His name first came to prominence with the assassination of Crazy Joe Gallo at Umberto's Clam House in 1972. But "Joe Yak" had been a well known strong-arm enforcer and "shooter" for years...and here's is his life story
https://thenewyorkmafia.com/2019/12/21/joseph-joe-yak-yacovelli/The backstory on his bio is the fact that for all his wild exploits, Yacovelli mostly kept to himself for decades. He maintained his little Mulberry Street crew and flew beneath law enforcement's radar. It was only with Gallo's killing, and stool pigeon Greg Scarpa's debriefings that Yak was later exposed for the true power broker he was.
