Gambino Soldier "Frankie Miller" Luciano

Frank “Frankie Miller” Luciano wasn’t one of the more famous Lucianos, but his name carried plenty of weight in New York’s underworld. A Bronx-based mob figure with deep ties to the Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese Families, Luciano ran rackets that stretched from Harlem to Queens — and even found himself on the wrong end of a legendary sit-down with Albert Anastasia. From bootlegging and hijacking to a World War II ration-stamp racket that turned serious profits, his criminal career spanned decades and crossed paths with some of the biggest names in the Mafia.

Subscribers can read the full story, including Luciano’s FBI profile, arrest record, and how his feud with Joe Valachi nearly got him killed.

Frank (Frankie Miller) Luciano -- aka Biaggio DeLuca, Gefri DeLuca, Gefri Luciano, Francesco Arturo Luciano (TN) — was born on April 27, 1900, at Salerno, Italy (Campania Province). He was the first of six children of Antonio and Immaculata (nee’ Della Calce) Luciano. (Through the years, Luciano’s birth was sometimes incorrectly listed as May 5, 1900.)

Immigration authorities say that in late summer 1904, the then 4-year-old Luciano boarded a ship in Naples harbor with his family and sailed to the United States, arriving at New York’s Ellis Island on September 4th. The Luciano family settled in the East Harlem section of Upper Manhattan. Thirty-five years later, on December 23, 1940, Luciano, then 40 years old, took the oath and finally became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Frank A. Luciano

As a young man, he met a local Italian girl, two years his junior, by the name of Pauline Magnano, whom he would later marry. Frank and Pauline went on to have three children together, two boys they named Anthony and Frank, and a daughter, Rita. (FBI sources say there was a fourth child, a boy, who they named Robert).

During the first years of their marriage, Frank and Pauline rented several small apartments around Upper Manhattan and the Bronx. By 1939, Frank and his wife were known to be living at 1961 Fowler Avenue in The Bronx.

1961 Fowler Ave., Bronx

By at least the early 1950s, Frank and Pauline decided to leave the Bronx, relocating their family directly over the Whitestone Bridge into Queens County. They purchased a small colonial-style home at 14-24 144th Place, in the town of Flushing, a quiet bedroom community located in mid-Queens on its north shore.

14-24 144th Place, Flushing

FBI #347100, NYCPD #B-100676, INS #344727

In police and government files, Luciano was described as a short, heavily built man, standing only 5 feet two inches tall and weighing approximately 180 pounds. He had dark-brown hair (greying by his early fifties) that he combed straight back, and brown eyes. He was described as having a light-to-medium complexion.

Luciano’s criminal record commenced when he was just 16 years old and included at least ten known arrests on the following charges: (1917) Possessing policy slips. Later discharged; (1929) Felonious assault, dismissed; (1930) Bootlegging and conspiracy to operate an alcohol still. He served 6 months in jail (1932) for felonious assault. Dismissed; (1935) Attempted grand larceny. Convicted, received 2 years probation; (1936) False and fraudulent statements. Dismissed; (1937) Vagrancy. Dismissed; (1937) Vagrancy. Dismissed; (1941) Bookmaking. Convicted, paid a $25 fine; (1946) Possession of counterfeit (OPA) sugar-ration coupons. Final disposition not listed.

Known Associates

Over the course of his underworld career, Frank is said to have gotten around pretty good and is believed to have been a very well-known hoodlum who knew most everyone worth knowing within the New York underworld.

But, according to both local and federal law enforcement sources, he primarily hung around and operated in the East Harlem and Bronx sections of the city and maintained his closest relationships with other hoodlums within his own Family and with other mafiosi from Harlem-based crews of the Genovese and Lucchese Families.

Listed among his most important connections and associations and business partners included top-ranked mafiosi such as Carlo (Don Carlo) Gambino, his brother, capo Paul (Don Paolo) Gambino , and capo Giuseppe (Joe) Scalici .

Luciano’s other close associates included fellow Gambino Family soldiers Giacomo (Jack) Scalici, Giacomo M. (Jack) Scarpulla , Michael (Skinny Mike) Pecoraro, Matteo (Matty) Cuomo, Joseph (JoJo) Manfredi , Nicholas (Benny) DiBene, and Joseph (Joe Harlem) Bisogno.

He also associated with Genovese Family soldiers like Joseph (Joe Cago) Valachi, Vincenzo (Jimmy the Baker) Catania , Pasquale (Patsy Jerome) Genese, and Joseph J. (Gijo) Barra .

Another close associate was Joseph (Babo) Vento, a longtime Lucchese Family soldier and a son-in-law of infamous Family consigliere Vincenzo (Vincey) Rao .

Most of those named above were either suspected of — or had been previously convicted of — dealing in wholesale quantities of heroin.

Mafia Hangouts

Federal agents who periodically kept their eyes on Luciano noted that through the years, he generally hung around and conducted his illicit activities from local restaurants and watering holes he had ownership interests in or at bars and grills owned by friends of his around Harlem and The Bronx.

When he was in Harlem, he could often be found at Manfredi’s Restaurant, located at 331 East 108th Street. This eatery was owned by mafioso JoJo Manfredi and his relatives.

One particular eatery of note that Luciano owned for some years was a combination pizzeria-restaurant named The Lido. He was partners with a mob associate of his by the name of Joseph Valachi, better known as “Joe Cago” within underworld circles. Located in The Bronx, besides pizza, the Lido served homemade “southern Italian cuisine” inspired by the City of Naples.

Joseph Valachi

In the Bronx, he usually hung out in the Belmont section of Arthur Avenue, Fordham Road, and Crescent Avenue. Some afternoons, Frank hung around Jack’s Candy Store at 597 Crescent Avenue, which was owned by another fellow mafioso named Jack Scalici.

Frank also frequented the Morris Park section along Morris Park Avenue and Williamsbridge Road, where several friends owned local bars and grills. Federal Narcotics agents who trailed Luciano said one of his favorite spots was the Capri Lounge, at 2010 Williamsbridge Road.

He also sometimes did business from the Monterey Bar, at 4069 Bronxwood Avenue. This particular nightclub was owned by several other Gambino soldiers, namely, Nick DeBene, Dominick Carminati, the son of Family caporegime “Little Tony” Carminati.

Another favored culinary destination was The Flamingo Restaurant, at 2694 Jerome Avenue, located in the borough’s Bedford Park section.

Side Note: Years back, each of these respective areas was considered an Italian stronghold that served as “Little Italy” communities within Bronx County.

What the Feds Said

A top official with the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs once commented, “Frank Luciano is one of the most important mafiosi in The Bronx, N.Y. He is engaged in truck hijacking, shylocking, bootlegging, and narcotics trafficking. We consider him to be instrumental in the smuggling of narcotics (heroin) into the United States.”

After turning informant for the FBI, legendary mob songbird Joe Valachi revealed that Luciano was, in fact, a bonafide Cosa Nostra member. He specifically described Frank Luciano as a Bronx-based soldier within Carlo Gambino’s Family.

Subsequently, during the early 1960s, the famous McClellan Senate Investigative Hearings on organized crime used the information Valachi provided to design organizational charts representing the structure and membership of New York’s so-called “Five Families” of the Mafia. On the chart depicting the Gambino Family membership, Frank Luciano was listed under the soldier column with the symbols (1D, 2,6,7,9), which corresponded to an “activity key chart” that was explained as follows:

1D) Suspected of being active in narcotics

2) Gambling

6) Extortion, strong-arm, and murder.

7) Counterfeiting.

9) Alcohol tax violations.

The Ration-Stamp Racket

Besides the restaurant they invested in together, Frank also partnered with Joe Valachi in several racket schemes, including the “ration stamp” racket during WWII. In fact, in his biography “The Valachi Papers,” in which he told of his life in the Mafia, Valachi described his and Luciano’s involvement in this particular racket.

He described Luciano and himself as “middle men” who bought blocks of gasoline ration stamps on credit from larger dealers such as Carlo Gambino and Settimo (Big Sam) Accardi. Valachi and Luciano then sold them primarily to garages and gasoline stations, generally repaying Accardi and Gambino from the gross profits they made.

Settimo Accardi

He said that Luciano first approached him to go partners because Valachi was trusted by fellow mobsters and could obtain the ration stamps on credit, as opposed to Luciano, who, according to Valachi, didn’t have the greatest reputation for paying his debts.

One excerpt from his book read as follows: “The boys did not think too highly of Frank,” Valachi said, “as far as him meeting his debts was concerned. But everybody knows Joe Cago will always pay what he owes.”

Valachi continued, “Now we have the stamps on credit, and we owe the guy in Newark, meaning Big Sam, $30,000. But I hustle around, and my partner Frank Luciano has his customers too. We peddle the stamps in a few days and have a nice profit of $10,000 after paying back Sam. That was all there was to it. If you wanna know how we got rid of the stamps, it was mostly to garages. Boy oh boy, they were glad to get them too. They needed the stamps to cover all the gas they were selling without them. It was the best business I was ever in, some of the big dealers made millions out of it, and it lasted right up to when they threw the A-bomb on the Japs.”

Lord High Executioner

Aside from their partnership in the ration-stamp rackets and a few other criminal endeavors, as previously mentioned, Luciano and Joe Valachi had also gone partners in the restaurant business together. It was an Italian restaurant they named the Lido. It was located in the Bronx, at 1362 Castle Hill Road.

In his book, “The Valachi Papers,” Joe retold a story about how Luciano had invited him to go partners, and that much to Valachi’s delight, their restaurant soon became wildly successful financially. Yet, week after week, and month after month, Luciano kept delaying Valachi’s suggestion that the two of them start drawing down a weekly salary from the profits.

After a while, Valachi started to suspect his partner might be cheating him, but kept quiet not to cause trouble without any firm proof of Frank’s wrongdoing. But several weeks later, late one evening, Valachi walked into the restaurant unannounced and ended up catching Luciano helping himself to a stack of money from the company’s safe and realized that Luciano had been robbing him all along on a regular basis.

A nasty verbal argument quickly ensued between them. And one word soon led to another, and before he knew it, Joe Valachi snapped and ended up giving Luciano a terrible beating that left his thieving partner bloodied and unconscious on the floor in the basement.

This was a major breach of Cosa Nostra law — and one that often leads to a death sentence for the mafioso who dared raise his hands to another member, regardless of the provocation.

The incident resulted in a major “sit-down” being called for between the hierarchies of Luciano and Valachi’s respective borgatas.

As it happened, showing up to represent Frank was his Family’s number two man, who just happened to be the Family’s trigger-happy underboss, Albert (The Executioner) Anastasia.

Albert Anastasia

The “rabbi” for Joe Valachi that afternoon turned out to be Vito Genovese Family caporegime — and Vito’s personal assistant and future underboss — Antonio (Tony Bender) Strollo.

As soon as they were all seated at the round table, Anastasia immediately took control of the sit-down and started lacing into Valachi, yelling, “What the fuck’s the matter with you? After all, you been in this life of ours for twenty years. There is no excuse for you!”

But in a lucky and very fateful turn of events for Valachi, Anastasia then turned to his own man, Frank Luciano, and started lacing into him, calling him a crook.

Ultimately, Albert ended up siding with Valachi and ruling in his favor. He ordered the hapless Luciano to completely turn over his ownership percentage in the Lido to Valachi.

Luciano complained that he had invested $15,000 as his end, but Anastasia told Luciano he was only gonna get $3,500 from Valachi for the buyout.

So, Frank Luciano ended up with a terrible beating and lost his restaurant too. It was a very bitter pill for him to swallow, but the scheming mafioso knew better than to challenged his blood-thirsty superior, lest he have a death wish.

Death and Other Pasttimes

Button Guys could find no exact information or date when Frank Luciano actually passed away. Several sources point to the year 1967 or 1968.

We believe he most likely died sometime in March 1967.

If this is correct, Frank would have been 66 years old, just one month shy of his 67th birthday.

Until next time…”The Other Guy”

Gambino Soldier “Frankie Miller” Luciano

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