Anthony Strollo

Anthony Strollo
File:Strollo.jpg Strollo (wearing hat) surrounded by newsmen as he enters his car.
Born	(1899-06-18)June 18, 1899 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	New York, U.S.

Anthony C. Strollo (June 18, 1899 – April 8, 1962), aka "Tony Bender", was a New York mobster who served as a high-ranking capo of the Genovese crime family for several decades.

Biography

Early years

Anthony Strollo was born in New York City, the son of Calabrian immigrants Leone and Giovannina Nigro. Strollo grew up in Manhattan near the Manhattan Bridge.

Strollo had two brothers, Emilio and Dominick. He married a woman named Edna Goldenberg who bore him several children. Strollo was a cousin of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania mobster Lenine Strollo and Dante Strollo, a member of the Youngstown, Ohio Cosa Nostra family.

Strollo was of medium height and weight with sandy brown hair. Associates described him as usually having a doleful look. Strollo's legitimate job was that of a real estate salesman.

During Prohibition, Strollo gained a formidable reputation as a bootlegger and hitman. In the early to mid-1920s, Strollo worked for gang boss Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria. However, after the Castellammarese War began in 1931, Strollo defected to Masseria's rival, Salvatore Maranzano, and become a trusted lieutenant and gunman.

Luciano regime

Following the death of Maranzano, Strollo joined the Luciano crime family, headed by boss Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Strollo became a capo (lieutenant) for Luciano and underboss Vito Genovese. Strollo assumed control of the Greenwich Village Crew, operating illegal gambling in New York's Greenwich Village and Lower Manhattan districts.

On June 18, 1936, boss Luciano was sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison on a pandering charge, making underboss Vito Genovese the acting boss. Genovese designated Strollo as his underboss.

Costello regime

In 1937, facing a probable murder indictment, Genovese fled to Italy. Genovese wanted Strollo to keep control of the family for him, but Genovese's rival Frank Costello took over as acting boss and designated Willie Moretti as underboss.

In 1946, after being extradited from Italy to the United States and escaping indictment, Genovese returned to the family as a capo with Strollo as his assistant. Strollo supervised Genovese's rackets in Greenwich Village and the New Jersey waterfront for the next ten years. Strollo successfully operated a string of Greenwich Village nightclubs, including the popular Black Cat, the Hollywood, the 19th Hole (some say Christopher "Christy Tick" Furnari of the Lucchese crime family ran the 19th Hole), and the Village Inn.

On December 17, 1952, Strollo was summoned to testify at the New York State Crime Commission hearings. He was an uncooperative witness, claiming either a bad memory or refusing to testify based on his Fifth Amendment right under the U.S. Constitution against self-incrimination.

Genovese regime

In 1957, Strollo assisted Genovese in planning an assassination attempt on Frank Costello. On the day of the murder attempt, Strollo met with Costello in the late afternoon and learned his itinerary for the evening. Strollo then passed that information on to Genovese's hitman. Although Costello was only slightly wounded in the attack, he immediately retired from the family and passed the leadership to Genovese. Genovese now ran what is today known as the Genovese crime family.

In 1959, Strollo changed loyalties again and joined in a conspiracy against Genovese. After a secret meeting with Gambino crime family boss Carlo Gambino, Strollo allegedly participated in a plot to set up Genovese on a drug trafficking conviction. In 1959, Genovese was sent to prison for 15 years on narcotics trafficking charges.

The imprisoned Genovese now allegedly decided to kill Strollo. One theory is that Genovese learned that Strollo had betrayed him. However, a second theory states that Strollo had cheated Genovese of tribute from a drug operation.

Death

On the morning of April 8, 1962, Strollo disappeared after leaving his residence in Fort Lee, New Jersey. His remains were never recovered and no one was ever charged in his disappearance.

When government witness Joseph Valachi later visited Genovese in prison, Genovese hinted at responsibility for Strollo's murder. There were rumors in late 1960s that Strollo was still alive, and had faked his death to avoid arrest. However, there is no substantiation to this story.

Further reading

• Bernstein, Lee. The Greatest Menace: Organized Crime in Cold War America. Boston: UMass Press, 2002. ISBN 1-55849-345-X
• Joey, David Fisher. Joey the Hit Man: The Autobiography of a Mafia Killer. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2004. ISBN 1-56025-393-2
• Kwitny, Jonathan. Vicious Circles: The Mafia in the Marketplace. New York: W.W. Norton, 1979. ISBN 0-393-01188-7
• Valentine, Douglas. The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs. New York: R.R. Donnelly & Sons, 2004. ISBN 1-85984-568-1
• Winter-Berger, Robert N. The Washington Pay-Off: An Insider's View of Corruption in Government. New York: Dell Publishing, 1972.

Notes

• Fox, Stephen. Blood and Power: Organized Crime in Twentieth-Century America. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1989. ISBN 0-688-04350-X
• Kelly, Robert J. Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 0-313-30653-2
• Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0
• Mafia: The Government's Secret File on Organized Crime