Al Capone

15 Pages 3628 Words

ance in America in a slum-like apartment near the naval yards of New York with little luxury. The family began to enjoy the some success, which resulted in Gabriele owning his own barbershop and the family residing in the apartment upstairs in a culturally diverse area of Brooklyn. These early interactions with a multinational neighborhood are widely speculated to have broadened Capone to other cultures and races, which would ultimately benefit him in his future dealings and syndicates. Al enrolled in the New York public school system at the age of five and proved to be an above average student maintaining a B average throughout most all of his enrollment. The school system of his day was prejudiced against Italian immigrants offering them little assistance towards the ultimate goal of fitting into the mainstream of American life. Teachers were also ill prepared to educate and fistfights were common amongst students and teachers (cited in Bardsley,1998). Al’s patience for school rapidly declined and at the age of fourteen as his grades dropped and he was expelled for hitting a teacher. This was not uncommon as boys often left school to assume a job or an apprenticeship at this age. Shortly after, the family made their most important move yet, a move that would impact the life of Al Capone and the United States forever.
The Capone’s new residence on Garfield Place turned out to be a few blocks away from the gang headquarters of Johnny Torrio, a hugely successful racketeer and mob kingpin. Like many other boys in the neighborhood, Al began running errands for Torrio but quickly gained the trust and approval of the touted mobster. Bergreen describes the affect of Torrio on Capone in the following, “the importance of leading an outwardly respectable life, to segregate his career from his home life, as if maintaining a peaceful, conventional domestic setting somehow excused or legitimized the venality of working in the rackets. I...