Lucky Luciano's Boyhoood Home

East Village

New York City

History

The History of one of the World's most Influential Mobsters

About Lucky Luciano's Boyhoood Home

& why it made the Carpe City list

Charles “Lucky” Luciano was born Salvatore Lucania in Sicily in 1897.
When he was nine, his family arrived in New York and joined the Italian immigrant enclave of the Lower East Side. (The East Village used to be part of the Lower East Side until some enterprising realtors changed the name to capitalize on the popularity of Greenwich Village.)
Luciano’s childhood home is very distinguishable today; the building has a green wall and a small, octangular window with a picture of a lighthouse. His parents lived here until 1933.
While living here Luciano developed his gangsta skills. He was a brute and bully. He would pick-pocket, cut class, get into fights and extort his classmates. Rumor has it he met fellow gangster Meyer Lansky while trying to shake him down for some lunch money. Ironically, they became friends and collaborated on many mobster shenanigans.
Lucky oversaw a variety of criminal enterprises, one of which was a speakeasy during Prohibition called the Palm Casino. You can find it a few blocks south, today it’s the famed literary KGB Bar.
Luciano was definitely “Lucky.” He was arrested 25 times from 1916-1936 but served zero time in jail for his crimes.
But in 1936, Lucky’s luck ran out. He was finally convicted of running a prostitution racket, but his 30-year prison sentence was commuted when he agreed to help the US Navy with connections in Italy that would advance the Allies’ cause in World War II.
Lucky soon rose to power and became the right-hand man to Joe “The Boss” Masseria.
Later in true Et tu, Brute fashion, Luciano lunched with his boss, left the table for the bathroom, and had his hitmen come in and finish him off.
After the death of Masseria, the Five Mafia Families (Bonanno, Gambino, Colombo, Genovese, Lucchese) were born, and the Luciano became the first official boss of what is now known as the Genovese crime family.

Carpe City Trivia

How did Lucky earn his nickname?

The Mafia may not be rats, but they are known to bend the truth! So, when it comes to Lucky Luciano’s nickname, it is tough to know which story is true. Luciano told multiple stories of how his nickname came to be. One story was that Luciano was involved in multiple near-death beatings that he luckily escaped from. Another story was that Luciano simply had incredible luck when gambling. And, least impressively, was that it was a derivation of his last name. Anyway, Lucky Luciano soon became a household name in America, and many still know it today.