Vincenzo J. (Vincey) Rao

Vincenzo (Vincey) Rao operated his own “private” check-cashing service utilized as a mob “laundry” for many decades. Bookies, shylocks, etc., would bring him their customer's checks for payment.

Vincenzo J. (Vincey) Rao was born in 1898 in Corleone, Sicily. He immigrated to the U.S. as a one-year-old in 1899. Rao resided for many years in East Harlem at 255 E. 107th Street before moving up to a palatial estate in Yonkers, NY, at 192 Dunwoodie Street.

Vincent J. (Vincey) Rao

The mansion estate was so huge that it held two additional houses on the property and included a swimming pool for his two married daughters. In 1971, the compound was valued at $500,000 (equivalent to $10,000,000 by 2019 value standards.)

He had a brother Calogero (Charlie), a son-in-law Joseph (Babo) Vento, a nephew Salvatore (Sal the Beak) Speciale, and a cousin Joseph (Pip the Blind) Gagliano—all Lucchese affiliated.

Vincey Rao was a fixture of his East Harlem neighborhood for many decades. He was short and stocky, at 5 feet 5 inches tall and 185 pounds, with dark brown eyes and salt-and-pepper hair.

FBI # 792086C, NYCPD # E-4857

Since he was 21 years old in 1919, he had been arrested for:

Grand larceny

Homicide (first-degree murder)

Possession of a gun

Insurance fraud (workers comp)

Perjury

Contempt of court (twice)

He was active since the mid-1920s era and was suspected of having been formally inducted very young (late 1920s) and made a “capo di decina” by the 1940s.

He frequented the East 116th Street area off First Avenue, which was his base, and owned extensive real estate and property holdings there.

With Gaetano Lucchese’s promotion to Boss after Gagliano’s death in 1953, he made Rao his consigliere, a position he held until Rao aged and retired, ceding the helm to Carmine Tramunti by the early 1970s.

Rao was a highly respected member all his life! And he was considered a wise and level-headed advisor to the throne and an important Family “asset.”

The consigliere role fit Rao perfectly! He was arguably one of the most influential of any consiglieri of the Five Families at the height of their power. Rao was a savvy, astute, and able leader and counselor to his “Representante” for decades.

His associates literally numbered into the thousands and included just about every major hoodlum and mafiosi in this country:

Gaetano (Tom) Reina - Original founding head and first Capo of this network.

Gaetano (Masi) Gagliano - The second recognized Capo of the Family. Very low-key and savvy.

Gaetano (Tommy Brown) Lucchese - The most recognized Capo and namesake of the Family. His exploits and accomplishments are well documented.

Salvatore (Charlie Lucky) Luciano - This man needs no introduction!

Francesco (Frank Costello) Castiglia - Harlem-bred, longtime Luciano consigliere/acting boss during the 1940s-50s era.

Paul (Paulie Ham) Correale - Top Family “captain” in East Harlem.

Giovanni (Big John) Ormento - One of the top narcotics violators in the nation, a Rao intimate.

Joseph (Joe Stretch) Stracci - Top Genovese East Harlem figure and garment racketeer.

Frank (Cheech) Livorsi - Boyhood friend of Rao and a Genovese power.

Joseph (Babo) Vento - Family soldier, heroin trafficker, married one of Vincey’s daughters.

John (Johnny Dio) Dioguardi - Iconic Family figure, top mob power.

Antonio (Tony Ducks) Corallo - Top capo, rose to Boss by the 1970s.

Girolamo (Momo) Adamo - Veteran California mob capo, Rao’s phone number was in Adamo’s address book.

Vincey Rao lived and operated in East Harlem all his life. He was a major mob power in that area since the late-1920s to early 1930s.

His criminal and legitimate activities included:

Shylocking - on a fantastic scale - one of the biggest shylocks in New York City.

Policy - active in the Harlem numbers rackets.

Labor union racketeering - hoisting/rigging union and construction unions. It was said that among others, he created and controlled Laborers Union Local #404 of Brooklyn - which helped his hoisting firms.

Suspected narcotics importation (the financing of.)

A Little Known Important Fact: Rao operated his own “private” check-cashing service utilized as a mob “laundry” for many decades. Bookies, shylocks, etc., would bring him their customer's checks for payment. Rao would cash the checks minus his “cashing fee” (I think the fee was 3% to 5% depending upon who you were) and then re-circulate the checks back into commerce without having them ever traced back to him or his associates.

EVERYBODY (wiseguys) throughout the five boroughs used him for this! All through the 1940s, '50s, and '60s, he offered this service to his mob friends. It was a very lucrative business!I believe he had a friendly banker at a local bank branch who accommodated him.

Vincey Rao was a very wealthy man in his lifetime. He owned the Rao Realty Co., a major real estate investments firm that held mortgages on numerous parcels of land and buildings in Harlem and the Bronx.

As an example, by 1937, he owned the Rainbow Gardens, a popular restaurant/nightclub located at Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, and a building at E. 110th Street and Lexington, utilized as a spaghetti restaurant run by Gaetano (Bobby Lyons) Salerno.

Rao had hidden ownership of Chateau Pelham, 3250 Westchester Avenue, Bronx, and Trinchi’s Bar and Restaurant on City Island, Bronx . He also held ownership in several hoisting companies, including Five-Boro Hoisting Co., etc.

He also converted several parcels of land into parking lots. All the above businesses were based at his headquarters at 218 E. 116th Street.

He also held partnership in Vin-Sons Paints, Inc., a paint contracting firm based in the Bronx, that his nephew Salvatore Speciale fronted.

In 1955, it was also reported that he also owned a profitable New Jersey oceanfront motel.

In 1957, he pled the Fifth Amendment 44 times to questions about the murder of Albert Anastasia, the Apalachin summit, and other mob mayhem!

Rao disappeared in 1959 for over one year attempting to “duck” grand jury subpoenas. By the mid-1960s, he was finally hauled in before the investigating committee.

In 1961 and still under subpoena, (Joe Palisades) Rosato testified that he drove the four-hour trip with Vincey Rao, who he stated, was a boyhood friend and mutual acquaintance of Joe Barbara, host of the infamous bbq.

Eventually, by 1965, Rao was finally indicted for lying to the investigative body still probing Apalachin, claimed law enforcement.

In 1938, Rao was one of five men indicted for defrauding the NYS Insurance Fund of $5,000 in premiums due from his construction firm

In 1941, Rao’s Bar & Grill at 455 E. 114th Street, which was a sawdust, rat-infested corner bar in East Harlem and Vincey’s de facto headquarters, saw a freak daylight gun battle between three armed thugs and Detective Lt. Elmer Mason, who was shot three times in the arm, shoulder, and abdomen.

The three burst into the bar to rob it (not realizing who owned the place, I’m sure, lol), a gun battle ensued between several undercover detectives on surveillance in the bar and the would-be robbers.

A woman customer was shot in the heart and died immediately, a postman was felled - shot in the thigh, and one thug was shot point-blank in the face, but he escaped anyway.

Side Note: Looking much the same as it did as a mob watering hole and headquarters, this location would later become the famous iconic 10-table “Rao’s” Restaurant off the corner of Pleasant Avenue and 114th - arguably the hardest place in NYC to get a dinner reservation, run by his two great nephews.

In 1957, Rao was one of those caught at the infamous Apalachin Mafia Convention in upstate New York. It would prove very troublesome and expose him to the public as never before!

In 1963, he was prominently identified by Joseph Valachi during his Senate hearing testimony as, indeed, a Lucchese Family consigliere and a top power.

In 1967, with Lucchese’s death, Rao served as the reported acting boss until Tramunti was voted in and installed as interim leader.

At the time, it was reported by law enforcement that the job as “Boss” of the Lucchese Family was Rao’s for the asking had he wanted it but that he chose to fade into the background with his considerable fortune, living out his days quietly as a highly respected country squire!

Rao was convicted of perjury and given a five-year jail sentence which he served in the early 1970s. By the mid-1970s, Rao had already retired and removed himself fully from all the underworld intrigue.

Vincenzo (Vincey) Rao was one of the most respected, influential, and wealthy mafioso to ever fly the Lucchese flag! He had a “stellar” career in “The Honored Society” and will always be remembered as a founding pillar of that “borgata!”

He died at 90 years old in 1988! Not a bad career at all, I’d say!

Until next time..."The Other Guy"

Vincenzo J. (Vincey) Rao

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Vincenzo J. (Vincey) Rao

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