Joseph Gallo, also known as "Crazy Joe", was a notorious Italian-American mobster and Caporegime of the Colombo crime family in New York City, born on April 7, 1929. Unfortunately, his life was marked by a diagnosis of schizophrenia following an arrest in his youth. Despite this, Gallo went on to become an enforcer in the Profaci crime family, eventually forming his own crew, which included his brothers Larry and Albert.
In 1957, Gallo and his crew received a request from Joe Profaci, allegedly asking them to murder Albert Anastasia, the boss of the Gambino crime family. Anastasia was subsequently murdered on October 25, 1957, at a barber shop in midtown Manhattan. This event had significant implications for the mob landscape.
In 1961, the Gallo brothers took drastic measures to secure a more favorable financial arrangement by kidnapping four of Profaci's top men: Joseph Magliocco, Frank Profaci, Salvatore Musacchia, and John Scimone. After several weeks of negotiation, Profaci and his consigliere, Charles "the Sidge" LoCicero, agreed to a deal with the Gallos, resulting in the peaceful release of the hostages. However, this incident sparked the First Colombo War, a period of intense violence and power struggles within the Colombo crime family.
Joseph Gallo's life was marked by a complex web of alliances, rivalries, and violent conflicts, ultimately ending in his death on April 7, 1972.
