Joseph (Joe Curly) Agone was a soldier in the Genovese Family active as a labor extortionist, gunman, and shylock. Joseph (Joe Curly) Agone -- aka Joseph Morelli, Tony Agano, Tony Agona, Joseph Morelli, Joseph Morole, Joseph Agoni, Joseph Argone, Scarface, and "Joseph Michael Agone (TN) -- was orn on June 21, 1913, in Lower Manhattan. (The FBI lists his birthdate as 6/30/1913.) Joseph (Joe Curly) Agone He was a lifelong resident of downtown NYC and lived at 475 FDR Dr. in Manhattan and later at 178 Ohls St. in Canaan Lake, where he had a summer home. FBI #233868, NYPD #B-76737, Trenton, NJ PD #26793, Morristown, NJ PD #12886 Agone was an incorrigible labor racketeer and a venerable gunman. He was the assistant to the president and special coordinator of the 12,000-member Local #11 of the Hotel, Restaurant, and Bartenders Union (AFL-CIO), but he was also very active in many other “paper locals” and various unions he infiltrated over the years. He was a top labor extortionist for the Genovese Family and utilized the likes of Benny (The Bug) Ross as a devoted minion. Ross and others would raid a business and threaten or picket them until either a “shakedown” was paid or a “sweetheart” contract signed. In the mid-1970s, he “sold” a security guard union for $60,000 cash to an aspiring labor racketeer named Dan Cunningham, who years later would be convicted of looting the union and jailed for five years. Joe Curly was a well-known mobster and reveled in his reputation. Agone was also very active as a shylock using usurious loans as another tool to extort money and hidden interests in bars and nightclubs throughout Manhattan. Joseph Agone He had an arrest record for grand larceny (six times,) assault and robbery (six times,) possession of a gun, malicious mischief, vagrancy, disorderly conduct (three times,) and parole violation. He was convicted of grand larceny and assault and robbery (served 9 to 18 years). As a side note, he was a lifelong friend and associate of Joseph Lapi. They were arrested for robbery together as young men and sentenced to 9 to 18 years in prison. He was also a close friend of fellow Genovese soldier Philip (Philly Katz) Albanese. He served in the same regime under Joseph (Joe Socks) Lanza, and later, Rocco Pellegrino and Saro Mogavero until Lapi became a capo himself! Agone died on January 16, 1982, in Florida. (Alternate DOD is January 15, 1982.) Until next time..."The Other Guy!"
