No one mentioned the Anastasia hit? Are you kidding me?
Shooting a guy while he was relaxed in a barber chair, a hot towel blocking his vision; he never saw it coming. Plus, it was so high profile, having been carried out in a midtown hotel, you couldn't ask for a better outcome. It sent a message because it was so out in the open, plus it put the Gallo brothers on the map.
To paraphrase about thousand gangsters: "It was a beautiful piece of work."
There is a debate going on about the Gallo's involvement...
But it's definitely one of the most impressive hits.
Yeah, I know it's been debated, but I don't really know why. It's long been believed by law enforcement that Vito Genovese conspired with Joe Profaci, who assigned the hit to Joe Gallo to carry out, who in turn carried out the hit with one or both of his brothers.
"Five Families," by Selwyn Raab gives a decent account of this, as does "Mafia Dynasty," by John H. Davis. I guess we'll never really know for sure, but like Sonny said, it was a very impressive hit.
