Frank Costello

Frank Costello
Al Aumuller, World Telegram staff photographer · Public domain · source
Name	Frank Costello
Birth name	Francesco Castiglia
Birth date	26 January 1891
Birth place	Lauropoli, Calabria, Kingdom of Italy
Death date	6 February 1973
Death place	New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Crime boss, consigliere, businessman
Nationality	Italian American

Frank Costello was a prominent Italian-American mobster and crime boss who became one of the most influential figures in mid-20th-century organized crime, particularly in New York City and across the United States. Known for blending criminal enterprises with legitimate businesses and political influence, he cultivated relationships with judges, politicians, labor leaders, journalists, and entertainers. Costello's career spanned Prohibition, the postwar era, and the rise of federal law enforcement efforts against organized crime.

Early life and immigration

Costello was born Francesco Castiglia in Lauropoli, Calabria, and emigrated as a child to the United States, arriving in New York City where he settled in East Harlem and later the Lower East Side. He associated early on with street gangs in the neighborhoods of Manhattan, became involved with figures who would later be tied to the Five Families, and worked in small-time rackets and gambling operations that intersected with areas like Brooklyn and Queens. During this period he encountered or moved among future and contemporary figures such as Vito Genovese, Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Al Capone, and Joe Masseria, while the urban environment included institutions like Ellis Island, New York Police Department, and immigrant communities connected to Lauropoli and Calabria émigré networks.

Rise in organized crime

Costello rose as Prohibition created opportunities for bootlegging and the expansion of national syndicates that linked cities from Chicago to New Orleans and Philadelphia. He allied with syndicate leaders in networks tied to Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano during the reorganization that produced the National Crime Syndicate and the Commission (crime family), interacting with figures such as Tommy Lucchese, Vincenzo "Vinny" Mangano, Albert Anastasia, Frankie Yale, and Salvatore Maranzano. His operations connected to ports like Newark, New Jersey and entertainment centers such as Harlem and Times Square, while associations extended to bribery and influence involving officials from institutions like the United States Senate and municipal bodies in New York City and Miami, as well as business leaders in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

Leadership and operations

As a de facto head and consigliere-level strategist, Costello managed expansive illegal gambling, loan sharking, numbers rackets, and casino interests that spanned metropolitan hubs including Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Baltimore, and Boston. He cultivated contacts in Hollywood and with entertainers tied to venues such as the Copacabana (nightclub), working with or adjacent to personalities like Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, and industry figures linked to Paramount Pictures and MGM. Costello's operations overlapped labor and union spheres involving leaders in International Longshoremen's Association jurisdictions and political actors connected to the Democratic Party (United States), Tammany Hall, and municipal administrations, and he negotiated with other crime leaders including Vito Genovese, Carlo Gambino, Joseph Bonanno, Paul Castellano, Joseph Profaci, and Carmine Galante.

Legal troubles and government investigations

Costello's prominence drew investigations from local prosecutors and federal agencies such as Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service, and spurred hearings in venues like the United States Senate investigative committees and televised appearances before congressional panels. He was implicated in high-profile cases involving illegal gambling and tax issues pursued by prosecutors and judges in Manhattan, including trials where defense counsel confronted prosecutors tied to offices like the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Costello faced indictment and imprisonment at times intersecting with decisions by judges from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and appeals in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, while national law-enforcement campaigns involved figures such as J. Edgar Hoover and initiatives like the Kefauver Committee hearings that exposed interstate organized crime to public scrutiny.

Later life, decline, and legacy

After surviving an assassination attempt and being physically diminished and politically eclipsed by rivals such as Vito Genovese and the rise of families under leaders like Carlo Gambino and Meyer Lansky-aligned operatives, Costello retreated from frontline control while remaining an influential elder figure in informal networks across New York City and Florida. His later years overlapped with cultural and legal developments involving the RICO Act, changes in federal prosecution strategy under administrations in Washington, D.C., and shifts in organized crime visible in media produced by outlets like The New York Times, Life (magazine), and televised documentaries on NBC and CBS. Costello died in New York City in 1973; his legacy is examined in biographies, court records, and portrayals in films and books referencing people such as Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano, Vito Genovese, Frank Sinatra, Al Capone, Tommy Lucchese, Carlo Gambino, Joe Bonanno, Albert Anastasia, Salvatore Maranzano, J. Edgar Hoover, Eliot Ness, Sam Giancana, Tony Accardo, and historians affiliated with institutions like Columbia University, Fordham University, Hunter College, and archives in New York Public Library collections.

Category:American mobsters Category:Italian emigrants to the United States Category:1891 births Category:1973 deaths