Giuseppe “The Clutch Hand” Morello’s Spaghetti Restaurant

In the early 1900s, Prince Street was a center for Italian-American organized crime, led by Giuseppe Morello, nicknamed "the Clutch Hand." The Morello family, New York's first Mafia syndicate, operated from 8 Prince Street. Their criminal activities included extortion, counterfeiting, and racketeering under the moniker "The Black Hand." Rivalries and police crackdowns weakened the Morello family, eventually leading to Joe Masseria's takeover and later, Vito Genovese’s leadership. This evolved into today's Genovese crime family, one of New York’s notorious Five Families.Ignazio Saietta, also known as "Lupo the Wolf," was a feared figure in early 20th-century Little Italy, using terror, violence, and extortion to assert control. As head of the Morello family’s operations in downtown Little Italy, Lupo was notorious for Black Hand extortion tactics involving threats, bombings, and murder. With ties to Giuseppe "Clutch Hand" Morello, his family by marriage, Lupo operated various grocery stores, including one at 9 Prince Street, which also served as a front for criminal activities in the community.