Carmine Galante

This guy wow! I can't believe he really tried to take over the entire Heroin trafficking business for himself and cut all the families out of it. Then on top of it didn't believe anyone would DARE try and kill him.. What is your guys opinions on Galante?

He was certainly a mean bastard. And a cocky one. I always got the impression he felt the other families had taken advantage of the Bonannos, after Joe Bonanno was forced out, by freezing them out of the joint union rackets. So once he got out of prison, he may have felt the Bonannos had the right to take over the entire drug trade.

That is a good point. I read he was greedy like Joe Bonnano and wanted to see the family vision by Bonnano go in affect by extending it to the Caribbean and up into Canada. I read in the "Five Families" Galante used Zips and had two Sicilians as bodyguards and go two guys Cesare Bonventre and Baldasare Amato. Galante believed using Sicilians would strengthen the bonnano family and retain the Mafia virtues of loyalty. Galante was wrong about those two, I guess they were paid off well and even par took in the killing of Galante. I know Massino had Bonventre killed later what ever happened to Amato?

Ya Bonventre was killed in 1984. Amato I believe went to jail around that time

I think Galante had a right to keep the other families out of the heroin business considering how the comission shut the Bonannos out of the other joint rackets. He was probably the meanest mobster of all times.

I think there were other reasons why they decided to kill him as well. He was uncontrollable and brought a lot of heat on everyone. also he killed members of other families without permission. So the best thing they could do is get rid of him

Can anyone recommend a good book on Galante? I have read bits here and there, but I am not aware of a book dedicated to him. I would love a good read on this guy.

Galante was just down right mean as hell

Galante was a diagnosed psychopath. he even blew up Costello's tomb doors lol.

galante was in cosa nostra for a long time and i think he knew the rules. even tough they wherent allowed in the joint rackets he could have seen it coming. i also read he was the one who killed this italian journalist wich can be seen in the bonanno movie.

The Last Days of the Sicilians was a book about the pizza conncection and has some info about Galante...and some good reading aobut how the drug trade was set up, really and offshoot of moves the Bonannos made in the 50's

I have read that Carmine Galante had the mental age of a young teenager and/or a low IQ.

Yet he also spoke several languages fluently, regularly travelled to and from America at a time when most gangsters probably couldn't find America on a map, ran the French Connection, came up with the "black man test" to test the potency of heroin, had all the other families coveting his money making enterprise and had an assortment of various criminals, gangsters and prison guards wrapped around his finger in prison.

Anyone else find that information slightly contradictory?

The man pretty much single-handedly got thousands of New Yorkers hooked on heroin and despite spending an inordinate amount of time in prison, made an insane amount of money.

How could he have the mental age of a child or a low IQ? He was clearly a criminal mastermind.

....and he would have made Carlo shit in Times Square. Galante spent the majority of his adult life in prison. That beady eyed Gambino wouldn't have lasted a day in prison.

I think street smarts go further than book smarts for the average wiseguy.The annals of Mob lore are full of men who if given an IQ test,would score at the borderline retarded level.
As to Galante,he may have had the mental age of a child,but in areas of his business,he was a Nobel Laureate.
It is possible that Galante,if tested, might have scored low as far as mental age,but this could be attributed to incomplete formal education,cultural differences,etc.

Personally I dont see attempting to wrest the entire Heroin trade from the other four families as the smartest business decision ever made. More like the stupidest.

carmine persico told his cousin he voted not to kill galante and liked him but he was out voted. tony ducks big paul and maybe funzi teiri said kill him also read somewere santo traff had a beef with him.we know neil d had a big beef with him cause all the shooter went to the ravenite after the hit. wonder why he didn't use any of gotti crew. im sure there aton of stuff about him in the merry ferrel files. wonder who the first bonanno rat will rite a book I guessing sal vitale, massino still got property in nyc. bet he's hiding in plain site. you figure it would be in that famiilys best interest to silence him cause he still making cases on guys look at the last indictment.

I read he did go in meet with joe in Arizona. and he wanted his daughter to marry allie boy persico the kid. mafia royalty. surposely she was galnte driver and like a bad bitch.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10D12F83A5E177B8EDDAA0994DF405B898BF1D3

Words can't express how much I want to read all of that article.

I never heard that before. Interesting

So pay the $4.00, don't be so cheap.

I knew someone was going to say that. LOL

That's funny you ask .To me nobody typifies a mobster like CARMINE GALANTE ! . cold blooded to the core . Had link's to the other 4 families ,high link's might I add . in the the 50's everybody bought his H . HE WAS THE SPOUT .had the ball's toblow up COSTELLO'S grave .Everybody wanted Frank Mari in their Borgata.
he demanded him .Came outta jail and took over the BONNANO'S. openly talked shit about CARLO G ,was warned by FUNZI to chill out . and still KEPT COMING !

Geraldine Gangi, who owned a gin mill next to the old Post building on South Street called The Post Mortem, once told me: “When we were young, we were with a bunch of the girls at a restaurant on Prince Street.

“Some were going with the local wiseguys on the Lower East Side. ‘Lilo The Cigar’ walked in and one of the girls said something innocent that got him mad.

“He threw a plate of boiling hot pasta into her face. She was scarred up pretty bad. His temper was scary.”

http://nypost.com/2001/04/18/crazy-kid-takes-after-his-raging-uncle/

He had a terrible temper. Bill Bonanno, in one of his books, described Galante also as having an abusive side. During a one night out in Montreal (I think it was), Galante started to throw bottles at waiters and the maitre d when he felt he wasn´t given the right and proper attention.

what could neil's beef be with galante ?

I've read there was some thing about narcotics traffickers, something to do with a Consalvo, I never could piece the whole story together.
The gist of it I think was these gambino guys started to move dope for Galante, but got whacked on orders from Funzi? I never really understood it, anyone got any info?

Thank you for this, Moe, its EXTREMELY contradictory-- Galante was obviously no idiot; that whole myth comes from a psychological exam in New York state prison when he was teens, early 20s, I belive. (We can go back to the FBI file and check.)

Also, while we obviously don't know everything, Galante was involved in all sorts of non-narcotic things in Brooklyn too: clothing factory, real estate...

Sure he had some "character flaws" and got greedy-- as if that's surprising in his line of work-- but anyone who underestimates what he accomplished is foolish.

That he maybe / probably got away with the Carlo Tresca hit is only tip of iceberg.

If he doesn't get set up with genovese, ormento, and the rest, whose to say what the mob would have looked like..
I've said before that I don't really think Carlo coulda won a war with Bonnano heads up...
Really if Profaci didn't die, he handled the intrigues to unseat him like a true gangster, they woulda been a formidable team to go to war against...
It's coming back to me a little bit, didn't Galante muscle some gambino people to sell their sweatshop interest to him or something to that effect?

I have always wondered what his presence would have meant to the Bonanno War in the mid to late 60's

Very powerful capo/underboss for Joe
Would Gaspar have defected with Lilo prowling around?

Here's a theory why Gambino shooters weren't used in the hit. Even though, it may have been a intrafamily plot, it's possible that it was simply set in motion by Philip Rastelli, who was the incarcerated Bonanno boss around the time Galante was on the street and basically took the position for himself. He underestimated Rastelli's connections and the loyalty guys afforded him on the street. Galante could've been as tough as he wanted to be, but once those who were protecting him realized where the power lied, they went with the power. It should be noted that the weeks leading up to Galante's shooting, Joseph Massino, Stevie Beef Cannone, Sonny Napolitano, Nicky "Nicky Glasses" Marangello, just to name a few, were captured visiting Rastelli on numerous occasions. I don't know how that all fit into everything seeing as, Nicky Glasses was demoted after Galante was killed supposedly for being one of the guys who showed Galante the utmost loyalty during his bid for power.

And I don't think Galante would've defected from Joe, by all accounts he was a loyal underboss.

EXACTLY, before he went in that profaci/bonnano alliance might have been to strong for the /lucchese/mangano leadership. Before he went to jail in 62 , the bonnano's were much more powerful.probably the reason he hated carlo so much.

Funny thing, at this time I think the power lied with Sonny Reds faction, he basically controlled a third of the family capos, his mistake was thinking that this power enabled him to not pay for Sicilian heroin, which made them betray him.Also,on the hits being Bonnano guys, I think its kinda mob etiquette that if its your problem you should be able to handle it, especially if you want the power.
Think when Gotti hit Paul, in his book Sammy says the hitters were all,from Johns crew cause it was basically his problem.
Or the three capos, it was to protect their heroin pipeline, so they actually brought in a shooter from Canada, as well as using George for the setup, that wasn't really necessary, but it was if they want to hold onto their interest from a position of strength...

They did use em for cleanup though they did a terrible job.(maybe thats why they weren't used, this was a hit that couldn't be fucked up)

Another classic example is the Anastasia hit, you hear for years it was the Gallos, but in actuality it came from Carlos people the Armones, cause again, it was his problem,...
Any thoughts?

This is a good example of how power affects the mob..
Rastellis power seem to be that he had legitimacy, he was the official boss, but wasnt like rich or anything.
In the Donnie Brasco book, Lefty said that Sonny Blacks power was that he was close to Rastelli, but Rastelli is locked up, so he knew peace on their terms wasn't really a long term option without bloodshed at some point.
Think of it like this, what if Galante relents and shares the drugs?
The Commision might have just ousted Rastelli. Sonny Red made the same mistake, let's say he doesn't fuck the Sicilians, he had Chin with him, plus five crews, I think he was too arrogant though..
You know another interesting guy? Frank Garofolo, the underboss before Galante and Bonaventre, another major heavyweight, what I find weird is that one of his associates had the biggest construction company in NY at the time, makes me wonder when the Concrete Club took shape, WITHOUT the Bonnanos, any thoughts?

To me the power breaks down like this;
Rastelli is boss, but ineffectual, he's only as strong as the capos on the street loyal to him..
The capos on the street loyal to him, their strength is that when they go see Rastelli and come back to Brooklyn, they can say " Rusty wants this", so they are the word of the boss, but they are not the big earners, but plenty tough..
Galante had more prestige than Rastelli, being Bonnaos underboss, similar to Genovese when he was a capo with like Boss level power. He had the control of the dope, so he was a powerhouse earner, and had Sicilian muscle. But he was isolated from the rest of the Bonnano family, and the Commision..
Now Sonny Black has like four, five crews following him, so he had the military might, and the most say on the streets I'm guessing, Also had the Chin, so with the Commision he was solid. Was a great earner and had earners with him, that was the problem I think, like he was already rich and he tried to stiff the Sicilians.
Plus he wasn't too cool with the Massino Group, so he was isolated as well, but in order neutralize him they had to hit all those guys at once...

Eeeeer, I meant Sonny Red... Damn it...

Sonny Red had the Westside backing him, he didn't have the whole Commission, but I guess with the Westside being the power and all...I think it was Castellano & Persico who told Massino to hold off and handle it amicably first. I think it was also those two, who told Massino the second time to do what he had to do what he had to do. According to Anthony DeStefano & his book on Massino, Sonny Red actually had the backing of Cesare Bonventre, whom was the like the head of Zips, along with Catalano after the Galante hit, even more so after Catalano was imprisoned. So he had the backing of the Zip's & the Westside, and Sonny Red oversaw one crew, but he was the most powerful skipper amongst his side/faction. So they all sought him out for advice and such, so you can say he had like three or four crews loyal to him. What did Sonny Red in was Massino's relationship with Carmine Franzese, Tutti or Tootie, they called him. He was basically informing Massino of Sonny Reds every move, because he was close to Persico and I believe Persico was relaying everything going on to Franzese, I could be wrong on that though. But Franzese WAS telling Massino of the plans of Indelicato, Trinchera & Giaccone. It should be noted that Philly Lucky was a powerful capo in his own right. It was either Massino and Vitale who was under Giaccone prior to his death, officially Massino was under Philly Lucky, but he was always close to Rastelli, so he was seen as sort of another power next to the power. After Giaccone is whacked, it's Massino who takes over his crew. It may have also been Franzese who brought down the guard of Sonny Red and his guys, after telling them he'd be present at the peace meeting that the other families would be involved for mediation. Long story short, the "three capo's" are killed, guys get spared, like Frank Lino. And the power is all in the hands of Massino & Napalitano. Those two began to butt heads as well, but that's a story for another day.

he said he was involved in 50 hits in his life time

Wow Moe. I never saw that footage before.

Very cool.

Got damn.

WARNING: GRAPHIC

Thanks for sharing that Moe. I think that is from the old Crime Inc. documentary.

If any of you haven't seen it I highly recommend it.

It is on youtube.

The Glare of a Killer https://gangstersinc.org/blog/the-glare-of-a-killer

I'll never get tired of Galante info. Wish there was video footage of him looking straight into the camera so we could get a real feel of those lifeless eyes, pics don't seem to really capture it.

Although the thing about him not being smart mainly arises from his Sing Sing IQ assessment which I believe was a rouse where he purposely fooled authorities. I've gathered some surprising information about Galante's interests and knowledge that a family member of his shared with me which paints the picture of a rather smart man, albeit one who still spoke like a street kid.

What did the nephew do? All it says is an innocent guy was killed.
Was he made?

Also Pistone said lefty stated that galantes a mean guy and hated by most of the bonnanos. And predicted he'll be killed.