The infamous gangster Frankie Yale was said to have been a vicious street fighter. At the age of 19, he was charged with suspicion of homicide after he and a buddy had killed several men inside a Coney Island pool hall when an argument broke out among them.
The murder weapons of choice? Pool cues and billiard balls that Frankie and company used to smash in their opponents’ skulls.
As a tough young street hood, Frankie Yale soon came to the attention of the Five Points Gang based in Lower Manhattan, led by an Italian named Paolo Vaccarelli, aka “Paul Kelly.” Yale joined up, becoming affiliated early on with the notorious Johnny Torrio, who was a key member of the Five Points Gang. It is said that Torrio was the one who “groomed” Frankie and became his mentor.
He took his well-learned lessons and transported them back home to Kings County where, in time, Yale was to become the iconic leader over a large and powerful faction based in the South Brooklyn area of important Calabrian and Neopolitan racketeers.
As he became more powerful, Frankie Yale’s growing “gang” included such iconic future mob powerhouses as Anthony (Little Augie Pisano) Carfano, Antonio (Tony the Sheik) Carillo, Giuseppe (Joe Adonis) Doto, and Generoso del Duca.
Another young hoodlum originally working under Yale’s umbrella was Downtown Brooklyn’s Alfonso Caponi, soon to be better known the world over as “Scarface Al Capone.”
Frankie Yale – Early Life
Francesco (Frankie Yale) Ioele – aka “Frank Uale” and “Frankie Yale” – was born in Longobucco (Cosenza province), Calabria back on January 22, 1893.
He immigrated with his mother Isabella and his siblings as a child of 7 years old to the United States in 1900, joining his father Domenico who had arrived several years earlier laying the groundwork for his wife and children.
His father first settled in Downtown Manhattan, residing at 66 James Street.
But with the arrival of his family, the Ioeles moved to 46 Baxter Street near the infamous Five Points corners, five streets that converged and bridged New York’s Chinatown, Little Italy, and Bowery sections together.
The Ioele family soon relocated again out to the more open spaces of Brooklyn County. They moved into a home at 1440 Sixty-Sixth Street.
From this point forward, the youthful Frankie Yale, as he was now known to his American friends, was drawn to the streets and to petty crime.
Drawn to the Streets
Frankie Yale was said to have been a vicious street fighter.
