Giuseppe "Joe" Profaci (Italian: [dʒuˈzɛppe proˈfaːtʃi]; October 2, 1897 – June 6, 1962) was an Italian-American Cosa Nostra boss who was the founder of what became the Colombo crime family of New York City.

[3] Two of Profaci's daughters married the sons of Detroit Partnership mobsters William Tocco and Joseph Zerilli.

[5] Released from prison in 1921, Profaci emigrated to the United States, arriving in New York City on September 4.

The agenda of the meeting included resolving conflicts arising from assassinations, and a vote on recognition of the Profaci crime family in Brooklyn.

Given Profaci's lack of experience in organized crime, it is unclear why the New York gangs gave him power in Brooklyn.

Some speculated that Profaci received this position due to his family's status in Sicily, where they may have belonged to the Villabate Mafia.

[2] When the war finally ended in 1931, top mobster Charles "Lucky" Luciano reorganized the New York gangs into five organized crime families.

When Luciano created the National Crime Syndicate, also known as the Mafia Commission, he gave Profaci a seat on the governing board.

[4] Profaci owned a large house in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, a home in Miami Beach, Florida, and a 328-acre (1.33 km2) estate near Hightstown, New Jersey, which previously belonged to President Theodore Roosevelt.

Profaci's estate had its own airstrip and a chapel with an altar that replicated one in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

In May 1952, a thief stole valuable jeweled crowns from the Regina Pacis Votive shrine in Brooklyn.

The government claimed that when Profaci entered the United States in 1921, he lied to immigration officials about having no arrest record in Italy.

One reason for their rancor was that Profaci required each family member to pay him a $25 a month tithe, an old Sicilian gang custom.

[12] Larry Gallo survived a strangulation attempt in the Sahara club of East Flatbush by Carmine Persico and Salvatore "Sally" D'Ambrosio after a police officer intervened.

However, Profaci strongly suspected that the two bosses were secretly supporting the Gallo brothers and wanted to take control of his family.

Profaci vehemently refused to resign; furthermore, he warned that any attempt to remove him would spark a wider gang war.

[17] On June 6, 1962, Profaci died in South Side Hospital in Bay Shore, New York of liver cancer.

[17] In late 1963, the Mafia Commission forced Magliocco out of office and installed Joseph Colombo as family boss.