Anastasia was born in Calabria, a town located at the toe of the boot of Italy. He was brought to the U.S., along with his eight brothers, by his parents. Albert joined
Masseria's bootlegging operation and began his carreer in the
New York Mafia. When the Castellemarse War broke out Anastasia helped end it by serving as one of the four hitmen that killed Masseria on
Luciano's orders. After the war Albert was placed in
Mangano's Brooklyn Waterfront Family. At the age of 29 Anastasia became Mangano's underboss. By this time Albert had developed a reputation for his ability to kill at a moments notice, without motive or regret. Anastasia, along with his brother and Mangano, controlled the Brooklyn Waterfront. One of Anastasia's great accomplishments was to negotiate a deal with the Navy for the release of Luciano from prison. As Anastasia's power grew, he began to question the rule of Mangano. Anastasia grew angry with his boss because Mangano would take the money that Albert would work for. On April 19, 1951, Phil Mangano's body was found with three shot in the head. The body of Vincent Mangano was never found. After the death of the Mangano brothers, a meeting was held. At the meeting Anastasia was asked to explain his actions. Anastasia said that Mangano had been planning to kill him, so he acted first. The result of the meeting was to name Albert Anastasia as head of the Mangano family. After Vicent's death, Albert gained controlled all of the New York docks. In all there were more than 300 deep-water berths and 40,000 longshoremen. His control of the waterfront gave Anastasia the ability to smuggle in any illegal substances he desired. With all of his power came overconfidence. Albert began to make stupid decisions that raise questions about his ability to lead a family. When Vito Genovese was released from jail he began to plot against Anastasia. About this time rumors that Albert was selling memberships to L.C.N spread throught the underworld. Anastasia, fearing for his life, moved into a huge fortified mansion, rarely going outside. Anastasia's doom came whan Genovese convinced
Carlo Gambino that Anastasia was in the way of Carlo's rise. So, Gambino came up with the plan and Profaci came up with the killers. On Oct. 25, 1957, while Anastasia was getting his normal shave and trim, the Gallo brothers put five shots in Anastasia, ending a murderous Mafia carreer.
