On this day in 1957 we mark the passing of Frank Scalice who was a prominent member of the Gambino Crime Family, leading it in from 1930-1931, and then becoming underboss to Albert Anastasia in 1951 until his death in 1957. After Scalice’s death Carlo Gambino became 2nd in command to Anastasia, but as we know that lasted less than 6 months before Carlo took the reigns.

During his time Scalice helped Bugsy Siegel open the Flamingo Hotel, and ran various rackets throughout the casino business.

At the age of 64 Scalice was assassinated by 2 gunmen at a vegetable market. Does anyone else have Godfather flashbacks here?

The contract is said to have come from Anastasia himself, due to Scalice selling Mangano family memberships to the highest bidders.

On this day, June 17th, 1957, Frank Scalice — one of the most ruthless and calculating figures in the history of organised crime in America — met his end in the most unglamorous of settings. Standing among the fruit and vegetable stalls of a Bronx market, the 64-year-old mobster was shot dead by two gunmen in broad daylight. It was a swift, merciless execution that sent shockwaves through the underworld, and in true mob fashion, the order is widely believed to have come from his own boss.

Scalice, born Francesco Scalice in Sicily in 1893, had made the journey so many of his contemporaries had — from immigrant roots to the very heights of American organised crime. A member of what would become the Gambino Crime Family, he served as acting boss between 1930 and 1931 following the imprisonment of boss Salvatore Maranzano's successor, navigating the treacherous waters of the Castellammarese War, a bloody power struggle that reshaped the entire landscape of the American Mafia. It was during this turbulent period that figures such as Lucky Luciano and the architects of the Five Families structure were cementing their legacies, and Scalice was very much part of that world.

By 1951, Scalice had risen to the position of underboss under the fearsome Albert Anastasia, the so-called "Lord High Executioner" and former head of Murder, Inc. It was a position of enormous power, but also one of considerable danger — Anastasia was not a man known for patience or forgiveness. Scalice had also been involved in the wider expansion of mob influence into the casino business, with connections to Bugsy Siegel's venture in opening the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, a project that became a landmark moment in the mob's long and complicated relationship with gambling.

His downfall, however, came through a betrayal of the most fundamental kind. Scalice had reportedly been selling membership into the Mangano family — essentially putting a price tag on a sacred honour — pocketing the proceeds for himself. In the world of La Cosa Nostra, where loyalty and tradition were considered inviolable, this was an unforgivable act of greed. Anastasia, furious at the disrespect shown to the family, is said to have sanctioned the hit personally. Following Scalice's death, Carlo Gambino stepped into the role of underboss, though as history would record, Anastasia himself had fewer than six months left to live before Gambino orchestrated his own rise to the top.

Frank Scalice's story remains a cautionary tale of ambition unchecked by loyalty, a reminder that in the mob, betrayal of the family's code rarely goes unpunished. His murder marked a significant turning point in the Gambino family's history, directly accelerating the events that would bring Carlo Gambino — one of the most powerful bosses America has ever seen — to absolute power.