The Mob and the City

by C. Alexander Hortis

  55. NYPD DD5, Interview of Albert Anastasio Jr., November 1, 1957, in Box 2, Anastasia Files (NYMA); New York Times, October 26, 1957.

  56. NYPD Report, Subject: Albert Anastasia, September 1963, in Box 2, Anastasia Files (NYMA); FBI Memorandum, Gambling Activities in Cuba, January 17, 1958, in RG 65 (NARA College Park).

  57. NYPD Notes of Interview with Anthony Coppola, October 25, 1957, in Box 2, Anastasia Files (NYMA); New York Times, October 26, 1957.

  58. Ibid.

  59. NYPD DD5, Subject: Andrew Alberti, November 5, 1957, and NYPD DD5, Subject: Interrogation of Johnny Busso, November 5, 1957, both in Box 2, Anastasia Files (NYMA), in RG 65; FBI Report, NY-92-632, Activities of Top Hoodlums in the New York Field Division, September 14, 1959, and FBI Report, NY 92-2300, Anti-Racketeering-Conspiracy, Gambino Family, July 1, 1963, both in RG 65 (NARA College Park); Hearings before the Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field: Part 32, Senate, 85th Cong., 2d Sess. (1958), 12246 (testimony of Martin Pera); Yonkers Herald Statesmen, March 17, 1954; Bureau of Narcotics, Mafia, pp. 334, 347, 360.

  60. New York Times, October 26, 1957.

  61. NYPD Notes of Interview with Joseph Saloney, October 29, 1957, in Box 1, Anastasia Files (NYMA); New York Times, October 26, 1957.

  62. NYPD Notes of Interviews with Arthur Grasso, Joseph Saloney, and Anthony Arbisi, October 29, 1957, each in Box 1, Anastasia Files (NYMA).

  63. Ibid.; NYPD DD5, Subject: Autopsy Report, October 27, 1957, and NYPD DD5, Homicide Report, October 28, 1957, both in Box 2, Anastasia Files (NYMA); New York Daily News, October 26, 1957; New York Times, October 26, 1957. Although news reports erroneously stated that the gunmen wore scarves, most of the employees said they wore hats and aviator glasses.

  64. NYPD Notes of Interview with Joseph Saloney, October 29, 1957, and NYPD Notes of Interrogation of Joseph Saloney, October 25, 1957, both in Box 1, Anastasia Files (NYMA); FBI Teletype, Criminal Intelligence Program, January 3, 1963, in RG 65 (NARA College Park).

  65. NYPD DD5, David Mazer, October 25, 1957, NYPD DD5, Subject: Recovery of Gun, October 25, 1957, and NYPD DD5, Subject: Test Specimens, October 28, 1957, each in Box 2, Anastasia Files (NYMA).

  66. NYPD Notes of Interrogation of Joseph Saloney, October 25, 1957; NYPD Report, Subject: Albert Anastasia, September 1963, both in Box 2, Anastasia Files (NYMA); Arthur Nash, New York City Gangland (Chicago, IL: Arcadia, 2010), p. 90.

  67. New York Times, October 26, 1957.

  68. Barber's Names, Chairs, Customers–Polygraph Exams, March 27, 1963, in Box 3, Anastasia Files (NYMA).

  69. NYPD DD5, Subject: Vincent J. Squillante, September 30, 1958, in Box 2, Anastasia Files (NYMA); New York Times, October 1, 1958.

  70. NYPD Teletype Alarm, October 25, 1957, and NYPD DD5, Charles Davis, October 26, 1957, both in Box 2, Anastasia Files (NYMA).

  71. Hearings before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations: Organized Crime and the Illicit Traffic in Narcotics, 348–49 (testimony of Valachi).

  72. Vincent Teresa with Thomas C. Renner, My Life in the Mafia (New York: Doubleday, 1974), p. 178.

  73. Bonanno, Man of Honor, p. 207.

  74. Wolf, Frank Costello, pp. 262–63.

  75. In April 1958, the NYPD received an alternative tip about the Patriarca Family of New England. The NYPD contacted the Providence, Rhode Island, police department: “This department is in receipt of information that [Raymond] Patriarca might be involved in the killing of Albert Anastasia.” The NYPD then requested information on Providence mobsters. Nothing came of it though, and the lead was shelved. NYPD DD5, Subject: Request Communication, April 11, 1958, in Box 2, Anastasia Files (NYMA).

  76. NYPD DD5, Subject Santo Trafficante, November 13, 1959, in Box 2, Anastasia Files (NYMA).

  77. Sidney Slater and Quentin Reynolds, “My Life Inside the Mob,” Saturday Evening Post, August 24, 1963, pp. 38–55.

  78. Peter Diapoulos and Steven Linakis, The Sixth Family (New York: Bantam, 1976), p. 22.

  79. Slater, Saturday Evening Post, p. 40.

  80. Jerry Capeci, “The Men Who Hit Albert Anastasia,” October 18, 2001, available at http://www.ganglandnews.com (accessed July 20, 2013); New York Times, October 8, 2008.

  81. Jerry Capeci, The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia (New York: Penguin, 2004), p. 290; New York Times, June 23 and July 30, 1965, and October 8, 2008.

  82. The informant does not identify Wittenberg as the second gunman. As for the plotters, the informant stated that a cabal of mafiosi, including Joseph Biondo, Charles Dongarra, and Joseph Riccobono, formed after they learned that Anastasia was planning to have them killed. The informant said that these three individuals, “plus Andrew Alberti, Joseph Gallo, Steve Grammatula [sic]” and the second gunman, planned the assassination. FBI Teletype from SAC, New York, 92-632, Criminal Intelligence Program, January 3, 1963 (NARA College Park). Capeci relates that researcher Andy Petepiece also found the January 3, 1963, report.

  83. In the newspapers, Alberti was briefly identified, as follows: “Detectives investigating the Anastasia slaying yesterday questioned Andrew Alberti, a suspended prize fight manager. He operates a bakery at 441 East Twelfth Street and Lives at 2675 Henry Hudson Parkway.” New York Times, November 13, 1957.

  84. NYPD DD5, Subject: Interrogation of Johnny Busso, November 5, 1957, in Box 2, Anastasia Files, (NYMA).

  85. Ibid.

  86. Kingston Daily Freeman, November 10, 1964.

  87. FBI Teletype, To Director, FBI, From SAC, New York, Criminal Intelligence Committee, January 3, 1963, in RG 65 (NARA College Park). FBI Report, La Cosa Nostra, Gambino Family, August 21, 1964, in RG 65 (NARA College Park); New York Times, June 23, 1965; Long Island Star-Journal, July 9, 1966. As for Grammauta's physical appearance, see the FBI photo reprinted in Jerry Capeci, “The Men Who Hit Albert Anastasia,” October 18, 2001, available at http://www.ganglandnews.com (accessed July 20, 2013); New York Times, June 23, 1965.

  88. Again, there is no indication that Busso was involved in the plot. Johnny Busso fought in a bout at Madison Square Garden that Friday night, October 25, 1957. New York Times, October 26, 1957.

  89. New York Times, October 26, 1957.

  90. Raab, Five Families, p. 115.

  91. Bonanno, Man of Honor, p. 208.

  92. Hearings before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations: Organized Crime and the Illicit Traffic in Narcotics, 425 (chart of Gambino Family); Maas, Valachi Papers, p. 229.

  93. Armand “Tommy” Rava, one of the few Anastasia loyalists, was known to harbor enmity toward Carlo Gambino. After attending the Apalachin meeting in November 1957, Rava disappeared and was believed murdered. FBI Report, La Cosa Nostra, September 26, 1968, in RG 65 (NARA College Park).

  94. FBI AIRTEL, From SAC to Director, FBI, August 7, 1962, in FBI FOIA File of Anthony Anastasia, available at http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/brotherly-love-fuhgeddaboutit-0 (accessed July 20, 2013); Bill Bonanno, Last Testament of Bill Bonanno, pp. 132, 156.

  95. Bonanno, Man of Honor, p. 208.

  96. Hearings before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations: Organized Crime and the Illicit Traffic in Narcotics, 389 (testimony of Valachi).

  CHAPTER 10: APALACHIN

  1. Testimony of Edgar D. Croswell (1957), in Box 9, Master Case Files of the New York State Temporary Commission of Investigation (hereafter “COI”), New York State Archives, Albany, NY (hereafter “NYSA”). This chapter draws principally on the COI files of the public inquiry into the Apalachin meeting, and the trial testimony in United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959), National Archives and Records Administration, Northeast Region, New York, NY (hereafter “NARA NY”).

  2. Binghamton Press, December 13, 1957; New York Times, November 3, 1959, November 21, 1990.

  3. Testimony of Croswell (1957), in Box 9, COI (NYSA).

  4. FBI Report, Joseph Barba
ra, November 19, 1957, in FBI Freedom of Information Act File (hereafter “FBI FOIA File”) on Joseph Barbara Sr. (copy in possession of author); testimony of Croswell (1957), in Box 9, COI (NYSA).

  5. Hearings before the Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field, Senate, 85th Cong., 2d. Sess. (1958), 12202–12209 (testimony of Croswell); United States v. Bonanno, 180 F.Supp. 71, 73–75 (S.D.N.Y. 1960).

  6. United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (testimony of Croswell) (NARA NY); Binghamton Press, June 14, 1959.

  7. Binghamton Press, June 14, 1959.

  8. Testimony of Croswell (1957), in Box 9, COI (NYSA); Binghamton Press, June 14, 1959.

  9. Weather records available at http://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather-history/13732/1956/10/18/ (accessed July 25, 2013).

  10. Testimony of Frederick Leibe (1957), in Box 9, COI (NYSA).

  11. FBI Memorandum, Re: Carmine Galante, January 24, 1958, in FBI FOIA File on Carmine Galante (copy in possession of author); testimony of Croswell, in Box 9, COI (NYSA).

  12. United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (testimony of Croswell) (NARA NY).

  13. Record of Interview with Edgar Croswell, in Box 9, COI (NYSA); New York Times, January 7, 1958, July 24, 1959; Binghamton Press, February 11, 1958.

  14. Testimony of Richard Klausner (1958), in Box 9, COI (NYSA).

  15. United States v. Bentvena, 319 F.2d 916 (2d Cir. 1963); Memorandum of Edward Kirk to Chief Investigator Joseph Milenky, Suspected Attendees at Hoodlum Meeting, March 19, 1959, in Box 5, COI (NYSA).

  16. Binghamton Press, October 25, 1957.

  17. Testimony of Marguerite Russell (1958), in Box 9, COI (NYSA).

  18. Organized Crime and Illicit Traffic in Narcotics: Hearings before the Committee on Government Operations, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Senate, 88th Cong., 1st Sess. (1963), 389 (testimony of Joseph Valachi); Binghamton Press, January 26, 1958, November 14, 1977.

  19. Testimony of Croswell (1957), in Box 9, COI (NYSA).

  20. Joseph Bonanno with Sergio Lalli, A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1983), p. 203.

  21. Testimony of Joseph Barbara Jr. (1957), in Box 9, COI (NYSA); United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (testimony of Helen Schroeder) (NARA NY).

  22. New York Times, November 15, 1957; testimony of Croswell, in Box 9, COI (NYSA).

  23. Interview with Croswell (1957), in Box 9, COI (NYSA).

  24. United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (testimonies of Croswell and Schroeder) (NARA NY).

  25. Ibid. (testimonies of Croswell and Brown) (NARA NY).

  26. Testimony of Croswell (1957), in Box 9, COI (NYSA); Hearings on Organized Crime: 25 Years after Valachi: Hearings before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, Senate, 100th Cong., 2d Sess. (1988), 530–33 (testimony of Angelo Lonardo); Ovid Demaris, The Last Mafioso: The Treacherous World of Jimmy Fratianno (New York: Bantam, 1981), pp. 105–106, 188–89.

  27. Testimony of Russell (1959), in Box 9, COI (NYSA); weather records available at http://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather-history/13732/1957/11/14/.

  28. Testimony of Russell (1959), in Box 9, COI (NYSA).

  29. For a list of the attendees, see table 10–1. For their transportation to Apalachin, see Report to Governor Averell Harriman, November 27, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA), and Arthur L. Reuter, Acting Commissioner of Investigation, Report on the Activities and Associations of Persons Identified as Present at the Residence of Joseph Barbara, Sr., at Apalachin, New York, on November 14, 1957, and the Reasons for Their Presence (1958) (hereafter “Reuter Report”).

  30. United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (testimony of Russell) (NARA NY); testimony of Russell (1959), in Box 9, COI (NYSA); testimony of Vincent Rao (1959), in Box 7, COI (NYSA); Binghamton Press, July 1, 1959.

  31. United States v. Bufalino, 285 F.2d 408, 412 (2d Cir. 1960); testimony of Russell (1959), in Box 9, COI (NYSA).

  32. Report of Trooper Vincent Vasisko, November 23, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA); testimony of Rao (1959), in Box 7, COI (NYSA); New York Times, November 15, 1957; Binghamton Press, December 21, 1959.

  33. Interview with Croswell, in Box 1, COI (NYSA); United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (testimony of Vincent Vasisko) (NARA NY).

  34. Hearings on Organized Crime: 25 Years after Valachi, 389 (testimony of Valachi); Bufalino, 285 F.2d at 412.

  35. United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (testimony of Croswell) (NARA NY); testimony of Croswell (NYSA). In contrast, Gil Reavill asserts that “Croswell had done a sly thing,” consciously trying to “lull those at the estate into a false sense of confidence, that they could leave the estate without being stopped.” Gil Reavill, Mafia Summit: J. Edgar Hoover, the Kennedy Brothers, and the Meeting That Unmasked the Mob (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2013), p. 95. This is one of multiple points in which Mafia Summit is at variance with the eyewitness statements or investigative records of the State Commission of Investigation and United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959).

  36. Interview with Croswell, in Box 1, COI (NYSA); United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (testimony of Croswell) (NARA NY).

  37. Report of Vincent Vasisko, November 23, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA); United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (testimony of Croswell) (NARA NY).

  38. Report of Lt. K. E. Weidenborner, November 16, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA).

  39. Report to Governor Harriman, November 27, 1957, and Report of Trooper Cohen, November 15, 1957, both in Box 1, COI (NYSA).

  40. Hearings on Organized Crime: 25 Years after Valachi, 350 (testimony of Valachi); New York Times, November 22, 1957.

  41. United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (testimony of Croswell) (NARA NY); Hearings on Organized Crime: 25 Years after Valachi, 308 (testimony of John Shanley).

  42. Report to Governor Harriman, November 27, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA).

  43. Reuter Report, p. 16 and appendix.

  44. Rocco Morelli, Forgetta ‘bout It: From Mafia to Ministry (, FL: Bridge-Logos, 2007), p. 74; Report to Governor Harriman, November 27, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA).

  45. FBI Report, Joseph Civello, August 31, 1961, in Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Record Group 65, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD (“NARA College Park”).

  46. Report to Governor Harriman, November 27, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA); United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (testimony of Croswell) (NARA NY).

  47. United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (testimony of Croswell) (NARA NY).

  48. Also in the Falcone car were Dominick D'Agostino and Samuel Lagattuta of Buffalo. Ibid.

  49. Hearings on Organized Crime: 25 Years after Valachi, 386 (testimony of Valachi); Utica Press, July 2, 1958.

  50. Utica Press, February 8, 1958; May 20, 1959; May 24, 1963.

  51. United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (testimonies of Kenneth Brown and Arthur Ruston); Report of Vasisko, November 23, 1957 (NYSA).

  52. Report of B. Muthig, November 15, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA); United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (testimony of Brown) (NY NARA).

  53. Reuter Report, p. 41 and App. C; New York Times, November 3, 1959.

  54. Testimony of Kenneth Brown, in Box 1, COI (NYSA); Reuter Report, appendix C, p. 6a; Report of Trooper B. Muthig, November 15, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA).

  55. Bonanno, Man of Honor, p. 216.

  56. Report to Governor Harriman, November 27, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA). This matches Bonanno's number in the Social Security Death Index, http://ssdmf.info/ (accessed July 25, 2013).

  57. Binghamton Press, November 14, 1984.

  58. United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (joint stipulation on Trafficante airline tickets) (NARA NY); Report of Trooper F. A. Tiffany, November 15, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA).

  59. Report on Discharge of Firearms by Trooper F. A. Tiffany, November 15, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA).

  60. Unit
ed States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (testimony of Glenn Craig) (NARA NY); Report of Trooper T. G. Sackel, November 14, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA).

  61. Testimony of Croswell, in Box 1, COI (NYSA); Appellee's Brief, United States v. Bufalino (2d Cir. 1960), in RG 65 (NARA College Park).

  62. Report to Governor Harriman, November 27, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA).

  63. United States Census Bureau, 1920 Federal Population Census, James Colletti, District 133, Ouray, CO; United States Census Bureau, 1920 Federal Population Census, Frank Zito, District 174, Springfield, IL.

  64. FBI Report, James Colletti, June 8, 1959, and FBI Report, Frank Zito, June 5, 1959, both in RG 65 (NARA College Park).

  65. Reuter Report, appendix C, pp. 15, 62; Report to Governor Harriman, November 27, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA); Report of Trooper Smith, November 15, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA); United States v. Bufalino (S.D.N.Y. 1959) (testimony of Joseph Smith) (NARA NY).

  66. David Witwer, Corruption and Reform in the Teamsters Union (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2008), p. 171.

  67. Report of Muthig, November 15, 1957, and Report to Governor Harriman, November 27, 1957, both in Box 1, COI (NYSA).

  68. Report of Trooper C. F. Erway, November 14, 1957, Report of Trooper C. M. Dobbs, November 15, 1957, Report of Trooper M. Capozzi, November 15, 1957, all in Box 1, COI (NYSA).

  69. Testimony of Croswell (1957), in Box 1, COI (NYSA); Report of Erway, November 14, 1957, in Box 1, COI (NYSA).

  70. Memorandum of Eliot Lumbard to Edward Kirk, December 4, 1958, in Box 5, COI (NYSA); Report of Special Agent Patrick Collins, New Orleans Field Office, La Cosa Nostra, July 11, 1967, in RG 65 (NARA College Park).

  71. Testimony of Russell, in Box 9, COI (NYSA).

  72. Testimony of Joseph Benenati (1959), in Box 7, COI (NYSA).

  73. Memorandum of Lumbard to Kirk, December 4, 1958, in Box 5, COI (NYSA).

  74. FBI Memorandum, Subject: Samuel M. Giancana, January 18, 1966, in RG 65 (NARA College Park).

  75. William F. Roemer Jr., Accardo: The Genuine Godfather (New York: Ballantine Books, 1995), pp. 166–67, 194–96; William F. Roemer Jr., Roemer: Man against the Mob (New York: Ballantine Books, 1989), pp. 114–19; Antoinette Giancana, Mafia Princess: Growing up in Sam Giancana's Family (New York: William Morrow, 1984), pp. 156–57.