Is he still active? In Brooklyn? Just wondering this guys been around for decades. Again, say what you want about the Colombo's but this is another (originally a Columbo, now Genovese) who outlasted dozens of so called smarter wise guys. The stories he could tell!

Semi Active. He is not fully active nor fully retired, but it is always hard to tell with the Genovese people. After Frank Illiano passed away most of the power Gallo and Illiano had went to Al Malangone Jr. He is still in Southern Brooklyn.

I know he's old, but is Allie Shades still active

Re: Albert Gallo is still alive. He's had a solid career with the Westside. Blast actually purchased the old Ca Sa Bella Ristorante from Mikey Sabella next door to Zookie Esposito's joint. It became his base. There, and a little social club he and Punchy ran in Brooklyn. Blast has run that restaurant for decades. Not half as well as Mike did, he was a stickler for cleanliness, food quality and cuisine, but he made plenty of money none the less. I used to be in Mikey's place every week. Great, great Italian food. Among the best of the whole neighborhood. IMO. I ate there for years. I would go when Blast owned it also, but the food wasn't even close to what Mike used to serve. Blast was a good guy, but his head wasn't on restaurants and cuisine.

He never took another pinch, and partnered with his old buddy Punchy Illiano in running a "Court Street" crew down that way in Red Hook where they'd grown up.

Today he's already 90 years old........COMPLETELY out of the life. He's happy to be breathing lol.

But he had a good run once they switched him out to downtown.

I guess being in the high bleachers worked for him. I'm shocked that a somewhat high profile guy (due to his brother) like him avoided jail for such a long time.

Agreed, buy if you look at Albert closely you'll notice he really wasn't like his two brothers. Albert was actually much more low key and cautious. ALL his notoriety came about during the era of the Gallo wars with the Profaci/Colombo mob.

On his own Blast was actually extremely low key, as was Punchy in his later years. I'm sure that Chin also instructed them to be that way.

I said brother. Singular. Larry was low key also. Had a good mind for the Thing. If he had lived 10 more years things would've been different when Joey got out.

I agree. Larry was thought to have been a bit more level headed than Joey....But he did organize those kidnapping in the early 1960s so he too had the capabilities for wildness. But I do think Larry would have steered the Gallo ship differently the Joe.

Wasn't Larry the actual leader (brains) of the Gallo crew? And Joe the violent one? BTW It's always been my opinion this crew was the toughest and craziest ever. When you research the guys that were in this crew before the disbandment and where they went and became, it's tough to beat it. I started a thread on it some time ago. future Bosses, the many killers, money makers all in one tough crew for sure.

I have to agree with you on that one. They were a very tough crew. All out of the South Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook.

Larry was boss for round 1

Joey was boss round 2 bc larry died

Joey appears to have been a real shit. Colombo put out an olive branch; sent money; and was probably open to him getting a piece of the pie, to keep the peace. But he symbolically spat in Colombo's face and sent an envelope of cash back after the gesture was made upon his release from prison. Larry Gallo was a senior aide to Colombo and without issue; very respected.

Larry was the leader of the group, then was one of four new Capos that Colombo made in 1964. Larry Gallo was also an informant, he was dropping dimes on his competitors, and giving perspectives on the Colombo administration. Joe Gallo was hot headed, when he was released he was hanging around high society and thinking himself the boss. Larry was level headed and weighed all his options out. Joe Gallo acted more than thinking. There is a list of most of the Gallo crew associates, the first war had a lot of big names that ended up in other families, when the first was over and even during guys were switching sided and transferring to other families associates. When Larry Gallo died, the crew was reduced to half. The Persicos were with the Gallo brothers then switched with Carmine earning the nickname Snake after he tried to strangled Larry and failed. Vic Amuso was with the Gallos then during the war transferred to the Lucchese as he was a "good kid". Larry was the brains, even the kidnapping of Profaci closest capos, he kept Joe from killed Frank Profaci, sidenote Joe Profaci was tipped off and left fast in the night. People say it was Carmine Persico that tipped him off, but the tip may have came from someone in Carmine Lombardozzi crew, at least a Gambino member anyway.

Albert Gallo and Frank Illiano took over when Joe was killed, had problems with other members of their own crew, and were allowed to transfer to the Genovese crime family. Vincent Gigante always comes up as the one who brought them over, but it was a few of the Genovese higher ups, Tony Salerno, Phil Lombardo, and Pat Eboli, there are others but those are the ones who actually went and fought for Gallo and Illiano to the Colombo and Gambino families. Tony Ducks mentioned the transfer and backed it up, this was when he was talking about a list of proposed members for the Genovese and the Colombos were blocking a guy that was with Kid Blast, weather that was actually Albert Gallo or a different guy is up to debate as the guys name nor nickname is ever mentioned. Albert Gallo had a long run, and is one of the sharpest and cautious mob guys around.

Larry was an informant? I never heard that or read that anywhere before. Where did you get that info from?

During the first Colombo war, the Profaci faction had the Gallos pindown to where they could hardly leave their hangout. The reason the Profaci faction did not eliminate the Gallos, was because they knew the NYPD were staked out across from the Gallos. Larry was despite since they could hardly go out and earn much, so he knew someone from the old neighborhood that he was a friend to when they were kids, who had became an officer, and was feeding him information which was passed on to the detectives on the Persicos, Scarpa, a few other hitters who were gunning for the Gallos. This gave the Gallos some breathing room, especially when Joe Profaci died. After Joe Colombo became boss the information stopped coming. It is logical that the informant in the Gallo crew was Larry Gallo, since the Gallos and Colombo made peace and Larry was named Capo right before the informant stopped talking.

Giacomo is correct that there are some who feel Larry Gallo was a "source" for the feds (or locals). It was at a time when the Gallo's were on the ropes and in bad shape. Many of their associates had jumped back to the Profaci's.

But I have never read that ANYONE actually knew for sure the Larry WAS a rat, or who his particular connect to law enforcement might have been IF he was a rat. It was only general conjecture. It was known that at least one "source" was in the Gallo camp feeding info on their enemies, and because of the quality of intel, it was speculated that it may have been Larry Gallo.

But again, where did you specifically get your info that "Larry Gallo knew someone from the old neighborhood that was a friend when they were kids, who became an officer, and was feeding him information which was passed on to detectives on the Persico's, etc" as you stated?

As you know, I have done extensive research for exposes on the Profaci, Gallo, and Colombo factions, and I've written very elaborate exposes' on the 3 wars they had. There are few documents or sources that I haven't accessed. Yet I've never come across the precise informant information that you speak of.

If you could tell me where you read it I would be very appreciative, because I'm actually in the middle of writing another expose on informants as we speak. And part of my story deals with Scarpa, and other rats in the Colombo network.


Your "sources" sound astounding to say the least. I could really utilize them in my future articles for sure!

Larry Gallo matches up mostly for being the informant. The friend who became a cop when they grew up is mentioned in the memo and did not click till reading what CF had said in a short interview growing up in the Gallo household. Joe was locked up at the time, while Albert Gallo and Frank Illiano would sneak across the bridge to Manhattan to hideout with a couple of Genovese people for a few nights, and the fact the report does not give any information on that rules out Albert and Frank being the informant since they would not have mentioned big details, but little things as to not hurt whoever they were with. Process of elimination on dates also points to Larry as the informant.

Well yes that is what brings a person to suspect Gallo from the get go, but what particular memo are you referring to that specifically mentions Larrys "friend"? And says he grew up in the Gallo household? Because then obviously its a connection to Gallo. But where and what documents are your referring to. Not Mary Farrell?

I've got that document. The informant wasn't a Gallo brother he just grew up with the Gallo's and was a frequent guest in their household. Definitely wasn't Larry Gallo. Larry almost got the life strangled out of him and never once gave police any info.

It wasn't Larry Gallo that was the informant. The informant stopped giving info at that time because he was whacked. He was a Gallo crew member but not a made guy

I'm only going to say that I don't believe Larry was an informant for no other reason than the ability to speculate is without limits, and I have never read anywhere in official documents, reports or statements that he was an informant. Could he have been? Sure I suppose. Was he? I doubt it and nothing written above changes my mind that he was. Could we assume? Yes if you choose to lean in that direction. I just don't...yet. Thanks

Something I found:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=132534&search=%22Lawrence%22_and+%22gallo%22#relPageId=511&tab=page

Larry Gallo was talking to the FBI, first time seeing that document. Colonel Reb, dont tell me you think Ali Waffa was the informant, cause he was killed in the summer of 1963 and this informant was still talking and passing info to the NYPD long after Waffa was dead.

First and foremost if Larry had been an informant his name would have been Redacted just like Scarpas was still Redacted over 15 years after he was dead. Familiarize how FBI documents were filed by agents.

#1. I never said Ali Baba was the informant. #2 it doesn't matter the date the FBI files it's report. A lot of Scarpas documents filed in August of 63 are information reported to the agents by Scarpa from May to July 63. So if Scarpa gave them info and was whacked on July 1st, but the report was files in August, that doesn't mean he wasn't the source. That being said Ali Waffa wasn't the informer. He was on the boat working when some of the info the informer gave the Feds. Couldn't have been him.

I can see why someone would think Larry was an informant because of this but look at it carefully.

Larry and the Gallo's are all over the papers by then. It's 8 months after he is almost strangled to death. His picture is all over the place.

Yet he is in a steakhouse in Bronxville NY at the table with an FBI agent giving him vague information about the Commission and how it's organized? Just doesn't make sense.

Either A, someone at the dinner with Larry went back and told the Feds or B, the Feds rousted his dinner asking him things about it and he was saying things in heat which was later interpreted by the Fed to make himself or the agency look good.