Married to the
Mob
Throughout the history of organized crime, a common theme that emerged among
the graft and corruption was manipulation of law enforcement agencies and
personnel. Al Capone controlled the police force in Cicero, his fiefdom in
Chicago. Vincent Gigante manipulated the small police department in Old Tappan,
New Jersey. The Chief of Police in Red Bank, Monmouth County, New Jersey, was a
personal friend of Vito Genovese. The Police Chief in Cliffside, New Jersey, was
in Joe Adonis’s pocket. Tony Accardo, arguably the most powerful gang boss
ever in Chicago, went on a European vacation with his wife Clarice and their
good friends, Mr and Mrs De Grazia. No big deal-except Tony De Grazia was a
veteran 37-years-on-the-job lieutenant in the Chicago Police Department.
It was an endless list of greedy, unscrupulous men polluting the very fabric
of society by undermining one of its essentials tenets regarding the freedom and
protection of its citizens.
Thomas Lucchese didn’t waste his time with the small fry. He was for many
years a personal friend and confidant of Thomas Murphy, who just happened to be
the Police Commissioner of the city of New York, and consequently the head of
the entire New York Police Department.
Lucchese had made a point of cultivating friendships with people of influence
-- the kind of people who made wheels turn and things happen. When he sought
American citizenship, his principal adviser was Congressman Louis Cappozzoli,
later to be a judge, who wrote numerous letters on his behalf. His friendship
with Armand Chankalian, assistant to the DA for the Southern District of New
York, brought him into contact with Thomas Murphy, who had won national fame and
recognition as the prosecutor of convicted spy Alger Hiss in 1950. Lucchese and
his wife Kitty became close friends of the Murphy's and were often entertained
by them as dinner guests.
The friendship with Murphy was an important link in a chain of power broking
and political manipulation that connected Lucchese, one of the biggest and most
powerful gangsters in America, to the highest administration of the biggest city
in America. It stretched back many years, reaching from the teeming tenements of
Harlem to the sculptured elegance of Gracie Mansion.
The first connection was Vito Marcantonio, a flamboyant congressman and
protégé of Fiorello LaGuardia. A lawyer, he represented Harlem in the House of
Representatives for fourteen years. He was as crooked as a left-handed
screwdriver, and as head of the New York County’s branch of the American
Labour Party, wielded enormous power. In return for massive political support
from the underworld, he provided through his political position, ironclad
protection for those involved in the business of crime.
He worked closely with Lucchese, helping him and his friends operate with
minimum interference from the police. He was also responsible for placing a
protégé of Lucchese’s into the position of Mayor of New York.
When William O’Dwyer resigned as mayor on September on September 2nd,
1950, he was automatically succeeded by the president of the City Council --
Vincent R. Impellitteri who had been appointed five years before on the
insistence of O’Dwyer, who made the choice under instruction from Marcantonio,
who was doing it as a favour for Lucchese.
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Vincent R. Impellitteri Credit: NY City Archives
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Impellitteri, an Italian from Manhattan, was virtually unknown on the New
York political scene. The most significant job he had held was that of secretary
to a New York Supreme Court judge. Now out of the blue he was mayor, begotten
from a lineage of mendacious guile stretching back through O’Dwyer to
Marcantonio to Thomas Lucchese, second in command and only three years away from
heading one of the largest Mafia families in the country.
One of Impelliteri’s first major administrative decisions on attaining
office was to appoint a commissioner of police. On September 29th, 1950, he
announced his decision-former assistant US Attorney Thomas Murphy. Following his
appointment, Lucchese paid a personal visit to offer his congratulations and his
support.
A year after his installation, Murphy was nominated for a federal judgeship.
Subsequently, in a letter to the US Senate Judiciary Committee dated June
25th, 1951, he admitted that he had known Thomas Lucchese for six years, and had
always been impressed by his friend, who he considered a respectable citizen: a
man who had paid his debt to society and was trying to raise his family in the
best American tradition. He failed to mention as a side-bar, that his friend was
earning millions of dollars each year from dealing in drugs, extortion, loan
sharking, union control, illegal betting, and from time to time authorising the
elimination of tiresome competitors and malcontents within his huge, sprawling
criminal empire.
Just what benefits Lucchese derived from having a friend who was head of an
organization that in theory was dedicated to destroying him is hard to
determine. He was a man of many and devious talents, so it presupposes that his
friendship was anything but platonic. Whatever its benefits, his relationship
with Murphy was nothing compared to the one he had with another man. That
resulted in Lucchese taking over an entire industry.
