View source for Joseph Lanza

{{Short description|Italian-American organized crime figure (1904–1968)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{no footnotes|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name            = Joseph Lanza
| other_names     = Socks
| image           = JosephLanza.jpg
| alt             = 
| caption         = [[NYPD]] mugshot of Joseph Lanza
| birth_date      = {{birth year|1904}}
| birth_place     = [[Palermo]], [[Sicily]], Italy
| death_date      = October 11, {{death year and age|1968|1904}}
| death_place     = 
| allegiance      = [[Genovese crime family]]
| criminal_charge = Labor racketeering (1938), extortion
| conviction_penalty= Extortion (7.5 - 10 years imprisonment)
}}
'''Joseph A.''' "'''Socks'''" '''Lanza''' (1904 – October 11, 1968) was a New York labor [[Racket (crime)|racketeer]] and a member of the [[Genovese crime family]], who controlled the Fulton Fish Market in [[Lower Manhattan]] through the United Seafood Worker's Union local 359 from 1923 to 1968.

== Biography ==
Born in [[Palermo]], [[Sicily]], Lanza immigrated to the United States and settled in New York working as a handler in Lower Manhattan's [[Fulton Fish Market]]. Lanza soon became involved in labor union activity and, by 1923, had become an [[Union organizer|organizer]] for the United Seafood Workers union (USW). It was during this time that Lanza had become involved in organized crime, eventually becoming a member of the [[Lucky Luciano|Luciano]] (and later the Genovese) crime family. As head of the Local 359 USW, Lanza threatened wholesalers with delays in loading and unloading perishable goods resulting in profits of $20 million from the [[Fulton Fish Market]] alone.

Although convicted of labor racketeering in 1938, Lanza became an important figure in safeguarding [[New York Harbor|New York's waterfront]] during the early 1940s. Lanza personally advised the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] working with local [[stevedore]]s and fisherman in tracking [[submarine]]s, resulting in obtaining key strategic positions in waterfront installations and effectively conduct [[Counter-intelligence|counter-espionage]] activities for the [[United States Naval Districts#3rd Naval District|Third Naval District]].

Although Lanza had helped secure the New York waterfront, he was convicted of [[extortion]] the following year and sentenced from 7½ to 10 years imprisonment. Upon his release in 1950, Lanza resumed his leadership role in the Fulton Fish Market and, despite a 1957 arrest for parole violation; he maintained control of the area until his death on October 11, 1968.

== See also ==
*[[Carmine Romano]]
*[[Rosario Gangi]]
*[[Alphonse Malangone|Alphonse "Allie Shades" Malangone]]

== Further reading ==
*Block, Alan A. ''"A Modern Marriage of Convenience: Organized Crime and U.S. Intelligence,"'' in ''Organized Crime: A Global Perspective'', ed. Robert J. Kelly, 1986.

== References ==
*Kelly, Robert J. ''Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. {{ISBN|0-313-30653-2}}
*Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. {{ISBN|0-8160-5694-3}}

== External links ==
*{{Find a Grave|21842}}

{{Genovese crime family}}{{American Mafia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanza, Joseph}}
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1968 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens)]]
[[Category:Genovese crime family]]
[[Category:American gangsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:People of Sicilian descent]]
[[Category:American trade union officials convicted of crimes]]
[[Category:American people of Italian descent]]