numbers rackets, and the Italian lottery were the biggest money makers for the gang. In 1931, this gang was incorporated into the Mangano crime family, later to be called the Gambino crime family. Castellammarese War While Ferrigno ran his criminal activities, a group of Sicilian mafiosi from Castellammare del Golfo led by Salvatore Maranzano began to challenge the authority of Ferrigno's benefactor, Masseria. Once the conflict known as the Castellammarese War officially broke out into open warfare by early 1930, there were deaths throughout America's Italian underworld. Death On November 4, 1930, a meeting of Masseria supporters was held in Ferrigno's Bronx apartment at 759 Pelham Parkway South. In attendance were believed to be a number of top Masseria and Mineo crime family members, including Mineo, Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, Vito Genovese, Masseria, and Ferrigno himself. Maranzano faction members including Joe Profaci, Nick Capuzzi, Joe Valachi and a hitman known only as Buster from Chicago were observing the meeting from an apartment Valachi had rented across the courtyard. According to Valachi, in the night of November 5, 1930, Steve Ferrigno and Al Mineo left the apartment and walked across the courtyard, and the Maranzano men mowed them down with gunfire. Many organized crime historians and even a former Mafia boss, Joseph Bonanno dispute Valachi's claim that a top boss such as Joe Profaci would be directly involved in the assassination of an underworld rival. Masseria was killed in a Coney Island restaurant in early 1931, and Maranzano was himself killed in September, marking the end of the Castellammarese War. The main beneficiary (and organizer of both hits) was Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, who established himself at the top of the New York Mafia. Ferrigno was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, Queens. References Maas, Peter. The Valachi Papers. Harper Collins, New York, 1968 Bonanno, Joe and Lali, Sergio. A Man of Honor:The Autobiography of the Boss of Bosses. Pocket Books, New York. 1983 Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia: Second Edition. Checkmark Books, New York. 1999 Further reading Peterson, Robert W. Crime & the American Response. New York: Facts on File, 1973. United States. Congress. Senate. Government Operations Committee. Organized Crime and Illicit Traffic in Narcotics. Washington, D.C., 1964. External links The American "Mafia": Who Was Who ? - Steve Ferrigno 1900 births 1930 deaths Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens) Murdered American gangsters of Sicilian descent Gangsters killed during the Castellammarese War Prohibition-era