Albert Gallo
Encyclopedia
Albert "Kid Blast" Gallo, Jr. (born June 6, 1930) was a New York mobster for the Profaci crime family, later called the Colombo crime family
. Gallo led his crew in challenging the Colombo leadership during the Second Colombo War.
. His parents were Umberto and Mary Gallo. His two older brothers were Lawrence "Larry" Gallo and Joe "Crazy Joey" Gallo
.
A bootleg
ger during Prohibition
, Umberto did not discourage his three sons from becoming criminals. Albert Gallo joined his brothers Larry and Joey in a gang that controlled President street South Brooklyn
.
At one point, Albert Gallo lived in the Greenwood section of Brooklyn
. In the late 1970's, Gallo told the media that he owned a furniture company. It is unknown if Gallo is married or has a family.
In 1957, Profaci allegedly asked Joe Gallo and his crew to murder Albert Anastasia
, the boss of the Anastasia crime family
. On October 25, 1957, Anastasia was murdered by two disguised men in the barber shop of a Manhattan hotel. . It is unknown if Albert Gallo participated in the Anastasia killing.
Eventually, Larry and Joey both became inducted members
of the Profaci family. However, Albert never achieved this status in the family. Although Joey was the most explosive and strong-willed of the brothers, Larry was the organized thoughful one who actually ran the crew. Younger brother Albert tended to stay in the background.
By the end of the 1950's, the Gallo brothers had become very dissatisfied with Profaci's leadership. Profaci was maintaining a lavish lifestyle by severely taxing everyone else in his crime family. In 1959, Profaci ordered the Gallos to murder fellow crew member Frank Abbatemarco, who ran lucrative bookmaking and loan sharking operations. Abbatemarco owed Profaci $50,000 in unpaid tribute and refused pay it out of protest. On November 4, 1959, Abbatemarco was shot inside a tavern in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn. Some accounts state that Albert, his brothers and Joseph "Joe Jelly" Gioelli killed Abbatemarco. Other reports say that Joey Gallo refused the assignment on behalf of the crew. After Abbatemarco's murder, Profaci took his rackets, leaving nothing for the Gallo crew.
and capos Frank Profaci, John Scimone and Joseph Colombo
. Profaci was a target also, but he managed to escape capture. To obtain their release, Profaci negotiated an agreement with the Gallos.
However, after the hostage were released, Profaci reneged on the agreement and went after the Gallo crew.
On August 20, 1961, Scimone, now a Profaci loyalist, lured Larry Gallo into meeting him at a lounge, where several men, including Persico, tried to kill him. This was the start of the First Colombo War.
On December 21, 1961, Joey Gallo was sentenced seven to fourteen years in prison, but the conflict continued. In June 1962, Profaci died of cancer and the family leadership passed to Magliocco.
On January 29, 1962, Albert Gallo and six other crew members rescued six small children from an apartment filled with smoke by a mattress fire. None of the children or mobsters were injured.
In 1963, with the conviction of two more Gallo crew members, both sides accepted a peace agreement brokered by Patriarca crime family
boss Raymond L.S. Patriarca
. The first war was over.
In 1966, New York City's Youth Board requested that Albert Gallo and his brothers help them lower racial tensions between white and African-American youths in the East New York and Flatbush
sections of Brooklyn. At one meeting with white youths, Albert Gallo sent a teenager sprawling for using a racial epithet. Brooklyn District Attorney Aaron Koota protested the use of the Gallo brothers, but New York Mayor John V. Lindsay defended the Youth Board's actions.
On October 24, 1967, Albert Gallo was indicted on charges related to a ticket cashing racket at Roosevelt Raceway
in Westbury, New York
.
In May 1968, Larry Gallo died of cancer. Joe Gallo took control of the Gallo crew from prison.
was shot and paralyzed. Former Gallo crew member Carmine Persico now took control of the family through a series of front bosses. Convinced that the Gallos had killed Colombo, the Colombo leadership went after Joey Gallo.
On April 7, 1972, gunmen murdered Joey Gallo in a Manhattan restaurant, starting the Second Colombo War. John "Mooney" Cutrone a made man and close confidant of both Larry and Joey, was seen as Joey's logical successor. However, to maintain harmony in the crew, Cutrone supported Albert for capo. The untested and less experienced Albert now became boss of the Gallo crew.
In August 1972, Albert Gallo learned that several members of the Colombo leadership, including Alphonse Persico (Carmine Persico's brother) and Gennaro Langella
would be meeting at the Neapolitan Noodle restaurant on the Upper East Side
of Manhattan. The Gallo crew hired a hitman from Las Vegas
to ambush and murder the Colombo leaders. However, at the restaurant, the confused hitman shot four innocent meat wholesalers instead of the mobsters. Two of his victims died. In the following months, an uneasy truce prevailed between the Colombos and the Gallos.
Almost immediately, violence broke out between the Gallo and Cutrone factions. Gallo loyalist James Geritano wiretapped Basciano's phone, allowing them plan an ambush. On July 1, 1974, Basciano and Zahralbam were shot and wounded on a Brooklyn sidewalk, but escaped serious injury. On August 1974, the Cutrone faction shot and killed Gallo loyalist Stevie Cirillo while he was playing craps
at a charity benefit in a Brooklyn synagogue
. On September 11, 1974, a sniper
shot and seriously wounded Gallo loyalist Frank "Punchy" Illiano
, Albert's lieutenant, near the Gallo headquarters on President street.
, then a powerful capo in the Genovese Family. Cutrone and his rebels would remain with the Colombo Family. Losing members, running out of money and virtually besieged in their President Street headquarters, the Gallo crew had no other choice. The Second Colombo War was over.
In February 1976, the peace agreement was violated when a sniper fired two gunshots into the Gallo headquarters, slightly wounding crew member Steven Boriello. Now part of Genovese family, Albert immediately filed a formal protest to the Colombo leadership. The Colombo bosses responded by summoning Cutrone and Basciano to a "sitdown" to explain their actions. Neither man attended the meeting; they also ignored attempts by the Colombo leadership.
At this point, the mob families lost patience with Cutrone and Basciano. On June 16, 1976, a gunman shot and killed Basciano while he was eating at a luncheonette. Cutrone went into hiding, but the Colombos convinced him that Basciano's death ended the problem. On October 5, 1976, a gunman shot and killed Cutrone while he was eating breakfast at a diner
. Revealingly, the Colombo family did not show any signs of displeasure at the killing of Cutrone, a made man.
The crew is involved in loan sharking, bookmaking, extortion and protection racket
s. Both Gallo and Illiano are still mainstays on Court Street, in South Brooklyn
, spending time at the 464 Court St Van Westerhout Cittadini Molesi Social Club, and frequenting the neighborhood's well-known mobbed up restaurants, including Marco Polo and Casa Rosa, both of which are also located on Court St. Since the late 1980's, Gallo has reportedly owned Casa Bella, an Italian restaurant in Little Italy, Manhattan
Colombo crime family
The Colombo crime family is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
. Gallo led his crew in challenging the Colombo leadership during the Second Colombo War.
Biography
Albert Gallo was born on June 6, 1930, in Red Hook, BrooklynRed Hook, Brooklyn
Red Hook is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 6. It is also the location where the transatlantic liner, the , docks in New York City.- History :...
. His parents were Umberto and Mary Gallo. His two older brothers were Lawrence "Larry" Gallo and Joe "Crazy Joey" Gallo
Joe Gallo
Joseph Gallo , also known as "Crazy Joey" and "Joe the Blond", was a celebrated New York City gangster for the Profaci crime family, later known as the Colombo crime family...
.
A bootleg
Bootleg
The term bootlegging originally came from concealing hip flasks of alcohol in the legs of boots.Bootleg or bootlegging* Bootleg , the use of illegal equipment, frequencies, or operating procedures in two-way radio...
ger during Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, Umberto did not discourage his three sons from becoming criminals. Albert Gallo joined his brothers Larry and Joey in a gang that controlled President street South Brooklyn
South Brooklyn
South Brooklyn is a region or composite neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, encompassing areas of Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Gowanus, Park Slope, and Boerum Hill. Thus it is roughly encompassed by Brooklyn Community Board 6, which in turn approximates the southern half of the 18th...
.
At one point, Albert Gallo lived in the Greenwood section of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. In the late 1970's, Gallo told the media that he owned a furniture company. It is unknown if Gallo is married or has a family.
Profaci family
The three Gallo brothers became affiliated with capo Harry Fontana's crew in the Profaci crime family, then headed by boss Joseph Profaci.In 1957, Profaci allegedly asked Joe Gallo and his crew to murder Albert Anastasia
Albert Anastasia
Albert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia...
, the boss of the Anastasia crime family
Genovese crime family
The Genovese crime family , is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime...
. On October 25, 1957, Anastasia was murdered by two disguised men in the barber shop of a Manhattan hotel. . It is unknown if Albert Gallo participated in the Anastasia killing.
Eventually, Larry and Joey both became inducted members
Made man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
of the Profaci family. However, Albert never achieved this status in the family. Although Joey was the most explosive and strong-willed of the brothers, Larry was the organized thoughful one who actually ran the crew. Younger brother Albert tended to stay in the background.
By the end of the 1950's, the Gallo brothers had become very dissatisfied with Profaci's leadership. Profaci was maintaining a lavish lifestyle by severely taxing everyone else in his crime family. In 1959, Profaci ordered the Gallos to murder fellow crew member Frank Abbatemarco, who ran lucrative bookmaking and loan sharking operations. Abbatemarco owed Profaci $50,000 in unpaid tribute and refused pay it out of protest. On November 4, 1959, Abbatemarco was shot inside a tavern in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn. Some accounts state that Albert, his brothers and Joseph "Joe Jelly" Gioelli killed Abbatemarco. Other reports say that Joey Gallo refused the assignment on behalf of the crew. After Abbatemarco's murder, Profaci took his rackets, leaving nothing for the Gallo crew.
First Colombo War
Albert and the Gallo crew now turned against Profaci. In February 1961, the Gallos kidnapped underboss Joseph MaglioccoJoseph Magliocco
Joseph Magliocco, also known as "Joe Malayak" was a New York mobster and the boss of the Profaci crime family from 1962 to 1963...
and capos Frank Profaci, John Scimone and Joseph Colombo
Joseph Colombo
Joseph "Joe" Colombo, Sr. was the boss of the Colombo crime family, one of the "Five Families" of the Cosa Nostra in New York.-Background:...
. Profaci was a target also, but he managed to escape capture. To obtain their release, Profaci negotiated an agreement with the Gallos.
However, after the hostage were released, Profaci reneged on the agreement and went after the Gallo crew.
On August 20, 1961, Scimone, now a Profaci loyalist, lured Larry Gallo into meeting him at a lounge, where several men, including Persico, tried to kill him. This was the start of the First Colombo War.
On December 21, 1961, Joey Gallo was sentenced seven to fourteen years in prison, but the conflict continued. In June 1962, Profaci died of cancer and the family leadership passed to Magliocco.
On January 29, 1962, Albert Gallo and six other crew members rescued six small children from an apartment filled with smoke by a mattress fire. None of the children or mobsters were injured.
In 1963, with the conviction of two more Gallo crew members, both sides accepted a peace agreement brokered by Patriarca crime family
Patriarca crime family
The Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England crime family and the Providence crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in New England, specifically Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts, and is part of the Italian-American Mafia or "La Cosa Nostra"...
boss Raymond L.S. Patriarca
Raymond L.S. Patriarca
Raymond Loreda Salvatore Patriarca, Sr. was an Italian-American mobster from Providence, Rhode Island who became the longtime boss of the Patriarca crime family, whose control extended throughout New England for over three decades...
. The first war was over.
Peacetime
On January 8, 1965, Albert and Larry Gallo, along with 13 other crew members, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and were sentenced to six months in prison.In 1966, New York City's Youth Board requested that Albert Gallo and his brothers help them lower racial tensions between white and African-American youths in the East New York and Flatbush
Flatbush
Flatbush or Flat Bush can refer to a number of places:*Flatbush, Brooklyn, a community of Brooklyn, New York City, United States*Flatbush, New Zealand, a suburb of Manukau City, New Zealand...
sections of Brooklyn. At one meeting with white youths, Albert Gallo sent a teenager sprawling for using a racial epithet. Brooklyn District Attorney Aaron Koota protested the use of the Gallo brothers, but New York Mayor John V. Lindsay defended the Youth Board's actions.
On October 24, 1967, Albert Gallo was indicted on charges related to a ticket cashing racket at Roosevelt Raceway
Roosevelt Raceway (harness racing)
Roosevelt Raceway was a ½-mile harness racing dirt then later synthetic track located in Westbury, New York, which operated from September 2, 1940 until July 15, 1988. It was the original home of the Messenger Stakes, part of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers. The raceway hosted the...
in Westbury, New York
Westbury, New York
Westbury incorporated in 1932 as a village in Nassau County, New York in the United States. The population was 15,146 at the 2010 census.The Village of Westbury is in the Town of North Hempstead....
.
In May 1968, Larry Gallo died of cancer. Joe Gallo took control of the Gallo crew from prison.
Second Colombo War
In 1971, Joe Gallo was released from prison. Later that year, boss Joseph ColomboJoseph Colombo
Joseph "Joe" Colombo, Sr. was the boss of the Colombo crime family, one of the "Five Families" of the Cosa Nostra in New York.-Background:...
was shot and paralyzed. Former Gallo crew member Carmine Persico now took control of the family through a series of front bosses. Convinced that the Gallos had killed Colombo, the Colombo leadership went after Joey Gallo.
On April 7, 1972, gunmen murdered Joey Gallo in a Manhattan restaurant, starting the Second Colombo War. John "Mooney" Cutrone a made man and close confidant of both Larry and Joey, was seen as Joey's logical successor. However, to maintain harmony in the crew, Cutrone supported Albert for capo. The untested and less experienced Albert now became boss of the Gallo crew.
In August 1972, Albert Gallo learned that several members of the Colombo leadership, including Alphonse Persico (Carmine Persico's brother) and Gennaro Langella
Gennaro Langella
Gennaro Adriano Langella also known as "Gerry Lang", is a member of the Colombo crime family who eventually became underboss and acting boss.-Background:...
would be meeting at the Neapolitan Noodle restaurant on the Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
of Manhattan. The Gallo crew hired a hitman from Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
to ambush and murder the Colombo leaders. However, at the restaurant, the confused hitman shot four innocent meat wholesalers instead of the mobsters. Two of his victims died. In the following months, an uneasy truce prevailed between the Colombos and the Gallos.
Cutrone defection
In 1974, the truce was shattered when Cutrone and his followers defected back to the Colombo family. Cutrone, Gerry Basciano, Sammy Zahralbam, and other Gallo members had become dissatisfied with their lack of income under Albert's leadership.Almost immediately, violence broke out between the Gallo and Cutrone factions. Gallo loyalist James Geritano wiretapped Basciano's phone, allowing them plan an ambush. On July 1, 1974, Basciano and Zahralbam were shot and wounded on a Brooklyn sidewalk, but escaped serious injury. On August 1974, the Cutrone faction shot and killed Gallo loyalist Stevie Cirillo while he was playing craps
Craps
Craps is a dice game in which players place wagers on the outcome of the roll, or a series of rolls, of a pair of dice. Players may wager money against each other or a bank...
at a charity benefit in a Brooklyn synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
. On September 11, 1974, a sniper
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
shot and seriously wounded Gallo loyalist Frank "Punchy" Illiano
Frank Illiano
Frank "Punchy" Illiano is a Brooklyn capo with the Genovese crime family. During the 1960's and 1970's, he served as a top lieutenant to the Gallo brothers in their two wars with the Colombo crime family leadership.-Biography:...
, Albert's lieutenant, near the Gallo headquarters on President street.
Leaving the Colombo Family
In the Fall of 1974, the Mafia Commission intervened in the Gallo/Cutrone conflict. The family bosses believed that the violence was interfering with business and bringing public attention to their activities. The Commission negotiated an agreement under which Albert and his followers would join the crew of Vincent GiganteVincent Gigante
Vincent Gigante was a short lived professional light heavyweight boxer who was known as "The Chin" Gigante. He fought 25 matches and lost four, boxing 121 rounds. On February 19, 1945, he fought Pete Petrello in Madison Square Garden and won by a knock out in the second round. During his successful...
, then a powerful capo in the Genovese Family. Cutrone and his rebels would remain with the Colombo Family. Losing members, running out of money and virtually besieged in their President Street headquarters, the Gallo crew had no other choice. The Second Colombo War was over.
In February 1976, the peace agreement was violated when a sniper fired two gunshots into the Gallo headquarters, slightly wounding crew member Steven Boriello. Now part of Genovese family, Albert immediately filed a formal protest to the Colombo leadership. The Colombo bosses responded by summoning Cutrone and Basciano to a "sitdown" to explain their actions. Neither man attended the meeting; they also ignored attempts by the Colombo leadership.
At this point, the mob families lost patience with Cutrone and Basciano. On June 16, 1976, a gunman shot and killed Basciano while he was eating at a luncheonette. Cutrone went into hiding, but the Colombos convinced him that Basciano's death ended the problem. On October 5, 1976, a gunman shot and killed Cutrone while he was eating breakfast at a diner
Diner
A diner, also spelled dinor in western Pennsylvania is a prefabricated restaurant building characteristic of North America, especially in the Midwest, in New York City, in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey, and in other areas of the Northeastern United States, although examples can be found throughout...
. Revealingly, the Colombo family did not show any signs of displeasure at the killing of Cutrone, a made man.
Genovese family
With all threats now extinguished, Albert peacefully rose through the ranks of the Genovese family, most likely being officially inducted into the New York Mafia in 1976 when the books were open once again after roughly 20 years. Currently, Albert Gallo is listed as an acting captain in Frank Illiano's crew, the long time friends acting as co-leaders of the crew.The crew is involved in loan sharking, bookmaking, extortion and protection racket
Protection racket
A protection racket is an extortion scheme whereby a criminal group or individual coerces a victim to pay money, supposedly for protection services against violence or property damage. Racketeers coerce reticent potential victims into buying "protection" by demonstrating what will happen if they...
s. Both Gallo and Illiano are still mainstays on Court Street, in South Brooklyn
South Brooklyn
South Brooklyn is a region or composite neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, encompassing areas of Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Gowanus, Park Slope, and Boerum Hill. Thus it is roughly encompassed by Brooklyn Community Board 6, which in turn approximates the southern half of the 18th...
, spending time at the 464 Court St Van Westerhout Cittadini Molesi Social Club, and frequenting the neighborhood's well-known mobbed up restaurants, including Marco Polo and Casa Rosa, both of which are also located on Court St. Since the late 1980's, Gallo has reportedly owned Casa Bella, an Italian restaurant in Little Italy, Manhattan
Little Italy, Manhattan
Little Italy is a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York City, once known for its large population of Italians. Today the neighborhood of Little Italy consists of Italian stores and restaurants.-Historical area:...
Further reading
- Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin's Press 2005. ISBN 0-312-30094-8