Reina was born on September 27, 1889 in Corleone, Sicily to Giacomo Reina and Carmela Rumore. In the early 1900s, the Reina family moved to New York City and settled on 107th Street in East Harlem. Reina along with his brother Antonio began working with members of the Morello crime family. In July 1913, Reina's sister Bernarda married Vincenzo Terranova. He married Angelina Olivera, and the couple had nine children; three sons, Giacomo, became a member of the Lucchese family, Henry, Sam, John and Bernard, and three daughters, Anna, Carmela "Mildred" Valachi, married Joe Valachi in 1932, Rose Bongrieco and Lucy Sterling. The family lived in a home on Rochambeau Avenue in the Norwood, section of the Bronx. In November of 1914, wealthy poultryman, Barnet Baff, was murdered in a plot staged by a cabal of Jewish competitors who hired Sicilian gunmen to commit the crime. The investigation and trial, which dragged on for years, became known as the most sensational killing in New York history. At one point, Reina and Jack Dragna were implicated as the actual gunmen; however, it was later determined they were merely red herrings.
Reina had long been a captain in the Morello family, being in charge of many men and operations within the Morello organization. As the Morello family fell into chaos during the 1910s, Reina, along with Salvatore D'Aquila and Joe Masseria, split off to form their own families. Thus, by 1920, he ruled as boss of his own crime family controlling criminal operations in The Bronx and parts of East Harlem. His crime family held a monopoly over the ice box distribution in The Bronx. Reina's underboss was Tommy Gagliano, a former Morello gang member. In the late 1920s, Reina formed an alliance with Masseria, who had absorbed into his now powerful organization the remnants of the much weakened Morello family. In 1925, Salvatore Maranzano arrived in New York City and took over the Castellammare family that operated out of the Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Reina switched sides and began supporting Maranzano. Masseria learned of Reina's betrayal and ordered Charles "Lucky" Luciano to arrange Reina's murder.
Murder
On the evening of February 26, 1930, Reina left his mistress Marie Ennis' apartment on Sheridan Avenue in the Claremont section of the Bronx when he was ambushed and shot in the head with a double barreled shotgun, instantly killing him. The two hit men left the weapon under a parked car and escaped. On his body, police found a handgun and $804 in cash. Reina's death helped lead to the Castellammarese War between Masseria and Maranzano. Reina is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, New York.
