Paul Castellano

Lore & Background

Paul Castellano was born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, to Italian immigrant parents. He dropped out of school in the eighth grade, learning butchering and numbers game collection from his father. In 1934, he was arrested for robbing a haberdasher in Hartford, Connecticut, and served three months after refusing to identify accomplices, enhancing his reputation for mob loyalty. He married his childhood sweetheart Nina Manno in 1936; they had three sons and a daughter.

Castellano joined the Mangano crime family in the 1940s. After Carlo Gambino became boss in 1957, Castellano rose to caporegime. He was convicted of contempt in 1960 and later indicted for conspiracy in 1966, but that conviction was overturned on appeal in 1968. He identified as a businessman, converting illegal enterprises to legitimate ones, such as Dial Poultry, which used intimidation to force supermarkets to buy its products. He also profited from supplying concrete to New York construction through the Concrete Club and controlled Teamsters Local 282.

Castellano succeeded Gambino as boss in 1976, as designated by Gambino, with underboss Aniello Dellacroce accepting the arrangement. The succession split the family into rival factions. He ordered several murders, including Vito Borelli, Nicholas Scibetta, James Eppolito and his son, Frank Amato, and Roy DeMeo. He formed alliances with the Westies and the Cherry Hill Gambinos. John Gotti, a Dellacroce protégé, grew dissatisfied with Castellano's isolated and greedy leadership, leading to Castellano's murder on December 16, 1985.

Reader's Guide

Paul Castellano's significance lies in his transformation of the Gambino crime family toward white-collar crime and his role in the Mafia's Commission. His leadership style—reclusive, business-focused, and reliant on alliances with non-Italian gangs—marked a shift from traditional mob boss behavior. However, his isolation and greed alienated key members like John Gotti, leading to his assassination. Castellano's murder signaled the end of an era and the rise of a more street-level leadership under Gotti. His legacy includes the use of FBI listening devices in his mansion, which provided extensive evidence of mob activities, and his mansion on Staten Island, which became a symbol of his power and excess.

Did You Know?

• Castellano often signed his name as 'C. Paul Castellano' because he hated his first name.
• He built a seventeen-room mansion on Staten Island designed to resemble the White House.
• Castellano allegedly ordered a hit on Vito Borelli over a rumor that Borelli compared his appearance to Frank Perdue.
• He was of no relation to actor Richard S. Castellano from The Godfather.