Frankie Yale
| Francesco Ioele | |
|---|---|
NYPD mugshot of Frankie Yale
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|
| Born |
January 22, 1893 Longobucco, Calabria, Italy |
| Died | July 1, 1928 (aged 35) Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Other names | Frankie Uale Frankie Yale |
Francesco Ioele (January 22, 1893 – July 1, 1928), better known as Frankie Uale or Frankie Yale, was a Brooklyn gangster and original employer of Al Capone before the latter moved to Chicago.
Born in Longobucco, Francesco Ioele (yo-ay-leh) and his family arrived in the United States c. 1900. As a teenager, Ioele was befriended by John Torrio, who ushered him into the Five Points Gang and groomed him for a life of crime. Shortly after Torrio left for Chicago, in 1909, Ioele "Americanized" his last name to Yale. Despite his medium height and chubby build, Yale was a fearsome fistfighter and thief. In 1910, at age 17, Yale and a friend, a wrestler named Booby Nelson, severely beat several men during a fight in the Coney Island pool hall, which involved cracking pool cues and hurling billiard balls. One of his early arrests, in October 1912, was on suspicion of homicide.
Like his mentor Johnny Torrio, Yale was one of a new breed of gangster who believed in putting business ahead of ego. After getting started with some basic racketeering, Yale took control of Brooklyn's ice delivery trade by selling "protection" and creating monopolies. With the proceeds from these rackets, Yale opened a bar on Seaside Walk in Coney Island known as the Harvard Inn in 1917. Hoping to capitalize on the collegiate name of his bar, he began using the name Yale. It was at the Harvard Inn that a young waiter named Al Capone got his famous facial scars in a dispute with Frank Galluccio, in which Capone made a pass at Galluccio's sister. After two years in Yale's employ, Capone was shipped off west to Chicago by Yale, and joined Torrio's organization.
Yale's gang engaged in Black Hand extortion activities and ran a string of brothels. Their gang became the first new-style Mafia "family" which included Italians from all regions and could work in partnership with other ethnic groups if it was good for business. Yale's "services" to his customers included offering "protection" to local merchants and controlling food services for restaurants, as well as ice deliveries for Brooklyn residents. Yale's notorious sideline was his line of cigars, foul-smelling stogies packaged in boxes that bore his smiling face. Yale also owned and operated his own funeral home at 6604 14th Avenue (he and his family lived across the street). When asked about his profession, Yale wryly commented that he was an "undertaker". At the beginning of Prohibition, Yale became one of Brooklyn's biggest bootleggers.
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