This father and son has virtually nothing known about them or more then one picture of each. So, we know Pete Licata was gunned down at 70 years old possibly by Bonventre and Catalano takes over Knickerbocker crew from Licata who was in charge of the Zips. I read conflicting stories one states it was Galante who ordered the hit, others Rastelli. Why not shelve this 70 year old man which is so low keyed and shit is known? The reason now why was he killed again conflicting stories? I read an article by Gangsters Inc "Death in the Afternoon, The shadow of a Dream: The story of Carmine Galante part 2". Here it states Licata was into drug trafficking with Galante and a powerful Capo of the Colombo family Cristoforo Robino who was killed later on as well. The other story from an ex hitman Luigi Ronsisvalle stated Pete Licata was killed because he was against the selling of narcotics and the zips wanted to sell.

Then we have his son Frank Licata who even less is known and what his role was in the Bonanno family? Seems to be working fine with Ganci, Catalano etc. What happened to Frank? I ask because in 82' two more Licata family members were gunned down in their family business and were supposed drug dealers as well. It to me seems like someone really wanted to eliminate the Licata's from the family. Do we have any other pictures of Pete or Frank Licata?

Galante ordered the hit on Pietro Licata, not Rastelli. 1) Carmine needed Salvatore Catalano to become the skipper due to his connections with Sicily, and could bring in more narcotics into the United States. 2) Licata disrespected Giuseppe Buccellato, Frank Navarra and a few more people in the Bonanno family. 3) Carmine never liked Licata and viewed as more treacherous than any other participant in the Bonanno split in the 1960s. 4) Licata was way too friendly with Joe Zingaro in the Gambino family, where there were whispers that Licata was allowing the Gambinos to rack in a lot of money, while the Bonannos did not get lucrative rackets. 5) Licata had sitdowns with Colombo Capo Chris Robino that favored the Colombo family more often. 6) Salvatore Catalano and a few others felt Licata was slowly losing his mind.
7) He was told to keep his relatives in check, and he failed.

Giacomo, I appreciate your valuable information on Pete. Do you know what happened to Frank and his role in the Bonanno family?

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With all due respect Giacomo, where are you getting this ridiculous information from?

One: first of all Cristoforo Robino was NOT a Profaci capo, in fact I don't even think he was straightened out. He was just deeply involved in the heroin trade and allied to the Profaci crew. He was killed on July 17, 1958. I'm not even sure that Pete Licata had immigrated from Sicily at that time. So Licata and Robino had scant to ZERO interaction.

Two: Joe Zingaro lived and operated 95% in the Bronx, whereas Licata was almost solely based in the Ridgewood Queens/Brooklyn borderline. The Bronx was NOT his bailiwick so again there was little, if any, interaction between the two of them. Completely different spheres of operation.

Three: Sal Catalano and the Zip faction are the ones that killed Licata (with or without Galante's approval). Catalano was pivotal at the time to Lilo's drug network and Licata was seen as collateral damage. That move helped Sal become the reigning skipper along Knickerbocker Avenue.

Four: Pete's had three nephews that I know of; Vito, Joey, and Andy. They whacked Vito early on, and in the early 1980s (82 I think), three guys came into their little coffee shop, Cafe Licata, on the corner of Forrest Avenue, and blasted them. Joey got shot dead in the front room. Andy ran like a rabbit through the storefront to the backyard where there was a little outside area trying to jump the fence and escape but they followed to the back and shotgunned him against the fence.

So all three brothers got killed (for different reasons), after their uncle was whacked. They lost their protector. It was a shame because they were all very young guys at the time.

PS: How do I know all this? Because I was personal friends with both Joey and Andy, and I felt terrible when they got killed. Ok? Like I've said on here before, that is my era that I grew up in, and these people were my personal fiends. I was in Cafe Licata many times. They used to run big cards games there. Ziganette, Poker, etc.

Five: I do NOT know of a Frank Licata. Their may be another Licata named Frank, but I only know of Johnny Licata. He's Pete's son I believe. Possibly a nephew, but I think it's his son. John is still alive and well btw
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So as I said above, I don't know where you get all this "inside" information from Giacomo. But I can tell you straight out that what you've posted up is 100% incorrect.

NYMafia, what makes you say Robino wasn't a Colombo? And if not, was he at least on record with them?

PS, I refer to the NYC crime families by their present names, even in times before the bosses they were named after. It's less confusing for newbies and other readers.

Chris Robino WAS connected and "with" Joe Profaci/Colombo. But I do not believe he was an 'inducted' member. He was closely associated with Profaci as a drug smuggler/distributor. Joe used Robino as such, and after he got pinched with the interstate heroin operation they shot him dead in Brooklyn. I think his brother-in-law Lo Cascia got shot in that incident also but wasn't killed. In other words Profaci dealt with Robino at arms length to traffic in drugs, and after Robino got nabbed he was expendable.

This all took place during the 1950s era.

NYMafia with all due respect there is no way Catalano would kill a Bonanno capo without approval. He had to be ordered to do so and was elevated to capo shortly after. Secondly, Joey 44 and Andy 28 where killed together INSIDE Cafe Licata a third person was shot in the leg, one Sal Cuchiara who survived.

Frank is a mystery one source states he was Pete's son. He's in a second photo I found attending Giuseppe Bono's wedding. My worthless two cents says if Frank is a son of Licata then he would have been killed and probably did eventually disappear. I say this because it shows the Licata's were into drugs and an obstacle to Catalano and his crew. You would know best since you were friends of the Licata family.

I'm retarded all this time I kept saying Frank and meant John. So, John is still alive it's crazy how this guy can still work with the man who murdered your father and two other family members. When do you stop and think will they kill me out of fear of me wanting revenge or possibly not to be trusted?

After their uncle Pete and brother got killed Joey and Andy slowly gravitated toward the Colombo regime of Benny Aloi who had a club off metropolitan Avenue in the neighborhood. They were actually very close to Benny and guys around that crew. I believe their killings were largely unrelated to what happened to their uncle.

It was a shame because they were both really good guys.

Why do you think they were killed? Any theories out there?

No idea

To kill all three brothers definitely sounds Mafia-related.

it was. Def!! I just wouldn't speculate on the causes. Both bothers were hot heads, and very fast with their hands.

And although very respectful, they didn't back down from anyone. they were legit tough kids