An eth­nic phe­nom­e­non begin­ning in 1903, and last­ing over fif­teen years. The extor­tion of wealthy Ital­ians in New York City was attrib­uted to ‘La Mano Nera’.

The Morel­lo gang was the first Mafia fam­i­ly of New York, led by ‘boss-of-bosses’ Giuseppe Morel­lo. The fam­i­ly was even­tu­al­ly bro­ken after its lead­er­ship was jailed fol­low­ing an inves­ti­ga­tion by the Secret Service.

The Neapoli­tans, based in Brook­lyn and Coney Island, fought for con­trol of the New York rack­ets. Even­tu­al­ly dec­i­mat­ed when it’s own mem­bers turned against them.