Anthony C. Strollo (June 18, 1899 – disappeared April 8, 1962), also known as "Tony Bender", was a New York

mobster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

who served as a high-ranking capo of the

Genovese crime family The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American M ...

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 Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

near the

Manhattan Bridge The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension. The main span is long, with the suspension cables be ...

. 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 Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

mobster Lenny Strollo and Dante Strollo, a member of the

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

, 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 Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

, Strollo gained a formidable reputation as a bootlegger and

hitman Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

. In the early to mid-1920s, Strollo worked for gang boss Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria. After the

Castellammarese War The Castellammarese War () was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American Mafia that took place in New York City, New York, from February 1930 until April 15, 1931, between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and those of Salv ...

began in 1931, Strollo defected to Masseria's rival,

Salvatore Maranzano Salvatore Maranzano (; July 31, 1886 – September 10, 1931) was an Italian-American mobster from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss who led what later would become the Bonanno crime family in New York City. ...

, and became a trusted lieutenant and gunman.

Luciano regime

Following the death of Maranzano, Strollo joined the

Luciano crime family The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American Ma ...

, headed by boss

Charles "Lucky" Luciano Charles "Lucky" Luciano (, ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrument ...

. Strollo became a capo for Luciano and underboss

Vito Genovese Vito Genovese (; November 21, 1897 – February 14, 1969) was an Italian-born American mobster who mainly operated in the United States. Genovese rose to power during Prohibition as an enforcer in the American Mafia. A long-time associate and ch ...

. Strollo assumed control of the

Greenwich Village Crew The Greenwich Village Crew is a crew within the Genovese crime family, active in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan. It was originally controlled by Don Vito Genovese from the early 1920s until his arrest in the late 1950s.G. T. Harrell. ''F ...

, operating illegal gambling in New York's

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

and

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

districts. On June 18, 1936, boss Luciano was sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison on a pandering charge, making underboss

the acting boss. Genovese designated Strollo as his

underboss Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The underbo ...

Costello regime

In 1937, facing a probable murder

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a legal person, person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felony, felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concep ...

, Genovese fled to Italy. Genovese wanted Strollo to keep control of the family for him, but Genovese's rival,

Frank Costello Frank Costello (; born Francesco Castiglia; ; January 26, 1891 – February 18, 1973) was an Italian-American crime boss of the Luciano crime family. In 1957, Costello survived an assassination attempt ordered by Vito Genovese and carried out by ...

, took over as acting boss and designated

Willie Moretti Guarino "Willie" Moretti (February 24, 1894 – October 4, 1951), also known as Willie Moore, was a notorious underboss of the Genovese crime family and a cousin of the family boss Frank Costello. Criminal career Born Guarino Moretti in Bari, ...

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

and the

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

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 The Lucchese crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, in the United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as ...

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 The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

against

self-incrimination In criminal law, self-incrimination is the act of exposing oneself generally, by making a statement, "to an accusation or charge of crime; to involve oneself or another ersonin a criminal prosecution or the danger thereof". (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

. In 1959, Strollo changed loyalties again and joined in a conspiracy against Genovese. After a secret meeting with

Gambino crime family The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Ame ...

boss

Carlo Gambino Carlo Gambino (; August 24, 1902 – October 15, 1976) was an Italian-American crime boss of the Gambino crime family. After the Apalachin Meeting in 1957, and the imprisonment of Vito Genovese in 1959, Gambino took over the Commission o ...

, 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 The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through ...

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.

Disappearance

On the morning of April 8, 1962, Strollo disappeared after leaving his residence in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop the Palisades. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 40,191. As of the 2010 U.S. census, th ...

."Hood Tony Bender Missing Since Sunday, Wife Reports," ''Daily News'', April 13, 1962. His remains were never recovered and no one was ever charged in his disappearance. When government witness

Joseph Valachi Joseph Michael Valachi (September 22, 1904 – April 3, 1971) was an American mobster in the Genovese crime family who is notable as the first member of the Italian-American Mafia to acknowledge its existence publicly in 1963. He is credited wit ...

later visited Genovese in prison, Genovese allegedly hinted at responsibility for Strollo's murder.

References

Notes

*Fox, Stephen. ''Blood and Power: Organized Crime in Twentieth-Century America''. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1989. *Kelly, Robert J. ''Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. *Sifakis, Carl. ''The Encyclopedia of American Crime''. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001. * Mafia: The Government's Secret File on Organized Crime {{DEFAULTSORT:Strollo, Anthony 1899 births 1960s missing person cases 1962 deaths American gangsters of Italian descent People of Calabrian descent Genovese crime family Missing gangsters Missing person cases in New Jersey People from Manhattan People from Fort Lee, New Jersey