September 3, 2025 • 32 mins
There are many things that are synonymous with the Mafia over the years in America. From money, to union takeovers to infamous hits. Social clubs though are havens for mobsters and have been mainstays of the Mob since it started. Today we take a look at historical social club locations and much more from all of the 5 Families in New York City.
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USE REFERRAL CODE- JEFFNADU
Jeff Nadu is an American Mafia and organized crime researcher, podcaster and content creator. He has worked at Barstool Sports and was hired personally by Dave Portnoy. His podcast "The Sitdown" with Jeff Nadu has put out hundreds of biographies on various mobsters, gangsters and criminals. He's also personally interviewed mobsters like Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, Dom Cicale, Anthony Ruggiano Jr, Gene Borrello and others as well as US Prosecutor John Gleeson and FBI Agents Joaquin "Jack" Garcia and Michael Campi. He has been personally endorsed by former Gambino mob captain Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo, esteemed author RJ Roger, and former Colombo Crime Family captain Michael Franzese.
DISCLAIMER: My videos and podcasts are meant for entertainment and educational use. All material found in my videos reflect this use. ANY opinions and or statements of any guest is merely he/her's opinion.
If you enjoy our show, please hit the like button and make sure if you're new around here you subscribe as well!
GO CHECK OUT PROPHET X AND GET INVOLVED- https://t.co/hnCEZoj1Sd
USE REFERRAL CODE- JEFFNADU
Jeff Nadu is an American Mafia and organized crime researcher, podcaster and content creator. He has worked at Barstool Sports and was hired personally by Dave Portnoy. His podcast "The Sitdown" with Jeff Nadu has put out hundreds of biographies on various mobsters, gangsters and criminals. He's also personally interviewed mobsters like Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, Dom Cicale, Anthony Ruggiano Jr, Gene Borrello and others as well as US Prosecutor John Gleeson and FBI Agents Joaquin "Jack" Garcia and Michael Campi. He has been personally endorsed by former Gambino mob captain Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo, esteemed author RJ Roger, and former Colombo Crime Family captain Michael Franzese.
DISCLAIMER: My videos and podcasts are meant for entertainment and educational use. All material found in my videos reflect this use. ANY opinions and or statements of any guest is merely he/her's opinion.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome to The sit Down, a Mafia history podcast. Here's
your host, Jeff Nado. What's up everybody, and welcome in
to another edition of the sit Down. As always, if
you enjoy this audio recording, please make sure you leave
us a detailed review and a five star rating. What's up, everybody?
(00:35):
Welcome back. This is episode two twenty six. I am
your host, Jeff Nado. I hope all of you are
having a great week so far. I hope you had
a good Labor Day weekend. Your Labor Day beyonofficial end
to summer. Once Labor Day's over, it feels like life
is kind of back to normal. You know. Summer is
(00:55):
always very there's always stuff going on. And I know
myself if I seems like I did a ton of
not a ton, but I was away a lot. You know.
I went to La and the shore, and I'm actually
traveling this week as well. Once this weekends, it's nothing
planned at least for the foreseeable future. So I hope
(01:16):
everybody had a good Labor Day weekend. Maybe he went
to a barbecue or some sort of cookout or or
did something. Hopefully it was a good one for you. Today,
got another show planned for you. I do have the
next couple of weeks, I have some interviews coming out.
We've got a couple of good ones. We're gonna get
into El Mayo. I'm still kind of working with a
(01:41):
certain guest to record an episode on El Mayo. There's
really not a huge rush just because he is about
to be sentenced and until we kind of know more
about that. But I am going to do an Al
Mayo show here soon. I've got a great guest from
the Asian American Crime World coming up, which is gonna
(02:01):
be cool. And you know, I'm always working my sourcing
to continue great shows. Today's video is one that I
have been requested to do a lot. A lot of
people ask me about mafia social clubs, so I felt
today would be a good time to kind of go
into those I talked about. You know, whether you're watching
(02:24):
on video or audio. In the audio on the audio side,
I do include addresses and everything so you can kind
of get the lay of the land. But I got
into some very notorious ones, maybe ones you've not heard of.
Things that may have went on at some of these places.
What exactly is a social club? Why were they once
(02:45):
even outlawed? By a certain boss. So that's a kind
of an interesting episode today. Social clubs are part of
mob culture no matter how you look at it. Maybe
you've even seen one in your own neighborhood, whether you
live in Brooklyn or maybe in Chicago or Philadelphia. Before
though we get into that episode today, I do want
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the app, use my promo code Jeff they do, Jeff,
they do all. One word. Let's get to today's episode
without further ado. We're gonna look into mob social clubs,
ones that are a part of history and some that
are currently open today. Let's get into it all in
the sit down. Now AI has taken over technology, and
(06:03):
I asked AI what a mob social club was. It
would state it is a social establishment with a shared
interest that is used by organized crime as a meeting
place for planning and business. Though many social clubs are
actually patronized by law abiding citizens, these clubs function as
a base of operation for mob crews, often being named
(06:27):
after the establishment themselves. Now, what's interesting about mob social
clubs is one of the most uniform things that you'll
see with a mob social clubs. They are members only. Generally,
they're dues that are taken and those go towards you're
keeping the upkeep of the club and buying different things
you can go there and get a meal. There's generally
(06:49):
kitchens in them. You play cards, you commiserate, you talk business. Now,
what's interesting about mob social clubs is is they're pretty nondescript.
This is what any mob social club in the seventies
or eighties might have looked like. There might be a
small TV, maybe a cooler for drinks, tables, couches, a
(07:13):
bathroom or room in the back where business can be conducted.
They're generally pretty simple. You might see the boss or
a high ranking individual on the wall. Here we can
be seen the inside of the Ravenite Social Club. We
see a photo of John Gotti. I believe that's Neil
de lacroach to his right. They're pretty nondescript buildings and
(07:36):
they're generally dwellings. Occasionally you might see some sort of
business that is earmarked as a social club, but it's
generally a good place to get away from the wife,
hang with your pals, play cards, whether it's peanuckle or poker.
Meals can be conducted there. It was said that at
the Ravennite there was a terrific a meal during the
(07:58):
week where they'd cook pasta and meat and all sorts
of different things. Social clubs were virtually used by everyone,
no matter how secret or how clandestine, and it seemed
like mobs. Social clubs really were the death nail of
a lot of mobsters. It seems like very few could
(08:18):
ever stay away from them. We all know that they
were havens for law enforcement to not only sit on
and oversee, but also they're dwelling, so there are places
you could throw a van to, maybe right next or
down the street, and make it take pictures and gather
audio recordings. Throw in the fact that at night people
(08:42):
would go home. That was a place where we all
know there were major investigations done. The FBI would go
in and plant bugs. Again, people like being around their friends,
they like being around coworkers, and the mafia is a business.
You have to talk somewhere. Now, certain mobsters got smart,
(09:03):
they would leave the social club or whatever, but most
people are lazy. You want to sit there, you want
to hang out, and there's probably nobody listening. Now, what
you'll see in this video is most of these places
that mob social clubs were their buildings, their dwellings, so
they're also an easy place for someone to set up
(09:24):
shop across the street in a building and also take photos. Now,
one mobster that was not a big fan of social
clubs was Joey Messino, the former boss of the Banano
crime family. In fact, in the nineties, when he would
take over as official boss of the Banano crime family,
it was said Joey Messino outlawed social clubs and told
(09:49):
his members they were forbidden to go to them. He
was smart, he knew and this is one of the
reasons Joey Messino during the late eighties and into the
nineties had one of the most power awful crime families
in New York. He knew that certain things were just
haven's for law enforcement, and really, up until the early
two thousands, that's why the Banano crime family had no cooperators.
(10:12):
If you can't make cases, you're not going to get cooperators.
It's a shame that family wasn't able to continue with
some of that rhetoric down the road. We know that
the Banano crime family by two thousand and three would
completely shift and eventually Big Joey would flip. As we
know now. One thing it's interesting about Joey Messino is
he did actually at one point have a social club.
(10:34):
It was above of what he would call JNS Cake,
which was a catering company in Queens. Jana's Cake was
at fifty eight to twenty three fifty eighth Road in Maspeth,
the place that Joey Messino grew up and lived a
lot of his life in before moving to Howard Beach. Now,
(10:57):
in this video, I'm not going to go into play
is like the raven I or the Berg and Hunt
and Fish Club. We all know those places, but I
didn't want to kind of take a winding turn and
adventure through New York and have some fun talk about
some of the old social clubs, some of the places
that might still be around and so on. Pretty easy
(11:18):
video today. I will advise, if you enjoy this video,
make sure you hit that thanks button below it and
comment what social club was in your neighborhood that maybe
you remember or what's one that you always had interest in.
Carmi Persico is one of the most known mob bosses
of all time. The man they called Junior. We know
(11:40):
is manipulative and some people called him a snake. Carmian
Persico was generally found at this clandestine building off the
corner of Fifth Avenue and Carroll Street in Brooklyn. Two
thirty seven Fifth Avenue was a social club known as
the Nest Social Club, and not only did Carma and
(12:03):
Persco hold court here, but his pal and eventual acting
boss Anthony Scappi Scarpathi hell court as well. It was
said that in nineteen seventy two a who's who on
a daily basis would show up at the Nester Social Club.
Today it is a hipster type location and I believe
(12:23):
a coffee shop. Now we know that Brooklyn has always
been a mainstay for the Columbo family. Not far down
the street and on Third Avenue at two ninety four
Third Avenue was the Diplomat Social Club right on the
corner that was a haven for Carma Persco's brother Alphonse Persco.
(12:46):
Now just down the street from that at two eighty
two Third Avenue today sits the Glory Social Club. Now,
what's interesting about the Glory Social Club is if you'd
go in there or walk by and ask the members
that go there today about it, most of them will
say that they're not members of the mob, and quite frankly,
(13:06):
not a lot of them are. That said, in the forties, fifties, sixties,
it was absolutely a place for mobsters. In fact, at
one point, officers and public officials were actually installed at
that social club all Third Avenue in the fifties. Notice
(13:27):
certain names there, Michael Cessa and Carmine Persco. That these
were democratic leaders in the area, and we know that
they had relationships with mobsters. The one area of Brooklyn
that has been a mob mainstay for decades is Bensonhurst.
In fact, there are probably very few places around the
(13:50):
five boroughs that had more social clubs and bars and
lounges connected to the mafia than benson Urst. One of
the most known hangouts, not necessarily a club but more
of a bar lounge club was Tallis. How many people
were whacked here? How many plans to whack people we
(14:11):
had here? We know that Tallis was the one time HQ,
A former Gambino underbos Samuel Bolgravano, who became one of
the biggest mob informants in mafia history. We know that
Sammy killed one of his own pals, Michael de bat
inside Tally's Lounge. Today, Tally's Lounge is an Asian restaurant.
(14:39):
Another big time mafioso from Brooklyn was Joey Scopo, Joey
Scopo would operate a social club here, a place called
the Taza Villa del Golfo not far away from Tallis's.
(15:00):
Scopo was whacked in and around nineteen ninety three. And
we all know though, that Joey Scopo was also very
close to members of the Gambino crime family. Scopo himself
was a Columbo member. Here he can be seen walking
into the wedding of Junior Gottie. This is a very
(15:22):
known mob hangout. Maybe not today today is a foot
rub location. However, back in the seventies and into the eighties,
this location was the headquarters of the Wimpy Boys Social Club,
the one time hangout of Gregory the Grim Reaper Scarpet.
How many murders were planned there as well. Today the
(15:45):
location at seventy five six Thirteenth Avenue in Brooklyn does
look far different. As I said, it is an Asian
massage and foot rub parlor. Now I'm not gonna wonder
what goes on in there. That said, it is a
foot rub location. Another location today that is actually around
(16:09):
is Cafe Italia. Cafe Italia, for years has been rumored
as a location that members of the Gambino crime family
congregate at near the corner at sixty nine at seventeen
eighteenth Avenue in Bensters. Quite frankly, this is one of
the most well recepted and busy blocks in Brooklyn. Eighteenth
(16:34):
Avenue is very well known today. If you go to
Cafe Italia, I'm not sure that generally you'll walk in
there and get much in the way of coffee or espresso.
If you do go in, be advised you may get
some looks and people may wonder who you are. You
may also see some familiar faces. I will admit over
(16:57):
the last several months, I'm not big into doing a
lot more of the active content. I definitely had my
day in the sun with that said what I needed
to say, and I'll just be honest. There's not a
lot going on with the mob today. I'm not saying
that mobsters go there and you can find them there.
I'm advising I'm not telling any of you to go there.
(17:18):
I wouldn't go there. I'm not gonna, you know, upset
the apple cart. I'm just trying to have some fun
here and talk about mob social clubs. This is not
like a literal video. It's not like I'm putting this
stuff out there. It's not like the FEDS don't know
about these places. I let these people do what they
want to do. This just is a old school spot.
(17:39):
And if you know, you know, Queen's is also a
place that has a ton of mob social clubs over
the years. One of the most non descript locations is
this place, a place that is on Myrtle Avenue in Glendale.
It is called the Club of Glendale. And what's interesting
(18:03):
is for years Vincent Asarow would hold court in and
around this place. In fact, here he can be seen
talking and commiserating with mobsters outside this location. What's interesting
is this location was actually named recently in twenty twenty
two involving a bookmaking operation that was being run by
(18:28):
Banano member Anthony Little Anthony Pepotone. Pepatone is currently in
prison over this and as far as I know, this
is still a pretty active place near the corner of
Myrtle Avenue. I believe the address of this place is
what is it seventy four to three Myrtle Avenue and
(18:51):
it is across the street from a cemetery. For years,
Joe enne Gallo was the CONSII of the Gambino crime family.
He would hold court at a luncheonette and candy store
that was almost earmarked as a social club as well,
at twenty five O two Broadway in Astoria. Today that
(19:17):
location is a pharmacy. Joann Gallo a man who really
doesn't need much of an introduction. He was a powerhouse
for years. Now. There was not a ton of activity
in a story. It was mostly Greek mobsters, but there
was another location where a heavyweight hung out. Vincent Papa
(19:40):
operated the Astoria Cults Social Club at this location thirty
six nineteen dit Mars Boulevard in Queens Now, Vincent Papa
is one of the biggest trug traffickers in the history
(20:00):
of organized crime and made tons of money selling narcotics.
In fact, in the early seventies, Vincent Papa also orchestrated
one of the biggest drug thefts in York history. Over time,
it was reported that he stole approximately four hundred pounds
of heroin and cocaine, much of which was seized during
(20:23):
the French connection case that would eventually vanish, and Vincent
Papa would steal it from an evidence vault. The corrupt
officers would facilitate the operation allowing millions installing narcotics to
re enter the drug trade that he would eventually. Vincent
Papa be convicted for his role in this scheme, and
(20:45):
while serving time in federal prison in nineteen seventy seven,
he was stabbed multiple times in the prison yard over
suspicions that he had become a cooperator. Now what's interesting
is drug kingpin Herbie Spurling was accused of ordering this attack,
but it was down the road he was acquitted. Papa's
(21:06):
case would lead to a major corruption investigation. Vincent Papa
made a ton of money as a member of the
Lukes crime family and was big down at Harlem with
the Pleasant Avenue Boys. Today this location is a women's
clothing boutique and this location is just off thirty seventh
(21:28):
Street in Queens. Another area of New York that is
rife with the mafia is the Bronx. Places like Arthur
Avenue have been a haven for mobsters over the years.
But what's interesting is one of the most well known
social clubs was not on Arthur Avenue. It was actually
(21:50):
this location in the area of twenty eighth one Coddington Avenue,
near the country Club section of the This was a
known Luksey hangout, most notably in the twenty tens. It
was said that on the regular mob heavyweight Stephen Crea
would hold court at this location. Now at one point
(22:14):
in twenty twelve, members of the Banano crime family would
force their way into this club, the Coddington Club, and
have a bit of a issue with members of the
Kazy family. During this melee, a Banano associate called Carl
Ulsheimer was said to do something that Krea Senior perceived
(22:37):
as a quote personal affront. Now, to avenge the opposed
offense by Ulzheimer, Stephen Crea would order his son, Stephen
Crea Junior, to rough up and or take out mister Ulsheimer.
Crea Junior was then said to have passed the order
(22:58):
to Lukezi mobster's Paul Asano and Vincent Bruno. Down the road,
Carl Oulzheimer's Bronx resident was targeted. However, they would not
be able to take out Olzheimer. Eventually, Stephen Krea and
Stephen Crea Junior were indicted and ultimately convicted in the
(23:20):
Michael Meldish case. Stephen Crea is serving life in prison
and battling stage four cancer. It's unclear if the Contacton
club is still around today and open for business. I'm
not gonna speculate, but I have heard things another area
that for the mafia, the Banano crime family has always
(23:41):
been in the Bronx and one of their most high
level and long term captains there was Patrick Patty from
the Bronx di Filipo. He would operate a social club
called the Aquarius Social Club at twenty eight sixteen Waterbury
Avenue off the corner of Apcured In in the Bronx.
(24:02):
Today it is a salon now. Patty for the Bronx
doesn't get a lot of credit. Quite frankly, we did
a video on him here. But Patty from the Bronx
was a guy who was the captain for a period
of time of Vincent Basciano, Michael Mancuso, John Sparito. He
(24:24):
was really the eyes and ears for the Banano crime
family in the Bronx for a long period of time.
And all of the people I just mentioned, whether it's
Basciano or Mancuso or Spirrito, were longtime members and high
ranking members of the Banano crime family even today, so
(24:44):
you know, he was a big time guy. Had that
social club in the I believe it's called Schulerville, neighborhood
of the Bronx. You know, a lot of these places
aren't around today, but it is interesting to see kind
of what they look like. And we've all heard of,
you know, the big time spots, you know the you know,
the raven eyed in those places, but it's cool to
(25:06):
see some of the smaller ones. One spot that I
did want to talk about back in Queens was the
old hangout for the infamous Janini Crew. They were a
upstart group of young guys that did favors for multiple
crime families in the eighties and into the nineties. They
(25:26):
were all busted and were taken off the street. The
spot at sixty six twelve Fresh Pond Road was originally
owned by the bar and a lot of family. Fabio
bart a lot of down the road was indicted as
a member of the Janini Crew and Baldo Almato, but
I know member held court here. Today it looks far different.
(25:49):
It is now a beauty salon and looks a lot nicer,
if we can be honest. Manhattan for years has been
dominated by the Genevies crime family. We know that Harlem
is part of Manhattan and we know that places like
the Palma Boys Social Club have been there forever. Fat
(26:11):
Tony Seleerno would hold court on the regular at that
location at four sixteen East one hundred and fifteenth Street.
A who's who would come to see him on a
regular basis. We'd see Tony with the fedora, you know,
and the high rise pants and the cigar, and he
would virtually run the construction business and unions and all
(26:34):
sorts of different rackets out in front of that club. Today,
the Palma Boys Social Club does still have the Italian flags,
but it's really just an apartment building and from what
I understand, I don't know what's there right now. The
last Google image church would say that it had retail
space for lease. Imagine running a restaurant or something like there.
(27:00):
Group what a history it has over the years. Now,
what's interesting is a man that was regularly seen at
the Palma Boy Social Club was Vincent fish Kafarro, the
confidant and closest person too Fat Tony Salerno. Vincent Cafaro
would actually have his own social club not far away
(27:23):
at twenty two forty four First Avenue in Harlem. Another
person that would run a social club was this spot
at three five to four East one hundred and sixteenth
Street that was run by longtime Genevie's heavyweight Benny the
(27:44):
Squint Lombardo. He would run a place called the Democratic
Social Club at that location. What's interesting about Benny the
Squint Lombardo is, throughout his nearly seventy year life and
fifty or so years in the mob, he spent very
little time in prison. He would die peacefully in the
(28:08):
late eighties. Here he can be seen with his quintessential
sunglasses or reading glasses, whatever they are, on his face. Now.
Lower Manhattan, though, was also dominated by the Genovese crime feller.
We know people like Vincent Giganty. Even as safe and
as quiet as he was, he couldn't get away from
(28:31):
the temptation of having a social club. His social club
was at two to eight Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village.
His brother Mario Giguanty would also run a social club
not far away. He ran a place called the Dante
Social Club at eighty one McDougall Street in Lower Manhattan.
(28:52):
Today it is a restaurant and cafe. Genevieve's heavyweight Tommy
Ryan Ebily also had a social club. Not far away
from the Triangle. He operated the Panel Social Club, which
was at two to eight Thompson Street in Greenwich Village.
(29:15):
We know that Tommy Ryan Ebily was ultimately disappeared and
taken out. We interviewed his son several months ago. Shout
out to Xavier Ebily a great book on his father,
Tommy Ryan. Go get that if you enjoy books. Now.
One of Vincent the Chin's close to his allies was
a man called Dominic fat Dominic Alongee. And what's interesting
(29:41):
is when Vincent Giganti took over the family in the eighties,
it was said that dom Alongi became acting captain of
the Greenwich Village crew. He operated the Columbus Social Club
at fourteen Bedford Street in Lara, Manhattan. I was hoping
to get a better photo, but as we know, a
lot of the Lower Manhattan restaurants and places that are
(30:03):
there have operated with these kind of outdoor dining areas
ever since the pandemic. Now I want to end this
video today with possibly an active Geneviez crime family social
club today and maybe you've seen it. It's this very
nondescript little building in the Two Bridges area, one of
(30:26):
the most southern points of Manhattan at seventy three Market
Street in Lower Manhattan. It's actually quite interesting over the
years to see what this building has looked like on
Google street View. At one point it was a hangout
for long time Genevieve member and Captain Peter P. D
(30:46):
Red di Kiara. On Google street Views, you can actually
see men hanging out outside of it. Now their faces
are blacked out, and I have heard that people have
walked up to this location and have been turned away.
From what I understand, certain members of pd Red's crew
still go to this location today. On the most recent
(31:09):
Google street View, it has got a fresh paint job,
but the blue door is synonymous with the Genovese family.
I would love to see this place inside, and I'm
not sure that I would come out, but I would
still like to see it. It is cool and interesting
to see these types of places because so much history
(31:32):
has been made in them. There's not a lot of
mob social clubs left, but if you go to some
certain enclaves in New York, there's still around, whether it's
in Glendale, Queen's or the Two Bridges area of Manhattan,
or even places like Bensonhurst in Brooklyn. Italian enclaves are
few and far between anymore in New York. Let's just
(31:54):
be honest. There's so many cultures and nationalities in the
Big Apple. But if you look hard enough, you can
find them. I wouldn't advise you to look, but if
you find them, it's decent picture opportunities for yourself. I
hope you enjoyed this video. We'll see you next week
(32:16):
here on the sit Down
Welcome to The sit Down, a Mafia history podcast. Here's
your host, Jeff Nado. What's up everybody, and welcome in
to another edition of the sit Down. As always, if
you enjoy this audio recording, please make sure you leave
us a detailed review and a five star rating. What's up, everybody?
(00:35):
Welcome back. This is episode two twenty six. I am
your host, Jeff Nado. I hope all of you are
having a great week so far. I hope you had
a good Labor Day weekend. Your Labor Day beyonofficial end
to summer. Once Labor Day's over, it feels like life
is kind of back to normal. You know. Summer is
(00:55):
always very there's always stuff going on. And I know
myself if I seems like I did a ton of
not a ton, but I was away a lot. You know.
I went to La and the shore, and I'm actually
traveling this week as well. Once this weekends, it's nothing
planned at least for the foreseeable future. So I hope
(01:16):
everybody had a good Labor Day weekend. Maybe he went
to a barbecue or some sort of cookout or or
did something. Hopefully it was a good one for you. Today,
got another show planned for you. I do have the
next couple of weeks, I have some interviews coming out.
We've got a couple of good ones. We're gonna get
into El Mayo. I'm still kind of working with a
(01:41):
certain guest to record an episode on El Mayo. There's
really not a huge rush just because he is about
to be sentenced and until we kind of know more
about that. But I am going to do an Al
Mayo show here soon. I've got a great guest from
the Asian American Crime World coming up, which is gonna
(02:01):
be cool. And you know, I'm always working my sourcing
to continue great shows. Today's video is one that I
have been requested to do a lot. A lot of
people ask me about mafia social clubs, so I felt
today would be a good time to kind of go
into those I talked about. You know, whether you're watching
(02:24):
on video or audio. In the audio on the audio side,
I do include addresses and everything so you can kind
of get the lay of the land. But I got
into some very notorious ones, maybe ones you've not heard of.
Things that may have went on at some of these places.
What exactly is a social club? Why were they once
(02:45):
even outlawed? By a certain boss. So that's a kind
of an interesting episode today. Social clubs are part of
mob culture no matter how you look at it. Maybe
you've even seen one in your own neighborhood, whether you
live in Brooklyn or maybe in Chicago or Philadelphia. Before
though we get into that episode today, I do want
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the app, use my promo code Jeff they do, Jeff,
they do all. One word. Let's get to today's episode
without further ado. We're gonna look into mob social clubs,
ones that are a part of history and some that
are currently open today. Let's get into it all in
the sit down. Now AI has taken over technology, and
(06:03):
I asked AI what a mob social club was. It
would state it is a social establishment with a shared
interest that is used by organized crime as a meeting
place for planning and business. Though many social clubs are
actually patronized by law abiding citizens, these clubs function as
a base of operation for mob crews, often being named
(06:27):
after the establishment themselves. Now, what's interesting about mob social
clubs is one of the most uniform things that you'll
see with a mob social clubs. They are members only. Generally,
they're dues that are taken and those go towards you're
keeping the upkeep of the club and buying different things
you can go there and get a meal. There's generally
(06:49):
kitchens in them. You play cards, you commiserate, you talk business. Now,
what's interesting about mob social clubs is is they're pretty nondescript.
This is what any mob social club in the seventies
or eighties might have looked like. There might be a
small TV, maybe a cooler for drinks, tables, couches, a
(07:13):
bathroom or room in the back where business can be conducted.
They're generally pretty simple. You might see the boss or
a high ranking individual on the wall. Here we can
be seen the inside of the Ravenite Social Club. We
see a photo of John Gotti. I believe that's Neil
de lacroach to his right. They're pretty nondescript buildings and
(07:36):
they're generally dwellings. Occasionally you might see some sort of
business that is earmarked as a social club, but it's
generally a good place to get away from the wife,
hang with your pals, play cards, whether it's peanuckle or poker.
Meals can be conducted there. It was said that at
the Ravennite there was a terrific a meal during the
(07:58):
week where they'd cook pasta and meat and all sorts
of different things. Social clubs were virtually used by everyone,
no matter how secret or how clandestine, and it seemed
like mobs. Social clubs really were the death nail of
a lot of mobsters. It seems like very few could
(08:18):
ever stay away from them. We all know that they
were havens for law enforcement to not only sit on
and oversee, but also they're dwelling, so there are places
you could throw a van to, maybe right next or
down the street, and make it take pictures and gather
audio recordings. Throw in the fact that at night people
(08:42):
would go home. That was a place where we all
know there were major investigations done. The FBI would go
in and plant bugs. Again, people like being around their friends,
they like being around coworkers, and the mafia is a business.
You have to talk somewhere. Now, certain mobsters got smart,
(09:03):
they would leave the social club or whatever, but most
people are lazy. You want to sit there, you want
to hang out, and there's probably nobody listening. Now, what
you'll see in this video is most of these places
that mob social clubs were their buildings, their dwellings, so
they're also an easy place for someone to set up
(09:24):
shop across the street in a building and also take photos. Now,
one mobster that was not a big fan of social
clubs was Joey Messino, the former boss of the Banano
crime family. In fact, in the nineties, when he would
take over as official boss of the Banano crime family,
it was said Joey Messino outlawed social clubs and told
(09:49):
his members they were forbidden to go to them. He
was smart, he knew and this is one of the
reasons Joey Messino during the late eighties and into the
nineties had one of the most power awful crime families
in New York. He knew that certain things were just
haven's for law enforcement, and really, up until the early
two thousands, that's why the Banano crime family had no cooperators.
(10:12):
If you can't make cases, you're not going to get cooperators.
It's a shame that family wasn't able to continue with
some of that rhetoric down the road. We know that
the Banano crime family by two thousand and three would
completely shift and eventually Big Joey would flip. As we
know now. One thing it's interesting about Joey Messino is
he did actually at one point have a social club.
(10:34):
It was above of what he would call JNS Cake,
which was a catering company in Queens. Jana's Cake was
at fifty eight to twenty three fifty eighth Road in Maspeth,
the place that Joey Messino grew up and lived a
lot of his life in before moving to Howard Beach. Now,
(10:57):
in this video, I'm not going to go into play
is like the raven I or the Berg and Hunt
and Fish Club. We all know those places, but I
didn't want to kind of take a winding turn and
adventure through New York and have some fun talk about
some of the old social clubs, some of the places
that might still be around and so on. Pretty easy
(11:18):
video today. I will advise, if you enjoy this video,
make sure you hit that thanks button below it and
comment what social club was in your neighborhood that maybe
you remember or what's one that you always had interest in.
Carmi Persico is one of the most known mob bosses
of all time. The man they called Junior. We know
(11:40):
is manipulative and some people called him a snake. Carmian
Persico was generally found at this clandestine building off the
corner of Fifth Avenue and Carroll Street in Brooklyn. Two
thirty seven Fifth Avenue was a social club known as
the Nest Social Club, and not only did Carma and
(12:03):
Persco hold court here, but his pal and eventual acting
boss Anthony Scappi Scarpathi hell court as well. It was
said that in nineteen seventy two a who's who on
a daily basis would show up at the Nester Social Club.
Today it is a hipster type location and I believe
(12:23):
a coffee shop. Now we know that Brooklyn has always
been a mainstay for the Columbo family. Not far down
the street and on Third Avenue at two ninety four
Third Avenue was the Diplomat Social Club right on the
corner that was a haven for Carma Persco's brother Alphonse Persco.
(12:46):
Now just down the street from that at two eighty
two Third Avenue today sits the Glory Social Club. Now,
what's interesting about the Glory Social Club is if you'd
go in there or walk by and ask the members
that go there today about it, most of them will
say that they're not members of the mob, and quite frankly,
(13:06):
not a lot of them are. That said, in the forties, fifties, sixties,
it was absolutely a place for mobsters. In fact, at
one point, officers and public officials were actually installed at
that social club all Third Avenue in the fifties. Notice
(13:27):
certain names there, Michael Cessa and Carmine Persco. That these
were democratic leaders in the area, and we know that
they had relationships with mobsters. The one area of Brooklyn
that has been a mob mainstay for decades is Bensonhurst.
In fact, there are probably very few places around the
(13:50):
five boroughs that had more social clubs and bars and
lounges connected to the mafia than benson Urst. One of
the most known hangouts, not necessarily a club but more
of a bar lounge club was Tallis. How many people
were whacked here? How many plans to whack people we
(14:11):
had here? We know that Tallis was the one time HQ,
A former Gambino underbos Samuel Bolgravano, who became one of
the biggest mob informants in mafia history. We know that
Sammy killed one of his own pals, Michael de bat
inside Tally's Lounge. Today, Tally's Lounge is an Asian restaurant.
(14:39):
Another big time mafioso from Brooklyn was Joey Scopo, Joey
Scopo would operate a social club here, a place called
the Taza Villa del Golfo not far away from Tallis's.
(15:00):
Scopo was whacked in and around nineteen ninety three. And
we all know though, that Joey Scopo was also very
close to members of the Gambino crime family. Scopo himself
was a Columbo member. Here he can be seen walking
into the wedding of Junior Gottie. This is a very
(15:22):
known mob hangout. Maybe not today today is a foot
rub location. However, back in the seventies and into the eighties,
this location was the headquarters of the Wimpy Boys Social Club,
the one time hangout of Gregory the Grim Reaper Scarpet.
How many murders were planned there as well. Today the
(15:45):
location at seventy five six Thirteenth Avenue in Brooklyn does
look far different. As I said, it is an Asian
massage and foot rub parlor. Now I'm not gonna wonder
what goes on in there. That said, it is a
foot rub location. Another location today that is actually around
(16:09):
is Cafe Italia. Cafe Italia, for years has been rumored
as a location that members of the Gambino crime family
congregate at near the corner at sixty nine at seventeen
eighteenth Avenue in Bensters. Quite frankly, this is one of
the most well recepted and busy blocks in Brooklyn. Eighteenth
(16:34):
Avenue is very well known today. If you go to
Cafe Italia, I'm not sure that generally you'll walk in
there and get much in the way of coffee or espresso.
If you do go in, be advised you may get
some looks and people may wonder who you are. You
may also see some familiar faces. I will admit over
(16:57):
the last several months, I'm not big into doing a
lot more of the active content. I definitely had my
day in the sun with that said what I needed
to say, and I'll just be honest. There's not a
lot going on with the mob today. I'm not saying
that mobsters go there and you can find them there.
I'm advising I'm not telling any of you to go there.
(17:18):
I wouldn't go there. I'm not gonna, you know, upset
the apple cart. I'm just trying to have some fun
here and talk about mob social clubs. This is not
like a literal video. It's not like I'm putting this
stuff out there. It's not like the FEDS don't know
about these places. I let these people do what they
want to do. This just is a old school spot.
(17:39):
And if you know, you know, Queen's is also a
place that has a ton of mob social clubs over
the years. One of the most non descript locations is
this place, a place that is on Myrtle Avenue in Glendale.
It is called the Club of Glendale. And what's interesting
(18:03):
is for years Vincent Asarow would hold court in and
around this place. In fact, here he can be seen
talking and commiserating with mobsters outside this location. What's interesting
is this location was actually named recently in twenty twenty
two involving a bookmaking operation that was being run by
(18:28):
Banano member Anthony Little Anthony Pepotone. Pepatone is currently in
prison over this and as far as I know, this
is still a pretty active place near the corner of
Myrtle Avenue. I believe the address of this place is
what is it seventy four to three Myrtle Avenue and
(18:51):
it is across the street from a cemetery. For years,
Joe enne Gallo was the CONSII of the Gambino crime family.
He would hold court at a luncheonette and candy store
that was almost earmarked as a social club as well,
at twenty five O two Broadway in Astoria. Today that
(19:17):
location is a pharmacy. Joann Gallo a man who really
doesn't need much of an introduction. He was a powerhouse
for years. Now. There was not a ton of activity
in a story. It was mostly Greek mobsters, but there
was another location where a heavyweight hung out. Vincent Papa
(19:40):
operated the Astoria Cults Social Club at this location thirty
six nineteen dit Mars Boulevard in Queens Now, Vincent Papa
is one of the biggest trug traffickers in the history
(20:00):
of organized crime and made tons of money selling narcotics.
In fact, in the early seventies, Vincent Papa also orchestrated
one of the biggest drug thefts in York history. Over time,
it was reported that he stole approximately four hundred pounds
of heroin and cocaine, much of which was seized during
(20:23):
the French connection case that would eventually vanish, and Vincent
Papa would steal it from an evidence vault. The corrupt
officers would facilitate the operation allowing millions installing narcotics to
re enter the drug trade that he would eventually. Vincent
Papa be convicted for his role in this scheme, and
(20:45):
while serving time in federal prison in nineteen seventy seven,
he was stabbed multiple times in the prison yard over
suspicions that he had become a cooperator. Now what's interesting
is drug kingpin Herbie Spurling was accused of ordering this attack,
but it was down the road he was acquitted. Papa's
(21:06):
case would lead to a major corruption investigation. Vincent Papa
made a ton of money as a member of the
Lukes crime family and was big down at Harlem with
the Pleasant Avenue Boys. Today this location is a women's
clothing boutique and this location is just off thirty seventh
(21:28):
Street in Queens. Another area of New York that is
rife with the mafia is the Bronx. Places like Arthur
Avenue have been a haven for mobsters over the years.
But what's interesting is one of the most well known
social clubs was not on Arthur Avenue. It was actually
(21:50):
this location in the area of twenty eighth one Coddington Avenue,
near the country Club section of the This was a
known Luksey hangout, most notably in the twenty tens. It
was said that on the regular mob heavyweight Stephen Crea
would hold court at this location. Now at one point
(22:14):
in twenty twelve, members of the Banano crime family would
force their way into this club, the Coddington Club, and
have a bit of a issue with members of the
Kazy family. During this melee, a Banano associate called Carl
Ulsheimer was said to do something that Krea Senior perceived
(22:37):
as a quote personal affront. Now, to avenge the opposed
offense by Ulzheimer, Stephen Crea would order his son, Stephen
Crea Junior, to rough up and or take out mister Ulsheimer.
Crea Junior was then said to have passed the order
(22:58):
to Lukezi mobster's Paul Asano and Vincent Bruno. Down the road,
Carl Oulzheimer's Bronx resident was targeted. However, they would not
be able to take out Olzheimer. Eventually, Stephen Krea and
Stephen Crea Junior were indicted and ultimately convicted in the
(23:20):
Michael Meldish case. Stephen Crea is serving life in prison
and battling stage four cancer. It's unclear if the Contacton
club is still around today and open for business. I'm
not gonna speculate, but I have heard things another area
that for the mafia, the Banano crime family has always
(23:41):
been in the Bronx and one of their most high
level and long term captains there was Patrick Patty from
the Bronx di Filipo. He would operate a social club
called the Aquarius Social Club at twenty eight sixteen Waterbury
Avenue off the corner of Apcured In in the Bronx.
(24:02):
Today it is a salon now. Patty for the Bronx
doesn't get a lot of credit. Quite frankly, we did
a video on him here. But Patty from the Bronx
was a guy who was the captain for a period
of time of Vincent Basciano, Michael Mancuso, John Sparito. He
(24:24):
was really the eyes and ears for the Banano crime
family in the Bronx for a long period of time.
And all of the people I just mentioned, whether it's
Basciano or Mancuso or Spirrito, were longtime members and high
ranking members of the Banano crime family even today, so
(24:44):
you know, he was a big time guy. Had that
social club in the I believe it's called Schulerville, neighborhood
of the Bronx. You know, a lot of these places
aren't around today, but it is interesting to see kind
of what they look like. And we've all heard of,
you know, the big time spots, you know the you know,
the raven eyed in those places, but it's cool to
(25:06):
see some of the smaller ones. One spot that I
did want to talk about back in Queens was the
old hangout for the infamous Janini Crew. They were a
upstart group of young guys that did favors for multiple
crime families in the eighties and into the nineties. They
(25:26):
were all busted and were taken off the street. The
spot at sixty six twelve Fresh Pond Road was originally
owned by the bar and a lot of family. Fabio
bart a lot of down the road was indicted as
a member of the Janini Crew and Baldo Almato, but
I know member held court here. Today it looks far different.
(25:49):
It is now a beauty salon and looks a lot nicer,
if we can be honest. Manhattan for years has been
dominated by the Genevies crime family. We know that Harlem
is part of Manhattan and we know that places like
the Palma Boys Social Club have been there forever. Fat
(26:11):
Tony Seleerno would hold court on the regular at that
location at four sixteen East one hundred and fifteenth Street.
A who's who would come to see him on a
regular basis. We'd see Tony with the fedora, you know,
and the high rise pants and the cigar, and he
would virtually run the construction business and unions and all
(26:34):
sorts of different rackets out in front of that club. Today,
the Palma Boys Social Club does still have the Italian flags,
but it's really just an apartment building and from what
I understand, I don't know what's there right now. The
last Google image church would say that it had retail
space for lease. Imagine running a restaurant or something like there.
(27:00):
Group what a history it has over the years. Now,
what's interesting is a man that was regularly seen at
the Palma Boy Social Club was Vincent fish Kafarro, the
confidant and closest person too Fat Tony Salerno. Vincent Cafaro
would actually have his own social club not far away
(27:23):
at twenty two forty four First Avenue in Harlem. Another
person that would run a social club was this spot
at three five to four East one hundred and sixteenth
Street that was run by longtime Genevie's heavyweight Benny the
(27:44):
Squint Lombardo. He would run a place called the Democratic
Social Club at that location. What's interesting about Benny the
Squint Lombardo is, throughout his nearly seventy year life and
fifty or so years in the mob, he spent very
little time in prison. He would die peacefully in the
(28:08):
late eighties. Here he can be seen with his quintessential
sunglasses or reading glasses, whatever they are, on his face. Now.
Lower Manhattan, though, was also dominated by the Genovese crime feller.
We know people like Vincent Giganty. Even as safe and
as quiet as he was, he couldn't get away from
(28:31):
the temptation of having a social club. His social club
was at two to eight Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village.
His brother Mario Giguanty would also run a social club
not far away. He ran a place called the Dante
Social Club at eighty one McDougall Street in Lower Manhattan.
(28:52):
Today it is a restaurant and cafe. Genevieve's heavyweight Tommy
Ryan Ebily also had a social club. Not far away
from the Triangle. He operated the Panel Social Club, which
was at two to eight Thompson Street in Greenwich Village.
(29:15):
We know that Tommy Ryan Ebily was ultimately disappeared and
taken out. We interviewed his son several months ago. Shout
out to Xavier Ebily a great book on his father,
Tommy Ryan. Go get that if you enjoy books. Now.
One of Vincent the Chin's close to his allies was
a man called Dominic fat Dominic Alongee. And what's interesting
(29:41):
is when Vincent Giganti took over the family in the eighties,
it was said that dom Alongi became acting captain of
the Greenwich Village crew. He operated the Columbus Social Club
at fourteen Bedford Street in Lara, Manhattan. I was hoping
to get a better photo, but as we know, a
lot of the Lower Manhattan restaurants and places that are
(30:03):
there have operated with these kind of outdoor dining areas
ever since the pandemic. Now I want to end this
video today with possibly an active Geneviez crime family social
club today and maybe you've seen it. It's this very
nondescript little building in the Two Bridges area, one of
(30:26):
the most southern points of Manhattan at seventy three Market
Street in Lower Manhattan. It's actually quite interesting over the
years to see what this building has looked like on
Google street View. At one point it was a hangout
for long time Genevieve member and Captain Peter P. D
(30:46):
Red di Kiara. On Google street Views, you can actually
see men hanging out outside of it. Now their faces
are blacked out, and I have heard that people have
walked up to this location and have been turned away.
From what I understand, certain members of pd Red's crew
still go to this location today. On the most recent
(31:09):
Google street View, it has got a fresh paint job,
but the blue door is synonymous with the Genovese family.
I would love to see this place inside, and I'm
not sure that I would come out, but I would
still like to see it. It is cool and interesting
to see these types of places because so much history
(31:32):
has been made in them. There's not a lot of
mob social clubs left, but if you go to some
certain enclaves in New York, there's still around, whether it's
in Glendale, Queen's or the Two Bridges area of Manhattan,
or even places like Bensonhurst in Brooklyn. Italian enclaves are
few and far between anymore in New York. Let's just
(31:54):
be honest. There's so many cultures and nationalities in the
Big Apple. But if you look hard enough, you can
find them. I wouldn't advise you to look, but if
you find them, it's decent picture opportunities for yourself. I
hope you enjoyed this video. We'll see you next week
(32:16):
here on the sit Down
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