Joseph Masseria
| Joe Masseria | |
|---|---|
Joe Masseria, mugshot by the New York Police Department
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| Born |
Giuseppe Masseria January 17, 1886 Menfi, Sicily, Italy |
| Died | April 15, 1931 (aged 45) Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Cause of death | Gunshot |
| Nationality | Italian-American |
| Other names | "Joe the Boss" |
| Occupation | Crime boss, mobster |
| Allegiance | Masseria crime family |
Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria (January 17, 1886 – April 15, 1931) was an early Mafia boss in New York City. He was boss of what is now called the Genovese crime family, one of the New York Mafia's Five Families, from 1922 to 1931. He waged a bloody war to take over the criminal activities in New York City, gaining considerable power for himself. He was killed in 1931.
Giuseppe Masseria was born on January 17, 1886 in Menfi, in the Province of Agrigento, Sicily. When he was young, his family moved to the town of Marsala. Masseria arrived in the United States in 1902. He then became part of the Morello crime family that operated out of Harlem and parts of Little Italy in southern Manhattan. Masseria was contemporaries with other captains of that mafia famiglia such as Salvatore D'Aquila and Gaetano Reina. In 1909, Masseria was convicted of burglary and received a suspended sentence.
As the 1910s ended, Masseria and D'Aquila became rivals for power in New York. By the early 1920s, they were at war with each other. D'Aquila had a vicious gunman under him, Umberto Valenti, who was given the assignment to kill Masseria as a way to conclude this power struggle. On August 9, 1922, Masseria walked out of his apartment at 80 2nd Avenue, and was rushed by two armed men who opened fire on him. Masseria ducked into a store at 82 2nd Avenue with the gunmen in pursuit. They shot out the front window and shot up the inside of the store. The gunmen fled across 2nd Avenue to a getaway car idling just around the corner on E. 5th Street. The car was a Hudson Cruiser, which like many cars of the era had running boards along the sides. The gunmen jumped on the running boards and the car sped west on E. 5th Street towards the Bowery, guns blazing.
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