Pellegrino Morano (1877–unknown) was the head of a group of Neapolitans criminals with roots in the
based in
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the s ...
, where he owned the Santa Lucia restaurant, which was often used as the headquarters for their gang, known as the Coney Island gang. He is also known as Marano.
[Dash, ''The First Family'', p. xxvi]
Coney Island gang
Morano was born in 1877 in
Prata in the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional It ...
region of
Campania
(man), it, Campana (woman)
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. According to immigration documents he entered the U.S. two times. Once in 1892 and permanently in 1912.
[Critchley, ''The Origin of Organized Crime in America'', p. 118] The first time he came to the United States, Morano, a professional barber, arrived on 1 June 1892 on the ''Chandernagor'' coming from the port of
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's admini ...
, with his father Giuseppe (46, laborer) and his two-years younger brother Francesco. The family settled in New York, where a large community from
Avellino
Avellino () is a town and '' comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento.
...
already lived.
[Giovino, ''Gangster Pratesi a New York'']
He settled in
Italian Harlem
East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fi ...
and started to sell stolen horses to make a living.
[Critchley, ''The Origin of Organized Crime in America'', p. 120] In August 1904, he was arrested for the shooting of an Italian 'well known to the police' at Mulberry and Grand Streets in front of the Italian bank of Stabile Brothers.
[Crowd Sees Murder]
The New York Times, August 4, 1904 At the time he gave his address as 327 E 115th Street. The police believed his claim of innocence, but he was confined and charged for carrying a concealed weapon.
[Pelligrino Morano]
GangRule.com[Man Murdered As Thousands Stare]
New York Evening Telegram, August 4, 1904
Years later, Morano moved to
Brooklyn where his associates
Alessandro Vollero
Alessandro Vollero (1889 - 1959) was a New York mobster and a high-ranking member of the Neapolitan Camorra Navy Street gang in Brooklyn. Vollero served as a lieutenant to gang boss Pellegrino Morano during the Mafia-Camorra War of 1916.
Born i ...
and
Leopoldo Lauritano owned a coffee house at 133 Navy Street. The coffee house was used as the headquarters for their gang, which mainly consisted of Neapolitans, and was often referred to as '
The Camorra'.
[ Morano opened the Santa Lucia restaurant close to the Coney Island amusements parks including his right-hand men ]Tony Parretti Antonio Paretti (1892 - February 17, 1927), also known as Tony Paretti or Tony the Shoemaker, was a Camorra gangster. He was a member of the Brooklyn-based Coney Island gang in New York City, serving as the right-hand man of Pellegrino Morano.Critc ...
,[ from where his gang made money in gambling and cocaine dealing.][Nelli, ''The Business of Crime'']
pp. 131-33
/ref>[Dash, ''The First Family'', p. 252] The gang was not a tightly led organization, but a rather loose association where everybody worked for himself, although Morano was one of the leaders that initiated recruits as ''camorristi''.[Relates Camorra Degree in Court]
The Daily Standard Union (Brooklyn), May 8, 1918
Mafia Camorra war
Morano wanted to expand his business to the lucrative numbers rackets in Italian Harlem
East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fi ...
under control of Giosuè Gallucci, the 'King of Little Italy'. Gallucci was killed in May 1915. The money for the hit was provided by Morano.[Critchley, ''The Origin of Organized Crime in America'', pp. 109-11] The lucrative numbers rackets left behind by Gallucci were now free for the taking, and they soon became the subject of a bloody fight, known as the Mafia-Camorra War, between Camorra gangs from Brooklyn and the Sicilian Morello gang.[Giosue Gallucci]
GangRule.com
On June 24, 1916 a meeting took place at Coney Island between the Sicilian Morello gang, the Neapolitan Navy Street gang and the Neapolitan Coney Island gang. The idea of the meeting was to discuss the expansion of gambling in lower Manhattan. After eliminating their common enemies – in particular Joe De Marco, who ran a restaurant and several gambling establishments on Mulberry Street in Lower Manhattan – the Neapolitans went after the Sicilians. Morano ran a numbers game in Harlem, the territory of the Morello gang, but the returns were not sufficient to cover the tribute that the Morellos demanded.[The Struggle for Control]
GangRule.com The Neopolitans believed they also could take over other Harlem rackets, such as the artichoke monopoly, the coal and ice business and the lucrative ''zicchinetta'' card games, if they could eliminate the Morellos.[
]
Murder and conviction
On September 7, 1916, Morello gang member Nicholas Terranova and Charles Ubriaco
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
were lured in a trap while being invited to a chat with Morano and Navy Street gang boss Lauritano. Terranova and Ubriaco were shot and killed. Subsequently, they went after other East Harlem gang leaders, killing Giuseppe Verrazano
Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph,
from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף.
It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it.
The feminine form of the name is Giuse ...
, but were unable to reach the Morellos who stayed close to their house in East 116th Street.[
The Neapolitans did not fear police investigations because they paid off police officers and ]omertà
Omertà (, ) is a Southern Italian code of silence and code of honor and conduct that places importance on silence in the face of questioning by authorities or outsiders; non-cooperation with authorities, the government, or outsiders, especial ...
prevented witnesses to step forward.[ However, in May 1917, ]Ralph Daniello
Ralph "The Barber" Daniello (1886–1925) was a New York criminal who belonged to the Brooklyn Navy Street Gang and participated in a major gang slaying. Daniello eventually became an informant and helped destroy the Camorra crime gangs in Br ...
, aka 'The Barber', a member of the Navy Street gang who had been present at the meetings to decide on the murders, began to tell the police everything he knew about Morano, the Neapolitan gangs, and the recent murders.[
On May 15, 1918, Morano was convicted of murder in the second degree in the case of Terranova and Ubriaco and sentenced to spend twenty years to life at Sing Sing prison.][Camorra Secrets Revealed at Trial]
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 15, 1918[Gunman Gets 20 Years; Pellegrino Morano Sentenced for Killing 2 Brooklyn Men]
New York Tribune, May 21, 1918 His associate Vollero received a death sentence, which was later reduced to a minimum of 20 years.[Dash, ''The First Family'', p. 262][Critchley, ''The Origin of Organized Crime in America'', p. 128]
The last time Morano came in the limelights was during the trial against his former right-hand man Antonio Paretti in July 1926. Despite the fact that he had been in jail for the past seven years, he flatly refused to provide evidence against his associate. "I won't talk, I don't know anybody," he told the court before he was returned to his prison cell.[Dash, ''The First Family'', p. 301]
References
* Critchley, David (2009).
The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891-1931
', New York: Routledge,
* Dash, Mike (2009).
The First Family: Terror, Extortion, Revenge, Murder, and the Birth of the American Mafia
', New York: Random House,
Gangrule.com
a database of historic events, family histories and photographs based on research from primary sources including police, federal, court, immigration, business, and prison records, based on Critchley's
The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891-1931
'.
* Giovino, Forentino Pietro (2010/2015),
Pratesi a New York
', Quotidiano del Sud/Corriere dell'Irpina, Avellino (Academia.edu)
* Nelli, Humbert S. (1981).
The Business of Crime. Italians and Syndicate Crime in the United States
', Chicago: The University of Chicago Press (Originally published in 1976)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morano, Pellegrino
1877 births
Year of death unknown
American gangsters of Italian descent
American Camorristi
Gang members of New York City
Mafia-Camorra war
People from East Harlem
People from Coney Island
Italian emigrants to the United States