Venero Frank "Benny Eggs" Mangano (September 7, 1921 – August 18, 2017) was the

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 ...

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 ...

. In 1991, Mangano was convicted of one count of extortion and a related conspiracy count for rigging windows contracts, and in 1993, was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison and fined $100,000. He was released in 2006, and died of natural causes on August 18, 2017.

Early career

Mangano was related to

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

Vincent Mangano Vincent Mangano (born Vincenzo Giovanni Mangano; ; March 28, 1888 – disappeared April 19, 1951, declared dead October 30, 1961) was an Italian-born mobster also known as "Vincent The Executioner" as named in a Brooklyn newspaper, and the head of ...

(1888–1951), Philip Mangano,

Lawrence Mangano Lawrence "Dago Lawrence" Mangano (February 27, 1892 – August 3, 1944) was a Chicago organized crime figure and member of the Chicago Outfit during the 1920s to the 1940s. He was a relative of Joseph Mangano and Philip Mangano, of Chicago, a ...

and Anthony Mangano. The nickname "Benny Eggs" stemmed from an egg store his mother had run. Mangano was listed as a

caporegime A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to capo or informally referred to as "captain" or "skipper", is a rank used in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia) for a ''made member'' of an Italian crime family who head ...

twice by the

New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that was established in 1977 under the Casino Control Act, N.J.S.A. to ensure the integrity of the casino gaming industry, including spor ...

in a 1987 exclusion order. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Mangano served as a bomber

tail gunner A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter or interceptor attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. The tail gunner operates a flexible machine gun or aut ...

with the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

in Europe. In recognition of his service, the Army decorated Mangano with a Distinguished Flying Cross and an

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

with four

Oak Leaf Clusters An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a speci ...

and three

Battle Stars A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

. Mangano later joined a crew in

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 ...

that would later belong to Vincent "The Chin" Gigante. Mangano oversaw his businesses out of a

social club A social club may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation, or activity. Examples include: book discussion clubs, chess clubs, anime clubs, country clubs, charity work, criminal ...

at 110 Thompson Street. These operations included a monopoly on window replacement in the

New York City metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

Windows case

From 1978 to 1990, four of the five crime families of New York rigged bids for 75 percent of $191 million, or about $142 million, of the window contracts awarded by the

New York City Housing Authority The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation which provides public housing in New York City, and is the largest public housing authority in North America. Created in 1934 as the first agency of its kind in the U ...

. Installation companies were required to make union payoffs between $1 and $2 for each windows installed. On May 30, 1990, Mangano was indicted in the "Windows case" along with other members of four of the New York crime families. On October 19, 1991, Mangano was convicted of one count of extortion and a related conspiracy count in the Windows case. On March 26, 1993, Mangano was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison and fined $100,000. In 1997, while still in prison, Mangano was called to testify against boss Gigante. He refused to testify, saying, "What do you want to do, shoot me?" then "Shoot me, but I'm not going to answer any questions".A Jailed Mobster Refuses To Testify in Mafia Case
By Joseph P. Fried, July 19, 1997. New York Times He later took the witness stand, but refused to answer any questions, invoking his Fifth Amendment rights. On May 3, 2006, Mangano was transferred to a

halfway house A halfway house is an institute for people with criminal backgrounds or substance use disorder problems to learn (or relearn) the necessary skills to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. As well as serving as a ...

Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Bedford–Stuyvesant (), colloquially known as Bed–Stuy, is a neighborhood in the northern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Bedford–Stuyvesant is bordered by Flushing Avenue to the north (bordering Williamsburg), Classon Av ...

. On November 2, 2006, he was released after 13 years in prison. He had heart disease and

macular degeneration Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), is a medical condition which may result in blurred or no vision in the center of the visual field. Early on there are often no symptoms. Over time, however, som ...

that left him virtually blind. Mangano died of natural causes in

on August 18, 2017.

In popular culture

Mangano was portrayed by

Kevin Corrigan Kevin Corrigan (born ) is an American character actor. He has appeared mostly in independent films and television since the 1990s, including as Uncle Eddie on the sitcom ''Grounded for Life'' (2001–2005). His film appearances include support ...

in the first season of the 2019 TV series ''

Godfather of Harlem ''Godfather of Harlem'' is an American crime drama television series which premiered on September 29, 2019, on Epix. The series is written by Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein, and stars Forest Whitaker as 1960s New York City gangster Bumpy Johns ...

''.

Early career

Windows case

In popular culture

References

Further reading