schiro. Schiro then disappeared. Masseria endorsed his friend Joe Parrino for leadership of the group, but the organization followed famed Castellamarese Mafia warrior Salvatore Maranzano instead.
In 1930, the leaders appointed by Masseria were gradually overthrown by their underlings, and a solid Castellamarese alliance of Detroit, Brooklyn, Bronx and Buffalo opposed Joe the Boss. Masseria's meddling cost him a great deal of his earlier support - even Ciro Terranova began conspiring against him.
As a last ditch attempt to preserve order, Masseria named old Morello-Lupo mob boss Giuseppe (Peter) Morello as boss of bosses. Masseria had hoped to convince the underworld once again that he was ready for retirement. No one bought it this time. Morello was assassinated. Shortly thereafter, the Castellamarese eliminated Al Mineo.
In 1931, Luciano, Terranova and some other key figures in the Masseria organization went over to the other side. Luciano set up Masseria for assassination on April 15, 1931 at Coney Island's Nuova Villa Tammaro restaurant.
A grateful Maranzano handed the Masseria Family to Luciano. But friction between the two leaders grew until Luciano turned on Maranzano as well and became the supreme leader in the American underworld.
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