Ciro Terranova

Ciro Terranova
New York City Police Department mugshot of Terranova
Born	July 1888 (1888-07) Corleone, Sicily, Italy
Died	February 20, 1938 (1938-02-21) (age 49) New York, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Gangster
Children	Natalie and Libby

Ciro "The Artichoke King" Terranova (July 1888 − February 20, 1938) was a New York City gangster and one time underboss of the Morello crime family.

Ciro Terranova was born in the town of Corleone, Sicily. In 1893, Ciro moved to New York with his father, mother, four sisters, brothers Vincenzo and Nicolo to meet half brother Giuseppe Morello, who had arrived six months earlier. Years later, Ciro, Vincenzo, Nicolo, and Giuseppe would found the powerful Morello crime family.

Due to lack of work in the New York area, Terranova and his family only stayed there for about a year. They eventually traveled to Louisiana, where the father planted sugar cane, then moved to Bryan, Texas, where they worked as cotton pickers. After two years in Texas, malaria struck the family. They moved back to New York in 1896.

Ciro and Vincent went to school and worked at the family business, a plastering store, on evenings and weekends. Ciro later worked as a waiter at a restaurant owned by his stepbrother Giuseppe, at the rear of the Prince Street Saloon. In 1903, Giuseppe was charged with the barrel murders but released due to lack of evidence. After the trials ended in June 1903, the Morello crime family continued to deal with police searches and harassment. On one such occasion Ciro, Vincent, and his nephews Charlie and Nick Sylvester were arrested and held overnight. Another time, Ciro was arrested while trying to find a doctor for Charlie.

When Ignazio "the Wolf" Lupo and Ciro's brother Giuseppe were sent to prison on counterfeiting charges, Ciro, Vincent, and Nick filled the power vacuum. They soon rose to be the top gangsters of Italian Harlem, running the Morello family.