Joseph (Tough Joey) Rao: A Feared and Respected Original

As a member of the Genovese Family, Joseph (Tough Joey) Rao was considered one of the most feared and respected hoodlums in the entire city of New York. A true “original,” he dated back to the days of Dutch Schultz, Vincent (Mad Dog) Coll, and Jack (Legs) Diamond.

Joseph (Tough Joey) Rao – aka Joseph Cangro, Joe Raio, Joe Cangero, Joey Rao, and Joseph Louis Rao (TN), was born to Calogero and Francesca Rao in Upper Manhattan on March 12, 1901. The Rao family lived in an apartment on East 116th Street between First and Second Avenues.

He and his two brothers, Vincent and Louis, all grew up in the East Harlem section of New York City. It was an area that Joey would later operate in for the rest of his life.

Joseph (Tough Joey) Rao

Back in the 1920s, rough and tumble 116th Street was an early stronghold of what would become the infamous “116th Street Mob,” laying the seeds for what would one day morph into one of the largest and most powerful factions of the fledgling Luciano/Genovese crime family. He was a true “original” who dated back to the days of Dutch Schultz, Vincent (Mad Dog) Coll, and Jack (Legs) Diamond.

Tough Joey Rao got married young to a local neighborhood girl named Lena Stracci, who was the sister of a future Genovese soldier and top garment center racketeer named Joseph (Joe Stretch) Stracci.

The newlywed couple soon started having children. Joey and Lena eventually had three kids, a daughter they named Frances after Joey’s mother, two boys named Charles (after Joey’s father), and a younger son they later named Robert.

Staying true to his 116th Street roots, Joey and Lena and their growing young family rented an apartment and resided for years in an upper floor unit located at 337 East 116th Street in the heart of East Harlem.

Side Note: As an adult, his youngest son Robert, better known as Bobby, would one day be installed as a top labor union official by the Genovese administration. Thereafter, Bobby Rao would grow to become one of the most low-key but powerful labor racketeers around.

FBI #283669, NYCPD #B-65991

“Tough Joey” Rao stood only 5 feet 7 inches, but he weighed in at a solid 200 pounds. He had dark brown eyes and salt and pepper hair thinned out on top by the time he was in his early forties. He was also known as a very nattily dressed hood who wore the finest threads.

Since 1920, he had accumulated a lengthy criminal record with repeated arrests for such serious offenses as burglary, armed robbery, possession of a gun, grand larceny, felonious assault, and murder on several occasions.

He was considered one of the most feared and respected hoodlums in the entire City of New York, especially around Harlem where he held sway as one of that neighborhood’s top criminal leaders.

Both numerous underworld informants and local law enforcement officials alike labeled Rao the reputed “boss” of all Mafia operations around the Pleasant Avenue and First Avenue sections, between E. 115th and E. 118th Streets.

He originally started as an alcohol bootlegger. Years later, he was said to be in firm control of an extensive policy-numbers network, a huge bookmaking operation as well as shylocking, wholesale narcotics traffic, organized burglaries and thefts, unlicensed after-hours nightclubs in Harlem, and labor racketeering through his crew’s dominance and control over various labor unions.

Rao numbered among his closer associates, racket partners, and direct subordinates such iconic mafiosi as Michael (Trigger Mike) Coppola, Anthony (Fat Tony) Salerno, Charles (Charlie Bullets) Albero, Frank (Cheech) Livorsi, Pasquale (Patsy) Erra, Joseph (Joe Stutz) Tortorici, Joseph (Joe Babes) Bendinelli, Alfredo (Freddy Red Shirt) Felice, Alexander (Al Ross) Rosato, and Rao’s brother-in-law Joe Stracci.

Most of these men were fellow East Harlem alumni and many were members of his personal crew.

He reputedly held ownership or hidden interests through the years in a valuable property located at the corner of East 107th Street and First Avenue, which he later converted into a lucrative parking lot business.

Rao was also said to be the force behind several Upper Manhattan restaurants and nightclubs, a garment factory in partnership with Joe Stracci, and a Harlem-based real estate investment firm.

Joseph (Tough Joey) Rao’s career was cut short with his sudden death on March 10, 1962, at the age of only 61 years old.

Until next time..."The Other Guy!"

Joseph (Tough Joey) Rao: A Feared and Respected Original

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