On this day in 1906 we saw the birth of Albert Anastasia’s brother, Anthony Anastasio. The lesser known brother ran the Brooklyn water front for years gaining control of 6 International Longshoremen’s Associations. He earned millions from kickbacks and pay-offs, and died of heart attack 6 years after his brother was gunned down in spectacular style.

Anthony was 57 years old.

Born on February 24, 1906, in Calabria, Italy, Anthony Anastasio was a formidable figure in the American underworld, though history has often overshadowed him with the towering reputation of his older brother, Albert Anastasia, the feared lord high executioner of Murder Incorporated. While Albert commanded headlines and terror in equal measure, Anthony quietly built an empire of his own on the docks of Brooklyn, wielding a different kind of power — one measured in union cards, kickbacks, and iron-fisted control over one of America's most strategically vital industries.

Anthony, known on the waterfront as "Tough Tony," arrived in the United States as a young man and wasted little time embedding himself in the criminal networks flourishing in New York. He became a key figure in the International Longshoremen's Association, eventually seizing control of no fewer than six ILA locals along the Brooklyn waterfront. This was no small achievement. The docks were the lifeblood of New York's economy, handling millions of tonnes of cargo annually, and whoever controlled the longshoremen controlled the flow of commerce itself. Employers desperate to keep their goods moving paid handsomely for labour peace, and Anthony ensured the money flowed freely into Mob coffers in exchange for just that.

His operation generated enormous sums through kickbacks, no-show jobs, and systematic extortion of shipping companies and employers. He answered ultimately to the Gambino crime family, and his grip on the waterfront made him an invaluable asset to the organisation. His relationship with the broader New York Mob hierarchy, including the ruling Commission established by Lucky Luciano in 1931, meant that his waterfront rackets were protected at the highest levels of organised crime.

When Albert Anastasia was shot dead in the barber's chair of the Park Sheraton Hotel in October 1957, in one of the most dramatic mob hits of the twentieth century, Anthony lost not only a brother but a powerful protector. Despite this, he managed to maintain his stranglehold on the Brooklyn docks, continuing to operate with remarkable durability in an era of increasing federal scrutiny of union corruption.

Anthony Anastasio died of a heart attack in 1963, six years after his brother's assassination, at the age of 57. His legacy endures as a stark illustration of how deeply organised crime penetrated American labour institutions during the mid-twentieth century, shaping the waterfront rackets that federal authorities would spend decades attempting to dismantle.