James "Jimmy" Emma

Italian mobster that was part of the Rampers mafia street-gang with Sammy "The Bull" Gravano whatever happened to him? Jimmy Emma had a conversation with Sammy one day and the next day Jimmy disappeared.

I was reading that he got killed by a columbo hit team and Gerry Pappa almost got killed too.. but jumped in some guys back seat and got away...

Is this the case where Gerry P then asked the cops to protect him?
Gravano apparently didnt speak to Pappa after this?

yeah Sammy's son is named after Pappa and I read that he asked to be protected - then he was fucked

I used to work with a guy in Kansas who no less who was Italian and said he was from Brooklyn. Said he went to high school with Lou Ferrigno, or the same High School. CAnt really remember. This was probably 1986 or so when he was in Kansas. I have always been fascinated with the mafia and talked to him about if he ever grew up around any of the wise guys. He told me a story that I cant say is false, but I cant prove it. Here goes:

He said that he either knew of a guy or knew a guy named Jimmy Emma. The reason I remember this story is that the name "Emma" is a different sounding name. He said this guy Emma was a real tough guy. Everyone was scared of him and when he was outside or rolling down the street, people would come in off the stoops.

Anyway, he said Emma was washing his car one day and a black Caddy or Lincoln pulled around the corner and lit him up with a machine gun and killed him.

He said that people were so relieved that he was shot there were old ladies coming down from their apts to look at the body and some even spit on him.

Like I said, dont know if it is true but I do know he was a transplanted New Yorker living in Kansas. We used to give him sh!t about being in witness protection.

Any incite would be interesting.

Thanks

i grew up knowing jimmy

jimmy one of the nicest but the crazest / toughest / mother f---- you would ever meet...... only 5ft 4in with 20---24 in neck. got killed in shoot-out at cookies lunchenette , 79 st & new ulterct ave .

jimmy did not disappear !!!killed in shoot out at cookies lunchinette 79 st & new utrect ave ...

so was my friends story true? was Emma a real bad ass? My friend said he was. now i feel kind of stupid because at the time of the conversation we found it hard to believe

sammyd20;
as bad ass as you can imagine!!!!!
him and 2-3 other guys would go to
the worst area bed-sty / coney island
get out of car even with 15 + guys on corner
and just start fighting....[always came up victory]
st finbars football team went undefeated for yrs[jimmy help coach]
other teams did nt show up for games..finaly they were ban from playing.....
rival gangs had a sit down with the rampers, basicly to say they never want any problems .see sammys book
always felt my old area was the safest place in the city to live...

Some pictures would be interesting to see.

Nicest Guy in the world, always a real gentleman. I write this sincerely. BTW, Jimmy graduated from Layfayette HS in Bklyn, NY. He would have graduated about 1959>>1961. If some one could lay their little mitts (no referance to Pres'l candidate meant) ona copy of a HS Yearbook from then, we should be able to get a pic.

I didn't know Jimmy Emma personally but knew of him from his reputation in our neighborhood. Yes he was a very tough guy and fearless. I was in my high school class in New Utrecht High School (the school that you saw in the opening credits of the show Welcome Back Kotter) when we heard gunshots and we went to the windows facing 79th street towards New Utrecht Ave in Brooklyn. We couldn't see anything but that was the moment Jimmy Emma was killed and another guy (I forget who he was now) survived but ran for cover... It was big news in the neighborhood that day...

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jerry pappa ..was made with the genovese family..was killed for killing guys on the sneak.. emma was tough, he did not fear the wise guys.he would go to bars and not care who the place belong to, he abused the wrong guy..one to many.he was very feared, was the place he hung out called fry tags on 79 st.?also a pizza place there owned by sal guaneiri a wise guy with the gambinos.everyone in that age group new jimmy or heard of him ...he would be a little younger than me..around 66 today..

Yea, my friend said that was his high school as well, as well as Lou Ferigno. I could not remember the name but I remember saying it was on the opening credits of Welcome Back Kotter.

Just curious if any pics available. Have googled him and he is mentioned in a book about the mafia but that is all

jimmy emma From the rampers was a tough guy so was sammy bull, joe vitale, gerry pappa, the mole. That whole ramper lineup was tough as nails if you lived in bensonhurst in the 60's you knew not to mess with this crew i grew up in that area

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I knew Jimmy from junior high school, PS128 on 21st avenue and 83rd. His sister was in my class. At that time, he acted tough and the only reason people thought he was is because of a guy he was always with who was his protector, guy named Joey. Last name was Spadaro I think. Joey was the bad ass, not Jimmy, at least not at that time. And I'm pretty sure he went to New Utrecht because if I remember correctly, he lived just across the "line" for the Lafayette district. And I never saw him once in Lafayette where I went. I knew a lot of those guys, Gerard Pappa, Ceasar Vitale, the Colombos, knew them from Lafayette, the neighbohood. Ceasar was the equipment manager of the football team if I'm not mistaken. Lost track of them when I went in the Marine Corps and found out about Jimmy when I came home on leave one time. I was told it happened in or just outside a bar on New Utrecht between 79 & 80, called the Dew Drop Inn, or the Tickle Toe Inn, something like that. As I said, when I knew him, wasn't so tough, just acted that way and hung out with a tough guy. Like a lot of short guys, he had what I've heard people call a Napoleon Complex. They act a certain way, do things, to make up for being short. What happened, what he became later on, I don't know. He would be closer to 70 now, if not older.

Would love to hear more about this guy if anybody knows anything.

ok g & anyone else needs real info on rampers , / emma ,/ pappa / etc.....

some info correct ! sorry some wrong..jimmy def. did not have a complex!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As I said, when I knew him it was junior high, so can't comment on what he was like later. Lost track of all those guys who went to Utrecht and I was in Lafayette and then later in the Corps. A story about him though from when I knew him. Bunch of us were in the park and this guy was riding the swings, going pretty high. Emma kept trying to pull him off the swing and if he had, would have hurt this guy pretty bad. Finally, the kid won't take any more, jumps off the swing and grabs Emma, pushes him against the fence, hit him once and was going to kick his ass. The guy I mentioned Joey Spadaro grabs this kid before he can hit Emma again and tells him to get lost and that Emma would never bother him again. The look on Spadaro's face scared the hell out of me and I was watching from the other side of the fence. The kid leaves and nothing ever happened again between him and Emma.

Well today (July 10th) is the 33rd Anniversary of Pappa's murder, still unsolved.

Pappa would be 69 in 2013 which would put Emma around the same age.

Emma definitely did not have a Napoleon Complex.

Pappa was killed because some of the hits he made were not sanctioned by the boss.

i don't believe he was killed 1980

He was.

Nobody has any photos of this guy?

this guy sounds like he was a neighbourhood legend. all these years passed and all these stories

I sent you a message about jimmy yesterday. did you receive it ? I am not familiar with this site. so I don't know how to find it

didn't Caesar go to 128? I thought he had a brother there too. if I have the same guy,he was a little guy from Italy. thought he was tough, another bully type.

That's a good point, are there any photos of this guy who sounds like a vicious pitbull

Photos of who? Emma or Pappa?

Was Emma his real last name? I can´t find anything on him.

From all accounts that I know of yes.

Okay. Thanks.

hi bay 29 [ no shit ] i lived benson & bay 29...
hung on bay 25--bay 23 [the boys main hang...i knew the younger & older crew, jimmy would be 70-72 now, i m 66.
jimmy was 5 ft tall or so not one bit a bully,not afraid of anyone, even along as i heard some b. s. storys.
at one time they worked out non stop..built like a brick building,jimmy had 20+ size neck, died at shoot-out with the crazy gallo s at chickies lunchonette 79 & new uhtect ave..
ps know all of them over 25 + years...also did some work / errands...have to go.

Sounds about right because Pappa would be 69.

Jimmy Emma. I'd love to put a face to this pint sized bad ass

LOL Emma was a bad ass but good as gold to those he liked/loved! Trying to get photos of him also!

Here to clarify a few things..

My father knew Jimmy Emma and Gerry Pappa as he is around the same age as them..

He remembers them and what happened to them, Pappa was killed at a restaurant as most people know.

From what he remembers and what he knows, (he knew jimmy pretty well) Jimmy was killed while washing his car on new Utrecht ave

Jimmy was a short guy but built like a bull, nobody messed with him.

However, Jimmy messed with the wrong people and became a problem that needed to he taken care of..

That's what I know and what I was always told when my dad told me about his old friends (that was one of countless stories)

Brooklynboy it would be cool as hell if you could provide a pic. Thanks in advance

So what do you know of Pappa?

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There's talk of both of these guys in Louie Militos wife's book. Good book. I enjoyed it. Obviously she hates Sammy lol

What was Tommy Snake and the Mole's real names?

me

Mafia Wife by Lynda Milito Excellent book, she tells it like it is as the of a wife of a gangster. What I found really interesting is how she explains that people think its glamorous or exciting to be a gangsters wife,child etc. but they don't understand it until they live it. It really can mess up a person, but also make them stronger too.

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Your talking about the late 1950s early 1960s, guys did walk around with Iphones snappng pictures. I never saw a bunch of street guys take a camera out and start posing, it just was not done. Back in the day cameras came out during the holidays and pictures were taken in the house with the family. I do think we will see any pictures of Jimmy Emma anytime soon.

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Vincent Patrick Emma, AKA Jimmy Emma. 1942-1967 . I have a picture of Jimmy, looks like a HS yearbook pic. I am unable to post a pic on this site. If you'd like I could email the pic to someone that may be better able to post than me.