http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/contract-old-queens-gang-lair-article-1.1037328

Read this article recently about a social club that I used to pass by almost every day at work. Got me thinking... Are there any mob run social clubs still around and functioning as a get together spot and/or HQ that have a long running past going back years and years, possibly even to LCN's heyday?? Just would be wild to think that "x" crew has been based out of "x" social club since the 1950's... So I ask, does anyone know of the oldest functioning Mafia social club? Doesn't have to necessarily be in NYC. I think Punchy Illiano and Kid Blast's social club on Court St in Brooklyn is old. Also there is the Frosinone Soccer Club on Long Island near where I grew up, which ha been around for quite a while. On a side note... Does anyone else find it strange how some of these clubs seem to have completely non involved members? (by non involved I mean they aren't afraid to speak to a reporter for a newspaper article where they mention themselves by first and last names.) I believe there was a short documentary on the Court St social club where guys let themselves be interviewed by some amateur documentary producer claiming they weren't LCN connected...

Where in Bethpage?

There's a Turkish social club in West Babylon that get busted all the time for gambling. They blacked out windows and installed cameras outside.

There's another one called Cafe Messina that is always packed at night but you don't see anyone inside. They're all in back room. Closed during day.

New Italian social club on Sunrise Hwy. same town. A few fancy Escalades parked in back. Can't see anything there. It's fairly new.

You're probably thinking of the Stiglianese Club and the Rauso Post. Both are over in the Park Hill section of Yonkers, which used to be almost all Italian. Today, the area is largely Hispanic, but the clubs still remain open on weekends and for special events if you want to rent them out. The Italians who moved up to Northern Westchester still come down for certain events and whatnot. The Rauso post is basically like a VFW Post. It was founded by local Italian American Veterans (and there were a lot of them) after World War II ended.

And it's worth mentioning---because someone brought up the mob angle---that none of those places are mobbed up. There are hundreds of Italian American meeting places that have nothing to do with the mob (not to mention thousands of chapters of the Sons of Italy). We're a proud people and want to keep our traditions alive. But unfortunately, whenever someone mentions an Italian "club," people want to assume Mafia involvement.

It's really a shame, because of all the European immigrant groups that came here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Italians have been among the most upwardly mobile. That's something to be proud of, not something to lament.

Well aware of all the strictly ethnocentric Italian social clubs and civic organizations and certainly it goes without saying that Italians are without a doubt the most upwardly mobile of all immigrant groups in this country. That being said I still find it interesting how in these news articles these mobbed up clubs seemingly have non connected members. Is it just that these guys, once minor fringe players, are so irrelevant and marginal that they don't care about the consequences of giving an interview to a reporter? Also the topic in general inquires about long time clubs where mob activity has gone on for decades and decades... Just seems interesting to me if some crew has held court in the same club for the past 70 years or so? Thanks for all the input.

Well, if we're talking strictly of the clubs that are mobbed up, I can't think of any that were in the Bronx when I was growing up that are still open (I was born in 1959, by the way). Of course there are still a few places to play cards or get a bet down, but they seem to move around every few years. Kind of like bookmaking offices.

Angelo Prisco's club in Westchester Square (The Angelique) had a pretty long run, but that place has been shuttered for years. So have Patty DeFilippo's numbers places around Zerega Avenue. The last one in the Arthur Avenue area was Rudy Santobello's (Club Arthur). But again, that place closed years ago.

PB, could you name some social clubs that were around during the days you were growing up? And, if possible, state which mob guys frequented the clubs.

Thanks.

bella tile in the east village "looks" like there is still an active club there. the tile store is on 1st avenue, and the club is kind of behind it on the cross street. believe its e11th? i know it was a gambino area a long long time ago. hard to believe guys are still meeting there (because i highly doubt any of them still live on that block) but it looks like they are. anyone know?

as far as manhattan is concerned, unless the building owner is involved (like the guy who owned the building the ravenite was in) and gives the guys a deal, renting a street level store front space to use as a spot to hang out in opposed to having something there to generate income, would be retarded

That club has been closed for years, tt120. And it wasn't Gambino run. It was run by a Westside crew chief that used operate out of Veniero's, just around the corner .

wow i was dead ass wrong on that one lol

i remember that westside gambling bust involving some guys from the bronx a few years ago, along with someone from FDNY, said they were operating out of venieros as well, which is funny to me because its kind of like a tourist spot now. itd be like if a jewish gangster was holding court at Katz's

Check your pm, tt120.

Good thread. Good info. I know of a club next to Spaghetti Park in Corona (near the Parkside Restaurant on 51st avenue). No name, just a sign that says "members only" and a tree painted red, white and green.

There is an Italian Club in College Point consisting of immigrants from Northeast Italy (Friulans).

Also interesting info about Paddy DeFillipo running Zerega Avenue. I never knew Soundview was Italian.

Patty's clubs were just off Westchester Avenue, Flushing. One on Zerega, another by Castle Hill and Blackrock. And you're not technically wrong about Soundview. It probably hasn't been Italian in your lifetime.

Hell, I'm almost 55 and it hasn't been Italian since I was a kid. But it's funny, even when those neighborhoods changed some of the clubs stayed put because those old timers were such creatures of habit. Westchester Avenue, east of Parkchester, remained a Lucchese and Genovese stronghold for years after the neighborhood turned Puerto Rican.

And you were a postal worker, right? There used to be a club right next door to the post office on Crosby, just off Middletown. But that shouldn't surprise you because that part of Pelham Bay stayed Italian right up until at least the late '90s. Today it's mixed Latino with a few Italian leftovers.

Now that'll be ten bucks for the Bronx geography and history lessons .

Here in Newark,Ironbound, this place is still standing.

Great info. Thanks. When I did Express Mail I was all over those neighborhoods. Pelham, Baychester and even Soundview. In Wakefield around 2000, where a had a route, almost every block had a few Italians - just a few. No kids though, just older folks.

In Chicago there are still some social clubs. Probably a stretch to say any go back to the mob's heyday, though.

Not true

And if anyone would know it'd be Nicky Boy. Back when he was a kid, oh wait, that was last Tuesday .

Just playing with you, Son. Just playing .

Genovese family member Patsy Parello has a restaurant down Arthur Avenue, I think there was a raid there a while back.

Rigoletto. It's still there and it's Patsy and his wife's pride and joy. No mob business there. Ever.

The "raid" you're referring to was the actual pinch that came down back in 2001. And they only went in there because that's Patsy's legitimate place of business and he's there all the time.

And it's a beautiful place. Great food. Not remotely a "social club" atmosphere. And for the record, the only social clubs left down there are Albanian and one or two soccer clubs.

Yeah I got mistaken pizzaboy, I read some article on some BS website that said there was a police bust there back in 2013.

No problem, buddy. Glad I could help .

The mob'a heyday in chicago was arguably the 20s-60s. Name one that old.

Bridgeport. I would include the 70s for Chicago's heyday. Don't think it was there in the 60s but most likely 70s/80s.

Oh, yeah, that wouldn't surprise me.

I believe HSAC has been around since the early 70s, but could be wrong.

Yeah, HSAC has been around a while too. Not sure of the exact year but had to be in the 70s.

There's still a couple left in Chicago that have been around a long time.

^^^^^

are there any italian-american social clubs located in the south suburbs?