Printed page 215 of the 1963 hearings, Part 1 (NCJRS PDF page 229): Valachi describes the meeting in a hall on Washington Avenue in the Bronx and quotes Maranzano, "first we have the boss of all bosses, which is myself."
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Hearing of October 2, 1963, pp. 214–218: the "score" of the war, Maranzano's meeting on Washington Avenue ("the boss of all bosses, which is myself"), and the banquet

Valachi testified that the score was "we lost 1 and they lost from 40 to 60," described a meeting of 400 to 500 people in a hall on Washington Avenue in the Bronx where Maranzano declared himself "the boss of all bosses," named the bosses he recalled being designated there, and described a five-night banquet he understood raised $115,000. Testimony, not findings.

Date
1963-10-02
Kind
hearing
Retrieved
2026-10-12
Rights
A work of the United States Senate, printed by the Government Printing Office. Public domain in the United States. 17 U.S.C. § 105. The NCJRS cover sheet records reproduction permission as "Public Domain / U.S. Senate."

Printed pages 214 to 218 of Part 1 (NCJRS PDF pages 228 to 232), October 2, 1963. Asked how many were killed on each side, Valachi said: “Senator, I got the score. The score was, we lost 1 and they lost from 40 to 60.” The one, he said, was “Joe Aiello” in Chicago: “They told me Al Capone got him. I only can tell you what they told me at the time.” The figures are his.

The meeting. Valachi testified that after the peace he was notified of a meeting “around Washington Avenue in the Bronx … a big hall,” with “about 400 to 500 people.” Maranzano spoke from the platform about “Masseria and his groups, that they were killing people without just,” naming “Don Antonio” and “Reina.” Valachi quoted him: “‘Now, it is going to be different,’ he said. ‘We are going to have—first we have the boss of all bosses, which is myself.’” Maranzano then described the boss, underboss and caporegima, and the rule that a soldier must go through his caporegima. Valachi said he raised his hand to stay with Maranzano: “Now, I remained with Maranzano, no longer in the Gagliano group. Already I traveled two families.” The record does not give the hall’s street number.

The names Valachi recalled. Asked who the other bosses were, he said Maranzano named Angelo Caruso his underboss, and then (printed page 216): “Charley Lucky was boss, and Vito Genovese underboss. Tom Gagliano, boss and Tommy Brown underboss.” For Vince Mangano he said, “I think it was Frank Scalise” as underboss. He spoke of a boss in Newark named “Joe Bonanno, but not the Joe Bonanno in Brooklyn,” and said “Joe Profaci at this time was with us.” When the chairman asked whether that made five families, Valachi answered, “Did I count five, Senator?” This is one witness’s memory, thirty-two years later, of what he heard announced. It is not a finding, and this archive does not copy any of these roles onto a family chart.

The banquet. Valachi said the meeting came “about a week or two after the peace,” and the banquet “right after,” lasting five nights. He said its purpose was to raise money “for the original soldiers and for himself” and agreed with the chairman that it was to “acknowledge Maranzano as the boss of bosses.” He said: “I understood it was $115,000. He sent out, for instance, a thousand tickets to Al Capone, and Al Capone sent $6,000. He sent a thousand tickets to Buffalo, and they also sent $6,000. Charley Lucky, himself, sent $6,000.” These are his sworn answers, not findings.

Page images: printed p. 215 (stored above), p. 214 and p. 217.

itemHearing of October 2, 1963, pp. 210–213: Valachi's account of the killing of Joseph Masseria, and the police record of April 15, 1931 at 2715 West 15th Street, Coney IslandValachi testified from hearsay that Masseria's own men took him to a Coney Island restaurant and killed him. Sgt. Ralph Salerno read the police record: at 3:30 p.m. on April 15, 1931, "Giuseppi Massaria, alias Joe the Boss," was shot in the back and head in a restaurant at 2715 West 15th Street by unknown persons who escaped.itemHearing of October 2, 1963, pp. 220–224: "We have to go to the mattress again," Maranzano's list, and the "Park Avenue Murder" headlineValachi testified that shortly before his death Maranzano told him "We have to go to the mattress again," gave him a list of names, and was to meet Genovese and Luciano at his office the next afternoon; Valachi was told by phone not to come, and learned of the killing from a newspaper headline, "Park Avenue Murder." Uncorroborated testimony.itemHearing of October 1, 1963, pp. 193–195: how the war was paid for, and Exhibit No. 10, a Chicago police entry on the killing of Joseph Aiello, October 23, 1930Valachi testified that Tom Gagliano spent $140,000 on the war and that $5,000 a week came from Buffalo and $5,000 a week from Joe Aiello in Chicago. Exhibit No. 10, a photostat of a Chicago police entry, records that Aiello was killed by machine-gun fire in front of 205 N. Kolmar Ave. on October 23, 1930.itemExhibit No. 8: "Masseria-Maranzano War and Evolution of Gang Control—1930 to Present"Staff fold-out chart presented on October 1, 1963: the 1930 to 1931 war in three key-coded groups and the lines of succession drawn from it to five 1963 bosses. Several name boxes are illegible in the scan.itemHearing of October 2, 1963: Valachi's testimony and police recordsValachi continued his account of the 1930 to 1931 gang war. Police witnesses from Hartford and New York testified to records the subcommittee set beside his statements.