Who Was Frank Costello? The Prime Minister of the Underworld
Mobsters DailyFrank Costello was the Italian-born boss who led the Luciano crime family from the late 1930s to 1957 and earned the nickname "Prime Minister of the Underworld" because he ruled through politicians, judges and businessmen instead of gunmen. No major American boss blurred the line between City Hall and the mob more completely.
Slots, speakeasies and Tammany Hall
Born Francesco Castiglia in Calabria and raised in East Harlem, Costello built his fortune on bootlegging with partners including Lucky Luciano, then moved into slot machines and gambling across New York and Louisiana. His real asset was access: friendships inside Tammany Hall, New York's Democratic machine, let him influence appointments and protection at the highest levels. When Luciano was imprisoned and then deported, Costello inherited the family and kept it profitable and quiet — the philosophy Luciano himself had designed, as told in the story of how Luciano invented the modern Mafia.
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Havana, Kefauver and the fall
Costello was a central figure at the mob's famous 1946 Havana Conference in Cuba, where American bosses met with the exiled Luciano. Five years later the Kefauver hearings dragged him onto live television — the subject of our article on how Costello's hands exposed the Mafia on TV, since the cameras, at his lawyers' request, showed only his hands while he testified. Tax convictions, prison time and Vito Genovese's ambition then closed in together. After a 1957 assassination attempt grazed his head, Costello retired to his Central Park West apartment and lived quietly until his death in 1973 — a mob ending so peaceful it was almost unique.
Frequently asked questions
Why was Costello called the Prime Minister? Because his power came from political connections and deal-making rather than violence.
Did Frank Costello run the Genovese family? He led the family when it was still called the Luciano family; it took Genovese's name after his rival seized it in 1957.
How did Frank Costello die? He died of a heart attack in a New York hospital in February 1973, aged 82, long retired.
Keep reading: Meyer Lansky, the Mob's Accountant · The 1957 Apalachin meeting explained · The Five Families explained · Dutch Schultz, the Bronx beer baron
From the shop: Shadows of the Underworld — a deep dive into the real bosses, hits and betrayals behind America's Mafia century.
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