Anastasio was born on February 24, 1906, in Tropea, Calabria, Italy to Bartolomeo Anastasio and Marianna Polistena.[2][3] Anastasio had seven brothers: Raffaele; Frank; Albert; Joseph; Gerardo; Luigi, who moved to Australia; and Salvatore Anastasio; and a sister, Maria.[4]
In 1919, Anastasio, with his brothers Joseph, Albert, and Gerardo, arrived in New York City, working on a freighter. Deserting the ship, the brothers illegally entered the United States. The boys soon started working as longshoremen on the Brooklyn waterfront.[5] Unlike Albert, Tony kept the original spelling of his last name.
In 1932, Anastasio gained control of Brooklyn Local 1814 of the International Longshoremen's Association and eventually rose to become a vice president of the national ILA. In 1937, Anastasio gained control of six ILA local chapters on the Brooklyn waterfront, sealing his control of the facility. Over the years, Anastasio earned millions for the New York Five Families through kickbacks from dues, stolen merchandise, and payoffs from rival shipping companies.[7]
Anastasio always wore trademark, custom made wide-lapeled double breasted suits with white tie and white carnation which made up his expensive wardrobe, flashy cars, and Broadway showgirl companions which were all paid for by the ILA. When Charles "Lucky" Luciano was incarcerated in Dannemora, it made the Anastasio brothers nervous.
With his brother Albert's position in Murder, Inc., Anastasio ruled the Brooklyn waterfront with an iron hand. During this time, while helping establish Anastasia as a major force on the New York waterfront, Anastasio's power was at its height. It is said he would severely damage foreign shipping and sabotage ships as a means of intimidation (presumably on orders from Anastasio). He made no effort to hide that he was a connected mobster; he only had to say "my brother Albert" to get his point across.
Normandie fire
After Luciano was imprisoned for pandering, Anastasio allegedly organized the arson sabotage of the French luxury liner SS Normandie.[8] Early in 1942, a few months after the U.S. entered World War II, the brothers hit upon a clever scheme. The U.S. Navy at the time was concerned about the dangers of possible acts of sabotage against warships berthed at Brooklyn and Manhattan docks.[9] The brothers made a deal with the Navy to release Luciano, and in return, the mob would guarantee the safety of the docks as far as the Navy's interests were concerned.[9] To get the Navy concerned, they created a maritime disaster: Anastasio had been aware that over the last few months agents of naval intelligence had been scouting the Brooklyn and Manhattan waterfront looking for Italians and Germans who might be involved in a plot to sabotage Navy shipping.[9] A French luxury liner, the SS Normandie, was being hastily converted into a troop transport and was docked at a Hudson River pier. Anthony and his brother Albert claimed they decided to sabotage the Normandie.[9] The fire that broke out the afternoon of February 9, 1942, became one of the most spectacular in New York City's history. For hours, the Normandie burned, until, listing heavily to port from all the water she had taken on, the ship finally capsized along the pier. The destruction of the Normandie prompted the Navy to approach the mob.[9] The Navy won a guarantee that there would be no sabotaging of shipping in New York Harbor.[9] As a reward for his "patriotic" support, Charles Luciano was transferred from the maximum-security prison at Dannemora to Great Meadow prison, a minimum-security facility.[9]
A federal investigation in the wake of the sinking, in conflict with the later claims of the mobsters, concluded that sabotage was not a factor.[9][10][11]
Later years
After Albert Anastasia's murder on October 25, 1957, Anthony Anastasio's influence began to fade. However, new boss Carlo Gambino did allow Anastasio to retain control of the Brooklyn docks until his death. In 1962, Anastasio started suspecting that Vito Genovese (the main suspect in his brother's murder) meant to kill him and decided to meet with FBI agents. While discussing Gambino, Peter DeFeo, and Thomas Eboli with the agents, Anastasio reflected on his deceased brother: "I ate from the same table as Albert and came from the same womb but I know he killed many men and he deserved to die".[12]
Anastasio's grandson, John Scotto, the son of successor New York waterfront racketeer Anthony Scotto, later became an informant for the Los Angeles Police Department between 1993 and 1996. Anastasio's granddaughter, Rosanna Scotto, is a longtime New York City anchorwoman.
Depictions in Media
The character of waterfront boss Johnny Friendly in the movie On the Waterfront was based on Anastasio.[14] Actor Lee J. Cobb received an Oscar nomination in the part.[15]
References
^Raab, Selwyn (2005). Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin Press. p. 68. ISBN0-312-30094-8. Anastasia's brother Anthony "Tough Tony" Anastasio (a made man who spelled his name differently) dominated Brooklyn's waterfront for the Mangano borgata...
^Newton, Michael (March 23, 2020). Boss of Murder, Inc.: The Criminal Life of Albert Anastasia. pp. 3–4. In fact Umberto's actual brothers identified their parents as Bartolomeo and Mariana (or Mariannina) Polistena Anastasio
^Zampa, Fabrizio (October 5, 1973). "Cosa nostra, Chiesa mia". Tropea Magazine (in Italian). Retrieved June 5, 2020. in origine eravamo nove: Raffaele, Francesco, Alberto, Antonio, Giuseppe, Gerardo, Luigi e io. Poi c'è una sorella, Maria.
^ abcdefghCampbell, Rodney (1977). The Luciano Project: The Secret Wartime Collaboration of the Mafia and the U.S. Navy. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN0-07-009674-0.
^Ardman, Harvey (1985). Normandie: Her Life and Times. New York: Franklin Watts. ISBN0-531-09784-6.
^"The Smoking Gun: Tough Love". New York. September 20, 1999. Retrieved June 5, 2020. In a remarkable family and mob betrayal, Anastasia told agents that "I ate from the same table as Albert and came from the same womb but I know he killed many men and he deserved to die," according to an August 1962 FBI memo.
Davis, John H. (1993). Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN0-061-09184-7.
DeVito, Carlo (2005). Encyclopedia of International Organized Crime. New York: Facts On File, Inc. ISBN978-0-8160-4848-9.
Kelly, Robert J. (2000). Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN978-0-313-30653-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Sifakis, Carl (2005). The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN978-0-8160-5694-1.
Bureau of Narcotics; U.S. Treasury Department (2007). Mafia: the Government's Secret File on Organized Crime. HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN978-0-06-136385-6.
