Joseph Profaci

It is well reported that Joseph Profaci was hated by most of his own men. The reason: money. Joe Profaci insisted on instituting the "Slush Fund" which would pay for legal fees for his soldiers, bribery money, and support the families of fallen or imprisoned soldiers, a tradition long since forgotten by the other crime bosses at the time. This $25 dollar monthly fee was never returned to the soldiers either. They never saw this money again after it went to Profaci who lived on a 328-acre estate with a private airport and hunting lodge.

Profaci was appointed to head of his family by Maranzano in 1931 at the beginning of the Commission and never let go of his power. He was heavily involved in racketeering and murder. During his rule of Brooklyn, it was not uncommon to find dead bodies in the streets of individuals who had refused or disagreed with Profaci's methods of running his family. If any member of his family refused payment to the slush fund (or anything else, really) Profaci saw that as a sign of disrespect and had them killed.

Not only was Profaci a ruthless leader, he was a devout Catholic, so much so that some priests of a leading Italian-American group petitioned Pope Pius XII to grant knighthood on Profaci because he was such a great benefactor of the Italian-American community. He employed hundreds of countrymen with his more than 20 businesses. Profaci was also the leading importer of tomatoes and olive oil and gave generously to local Catholic charities. But his dream of knighthood was dashed when the Brooklyn district attorney, Miles McDonald, wrote to the Vatican and let them know that Profaci was a murderer, killer, and the crime boss for all of Brooklyn.

Profaci's arch rivals for power came from within his own organization, the Gallo brothers, Crazy Joe and Kid Blast. The Profaci-Gallo war lasted from 1960 to 1962 until Profaci died of cancer. The Gallo brothers were tired of Profaci's lust for more and more money without giving back to the men that earned it for him. When Profaci ordered the death of a leading policy banker, the Gallos obliged on the agreement that they would received a large portion of the profits of the policy bankers rackets. But Profaci reneged on the deal, keeping the rackets for himself and dividing it up amongst his family.

The Gallos began to recruit other members who were disenchanted with the crime boss. Soon, high ranking officials of the Profaci family were kidnapped and being held on the assumption that Profaci would realize his mistake and begin to deal with them fairly. But this was not true. Profaci split the defectors by promising them wealth and power for the capture of the Gallos. What resulted was a bloody war, both sides going to the "mattresses." The matter was never resolved due to Profaci's death.

During the time of the Profaci-Gallo war, the other crime bosses (specifically Carlo Gambino and Thomas Lucchese) were attempting a mild take-over of the Profaci family. The had suggested to Profaci to retire from his post, but Profaci realized that this was an attempt to run him out and refused to release his hold over his empire. Gambino and Lucchese threatened with a war of their own, but were fended off by Joseph Bonnano, a close friend of Profaci and leader of another reigning crime family. They had began together in crime under the rule of Maranzano and had remained friends throughout the years. Profaci, it is reported, was the only person that had kept Bonnano from attempting his own take over of the Commission. After Profaci's death in 1962, Bonnano did attempt this take over and had come very close to accomplishing his goal, but suffered a massive heart attack in 1968 and was forced to retire.