Salvatore D'Aquila was born on November 7, 1873, in Palermo, Sicily, to Salvatore D'Aquila and his wife Provvidenza Gagliardo.[3] D'Aquila emigrated to the United States in 1906[4] and became an early captain within the Morello crime family in East Harlem.[4] D'Aquila was arrested in 1906 and in 1909; both times the charges were dropped.[5] In 1910, boss of bosses Giuseppe "the Clutch Hand" Morello was imprisoned and Salvatore D'Aquila separated from the Morello family.[6] D'Aquila formed his own crime family and was appointed the new capo dei capi.[6] His crime family operated from East Harlem and the Bronx, where he rivaled the Morellos'.[6]
D'Aquila expanded his crime family's power into Brooklyn and southern Manhattan's Lower East Side/Little Italy neighborhoods.[5] The most prominent members of the D'Aquila family were Umberto Valenti, Manfredi Mineo, Giuseppe Traina, and Frank Scalise.[4] In 1920, after Giuseppe Morello was released from prison, D'Aquila tried to have him and his closest allies murdered.[5][6] In 1925, D'Aquila moved back into the Bronx.[5]
Death
On October 10, 1928, D'Aquila was shot dead on Avenue A in Manhattan, aged 54. After his murder, D'Aquila's family was taken over by Manfredi Mineo.[7][8]
Hunt, Thomas; Critchley, David; Van't Reit, Lennert; Turner, Steve (October 2020). "Nicola Gentile: Chronicler of Mafia History". Informer: The History of American Crime and Law Enforcement: 5–41.
Warner, Richard; Santino, Angelo; Van't Reit, Lennert (May 2014). "Early New York Mafia: An Alternative Theory". Informer: The History of American Crime and Law Enforcement. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
