Stephen Armone (November 17, 1899 – 1960), also known as "14th Street Steve", was an Italian-American

mobster A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level ...

with the

Gambino crime family The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

who ran gambling operations in

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

and was involved in the " French Connection" heroin smuggling network. He was the older brother of Gambino capo Joseph "Joe Piney" Armone.

Criminal career

Armone was born in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, Sicily and moved to the United States with his family in 1906, settling initially in the

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

borough of

. Raised at 406 East 11th Street and 336 East 13th Street on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, he was a prominent ''Mafioso'' in the 14th Street area and was known by the nickname "14th Street Steve".Joe Piney: From E. 14th St. to French Connection
Thomas F. Comiskey, ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' (December 29, 2020) A small-statured man with black-gray hair, Armone limped due to a previous

hip fracture A hip fracture is a break that occurs in the upper part of the femur (thigh bone), at the femoral neck or (rarely) the femoral head. Symptoms may include pain around the hip, particularly with movement, and shortening of the leg. Usually ...

. His arrest record included assault and battery with intent to kill, burglary, and narcotics laws violations. Armone was a leader of Gambino operations on the Lower East Side. He also engaged in large-scale narcotics smuggling and distribution. Following the end of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

, Armone began distributing

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

and

opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

on behalf of Joseph "Joe the Blonde" Biondo, a ''

caporegime A ''caporegime'' or ''capodecina'', usually shortened to ''capo'' or informally referred to as "captain", "skipper" or "lieutenant", is a leadership position in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia). A ''capo'' is a "made m ...

'' in what would become the

. He was arrested by federal narcotics agents in 1938 for shipping 59 ounces of heroin to New York on an Italian ocean liner. On September 6, 1944, Armone was indicted on charges of attempting to smuggle

morphine Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...

and opium into the United States from the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

. Using a fleet of small boats, the smuggling ring started in 1940, but stopped in 1941 due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Due to the difficulty of obtaining heroin from overseas during wartime, Armone and Eugene Tramaglino started buying Mexican opium in California in 1942, transporting it to New York City and converting it to heroin. In 1957, Armone allegedly participated in the assassination of family boss

Albert Anastasia Umberto "Albert" Anastasia (, ; né Anastasio ; September 26, 1902 – October 25, 1957) was an Italian-American mobster, hitman and crime boss. One of the founders of the modern American Mafia, and a co-founder and later boss of the Murder, In ...

. Family underboss Carlo Gambino and Luciano crime family capo

Vito Genovese Vito Genovese (; November 21, 1897 – February 14, 1969) was an Italian-born American ''American Mafia, mafioso'' and the leader of the Genovese crime family in New York City. A childhood friend and criminal associate of Lucky Luciano, Genovese ...

had been plotting to assume power in their respective families. Gambino capo Joseph Biondo selected Armone to head a hit squad that included family heroin dealers Stephen Grammauta and Arnold Wittenburg. On October 25, 1957, Armone and his hit squad ambushed Anastasia at a Manhattan hotel barber shop. While Anastasia was in the chair having a shave and haircut, his bodyguards disappeared. The hit squad entered the shop and shot him to death. Armone died in 1960, and his younger brother Joseph "Joe Piney" Armone succeeded him as overseer of the Gambino heroin operations.

References

1899 births 1960 deaths 20th-century American criminals American male criminals American gangsters of Italian descent People of Sicilian descent American drug traffickers Gangsters from New York City Criminals from Manhattan People from the Lower East Side Gambino crime family French Connection gangsters Italian emigrants to the United States {{US-crime-bio-stub