Calogero (Charlie) Rao was a member of the Lucchese Family who was a notorious loanshark and the brother of the infamous Vincey Rao. Calogero (Charlie) Rao was born in 1889 in Corleone, Sicily. He was naturalized in 1920 in NYC. Rao was a longtime resident of Pleasant Avenue in East Harlem, later moving up to Bronxville where he would reside at #2 Hillside Place for many years. Calogero (Charlie) Rao He was a lifelong resident of the E. Harlem/Bronx sections of NY. He also maintained a summer home at 134 Wilson Avenue in Long Beach, Long Island His older brother Vincent (Vincey) Rao was the longtime Lucchese consigliere. They were the uncle of Jasper Speciale who was a major Family-affiliated bookmaker. In the early 1960s, Jasper relocated west to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he would open up the wildly successful Tower of Pizza Italian Restaurant and remain a major bookmaker for years to come. (He was now licensed.) Rao was very small in stature standing at a mere 5-foot 3-inches tall and weighing 145-pounds with greyish brown hair and light brown eyes. The soft-spoken Rao maintained a very low-key persona. He owned and operated (in conjunction with brother Vincent) large tracts of property and buildings in Harlem. He also ran an insurance firm at 218 E. 116 Street, where he based operations. A major loan shark, he is alleged to have had over $1,000,000 out “on the street,” working in tandem with Vincent. Rao’s Bar on 114th Street (long before its fame on Page Six of The NY Post), served as the de facto headquarters for the Rao brothers. Having been born, raised, and operating in Harlem his entire life, he was well-acquainted with the underworld including his more famous brother, Joseph Lanza, Frank (The Hawk) Borelli, Joseph (Joe Stretch) Stracci, Samuel (Big Sam) Cavalieri, Joseph Rao - who was a cousin, and Tommy Lucchese himself. All through the 1940s through the 1970s, the Rao’s operated in New York. He has no known arrest record and largely remained in the shadow of his more famous brother. But Charlie did very well for himself over the years. No known dod is available..... another “sleeper” if you will, of early NYC members. Until next time..."The Other Guy"
