"Must see" mob history sites in New York City

Hi guys,

Going to NYC on vacation with my wife and would very much appreciate some nice advice on what to see, "mobhistory-wise". Guess I will spend most of my time in different womens clothing stores so I must have some fun to look forward to, beyond the usual tourist stuff.

I know, everything is gone and the neighborhoods is completely different now - but I still want to see some historical sites. When I was in Chicago I enjoyed staring out on the car parking lot that was once the site of Dean O'Banions old flowershop - you get the picture.

I will stay in Chelsea/Meatpacking so I guess The Chins old social club on Sullivan Street is on my list and of course Little Italy even if its a shadow of it former self nowadays. Whatmore? Is it even meaningful to go Bensonhurst, I understand it has completely changed character.

Thanks/The tourist

Eat at Sparks on 46th st. Mob history was made outside there

Ah, of course. Its on my list now. Thanks!

Go to Lanza's or John's restaurant on and around 11-12 street east side. And then go to Veniero's pastry right there. Enjoy!

Go to the orginal Umberto's location on Mulberry street where Joey Gallo was killed. The restuarant has moved to the other side of the street and they have a fake bullethole were they said was from shooting but its BS, so where he was reallty shot was the restuarant exactly opposite to it

PONTEVECCIO IN BKLYN, TOMASSO BKLYN.. ARTHUR AVE. RED BANK,

you can see the old Gemini Lounge, headquarters of the Demeo crew which is now a church.

Thanks a lot. Exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for, the Gemini was actually on my list but the other ones were not. Venieros pastry, thats a good one thanks.

You also got the former site of Gotti's Ravenite club on mulberry street. And there's Casa Bella that used to be owned by Mike Sabella who was Lefty Ruggerio's captain and an acquaintance of Donnie Brasco

Yes, got to eat at Casa Bella. Wasnt it there Joe pistone at one time was standing guard outside with Carmine Galante inside eating with Sabella and some other top guys in the Bonnano family? Must go there!

Speaking of donnie brasco and lefty, knickerbocker village is another place Id like to se as lefty, mirra and some other guys lived there.

Knickerbocker Bar and Grill on University Place is another great place. They filmed Mickey Blue eyes there.

Not trim to hijack thread but if mike sabella was leftys captain how did sonny black come to b so close to Donnie brasco?

We are making our second trip to NYC in December....I appreciate the history, etc, but also wondered whether Steaks Steak House is famous for its food as well these days? Thanks in advance....

Sparks Steak House even!

Though this is a bit out of your way, you might visit the Brownsville section of Brooklyn--specifically, the southwest corner of Saratoga and Livonia Avenues. Two doors down from the corner is the former headquarters of Murder, Inc., a joint venture of Louis (Lepke) Bucholter and Albert (the Mad Hatter) Anastasia, which reputedly did a thousand hits.

GBJon, Sparks is still excellent. Was there recently. Great wine list and steaks.

Since you'll already be in Manhattan I'd suggest seeing the Park Central Hotel (7th Avenue and 56th Street). Albert Anastasia was shot and killed in its barbershop in 1957 (it's now a newsstand off the lobby on the 55th Street side) and Arnold Rothstein was shot upstairs in one of its rooms back in 1928 (he died a few days later).

A few blocks away at 59th and 8th Avenue is Columbus Circle where Joe Colombo was shot during an Italian rally in 1971.

Also, over on the eastside - at 230 Park Avenue (the big old building that straddles Park Avenue at 47th Street) was the building in which Salvatore Marranzano was shot and killed back in 1931. I don't know if you can get inside the building these days but if you still can it's also worth it to see the beautiful old elevators. (It's not too far from Sparks Steakhouse if you're walking).

Definitely not getting into a building on 47th and park, I'd imagine. All office buildings.

I usually hang out in Little Italy.

You can also see the house where Lucky Luciano was raised, still looks the same.

Is the famous casella still open. Read the scarpa files he said it still was holding the biggest crap game afew years after Donnie bbrasco shit wonder if Mike sabella who owned it was still in charge after he was demoted. Did he sell it. Guess it was like a wise guy crown jewel.

Casabella.

I go to Venieros all the time. Wat happened there?

It's a great pastry shop and if I recall Bronx said that it was around Lilo Galante. Bronx your thoughtss?

They have these hazelnut chocolate cookies behind the counter that are addicting.

And let's not forget the rainbow cookies and cakes!

So no tour of black Harlem? I heard when your people get here you really love to visit black neighborhoods am I wrong about that?

If you want to get the old neighborhood feel, I'd suggest going to an old school restaurant in the outer boroughs. I'd suggest Bamontes or Marco Polo in Brooklyn or Park Side or Don Peppes in Queens. The Brooklyn ones I suggested are very close to Manhattan. Little Italy in the Bronx has some good ones too but it will be kind of far for you.

Definitely go see the other stuff, but after you go see the ravenite is a bougie women's shoe store etc... I think you will want something with that old feel. Also I would avoid most restaurants in Manhattans little Italy. Most are overpriced and not great.

Benny here my daughter the communist got two awards one from the Swedish and Germany consultes in college.

She spent three months in Sweden in a villa there. She was supposed to study Swedish language and culture. She gets there they all speak English. They don't want to speak Swedish with an American just English.
In a villa next to her they have a big party she is invited. Some team wins the Stanley cup in 2011. One of the skaters on the team is from Sweden. Each player can take the Stanley cup with them to their home country for a period of the time. The Swedish player took his to that villa party. You know what he did to it? He pissed in it. I think they think their shit don't stink.

They like going to the worst places here to prove their better then everyone here. I know they like to visit bad areas here to prove it to them selves.

Lilo Garafalo.

casa bella on mulberry? that was blasts place

Still is. The daughter holds all the permits. But the place is persona non grata to wiseguys today. If they were smart, they would have made their own restaurants and bars off limits forty years ago. Nothing but trouble, and when the first "civilian" gets slapped in the face the place is history.

yeah a lot of slaps have been given out in mob hangouts! lol

they need to hire guys dressed like mobsters,hang around play the part gentlemanly,, wait didn't a bunch of guys in the last 10 years get made like that..!

Anyone go to the feast last weekend?

I was there, it rained. Bummer.

Ehm, well I sure choose a tour through Harlem rather than hanging out with the likes of you down at some banjo-festival in Alabama or whatever you like to do on your sparetime.

Thanks everyone else for really good stuff. Appreciate it!

Not that I really give a sh-t what you think of Sweden, but you got it all wrong and therefore I must correct you. Here are som facts about Sweden/Europe:

1. I speak lousy Italian and by lousy Im mean probably better than what any american girl whos been staying in Swedish for 3 months speaks Swedish. Still few Italians ever wants to continue the conversation in italian when I say "Una birra chiara media per favore" or whatever might come out of my mouth when Im in Italy.

They hear Im not native and to speed things up they turn to English. Its exactly the same in Sweden.

2. Swedish youth (and by youth I mean under 40 y) is totally absored with american culture. Everyone follows the latest series from HBO and of course any new film Hollywood might have produced lately. Everyone wants to speak English. We've got 17 year old girls who spent 6 months in London as babysitters coming back talking with fake brittish accents. Others go to NYC and wind up as bloggers describing their lifes as something out of "Sex and the City" or "Gossip Girl".

3. (And this is about the part when the Swedish player apperently pissed in the NHL Trophy). We drink a lot in Sweden. You should come here in Midsummer, the whole country is wasted. If he pissed in the trophy its because he was wasted not becuause he wanted to make any kind of political statement.

Now, stop trashing this thread. You wont get any more answerers from me so get lost.

Soooooo.......how is Venierios Pastry connected to the mob as far as being a place to go see?

historic venue

@ Footreads



Well said.

Jimmy Coonan's former club at 10th Avenue and 43rd street.

It has been the "Mr. Bigg's" bar for many years but was called the "596 Club" when Coonan owned it and kept dismembered body parts of his victims in the freezer there.

i thought i remeber reading in donnie brasco lefty an donnie would report to sabella at his place casa bella. and he named it after his last name sabella imported herion in the marble. did he sell after galante got hit and he was gonna to but got a pass. i just googled its a nice looking place millions.

Thanks, we'll definitely give it a try

lol! PB, you are always on spot..

20 years ago I was a busboy at Casa Bella for a summer. It was full of wiseguys then. I always felt bad for the Mexicans because they treated them like shit. The funny thing is that the customers would always ask me if I was Yugoslavian or Albanian because no white kids were busboys. When I told them I was an American, they would always slip me a 5 or 10!

That's actually the third location. They were located further up Mulberry for quite awhile, on the northeast corner. The original, where Gallo was killed, is called Da Gennaro today. The food's decent, but it's still a tourist trap.

Bobby I still runs the third incarnation of Umberto's down there. They took a shot on Arthur Avenue and crapped out after about five or six years.

Oh, for the record. If you do go to Umberto's today, you're more likely to run into a gay couple with an adopted Chinese kid than you are of running into a made guy. That's as politically correct as I can put it.

Pb, what's your opinion or take on the statement that Frank Sheeran did the job on crazy joe, if u don't mind me buttin' in..? it's the only part of his book that i find questionable.

Sonny Black and Lefty were part of Sabellas crew. Black was promoted when Sabella either passed away or moved to Flordia can't remember which. Its mention in Donne Brasco book and one of Joe Massino books

The writer of that book, Brandt, "found" that alleged "witness."

Matty was already the heaviest Westsider on Mulberry at the time. Do you really believe an out of town Irishman was getting permission to hit Gallo in a joint he JUST opened?

The Gallos actually had long term relationships with the Westside, even though the Westside was light in Brooklyn back then. Matty was one of the guys who pushed for Al Gallo's button. Unheard of, but he had the juice to pull it off.

The survey says: No fucking way.

Sabella was broken, then allowed to retire, then he died.

I was thinking of Pine Street in Brownsville/Brooklyn, where Vario had the old cab stand as HQ. Is that neighborhood just as "gone" as the rest of the old italian strongholds?

Looking at Google Maps Streetview I guess it could be worth an afternoon stroll anyway..

The neighborhood is long 'gone'.

Go visit if you're interested, but go in the daytime. It's not a nice area.

As gone as gone gets. And even if you go during the day, I'd strongly suggest carrying a sidearm of some kind.

Ok thanks guys. Think I'll skip it.

Since I don't live in NYC I can't address how the neighborhoods are today, but here's some historical areas no one mentioned:

1. The homes Al Capone grew up in. He was born in Navy Street then moved to 69 Park Avenue, then three different places on Garfield, all in Brooklyn.
2. The area around the downtown Manhattan courthouse is where the Five Points Gang was. It's also not far from the World Trade Center.
3. There are three useful books for Mob-related tours of NYC (actually there are more, but these two are the easiest to obtain):
http://www.amazon.com/Goodfellas-Guide-N...k+city+mob+tour
http://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-Mafia-Gu...mafia+guidebook
http://www.amazon.com/Gangland-New-York-...A4Q0EVWD68S828H

There's also an app:
http://www.amazon.com/Mafia-Walking-Tour...k+city+mob+tour

4. The first Mafia-related killing in NYC was near the Cooper Union building at 30 Cooper Square, near downtown. It was in 1888.

5. If you go to Little Italy, make sure to hit Elizabeth Street. That's where the early New York Mafia was situated (for the most part)

6. If you want see where the Bonannos started, it was in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn around 5th and Roebling, which is now mostly Hasidic Jewish and hipster.

7. The Morellos started out around 106th Street in Italian Harlem, but you probably don't want to go there.

I have no idea if its connected or not, but Angelo's on Mulberry is my favorite spot. I get there once a month. May not be the best but my favorite. Get the mussels in white wine garlic, spedini, and scungili as an appetizer. Veal sorrentina and zuppa di pesce for entree. I always get broccoli rabe as a side, too. (I don't eat all of it, my finacee' and I share it, but I generally eat 3/4 of it HA!"

Get yourself a book called "A Guide to Gangsters, Murderers and Weirdos of New York City's Lower East Side". That book tells all the juicy details, drops names and addresses. What you'll find is that the sites of many a famous shootout, hangout, hideout, clubhouse, or childhood home of many a gangster from the classical age of New York gangsters are still standing.

Lucky Luciano's childhood home, Masseria's apartment building, the site where Lepke and another gunman took down Little Augie Orgen, and more, are all in there. Jack Diamond (aka Legs Diamond) was Little Augie's bodyguard and was wounded in the attack on Orgen. It's all there. When Little Augie (Jacob Orgen) was taken out, Lepke rose to dominate organized labor. These events may have shaped modern history to some extent or another.

thank u, i agree.

Great info everyone, thanks a lot.

Alfa: I will def get that book. And one of those Faithful1 linked to. Speaking of Lepke, the building that once housed the old candystore that was once "HQ" av Murder Inc. is still standing, isnt it?

Now the old headquarters of Murder Incorporated is a bodega.

Technically still a "candy store".

The great thing about New York City is that if you are hunting for old mafia historical sites, everything is packed densely together, especially in Lower Manhattan. On the Lower East Side, I think they had walking tours of the gangster sites. You could basically walk from one site to the next.