1
00:00:05,667 --> 00:00:10,042
♪

2
00:00:10,208 --> 00:00:13,417
For 30 years, the Five Families,

3
00:00:13,542 --> 00:00:17,125
the heart of the mafia,
had a free run in America.

4
00:00:17,208 --> 00:00:19,292
♪

5
00:00:19,375 --> 00:00:22,000
REPORTER: And on the floor,
riddled with five bullets,

6
00:00:22,125 --> 00:00:25,167
the body of Al Anastasia.

7
00:00:25,833 --> 00:00:31,250
Loan-sharking, prostitution,
taking over unions.

8
00:00:31,375 --> 00:00:32,750
They had their hands
on politics.

9
00:00:32,875 --> 00:00:35,167
♪

10
00:00:35,250 --> 00:00:36,625
They could do
whatever they wanted.

11
00:00:36,750 --> 00:00:38,000
They got away with everything.

12
00:00:38,125 --> 00:00:40,792
[gunshots]

13
00:00:40,875 --> 00:00:43,333
REPORTER:
The two gentlemen inside

14
00:00:43,458 --> 00:00:47,375
died as a result of multiple
gunshot and shotgun wounds.

15
00:00:47,500 --> 00:00:49,458
♪

16
00:00:49,542 --> 00:00:53,167
MICHAEL FRANZESE: Did we kill
as part of that life? Yeah.

17
00:00:53,292 --> 00:00:55,125
If I violate
the terms of this oath,

18
00:00:55,208 --> 00:00:56,583
then I can
pay for it with my life.

19
00:00:56,708 --> 00:00:58,417
♪

20
00:00:58,542 --> 00:01:00,125
[gunshot]

21
00:01:00,250 --> 00:01:01,375
REPORTER: Paul Castellano,
gunned down yesterday

22
00:01:01,542 --> 00:01:03,167
on a public street.

23
00:01:03,292 --> 00:01:04,792
REPORTER: Police officials say
John Gotti has replaced

24
00:01:04,917 --> 00:01:06,417
the late Paul Castellano

25
00:01:06,542 --> 00:01:08,333
as the new head
of the Gambino Family.

26
00:01:08,417 --> 00:01:09,792
MICHAEL: People think
you're taking an oath

27
00:01:09,917 --> 00:01:12,167
to lie, steal, cheat, kill.

28
00:01:12,292 --> 00:01:14,167
That's not the oath.

29
00:01:14,292 --> 00:01:17,042
Omertà means one thing:
Silence.

30
00:01:17,208 --> 00:01:19,458
I respectfully
decline to answer.

31
00:01:19,542 --> 00:01:21,667
I respectfully
decline to answer.

32
00:01:21,792 --> 00:01:24,000
I'm not going to answer
another question here

33
00:01:24,083 --> 00:01:25,667
just 'cause
I'm not under arrest

34
00:01:25,792 --> 00:01:27,625
and I'm going to walk out.

35
00:01:27,708 --> 00:01:29,792
"We do not talk to the law.

36
00:01:29,875 --> 00:01:33,167
We do not talk to outsiders.
All of our business is private."

37
00:01:33,292 --> 00:01:37,250
And that is the absolute
rock bottom code of the mafia.

38
00:01:37,375 --> 00:01:39,333
NARRATOR: For half a century,
the mafia stuck

39
00:01:39,417 --> 00:01:41,958
to this sacred oath
and pillaged New York City

40
00:01:42,042 --> 00:01:44,542
and the greater
American economy.

41
00:01:44,708 --> 00:01:46,917
Omertà was the key
to their success.

42
00:01:47,042 --> 00:01:49,333
Without it, they would drown.

43
00:01:49,500 --> 00:01:51,125
♪

44
00:01:51,250 --> 00:01:54,417
Its first major threat
would come in 1963,

45
00:01:54,542 --> 00:01:57,958
in the form of Joseph Valachi,

46
00:01:58,042 --> 00:02:00,167
a man willing to break
this sacred oath

47
00:02:00,333 --> 00:02:03,708
and reveal the structure
and secrets of the mafia.

48
00:02:04,500 --> 00:02:07,292
Those on the inside would soon
learn the cost of doing

49
00:02:07,417 --> 00:02:11,167
business in America,
where greed, individualism

50
00:02:11,333 --> 00:02:14,000
and celebrity
would continuously test

51
00:02:14,083 --> 00:02:16,333
the strength
of their age-old code.

52
00:02:16,500 --> 00:02:17,750
Omertà.

53
00:02:17,875 --> 00:02:23,750
♪

54
00:02:32,042 --> 00:02:37,917
♪

55
00:02:38,042 --> 00:02:40,292
To understand the mafia
in America,

56
00:02:40,375 --> 00:02:43,167
you need to understand
the mafia in Sicily,

57
00:02:43,250 --> 00:02:46,250
the crown jewel
of the Mediterranean Sea.

58
00:02:46,375 --> 00:02:49,083
It had been fought over
for thousands of years.

59
00:02:49,208 --> 00:02:52,000
The Phoenicians,
the Greeks, the Romans,

60
00:02:52,083 --> 00:02:55,042
the Arabs all planted a flag.

61
00:02:55,167 --> 00:02:57,167
In the mid-IXX century,
it belonged

62
00:02:57,333 --> 00:02:59,958
to the Spanish Bourbon dynasty.

63
00:03:00,042 --> 00:03:04,292
Sicily as an island, it develops
its own unique culture,

64
00:03:04,375 --> 00:03:07,625
so that made Sicilians
feel for a long time

65
00:03:07,708 --> 00:03:10,833
different from Italians,
different from Europeans.

66
00:03:12,458 --> 00:03:15,833
Sicily, up until
the IXX century,

67
00:03:15,958 --> 00:03:18,417
was a feudal society

68
00:03:18,542 --> 00:03:22,708
with large land ownings,
owned by absentee landlords

69
00:03:22,875 --> 00:03:25,708
who governed with the help
of middle managers.

70
00:03:27,167 --> 00:03:30,542
In 1860,
General Giuseppe Garibaldi

71
00:03:30,667 --> 00:03:32,375
invaded the island
and brought it

72
00:03:32,500 --> 00:03:34,625
under Italian control,

73
00:03:34,792 --> 00:03:37,167
leading to the most significant
transfer of power

74
00:03:37,250 --> 00:03:39,333
in the history of Sicily.

75
00:03:39,500 --> 00:03:41,333
Suddenly,
there's like a free for all

76
00:03:41,458 --> 00:03:44,000
and everything is for sale.

77
00:03:44,125 --> 00:03:46,583
And at first,
a lot of Sicilians

78
00:03:46,708 --> 00:03:49,750
support and back the unification
of the country of Italy.

79
00:03:49,833 --> 00:03:52,833
However, as time goes on,
a lot of Sicilians

80
00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,250
are faced
with a number of crises,

81
00:03:56,375 --> 00:04:01,250
ranging from agricultural strife
to being heavily taxed.

82
00:04:01,375 --> 00:04:03,917
There are some uprisings
against the government.

83
00:04:04,042 --> 00:04:07,167
Those uprisings are put down.

84
00:04:07,292 --> 00:04:08,917
There's a period of disorder.

85
00:04:09,042 --> 00:04:12,375
There are brigands and bandits
who take advantage

86
00:04:12,542 --> 00:04:16,458
of the vacuum of power
that follows this invasion.

87
00:04:16,583 --> 00:04:18,000
♪

88
00:04:18,167 --> 00:04:22,208
[speaking Italian]

89
00:05:01,625 --> 00:05:03,500
♪

90
00:05:03,625 --> 00:05:06,667
They considered themselves
men of honor,

91
00:05:06,833 --> 00:05:10,708
men of respect, men important
enough to be above the law.

92
00:05:10,875 --> 00:05:13,292
These men would soon venture
to New York City

93
00:05:13,458 --> 00:05:15,292
in search of opportunity.

94
00:05:15,458 --> 00:05:18,333
And with them,
they would bring this attitude

95
00:05:18,500 --> 00:05:20,792
of playing by their own rules.

96
00:05:20,917 --> 00:05:26,792
♪

97
00:05:30,875 --> 00:05:32,375
ED O'DONNELL:
Immigration to the United States

98
00:05:32,500 --> 00:05:35,833
in the late IXX and early XX
century explodes.

99
00:05:35,917 --> 00:05:38,167
Things are going poorly
in many European countries.

100
00:05:38,292 --> 00:05:40,458
Poverty, war, oppression.

101
00:05:40,542 --> 00:05:42,333
The United States
has lots of opportunity,

102
00:05:42,458 --> 00:05:45,500
many jobs, land, freedom.

103
00:05:45,667 --> 00:05:47,458
And so there's
this huge migration

104
00:05:47,625 --> 00:05:49,333
from Europe
to the United States.

105
00:05:49,458 --> 00:05:51,333
And of that migration,
something on the order

106
00:05:51,417 --> 00:05:53,542
of four million people
come from Italy.

107
00:05:53,667 --> 00:05:57,750
♪

108
00:05:57,833 --> 00:06:00,833
You had immigrants coming
from southern Italy,

109
00:06:00,958 --> 00:06:05,583
the poorest, most uneducated
rural part of the country.

110
00:06:05,708 --> 00:06:06,708
♪

111
00:06:06,833 --> 00:06:09,542
They came here
to a life that probably

112
00:06:09,667 --> 00:06:10,583
was not really much better.

113
00:06:10,708 --> 00:06:13,333
♪

114
00:06:13,458 --> 00:06:14,958
Now they're thrown
into this cauldron

115
00:06:15,125 --> 00:06:16,708
of New York City, the epicenter

116
00:06:16,875 --> 00:06:19,875
of modern industrialization
and capitalism.

117
00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,417
There are dozens and dozens
of ethnic groups,

118
00:06:22,542 --> 00:06:24,208
and it's a really intense,
competitive environment

119
00:06:24,333 --> 00:06:25,500
just to survive.

120
00:06:25,583 --> 00:06:28,917
♪

121
00:06:29,042 --> 00:06:31,333
BILL TONELLI: From the old
country, they brought with them

122
00:06:31,458 --> 00:06:33,583
a certain amount of clanishness.

123
00:06:33,708 --> 00:06:37,958
They relied on family even more
than the Italians did in Italy,

124
00:06:38,042 --> 00:06:40,792
and they didn't expect
anything good from authority.

125
00:06:40,875 --> 00:06:44,458
They didn't expect
any help from outside.

126
00:06:45,417 --> 00:06:47,792
So they came here
with those same attitudes.

127
00:06:47,875 --> 00:06:49,167
The gangsters
and the grandmothers

128
00:06:49,292 --> 00:06:51,583
all had the same worldview.

129
00:06:51,667 --> 00:06:54,750
♪

130
00:06:54,875 --> 00:06:57,500
CHRISTOPHER BONANOS: The most
famous Italian-American

131
00:06:57,667 --> 00:06:59,583
neighborhood in New York City
is obviously the Little Italy

132
00:06:59,708 --> 00:07:03,333
centered on Mulberry and Mott
Streets in Lower Manhattan.

133
00:07:03,417 --> 00:07:06,958
But there were a scattering
of others as well.

134
00:07:07,042 --> 00:07:08,500
ANTHONY DESTEFANO:
Certain neighborhoods were

135
00:07:08,708 --> 00:07:11,042
largely Italian American,

136
00:07:11,208 --> 00:07:14,875
and the criminal element
held sway because they knew

137
00:07:14,958 --> 00:07:17,083
where everybody was,
knew where everybody lived.

138
00:07:17,208 --> 00:07:19,125
♪

139
00:07:19,250 --> 00:07:21,708
It was kind of like a cocoon

140
00:07:21,792 --> 00:07:25,125
where people didn't want
to cooperate necessarily

141
00:07:25,250 --> 00:07:28,792
with police because they knew
the criminals were in the area.

142
00:07:28,917 --> 00:07:31,833
♪

143
00:07:31,958 --> 00:07:35,458
In the early 1900s, crime
in New York City was ubiquitous,

144
00:07:35,583 --> 00:07:36,667
as it was everywhere else,

145
00:07:36,792 --> 00:07:38,417
but it was also
pretty small scale.

146
00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:42,500
There's a bit of what we might
call low level organized crime,

147
00:07:42,625 --> 00:07:44,833
but it's really just local gangs
that control maybe

148
00:07:44,958 --> 00:07:47,833
four or five blocks,
and they are shaking down

149
00:07:47,958 --> 00:07:49,750
and extorting from people
within their own neighborhoods.

150
00:07:51,792 --> 00:07:53,667
ANTHONY DESTEFANO:
In East Harlem, there were

151
00:07:53,792 --> 00:07:56,667
Italian people from all over.

152
00:07:56,833 --> 00:07:59,875
It had a number
of characters who were,

153
00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,083
I guess you could call them
padrones, who were important

154
00:08:03,208 --> 00:08:06,250
to the neighborhood as kind
of quasi-crime figures.

155
00:08:06,375 --> 00:08:08,167
♪

156
00:08:08,333 --> 00:08:10,833
And could be
a source of employment,

157
00:08:10,958 --> 00:08:13,708
could be a source of money,
could be a source of trouble.

158
00:08:13,875 --> 00:08:15,667
♪

159
00:08:15,792 --> 00:08:18,708
In the early XX century,
these local criminal groups

160
00:08:18,833 --> 00:08:20,167
ruled across New York City.

161
00:08:20,250 --> 00:08:22,292
♪

162
00:08:22,417 --> 00:08:25,333
Then, in 1919,
they were presented

163
00:08:25,500 --> 00:08:27,417
with a new revenue stream,

164
00:08:27,542 --> 00:08:30,833
and it was bigger
than any racket they ever had.

165
00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,500
Prohibition, a nationwide ban
on the sale and transport

166
00:08:34,708 --> 00:08:38,167
of alcohol officially began
in 1920.

167
00:08:38,250 --> 00:08:41,625
The opponents of alcohol, who
bring us Prohibition in 1920,

168
00:08:41,750 --> 00:08:43,708
think they've achieved
a great victory.

169
00:08:43,875 --> 00:08:45,958
But what they don't know
is that Prohibition

170
00:08:46,083 --> 00:08:48,542
is going to turn out
to be an incredible gift

171
00:08:48,667 --> 00:08:51,250
from teetotaler America
to the mob because they are able

172
00:08:51,375 --> 00:08:54,917
to capitalize on this gigantic
national black market.

173
00:08:55,083 --> 00:08:57,167
Americans do not lose
their thirst

174
00:08:57,292 --> 00:08:59,500
for alcohol in Prohibition.

175
00:08:59,583 --> 00:09:01,917
CLAIRE WHITE: It's all
about that supply and demand,

176
00:09:02,042 --> 00:09:04,542
and it really allows
mobsters in the city

177
00:09:04,708 --> 00:09:07,500
to consolidate power
and to build wealth,

178
00:09:07,625 --> 00:09:09,792
becoming millionaires
thanks to Prohibition.

179
00:09:10,583 --> 00:09:13,292
SELWYN RAAB:
Prohibition was an earthquake.

180
00:09:13,417 --> 00:09:16,500
Overnight,
these roving groups had

181
00:09:16,667 --> 00:09:19,792
to get a semblance
of how to operate.

182
00:09:19,917 --> 00:09:23,167
They had to go from being just
street hoods into executives.

183
00:09:23,333 --> 00:09:25,917
♪

184
00:09:26,042 --> 00:09:28,792
SAMI JARROUSH: Bootlegging
was the illegal importation

185
00:09:28,875 --> 00:09:32,375
of alcohol from Canada,
the UK, from the Caribbean,

186
00:09:32,500 --> 00:09:34,542
into the United States
of America.

187
00:09:34,667 --> 00:09:36,833
Now, in order
to get the liquor in,

188
00:09:36,958 --> 00:09:39,917
you need to have people that are
going to meet these boats.

189
00:09:40,042 --> 00:09:41,208
♪

190
00:09:41,333 --> 00:09:44,000
And so bootlegging starts
to pick up in places

191
00:09:44,125 --> 00:09:46,458
like New York and Chicago,
for example,

192
00:09:46,583 --> 00:09:48,542
because these are cities
with ports of entry.

193
00:09:50,167 --> 00:09:52,708
Prohibition is going
to turn organized crime

194
00:09:52,833 --> 00:09:54,833
in New York City
from very disorganized,

195
00:09:54,917 --> 00:09:57,042
very competitive
into, like, a corporation.

196
00:09:58,375 --> 00:09:59,875
They need transportation,

197
00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,000
they need accountants,
they need lawyers.

198
00:10:02,125 --> 00:10:04,750
And all of this requires
a lot of sophistication

199
00:10:04,875 --> 00:10:06,667
and a lot of organization,
much like the legit businesses

200
00:10:06,792 --> 00:10:08,375
that are thriving in America.

201
00:10:08,500 --> 00:10:10,542
So Prohibition turns the mob

202
00:10:10,667 --> 00:10:12,958
into a corporate
business-like structure.

203
00:10:13,083 --> 00:10:15,500
♪

204
00:10:15,667 --> 00:10:18,167
The change in legislation
gave these criminals

205
00:10:18,333 --> 00:10:20,542
an opportunity to level up,

206
00:10:20,708 --> 00:10:23,667
an opportunity
to make more money,

207
00:10:23,833 --> 00:10:25,750
demand more respect,

208
00:10:25,875 --> 00:10:28,500
and ultimately
redefine themselves.

209
00:10:28,583 --> 00:10:29,833
♪

210
00:10:29,917 --> 00:10:32,500
By the late 1920s, two men,

211
00:10:32,667 --> 00:10:35,125
Joe Masseria
and Salvatore Maranzano,

212
00:10:35,208 --> 00:10:38,500
had emerged as two
of the most powerful bootleggers

213
00:10:38,667 --> 00:10:41,042
in New York City.

214
00:10:41,208 --> 00:10:45,583
Masseria in East Harlem,
Maranzano in Brooklyn.

215
00:10:45,708 --> 00:10:48,333
Each recruited a gang
of young Italian immigrants

216
00:10:48,417 --> 00:10:51,000
to help run their operations.

217
00:10:51,125 --> 00:10:54,583
Lines were drawn
between the two factions.

218
00:10:54,708 --> 00:10:58,083
And in 1930,
a violent fight for control

219
00:10:58,208 --> 00:11:01,542
over the bootlegging market
played out in the streets.

220
00:11:01,667 --> 00:11:04,500
Bodies turned up
all over the city,

221
00:11:04,625 --> 00:11:06,750
from office buildings
in East Harlem

222
00:11:06,875 --> 00:11:09,042
to courtyards in the Bronx.

223
00:11:09,167 --> 00:11:14,250
It was bloody,
but blood is bad for business.

224
00:11:14,375 --> 00:11:18,083
Masseria's lieutenants,
Lucky Luciano and Frank Costello

225
00:11:18,208 --> 00:11:21,125
knew that if they wanted
to make real money,

226
00:11:21,208 --> 00:11:24,708
the power struggle
would have to end.

227
00:11:24,833 --> 00:11:26,875
So they made a move.

228
00:11:28,667 --> 00:11:33,667
April 15th, 1931. Coney island.

229
00:11:34,583 --> 00:11:40,125
Lucky Luciano and Joe the Boss
met here at Nuovo Villa Tammaro.

230
00:11:40,250 --> 00:11:44,500
Lobster, mussels,
linguini with clams

231
00:11:44,625 --> 00:11:47,042
and cards.

232
00:11:47,208 --> 00:11:49,500
♪

233
00:11:49,667 --> 00:11:52,667
After lunch...

234
00:11:52,875 --> 00:11:54,292
Big Joe was put on the spot.

235
00:11:54,375 --> 00:11:56,333
[gun cocks]

236
00:11:56,458 --> 00:11:58,208
[gunshot]

237
00:11:58,375 --> 00:12:00,917
Less than five months later,
at his office in Midtown...

238
00:12:01,042 --> 00:12:03,750
[gun cocks, gunshots]

239
00:12:03,875 --> 00:12:07,042
...it's Sal Maranzano
who meets his end.

240
00:12:07,708 --> 00:12:09,625
With the old guard
out of the way

241
00:12:09,750 --> 00:12:11,833
and a clean slate
in front of them,

242
00:12:11,917 --> 00:12:14,333
a younger generation
of mafioso,

243
00:12:14,500 --> 00:12:18,083
led by Charles "Lucky" Luciano,
established a new thing.

244
00:12:18,208 --> 00:12:19,333
♪

245
00:12:19,458 --> 00:12:21,542
...with new rules.

246
00:12:21,667 --> 00:12:26,125
SELWYN: So Lucky Luciano was
the Godfather of the Godfathers,

247
00:12:26,208 --> 00:12:29,375
was the main gangster
who created

248
00:12:29,500 --> 00:12:31,500
not only the Five Families,

249
00:12:31,625 --> 00:12:35,375
but some 20 other odd Families
throughout the country.

250
00:12:36,208 --> 00:12:39,167
Luciano realized he needed
some sort of structure

251
00:12:39,292 --> 00:12:41,958
to enforce his new ways
of doing business.

252
00:12:44,042 --> 00:12:46,417
He also wanted to ensure
that there would never

253
00:12:46,542 --> 00:12:48,625
be a war between the Families,

254
00:12:48,750 --> 00:12:52,083
so he created the Commission,
a ruling board

255
00:12:52,208 --> 00:12:55,833
consisting of the heads
of each Family.

256
00:12:55,958 --> 00:12:59,208
Luciano's First Commission
had seven voting members:

257
00:12:59,375 --> 00:13:03,167
Chicago, Buffalo
and the New York Five.

258
00:13:03,292 --> 00:13:07,042
The Commission was, in effect,
the Board of Directors,

259
00:13:07,167 --> 00:13:10,333
a ruling body
who wrote the constitution

260
00:13:10,458 --> 00:13:12,333
for the American mafia.

261
00:13:12,375 --> 00:13:15,917
He wanted to make sure
that the Five Families

262
00:13:16,042 --> 00:13:19,958
in New York would be
the kingpins and they became

263
00:13:20,042 --> 00:13:23,625
the only permanent members
of the Commission.

264
00:13:23,792 --> 00:13:27,208
So, in effect,
he made the Five Families

265
00:13:27,375 --> 00:13:31,875
the rulers
of the entire American mafia.

266
00:13:32,042 --> 00:13:33,708
♪

267
00:13:33,875 --> 00:13:35,792
SAMI: The Commission
is bringing together

268
00:13:35,875 --> 00:13:37,000
all of New York's
Five Families,

269
00:13:37,125 --> 00:13:39,208
and you have
the five heads of those Families

270
00:13:39,375 --> 00:13:42,208
that are sort of working
in tandem with one another

271
00:13:42,333 --> 00:13:45,250
to make sure that no one
really steps on anybody's toes.

272
00:13:45,375 --> 00:13:48,333
In 1931, New York's
Five Families were headed

273
00:13:48,458 --> 00:13:52,167
by Lucky Luciano,
Joseph Profaci,

274
00:13:52,292 --> 00:13:56,042
Vincent Mangano,
Tommy Gagliano and Joe Bonanno.

275
00:13:56,208 --> 00:13:58,250
♪

276
00:13:58,375 --> 00:14:01,583
Each Family abided
by the same set of rules.

277
00:14:01,708 --> 00:14:04,000
Rules that would
make them powerful,

278
00:14:04,083 --> 00:14:06,333
rules that would make them rich.

279
00:14:06,500 --> 00:14:09,833
♪

280
00:14:09,958 --> 00:14:11,542
Rules that would make them

281
00:14:11,667 --> 00:14:14,875
one of the most successful
organizations in America,

282
00:14:15,042 --> 00:14:19,500
reputedly second in size only
to the US Government itself.

283
00:14:19,625 --> 00:14:23,125
Members were required
to have Sicilian roots.

284
00:14:23,250 --> 00:14:26,750
Each Family maintained the same
organizational structure,

285
00:14:26,875 --> 00:14:29,333
and were to obey the boss.

286
00:14:29,458 --> 00:14:32,167
They were to live
by a code of honor:

287
00:14:32,292 --> 00:14:37,542
No drugs, respect other members
and their significant others.

288
00:14:37,667 --> 00:14:40,625
It was to be
a lifetime membership

289
00:14:40,750 --> 00:14:45,000
and, most importantly,
Omertà, silence,

290
00:14:45,083 --> 00:14:48,625
honor and absolute loyalty
to the Family.

291
00:14:48,750 --> 00:14:51,792
♪

292
00:14:51,917 --> 00:14:54,958
SAMI:
So omertà becomes probably

293
00:14:55,042 --> 00:15:00,708
the most pivotal rule
in mafioso lifestyle.

294
00:15:00,792 --> 00:15:03,958
Never rat out your friends,
never rat out your Family.

295
00:15:04,083 --> 00:15:07,833
Remain loyal to your Family
and you should be okay.

296
00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:11,417
But if you talk outside
of that code of silence...

297
00:15:11,500 --> 00:15:13,000
you never know
what might happen to you.

298
00:15:13,167 --> 00:15:16,417
♪

299
00:15:16,542 --> 00:15:19,833
They live by these rules,
and the bosses demanded

300
00:15:19,958 --> 00:15:21,542
with a blood oath

301
00:15:21,667 --> 00:15:23,042
that even the lowest levels

302
00:15:23,167 --> 00:15:25,125
of their organizations
do the same.

303
00:15:25,250 --> 00:15:26,917
♪

304
00:15:27,042 --> 00:15:29,583
The blood oath
that a lowly soldier

305
00:15:29,750 --> 00:15:32,000
by the name
of Joseph Valachi took

306
00:15:32,042 --> 00:15:34,292
and would one day betray.

307
00:15:34,417 --> 00:15:36,167
♪

308
00:15:40,875 --> 00:15:42,833
New York's Five Families
found success

309
00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,625
in the early XX century
for myriad reasons.

310
00:15:45,750 --> 00:15:48,125
A big one was their agility.

311
00:15:48,250 --> 00:15:51,000
With every political
or economic shift,

312
00:15:51,125 --> 00:15:54,208
be it on a city,
state or national scale,

313
00:15:54,375 --> 00:15:57,083
the Five Families
were there to capitalize.

314
00:15:57,208 --> 00:15:59,333
ED: In the aftermath of
the stock market crash in '29,

315
00:15:59,417 --> 00:16:01,875
the American economy
goes into a free fall.

316
00:16:02,042 --> 00:16:04,625
By the early 1930s,
the unemployment rate

317
00:16:04,708 --> 00:16:06,250
in America is 25%.

318
00:16:06,375 --> 00:16:09,333
So economic suffering
is all across the country.

319
00:16:09,500 --> 00:16:12,250
♪

320
00:16:12,375 --> 00:16:13,750
ALEX HORTIS:
During the Great Depression,

321
00:16:13,875 --> 00:16:15,292
when the country was suffering,

322
00:16:15,375 --> 00:16:17,375
in many ways
the mob was booming.

323
00:16:17,542 --> 00:16:20,708
There's a great line
that there's two things

324
00:16:20,875 --> 00:16:22,958
that are resistant
to economic downturns.

325
00:16:23,083 --> 00:16:25,083
One is certain aspects
of the entertainment industry,

326
00:16:25,208 --> 00:16:28,000
and the other
is this thing of ours,

327
00:16:28,125 --> 00:16:32,333
the mafia, and the reason
that it could survive,

328
00:16:32,458 --> 00:16:36,042
really, and thrive is because
people still were going out.

329
00:16:36,208 --> 00:16:37,667
They wanted to be entertained.

330
00:16:37,750 --> 00:16:41,167
The Five Families
bootlegging operation thrived

331
00:16:41,333 --> 00:16:44,208
despite the economic turmoil
of the early '30s,

332
00:16:44,333 --> 00:16:46,708
but their world
changed dramatically

333
00:16:46,833 --> 00:16:50,292
when Prohibition ended in 1933.

334
00:16:50,375 --> 00:16:53,042
The end of Prohibition
on December 5th, 1933,

335
00:16:53,167 --> 00:16:54,417
is a great day for America.

336
00:16:54,542 --> 00:16:56,167
It's not such a great day
for the mafia

337
00:16:56,333 --> 00:16:58,208
because this black market
that they've made

338
00:16:58,333 --> 00:17:00,917
tens and hundreds of millions
of dollars in is suddenly gone.

339
00:17:01,042 --> 00:17:03,125
Alcohol is now legal.

340
00:17:07,708 --> 00:17:09,083
CLAIRE WHITE:
This is a period when they sort

341
00:17:09,208 --> 00:17:11,167
of have to reevaluate.

342
00:17:11,375 --> 00:17:14,542
We start seeing the beginning
of labor racketeering,

343
00:17:14,708 --> 00:17:17,125
getting into the unions.

344
00:17:17,250 --> 00:17:18,875
ED: The Great Depression
leads to the election

345
00:17:19,042 --> 00:17:20,500
of Franklin Delano Roosevelt,

346
00:17:20,583 --> 00:17:25,083
and he brings to his office
this idea of the New Deal.

347
00:17:25,208 --> 00:17:27,167
The federal government
is going to do things to pull

348
00:17:27,333 --> 00:17:30,000
America out
of the Great Depression.

349
00:17:30,125 --> 00:17:32,333
One of the biggest achievements
of the New Deal

350
00:17:32,417 --> 00:17:34,250
is the Wagner Act,
which is a package

351
00:17:34,375 --> 00:17:35,958
of labor laws
that essentially

352
00:17:36,083 --> 00:17:38,333
establishes workers
have the right to join a union.

353
00:17:38,458 --> 00:17:40,208
And so the American
labor movement

354
00:17:40,333 --> 00:17:41,792
flourishes as never before.

355
00:17:41,917 --> 00:17:44,917
♪

356
00:17:45,042 --> 00:17:46,625
The mafia realizes
that labor unions

357
00:17:46,750 --> 00:17:48,250
present a tremendous opportunity

358
00:17:48,375 --> 00:17:50,417
because labor unions
are big organizations.

359
00:17:50,542 --> 00:17:51,833
They pull in dues.

360
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:54,250
They actually have
fairly large cash flow,

361
00:17:54,375 --> 00:17:55,500
and they also are attached

362
00:17:55,667 --> 00:17:57,000
to businesses
that make a lot of money.

363
00:17:57,125 --> 00:17:59,833
What made unions
susceptible to infiltration,

364
00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:02,708
they were run, you know,
for the most part,

365
00:18:02,875 --> 00:18:04,917
by people in the neighborhood.

366
00:18:05,042 --> 00:18:07,958
So you could threaten people
that you knew

367
00:18:08,042 --> 00:18:11,042
within the labor union because
they were often their neighbors,

368
00:18:11,167 --> 00:18:13,042
or at least
within the same borough.

369
00:18:14,042 --> 00:18:16,667
Another aspect
that made them vulnerable

370
00:18:16,792 --> 00:18:19,000
is that labor unions
could buy you, quote,

371
00:18:19,125 --> 00:18:21,375
"peace," labor peace,

372
00:18:21,500 --> 00:18:25,042
and so the incentives to cut
deals with labor union leaders

373
00:18:25,167 --> 00:18:27,750
was just very strong
and overwhelming.

374
00:18:27,875 --> 00:18:30,583
A lot of times, these
labor unions also represented,

375
00:18:30,708 --> 00:18:33,833
you know, workers that were
quite individually weak,

376
00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:36,292
they certainly
didn't have the ability

377
00:18:36,375 --> 00:18:39,083
to stand up to corruption.

378
00:18:39,208 --> 00:18:40,625
You know, the classic
is the docks.

379
00:18:40,708 --> 00:18:43,458
♪

380
00:18:43,583 --> 00:18:46,333
These docks service
this enormous market.

381
00:18:46,458 --> 00:18:48,042
All these goods were moving
in and out of it,

382
00:18:48,167 --> 00:18:49,708
but there's very limited space

383
00:18:49,875 --> 00:18:53,042
down on, you know,
the southern end of Manhattan.

384
00:18:53,208 --> 00:18:55,375
And so, as a result,
if you control the docks,

385
00:18:55,542 --> 00:18:58,208
you control literally
the space there.

386
00:18:58,333 --> 00:19:00,750
You control commerce going
in and out of New York.

387
00:19:00,875 --> 00:19:06,417
♪

388
00:19:06,542 --> 00:19:12,125
In this one tight region is
5% of the American population.

389
00:19:12,250 --> 00:19:14,542
So if you were trying
to skim a little money from some

390
00:19:14,667 --> 00:19:17,125
kind of transaction,
where better to do it than

391
00:19:17,250 --> 00:19:19,750
where all the spending
is taking place?

392
00:19:19,875 --> 00:19:22,167
If you could skim off
a little money from the security

393
00:19:22,333 --> 00:19:26,333
apparatus, a factory inspection,
or the shipping,

394
00:19:26,458 --> 00:19:29,500
you could, of course,
make a fortune.

395
00:19:29,542 --> 00:19:31,250
And people did.

396
00:19:31,375 --> 00:19:32,917
♪

397
00:19:33,083 --> 00:19:35,333
CLAIRE: Every period
of transition in history

398
00:19:35,417 --> 00:19:38,375
sort of creates
these new avenues for the mob,

399
00:19:38,542 --> 00:19:41,125
and that's one of the reasons
that the Italian American mafia

400
00:19:41,208 --> 00:19:43,375
is so successful,
is their ability to be

401
00:19:43,500 --> 00:19:45,542
very nimble
and sort of transition

402
00:19:45,667 --> 00:19:48,208
into new business opportunities
when it arises.

403
00:19:48,375 --> 00:19:52,042
So during World War II,
what that really means is

404
00:19:52,167 --> 00:19:54,208
taking advantage
of the ration card system.

405
00:19:55,083 --> 00:19:58,417
MAN: A day which will live
in infamy.

406
00:19:58,542 --> 00:20:01,708
♪

407
00:20:01,875 --> 00:20:03,750
ED: For the United States,
World War II begins

408
00:20:03,875 --> 00:20:08,250
on December, 1941, when
the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor.

409
00:20:08,375 --> 00:20:10,750
Suddenly the country
does everything it can to put

410
00:20:10,917 --> 00:20:13,250
millions of people into uniform
and into the action

411
00:20:13,375 --> 00:20:15,625
in Europe and in Asia.

412
00:20:15,708 --> 00:20:18,000
The United States
also imposes restrictions

413
00:20:18,125 --> 00:20:20,375
and rationing on all
kinds of vital supplies

414
00:20:20,500 --> 00:20:23,667
so that the military won't be
wanting for these supplies.

415
00:20:23,792 --> 00:20:25,833
All sorts of things
that Americans typically

416
00:20:25,958 --> 00:20:27,542
would have easy access to,

417
00:20:27,667 --> 00:20:30,958
tires and pantyhose
and gasoline.

418
00:20:31,042 --> 00:20:35,292
So the mob turns the crisis
of World War II into a fantastic

419
00:20:35,417 --> 00:20:37,792
black market opportunity
and they make millions.

420
00:20:38,875 --> 00:20:42,625
The Five Families had not
only survived, but flourished

421
00:20:42,750 --> 00:20:46,458
through Prohibition,
the Depression and World War II.

422
00:20:46,583 --> 00:20:49,833
And by the early '40s, they
were tapped into revenue streams

423
00:20:49,958 --> 00:20:51,833
all over New York City.

424
00:20:51,958 --> 00:20:56,375
They'd extort local businesses,
traffic illicit goods,

425
00:20:56,458 --> 00:20:58,583
run gambling operations
in the neighborhoods

426
00:20:58,708 --> 00:21:01,708
and give loans
to business owners in a pinch.

427
00:21:01,875 --> 00:21:06,333
Their portfolio was diversified
and their lifestyle comfortable.

428
00:21:06,417 --> 00:21:09,167
These were the glory years.

429
00:21:09,292 --> 00:21:11,833
During this time,
each of the Five Families

430
00:21:11,958 --> 00:21:15,833
carved out their different
expertise and territories.

431
00:21:15,875 --> 00:21:18,458
Joe Bonanno could move
anything anywhere.

432
00:21:18,542 --> 00:21:21,333
One of the preeminent
traffickers of illicit goods

433
00:21:21,458 --> 00:21:23,000
in the Northeast.

434
00:21:23,208 --> 00:21:27,542
Tommy Gagliano controlled
garment unions in the Bronx.

435
00:21:27,667 --> 00:21:30,333
Don Mangano
had the Brooklyn docks

436
00:21:30,500 --> 00:21:33,542
and reigned over garbage trucks
all over the city.

437
00:21:33,667 --> 00:21:36,333
His pal Joe Profaci
had a gambling ring

438
00:21:36,417 --> 00:21:39,583
in Brooklyn that brought in
$5 million a week.

439
00:21:39,708 --> 00:21:43,792
That'd be more than $100 million
a week by today's standards.

440
00:21:43,917 --> 00:21:48,375
Outside of gambling, Profaci
was known as the Olive Oil King.

441
00:21:48,542 --> 00:21:51,625
His Mamma Mia Olive Oil Company
was the biggest importer

442
00:21:51,750 --> 00:21:55,583
of olive oil and tomato paste
in the United States.

443
00:21:55,708 --> 00:21:58,875
Lucky Luciano, the guy
who invented the Commission,

444
00:21:59,042 --> 00:22:02,917
was convicted in 1936
for running a prostitution ring.

445
00:22:03,042 --> 00:22:06,083
He was sent to prison
for 30 to 50 years.

446
00:22:06,250 --> 00:22:08,458
That didn't impact business.

447
00:22:08,542 --> 00:22:11,583
Next in the chain of command
was Frank Costello,

448
00:22:11,708 --> 00:22:13,542
and everybody knew Frank.

449
00:22:13,708 --> 00:22:15,667
♪

450
00:22:15,750 --> 00:22:17,792
Costello wasn't his real name.

451
00:22:17,917 --> 00:22:21,250
He adopted an Irish name,

452
00:22:21,375 --> 00:22:24,792
and that was part
of Costello's personality.

453
00:22:25,542 --> 00:22:27,917
That he tried
to represent himself

454
00:22:28,042 --> 00:22:29,833
as a legitimate businessman.

455
00:22:29,958 --> 00:22:32,250
[indistinct chatter]

456
00:22:32,375 --> 00:22:34,125
ED: Costello is different
from a lot of the mobsters

457
00:22:34,250 --> 00:22:35,667
from his era.

458
00:22:35,792 --> 00:22:39,125
And Costello also wants
to be taken seriously,

459
00:22:39,250 --> 00:22:43,333
so he dresses very nicely,
he hobnobs with famous people.

460
00:22:43,500 --> 00:22:45,583
He has great parties
at his penthouse

461
00:22:45,708 --> 00:22:49,542
where judges and politicians
and business people come,

462
00:22:49,708 --> 00:22:52,625
and he really craves
that kind of respect.

463
00:22:52,750 --> 00:22:55,667
ANTHONY: He had a certain
smoothness to himself,

464
00:22:55,792 --> 00:22:59,250
and he knew
how to handle politicians,

465
00:22:59,375 --> 00:23:02,458
how to create that aura.

466
00:23:02,583 --> 00:23:05,542
♪

467
00:23:05,667 --> 00:23:10,500
Frank Costello, for his time,
was the gangster that people

468
00:23:10,625 --> 00:23:14,875
looked up to and wanted
to emulate and were envious of.

469
00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:16,792
ED: Costello liked
the nightlife in New York,

470
00:23:16,917 --> 00:23:19,000
and so he was often seen
out at nightclubs,

471
00:23:19,125 --> 00:23:21,500
including a club that he owned
a share in, the Copacabana.

472
00:23:21,625 --> 00:23:23,750
Frank Costello was known

473
00:23:23,833 --> 00:23:26,250
as the Prime Minister
Of the underworld.

474
00:23:26,417 --> 00:23:30,292
Another name he acquired
was King of Slots.

475
00:23:30,417 --> 00:23:34,333
He had illegal casinos
across the United States.

476
00:23:34,500 --> 00:23:36,500
He also invested
in legal casinos

477
00:23:36,625 --> 00:23:39,750
in Las Vegas as well as in Cuba.

478
00:23:39,875 --> 00:23:42,708
ANTHONY: Frank purchased
a country home, so to speak,

479
00:23:42,875 --> 00:23:44,958
out on Long Island
in Sands Point.

480
00:23:45,042 --> 00:23:48,458
Wanted to be part
of the North Shore community,

481
00:23:48,583 --> 00:23:52,375
which had a certain
good reputation.

482
00:23:52,542 --> 00:23:55,500
SELWYN:
He believed he was important,

483
00:23:55,625 --> 00:23:59,833
and he tried to, in effect,
say, "I'm a gambler

484
00:23:59,917 --> 00:24:03,625
and I'm a businessman
but I'm not really a gangster."

485
00:24:03,708 --> 00:24:05,208
♪

486
00:24:05,333 --> 00:24:06,583
[birds chirping]

487
00:24:06,708 --> 00:24:08,542
♪

488
00:24:08,667 --> 00:24:11,750
Costello hid behind
an aura of legitimacy

489
00:24:11,833 --> 00:24:14,958
and professionalism, and
for a while that worked for him,

490
00:24:15,083 --> 00:24:17,750
but when the US Senate
launched an investigation

491
00:24:17,875 --> 00:24:22,375
into gambling in 1950,
Costello was under fire.

492
00:24:22,542 --> 00:24:24,667
SAMI: So we have a first term
senator from the state

493
00:24:24,792 --> 00:24:27,083
of Tennessee
by the name of Estes Kefauver.

494
00:24:27,208 --> 00:24:30,458
Kefauver is someone
that organizes and puts together

495
00:24:30,583 --> 00:24:33,500
a committee that wants
to look at...

496
00:24:33,667 --> 00:24:36,542
what is seen as the lifeblood
of organized crime

497
00:24:36,708 --> 00:24:38,792
at the time,
which was interstate gambling.

498
00:24:39,875 --> 00:24:42,000
CLAIRE: The Kefauver committee
was really looking

499
00:24:42,083 --> 00:24:45,708
at these things
that broke interstate laws,

500
00:24:45,875 --> 00:24:48,833
that broke federal laws
and transporting

501
00:24:48,958 --> 00:24:50,833
of slot machines
and other coin-out machines

502
00:24:50,958 --> 00:24:53,542
is definitely a big thing
that they were looking into,

503
00:24:53,708 --> 00:24:56,750
not just with Costello, but,
you know, a lot of the mobsters

504
00:24:56,875 --> 00:24:59,667
who were called to testify
for Kefauver

505
00:24:59,833 --> 00:25:02,250
were in some way connected
to illegal gambling.

506
00:25:02,375 --> 00:25:03,917
♪

507
00:25:04,042 --> 00:25:07,958
Once the public hearings
began in 1951,

508
00:25:08,083 --> 00:25:10,292
an estimated 30 million
Americans tuned

509
00:25:10,375 --> 00:25:12,875
into their televisions to watch.

510
00:25:13,042 --> 00:25:14,125
SAMI: Now, this is
incredibly exciting

511
00:25:15,625 --> 00:25:16,458
for the American public
for a couple of reasons.

512
00:25:16,625 --> 00:25:18,250
First off, it's the 1950s.

513
00:25:18,375 --> 00:25:21,667
And by the 1950s, we're looking
at the burgeoning era

514
00:25:21,833 --> 00:25:24,625
of a new medium
known as television.

515
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:29,750
MAN: The hearing
will please be in order.

516
00:25:29,875 --> 00:25:32,750
So when Estes Kefauver decides
that these are hearings

517
00:25:32,875 --> 00:25:35,667
that need to be televised,
this is a huge opportunity

518
00:25:35,833 --> 00:25:38,667
for the American public to watch
these hearings and to also

519
00:25:38,792 --> 00:25:41,750
sort of see who are
these nefarious characters

520
00:25:41,875 --> 00:25:44,042
that Kefauver is specifically
trying to target and go after.

521
00:25:44,208 --> 00:25:45,958
[tapping sounds]

522
00:26:00,042 --> 00:26:04,958
ANTHONY: Costello appeared
very evasive, a bit combative,

523
00:26:05,042 --> 00:26:07,542
and he became across
as somebody that was shady.

524
00:26:27,375 --> 00:26:31,292
Costello was so sure
of himself that he could pass

525
00:26:31,417 --> 00:26:33,917
as a legitimate businessman,

526
00:26:34,042 --> 00:26:37,000
that, unlike all
the other bosses, he went

527
00:26:37,083 --> 00:26:39,417
before the committee and thought
he could handle himself.

528
00:26:39,542 --> 00:26:40,542
And it ruined him.

529
00:26:59,750 --> 00:27:01,667
They found holes
in his testimony.

530
00:27:01,792 --> 00:27:05,292
So, in effect,
it led to IRS investigations

531
00:27:05,375 --> 00:27:06,833
and led to his imprisonment.

532
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,500
♪

533
00:27:09,583 --> 00:27:12,500
In 1954, Frank Costello
was sentenced

534
00:27:12,583 --> 00:27:15,000
to five years in prison
for tax evasion.

535
00:27:15,083 --> 00:27:18,667
But by 1957,
he was back out on the street

536
00:27:18,875 --> 00:27:21,708
with much bigger problems
on his hands.

537
00:27:21,833 --> 00:27:24,833
SELWYN: One of Costello's
problems was

538
00:27:24,958 --> 00:27:28,792
that when he inherited
Lucky Luciano's Family,

539
00:27:28,875 --> 00:27:32,625
the real underboss
at the time was Vito Genovese.

540
00:27:32,750 --> 00:27:35,750
He was a very romantic guy,

541
00:27:35,833 --> 00:27:38,000
and he was in pursuit
of a woman.

542
00:27:38,125 --> 00:27:41,000
He killed another rival
and he had to flee.

543
00:27:41,875 --> 00:27:46,958
Genovese had to leave
the country in the late 1930s.

544
00:27:47,125 --> 00:27:50,833
But Genovese finally
came back to the States

545
00:27:50,917 --> 00:27:53,167
and he wanted
to take over the Family.

546
00:27:53,292 --> 00:27:54,833
He believed it was his.

547
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:56,958
And he would stop at nothing.

548
00:27:57,042 --> 00:28:00,333
No rule, no code could keep
Vito Genovese

549
00:28:00,458 --> 00:28:03,750
from going after what he
believed was rightfully his.

550
00:28:03,875 --> 00:28:06,917
♪

551
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:14,667
In 1957, the Five Families
were nearing

552
00:28:14,750 --> 00:28:17,750
30 years of existence
in New York City.

553
00:28:17,875 --> 00:28:20,500
30 years of success,

554
00:28:20,625 --> 00:28:23,583
largely because there
had been 30 years

555
00:28:23,708 --> 00:28:26,042
of relative peace
since the murders

556
00:28:26,208 --> 00:28:28,917
of Joe Masseria
and Sal Maranzano.

557
00:28:29,042 --> 00:28:32,292
No bloody turf wars,
no public slayings.

558
00:28:32,417 --> 00:28:35,583
Conflict was dealt with
in the shadows,

559
00:28:35,708 --> 00:28:37,708
and members had,
for the most part,

560
00:28:37,833 --> 00:28:41,500
upheld their oath
and stuck to the rules.

561
00:28:41,625 --> 00:28:43,958
But that was about to change.

562
00:28:44,083 --> 00:28:46,833
♪

563
00:28:46,958 --> 00:28:49,750
Frank Costello had
been boss of his Family

564
00:28:49,875 --> 00:28:52,917
since 1937,
much to the displeasure

565
00:28:53,042 --> 00:28:55,708
of the Family's underboss,
Vito Genovese.

566
00:28:55,833 --> 00:28:58,667
Genovese thought
the seat should be his,

567
00:28:58,792 --> 00:29:01,708
and the tension began to boil.

568
00:29:01,875 --> 00:29:05,667
ANTHONY: Genovese and Costello
were working together.

569
00:29:05,792 --> 00:29:08,708
They probably
respected each other.

570
00:29:08,833 --> 00:29:10,500
I don't think
they liked each other.

571
00:29:10,625 --> 00:29:13,625
SAMI: Frank Costello brings
more of a businessman air

572
00:29:13,708 --> 00:29:15,250
to the role.

573
00:29:15,375 --> 00:29:19,042
Dapper suits, nice looking guy,
well quaffed hair.

574
00:29:19,208 --> 00:29:21,875
Knows how to deal
with people in high places,

575
00:29:22,042 --> 00:29:23,958
knows how to deal
with politicians.

576
00:29:24,083 --> 00:29:26,458
Genovese is a bit
more rough around the edges.

577
00:29:26,583 --> 00:29:30,042
He's a bit more shoot now,
ask questions later kind of guy.

578
00:29:30,208 --> 00:29:32,875
ANTHONY: Genovese, he tried
his hand at a number

579
00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:35,458
of legitimate businesses
but, unlike Costello,

580
00:29:35,625 --> 00:29:36,792
didn't do very well.

581
00:29:36,875 --> 00:29:38,667
He had a poultry business,

582
00:29:38,833 --> 00:29:42,000
a liquor business,
a gambling boat venture.

583
00:29:42,125 --> 00:29:45,333
They all failed.
But he had control.

584
00:29:45,417 --> 00:29:49,083
He was a vicious guy,
more vicious than Costello,

585
00:29:49,250 --> 00:29:52,500
and people, you know,
gave him the deference.

586
00:29:53,875 --> 00:29:56,958
SAMI: So when Genovese sees
Frank Costello sitting

587
00:29:57,042 --> 00:29:59,000
in the seat of power, he's like,
"Well, that's not fair.

588
00:29:59,125 --> 00:30:01,167
"That's supposed to be my role.

589
00:30:01,250 --> 00:30:03,333
"I was the guy
that was under Lucky Luciano.

590
00:30:03,458 --> 00:30:05,542
How dare you sit in my spot?"

591
00:30:05,708 --> 00:30:09,542
So there was this envy,
I would say hate,

592
00:30:09,708 --> 00:30:12,042
but it was just
maybe good business sense

593
00:30:12,167 --> 00:30:15,167
on Genovese's part
to try to get rid of Costello.

594
00:30:16,208 --> 00:30:20,000
[heart beating]

595
00:30:20,042 --> 00:30:23,958
Frank Costello was
having a dinner and coffee

596
00:30:24,083 --> 00:30:26,250
at some Upper East Side
restaurants,

597
00:30:26,375 --> 00:30:29,500
not far from his home
on Central Park West.

598
00:30:29,667 --> 00:30:31,667
And he had to go back home.

599
00:30:31,833 --> 00:30:35,417
He got into the door
of the apartment building.

600
00:30:35,542 --> 00:30:39,667
And heard the famously,
"Frank, this is for you."

601
00:30:39,792 --> 00:30:41,250
Frank turned his head.

602
00:30:45,458 --> 00:30:47,667
Instead of hitting straight on,

603
00:30:47,750 --> 00:30:50,500
sort of grazed
Frank's turning head.

604
00:30:50,583 --> 00:30:52,750
♪

605
00:30:52,875 --> 00:30:55,125
And the shooter fled.

606
00:30:55,208 --> 00:30:59,375
♪

607
00:30:59,542 --> 00:31:02,958
Costello survived
the attempt on his life.

608
00:31:03,042 --> 00:31:05,208
When questioned by police after,

609
00:31:05,375 --> 00:31:07,708
he claimed he never got
a good look at the shooter.

610
00:31:07,833 --> 00:31:10,333
But even if he had,
it wouldn't matter.

611
00:31:10,417 --> 00:31:15,125
The Commission rules
still held... Omertà.

612
00:31:15,292 --> 00:31:19,250
The Majestic's doorman, however,
did not live by the same code.

613
00:31:19,375 --> 00:31:22,250
He got a good look,
and when presented

614
00:31:22,375 --> 00:31:27,958
with photos by investigators,
he identified Vincent Gigante.

615
00:31:28,083 --> 00:31:30,792
PAUL W. WILLIAMS: Gigante was,
according to our information,

616
00:31:30,875 --> 00:31:32,542
a protégé of Genovese.

617
00:31:32,708 --> 00:31:34,792
He was the bright boy.

618
00:31:34,917 --> 00:31:38,625
He was the rising star
of the underworld.

619
00:31:40,667 --> 00:31:42,875
My name is Rita Gigante.

620
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:45,917
I am the daughter
of Vincent Gigante.

621
00:31:46,042 --> 00:31:48,167
Someone came to Vito
and said, you know,

622
00:31:48,292 --> 00:31:50,542
"Look at this kid, he's..."
you know, "He's promising."

623
00:31:50,708 --> 00:31:52,042
♪

624
00:31:52,208 --> 00:31:56,292
He knew he had to do
something to prove himself.

625
00:31:56,417 --> 00:31:59,458
But he liked Frank
and he missed.

626
00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:04,750
I don't think he really,
in a sense, wanted to do that.

627
00:32:05,667 --> 00:32:09,250
ANTHONY: Frank Costello would
later testify that he didn't

628
00:32:09,333 --> 00:32:11,917
have a good view
of who the shooter was.

629
00:32:12,042 --> 00:32:15,167
The story I heard
was that as Costello was leaving

630
00:32:15,292 --> 00:32:18,708
the witness box,
Gigante supposedly said,

631
00:32:18,875 --> 00:32:19,917
"Thanks, Frank."

632
00:32:21,542 --> 00:32:24,042
After that,
they actually became friends.

633
00:32:24,167 --> 00:32:26,792
Costello had Gigante over
for dinner

634
00:32:26,917 --> 00:32:28,875
and drinks at his apartment.

635
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:31,208
The hatchet,
so to speak, was buried.

636
00:32:31,375 --> 00:32:35,333
But this all sort of created
the thought in Costello's mind

637
00:32:35,458 --> 00:32:38,958
that, "Hey, maybe
I should step back

638
00:32:39,083 --> 00:32:41,042
and, if I want to survive,
sort of retire."

639
00:32:41,208 --> 00:32:43,250
♪

640
00:32:43,375 --> 00:32:46,167
Frank Costello would relinquish
control of his Family

641
00:32:46,292 --> 00:32:49,333
to Vito Genovese
and fall into the background.

642
00:32:49,417 --> 00:32:51,000
He would not seek revenge
in the streets

643
00:32:51,083 --> 00:32:52,833
or on the witness stand.

644
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,500
He'd uphold his end
of the deal,

645
00:32:55,583 --> 00:32:58,375
put the Family first
and follow the code,

646
00:32:58,542 --> 00:33:01,500
but Genovese's brazen act
did not go unnoticed

647
00:33:01,625 --> 00:33:03,083
by the other bosses.

648
00:33:04,583 --> 00:33:06,167
Albert Anastasia lobbied
the Commission to approve

649
00:33:06,292 --> 00:33:09,375
a hit on Genovese,
and tension got high.

650
00:33:09,500 --> 00:33:12,125
On the brink
of an all-out war, Joe Bonanno,

651
00:33:12,250 --> 00:33:14,042
the secure leader
of his own Family,

652
00:33:14,167 --> 00:33:16,375
mediated a peace agreement

653
00:33:16,542 --> 00:33:18,667
and successfully
settled the ship.

654
00:33:18,750 --> 00:33:21,167
♪

655
00:33:21,292 --> 00:33:24,083
In the aftermath
of the intervention, Bonanno

656
00:33:24,208 --> 00:33:27,083
declared himself
the capo consigliere,

657
00:33:27,208 --> 00:33:29,083
chief counselor
of the Commission.

658
00:33:29,208 --> 00:33:32,000
It was a made up title,
but enough for Bonanno

659
00:33:32,083 --> 00:33:34,500
to believe he was
above the law

660
00:33:34,667 --> 00:33:37,375
and above the rules...

661
00:33:39,375 --> 00:33:42,167
especially when it came
to drugs.

662
00:33:44,375 --> 00:33:46,750
The rule was they didn't deal
in narcotics, but the other rule

663
00:33:46,875 --> 00:33:49,208
was, "We make as much money
as we can, any way we can."

664
00:33:49,375 --> 00:33:51,708
So in the late 1950s,
America has a heroin market,

665
00:33:51,875 --> 00:33:53,000
but it's very small.

666
00:33:53,083 --> 00:33:55,542
Heroin was made illegal in 1924.

667
00:33:55,667 --> 00:33:58,917
So there's a black market
opportunity here.

668
00:33:59,042 --> 00:34:01,833
CLAIRE: Joe Bonanno is
definitely looking

669
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:03,417
to increase his power

670
00:34:03,542 --> 00:34:07,208
and increase his financial
stake in the Commission.

671
00:34:07,375 --> 00:34:10,042
For him,
the 1950s is a good period

672
00:34:10,208 --> 00:34:11,542
for that,
for a couple of reasons.

673
00:34:11,667 --> 00:34:15,542
He does seize this opening
in the heroin trade,

674
00:34:15,667 --> 00:34:19,417
and I think he really
does use this transfer

675
00:34:19,542 --> 00:34:23,083
of power as an opportunity
to elevate himself.

676
00:34:23,208 --> 00:34:26,833
Looking to capitalize
on his improved stature

677
00:34:26,958 --> 00:34:28,333
within the Commission,

678
00:34:28,542 --> 00:34:30,708
Bonanno arranged
a meeting back in Sicily.

679
00:34:35,708 --> 00:34:38,125
ANNA SERGI: So the meeting
was really an occasion

680
00:34:38,208 --> 00:34:42,833
for Joe Bonanno to show off
his so-called leadership.

681
00:34:42,917 --> 00:34:47,375
Joe Bonanno wanted to portray
himself as a spokesperson

682
00:34:47,500 --> 00:34:50,417
for all of the Americans,
the most important boss,

683
00:34:50,542 --> 00:34:53,333
the boss who could change
everyone else's mind.

684
00:34:54,833 --> 00:34:58,500
So we do know that a lot
of Americans were at the meeting

685
00:34:58,667 --> 00:35:01,333
in an attempt
to set up an international

686
00:35:01,458 --> 00:35:04,167
intercontinental business
for drugs.

687
00:35:04,292 --> 00:35:06,292
ED: And the big question
on the table is,

688
00:35:06,417 --> 00:35:09,167
"How can we create
an organization and a system

689
00:35:09,292 --> 00:35:11,042
"by which we can import heroin

690
00:35:11,167 --> 00:35:14,167
from Europe
into the United States?"

691
00:35:14,333 --> 00:35:16,833
ALEX STILLE: And they basically
divide up the world,

692
00:35:16,917 --> 00:35:19,500
so to speak,
and come to an agreement

693
00:35:19,667 --> 00:35:23,042
about division of labor
between Sicilian

694
00:35:23,167 --> 00:35:24,500
and American organized crime.

695
00:35:24,583 --> 00:35:28,833
♪

696
00:35:28,917 --> 00:35:31,500
Bonanno and the bosses
in Sicily

697
00:35:31,667 --> 00:35:33,208
came up with this idea.

698
00:35:33,333 --> 00:35:36,500
The Sicilians
would bring the heroin

699
00:35:36,583 --> 00:35:40,333
into the States, and
the Americans would tell them

700
00:35:40,458 --> 00:35:42,417
where there were good markets.

701
00:35:42,542 --> 00:35:44,417
♪

702
00:35:44,542 --> 00:35:47,250
So this was territory
that the Sicilians

703
00:35:47,375 --> 00:35:51,000
had no knowledge.
They needed guidance.

704
00:35:51,083 --> 00:35:53,583
And they brought it in.
They brought it in.

705
00:35:53,708 --> 00:35:57,833
They packaged it very cheap,
$5 and $10 bags.

706
00:35:58,375 --> 00:36:01,000
And the Americans,
especially Bonanno,

707
00:36:01,167 --> 00:36:02,667
believed this was a good way

708
00:36:02,750 --> 00:36:04,875
of earning a buck
without doing anything.

709
00:36:05,042 --> 00:36:08,500
The mafia got a commission.
They didn't have to do anything.

710
00:36:08,625 --> 00:36:11,375
The Sicilians were happy
'cause they had a big market.

711
00:36:13,042 --> 00:36:14,167
CLAIRE: Meeting in Palermo,

712
00:36:14,292 --> 00:36:15,375
being able to make
these connections

713
00:36:15,500 --> 00:36:17,417
with the Sicilian mafia

714
00:36:17,542 --> 00:36:20,958
and solidify
these transportation routes

715
00:36:21,083 --> 00:36:23,333
to get heroin
into the United States

716
00:36:23,458 --> 00:36:26,375
is what he sees
as his ticket forward.

717
00:36:26,500 --> 00:36:29,375
The drug trade
in the '50s and '60s

718
00:36:29,500 --> 00:36:35,792
is interesting because the mafia
doesn't ever want to admit,

719
00:36:35,875 --> 00:36:39,542
even to themselves, that they're
that involved in the drug trade.

720
00:36:39,667 --> 00:36:43,583
The 1950s, '60s,
90% of heroin

721
00:36:43,667 --> 00:36:45,875
is coming
into the United States

722
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:47,417
through the Italian-American
mafia.

723
00:36:48,750 --> 00:36:50,625
Joe Bonanno
and the Five Families'

724
00:36:50,708 --> 00:36:53,458
investment in the drug trade
over the next several decades

725
00:36:53,542 --> 00:36:56,333
would ultimately become
a tremendous burden.

726
00:36:56,458 --> 00:36:58,583
Members would choose
to overlook the threat

727
00:36:58,708 --> 00:37:02,250
of law enforcement
in favor of increased profits,

728
00:37:02,375 --> 00:37:04,292
a decision that would kill
their organization

729
00:37:04,417 --> 00:37:07,042
from inside out,
while devastating cities

730
00:37:07,167 --> 00:37:09,417
throughout the United States.

731
00:37:09,542 --> 00:37:12,417
ED: With this new flow of heroin
onto the streets of America,

732
00:37:12,542 --> 00:37:15,833
Americans are going
to take up heroin in a big way.

733
00:37:16,875 --> 00:37:20,833
SELWYIN: The most grievous sin
that the mafia in America

734
00:37:20,917 --> 00:37:24,125
committed is the damage
that it did to the big cities.

735
00:37:24,292 --> 00:37:27,167
There was no heroin in Harlem.

736
00:37:27,292 --> 00:37:29,667
There was no heroin
in the Lower East Side

737
00:37:29,750 --> 00:37:31,500
or in Brooklyn.

738
00:37:31,542 --> 00:37:35,625
And what it did was
it destroyed the inner cities.

739
00:37:35,708 --> 00:37:38,500
And it's a sin
that's still with us today.

740
00:37:38,583 --> 00:37:41,208
♪

741
00:37:46,208 --> 00:37:49,333
♪

742
00:37:49,500 --> 00:37:53,250
New York City, late 1957.

743
00:37:53,375 --> 00:37:55,333
While Joe Bonanno
and other Family leaders

744
00:37:55,417 --> 00:37:58,625
worked to design
a new drug operation,

745
00:37:58,750 --> 00:38:02,875
Vito Genovese had officially
dethroned Frank Costello and was

746
00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:06,250
now one of the most powerful
gangsters in New York City.

747
00:38:06,375 --> 00:38:09,500
Next in his sights
was Albert Anastasia.

748
00:38:09,625 --> 00:38:13,542
Anastasia became boss
of the Mangano Family in 1951,

749
00:38:13,625 --> 00:38:16,583
and had campaigned to have
Vito Genovese whacked

750
00:38:16,667 --> 00:38:20,000
after Vito orchestrated
the shooting of Frank Costello.

751
00:38:20,083 --> 00:38:23,250
Now, Anastasia wasn't someone
to mess around with.

752
00:38:23,375 --> 00:38:26,000
He had come up as a member
of Murder Inc.,

753
00:38:26,083 --> 00:38:29,500
a band of contract killers
from New York's Lower East Side.

754
00:38:29,583 --> 00:38:32,458
He was known
as Lord High Executioner.

755
00:38:32,542 --> 00:38:35,250
That probably says enough.
Guy was a killer.

756
00:38:35,375 --> 00:38:38,375
So, sensing a potential threat,

757
00:38:38,500 --> 00:38:41,167
Vito Genovese
decided to act first.

758
00:38:41,250 --> 00:38:44,167
♪

759
00:38:44,333 --> 00:38:46,958
While Albert Anastasia
enjoyed a fresh trim

760
00:38:47,083 --> 00:38:50,208
at Grasso's barbershop
in the Park Sheraton Hotel,

761
00:38:50,375 --> 00:38:53,167
a hit squad from Brooklyn walked
right through the front door.

762
00:38:53,292 --> 00:38:54,542
[cocks gun]

763
00:38:56,875 --> 00:38:59,667
REPORTER: Inside the barbershop,
on the floor,

764
00:38:59,750 --> 00:39:03,208
riddled with five bullets,
the body of Al Anastasia.

765
00:39:03,333 --> 00:39:05,625
REPORTER: They walked up inside,
shot him on the head.

766
00:39:05,750 --> 00:39:08,500
He fell from the chair.
They fired again.

767
00:39:08,583 --> 00:39:11,333
REPORTER: Chief, do you have
any leads at all?

768
00:39:11,458 --> 00:39:14,375
I got a dead body,
haven't I?

769
00:39:14,542 --> 00:39:15,833
REPORTER: Although it seemed
like yesterday,

770
00:39:15,958 --> 00:39:17,458
it was another era,

771
00:39:17,667 --> 00:39:20,708
an era of the flamboyant mobster
and the Hollywood type rub-out.

772
00:39:22,625 --> 00:39:25,333
ANTHONY: Officially, the murder
of Albert Anastasia

773
00:39:25,542 --> 00:39:28,500
has not been solved,
which is not unusual

774
00:39:28,667 --> 00:39:31,792
for a lot of mob killings
from that period.

775
00:39:31,875 --> 00:39:34,500
But the perception is
that Genovese saw him

776
00:39:34,583 --> 00:39:39,000
as a threat because he was
an ally of Frank Costello.

777
00:39:39,667 --> 00:39:42,458
No one had pulled off
a gangland style slaying

778
00:39:42,542 --> 00:39:44,000
like this since the killings

779
00:39:44,125 --> 00:39:47,917
of Joe Masseria
and Sal Maranzano in 1931.

780
00:39:48,292 --> 00:39:50,667
It was the work
of an up-and-coming crew

781
00:39:50,833 --> 00:39:54,125
led by Crazy Joe Gallo,
a guy from South Brooklyn

782
00:39:54,250 --> 00:39:56,167
with his own ideas about rules.

783
00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,417
With the death
of Albert Anastasia,

784
00:39:59,542 --> 00:40:02,167
Vito Genovese
seized even more power.

785
00:40:02,333 --> 00:40:04,417
And, at the same time,

786
00:40:04,583 --> 00:40:07,208
like Joe Bonanno
and his Sicilian allies,

787
00:40:07,333 --> 00:40:09,500
Vito Genovese
was growing his stake

788
00:40:09,625 --> 00:40:11,333
in the emerging heroin market.

789
00:40:11,875 --> 00:40:14,667
ED: Part of Vito Genovese's plan
in 1957

790
00:40:14,750 --> 00:40:16,708
is to present himself
effectively

791
00:40:16,792 --> 00:40:20,667
as the boss of the bosses,
the top mafia guy in America.

792
00:40:20,750 --> 00:40:23,667
And so they come up with
this plan to hold this summit

793
00:40:23,833 --> 00:40:27,042
in a very remote area
in Apalachin, New York.

794
00:40:27,208 --> 00:40:30,208
♪

795
00:40:30,375 --> 00:40:34,333
November 14, 1957.
Apalachin, New York.

796
00:40:34,500 --> 00:40:37,625
Population: 277.

797
00:40:38,208 --> 00:40:40,792
182 miles from New York City.

798
00:40:40,875 --> 00:40:44,583
A local here,
named Joseph Barbara, sold soda,

799
00:40:44,708 --> 00:40:46,625
but he used to be a bootlegger.

800
00:40:46,750 --> 00:40:49,000
And anyone who knew
anything up here knew

801
00:40:49,167 --> 00:40:52,208
that Joe The Barber
was still in the game.

802
00:40:52,625 --> 00:40:55,000
State Police Sergeant
Edgar D. Croswell

803
00:40:55,167 --> 00:40:58,000
was well aware
of Barbara's underworld ties.

804
00:40:58,125 --> 00:41:01,667
So when he got wind
that some visitors were in town

805
00:41:01,833 --> 00:41:05,000
and 20 pounds of veal
were headed to Barbara's house,

806
00:41:05,208 --> 00:41:08,042
he decided to do a drive-by.

807
00:41:08,167 --> 00:41:13,542
Lo and behold, a secret society,
La Cosa Nostra, in plain sight.

808
00:41:13,667 --> 00:41:15,458
SAMI: The problem
with this meeting

809
00:41:15,542 --> 00:41:18,917
is that when you have
numerous vehicles

810
00:41:19,042 --> 00:41:22,083
sitting outside of a home...
It's not in the city.

811
00:41:22,208 --> 00:41:23,500
It's in New York State,

812
00:41:23,625 --> 00:41:25,542
out in the rural areas
of New York.

813
00:41:25,667 --> 00:41:27,625
People might get
a bit suspicious.

814
00:41:28,208 --> 00:41:29,875
SGT. EDGAR D. CROSWELL: These
fellows just did not fit in.

815
00:41:30,042 --> 00:41:32,667
They were all
extremely well dressed.

816
00:41:32,792 --> 00:41:35,000
Most of them
had Italian accents.

817
00:41:36,458 --> 00:41:38,500
Some... Two or three told us

818
00:41:38,667 --> 00:41:41,042
they couldn't speak English
at all.

819
00:41:41,208 --> 00:41:43,083
They were standouts.

820
00:41:44,042 --> 00:41:47,333
Sergeant Croswell quickly
called in reinforcements.

821
00:41:47,458 --> 00:41:50,417
Agents from federal, state,
and county law enforcement

822
00:41:50,542 --> 00:41:52,667
reported for backup.

823
00:41:52,833 --> 00:41:54,667
With roads blocked
and the house surrounded,

824
00:41:54,833 --> 00:41:57,000
the agents captured 58

825
00:41:57,125 --> 00:42:01,250
of approximately
100 mafia leaders in attendance.

826
00:42:01,375 --> 00:42:05,083
ED: So this secret summit that's
going to elevate Vito Genovese

827
00:42:05,208 --> 00:42:09,083
as this genius new boss turns,
out to be a total disaster.

828
00:42:09,208 --> 00:42:11,333
And so a lot of these people
are arrested, and eventually

829
00:42:11,542 --> 00:42:12,750
all the charges are overturned,

830
00:42:12,875 --> 00:42:15,167
but it's
a massive embarrassment,

831
00:42:15,292 --> 00:42:17,208
black eye for Vito Genovese.

832
00:42:17,375 --> 00:42:19,500
♪

833
00:42:19,583 --> 00:42:22,208
ANTHONY:
Some theorize that Costello

834
00:42:22,333 --> 00:42:26,667
may have set up Genovese,
tipping off on the meeting.

835
00:42:26,792 --> 00:42:28,833
It's been unproven.

836
00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:31,542
Their names became
all over the newspapers.

837
00:42:31,667 --> 00:42:32,958
Their affairs
were being looked into,

838
00:42:33,083 --> 00:42:34,167
their Families
were being looked into.

839
00:42:35,875 --> 00:42:37,875
ALEX HORTIS: To a lot of people,
it clearly established

840
00:42:38,042 --> 00:42:40,333
that there certainly
was a mafia that,

841
00:42:40,458 --> 00:42:43,417
if not rule nationwide,

842
00:42:43,542 --> 00:42:46,417
it had connections
across state lines.

843
00:42:46,542 --> 00:42:49,750
And that, of course,
starts to put pressure

844
00:42:49,875 --> 00:42:51,708
then on federal agencies.

845
00:42:53,625 --> 00:42:55,500
ANTHONY:
If this was a secret society,

846
00:42:55,625 --> 00:42:58,042
you're not living
in a secret society anymore.

847
00:42:58,167 --> 00:43:02,292
You're all over the place, and
everybody was being identified.

848
00:43:02,375 --> 00:43:07,792
And it really lowered the esteem
of Vito Genovese in the mafia.

849
00:43:07,875 --> 00:43:09,042
♪

850
00:43:09,167 --> 00:43:11,583
SELWYN:
So it led to a lot of problems.

851
00:43:11,667 --> 00:43:14,667
It led to problems for Genovese,
for everybody else.

852
00:43:14,792 --> 00:43:18,625
He was blamed for all
this publicity he brought upon

853
00:43:18,750 --> 00:43:22,500
by having the same place
and the desire for a meeting

854
00:43:22,625 --> 00:43:24,167
that nobody else wanted.

855
00:43:24,208 --> 00:43:26,833
JACOB GRUMET: So far,
as our fight on organized crime

856
00:43:26,958 --> 00:43:29,000
is concerned, we're going
to continue our efforts

857
00:43:29,042 --> 00:43:31,958
unabated, and I hope
that someday we'll get a break

858
00:43:32,042 --> 00:43:34,458
and finally determine
just what did happen

859
00:43:34,625 --> 00:43:38,000
at that now notorious meeting
at Apalachin.

860
00:43:38,125 --> 00:43:39,708
[indistinct chatter]

861
00:43:39,875 --> 00:43:42,000
Are you going to have
anything to say, Mr. Genovese?

862
00:43:42,167 --> 00:43:44,958
Are you going to cooperate
with the Commission?

863
00:43:45,083 --> 00:43:47,917
ANTHONY: Organized crime,
certainly after Apalachin,

864
00:43:48,042 --> 00:43:51,083
became a ground zero
for law enforcement,

865
00:43:51,208 --> 00:43:54,083
because a lot of them
were rousted by the police,

866
00:43:54,208 --> 00:43:57,000
and they faced all sorts
of federal problems.

867
00:43:57,167 --> 00:44:02,167
And then you had a lot
of investigations spawned

868
00:44:02,292 --> 00:44:05,000
off of that trouble,

869
00:44:05,083 --> 00:44:07,208
which created
nothing but problems

870
00:44:07,375 --> 00:44:09,042
for the organized crime bosses.

871
00:44:09,458 --> 00:44:11,833
1957 was quite a year.

872
00:44:11,958 --> 00:44:14,583
Bonanno bet big
on the drug trade.

873
00:44:14,708 --> 00:44:17,000
Frank was forced
into retirement.

874
00:44:17,083 --> 00:44:21,542
Al Anastasia had his last shave,
and then Apalachin.

875
00:44:21,708 --> 00:44:24,833
The mafia was now
public enemy number one.

876
00:44:24,917 --> 00:44:27,417
The Families had strayed
from the rules

877
00:44:27,542 --> 00:44:29,542
and would pay the price for it.

878
00:44:29,625 --> 00:44:32,750
As chairman of the Committee,
do you want a lawyer present

879
00:44:32,875 --> 00:44:34,708
to represent you
while you testify?

880
00:44:34,875 --> 00:44:38,083
In 1957, Congress formed
a new committee

881
00:44:38,208 --> 00:44:41,000
aimed at investigating
organized crime.

882
00:44:41,083 --> 00:44:43,875
The Senate Select Committee
on Improper Activities

883
00:44:44,042 --> 00:44:46,125
in the Labor
or Management Field

884
00:44:46,250 --> 00:44:49,792
was chaired by Senator
John L. McClellan,

885
00:44:49,917 --> 00:44:51,875
a Democrat from Arkansas.

886
00:44:52,042 --> 00:44:54,500
This new McClellan Committee
would call gangsters

887
00:44:54,667 --> 00:44:56,875
to the stand
into the next decade

888
00:44:57,042 --> 00:44:59,833
and serve as the venue
for the most revelatory look

889
00:44:59,917 --> 00:45:02,625
inside the mob
in the organization's history.

890
00:45:02,750 --> 00:45:04,208
CLAIRE:
The Senate McClellan Hearings

891
00:45:04,375 --> 00:45:08,167
starts out primarily focused
on the Teamsters Union.

892
00:45:08,292 --> 00:45:11,917
But in November,
after the Apalachin bust,

893
00:45:12,042 --> 00:45:14,000
they really start
to shift focus.

894
00:45:38,667 --> 00:45:40,083
♪

895
00:45:44,458 --> 00:45:48,667
In late 1957,
roughly 100 mobsters visited

896
00:45:48,792 --> 00:45:51,458
the home of Joseph Barbara
in the sleepy town

897
00:45:51,583 --> 00:45:53,833
of Apalachin, New York.

898
00:45:53,917 --> 00:45:56,167
Law enforcement's
fortuitous raid of the meeting

899
00:45:56,250 --> 00:45:59,917
resulted in the booking
of 58 mafia chieftains.

900
00:46:00,042 --> 00:46:03,167
Investigators concluded
that 22 of them were

901
00:46:03,250 --> 00:46:08,833
officially employed by unions
or held labor relations jobs.

902
00:46:08,917 --> 00:46:11,958
So later that year,
mafia bosses from New York City

903
00:46:12,083 --> 00:46:14,917
and around the country
were subpoenaed to testify

904
00:46:15,042 --> 00:46:17,125
in front
of the Senate Select Committee

905
00:46:17,208 --> 00:46:20,917
on Improper Activities in
the Labor or Management Field.

906
00:46:21,042 --> 00:46:23,708
It was led by Senator
John L. McClellan

907
00:46:23,833 --> 00:46:25,208
and Robert F. Kennedy.

908
00:46:25,375 --> 00:46:27,083
MAN:
The McClellan Rackets Committee.

909
00:46:27,208 --> 00:46:30,250
In an effort to prove Teamster
ties with the underworld,

910
00:46:30,375 --> 00:46:33,833
the Senators question
many witnesses.

911
00:46:33,958 --> 00:46:36,917
ED: The McClellan
Committee hearings' focus

912
00:46:37,042 --> 00:46:42,500
is on the connection
between unions and the mob,

913
00:46:42,625 --> 00:46:44,500
and they're determined
to figure out,

914
00:46:44,667 --> 00:46:46,708
"What can we do
to root out this problem

915
00:46:46,875 --> 00:46:49,292
of criminality and corruption
in American unions?"

916
00:46:51,833 --> 00:46:54,125
CLAIRE: One of the people
who testifies in front

917
00:46:54,250 --> 00:46:57,417
of the Rackets Committee
was Crazy Joey Gallo.

918
00:46:57,542 --> 00:47:03,458
♪

919
00:47:06,292 --> 00:47:09,083
Joey Gallo and his brothers
Larry and Albert

920
00:47:09,208 --> 00:47:12,042
were from Brooklyn,
up-and-comers

921
00:47:12,167 --> 00:47:13,917
and members
of Joseph Profaci's Family.

922
00:47:15,625 --> 00:47:17,583
Joey Gallo is one
of these old school,

923
00:47:17,708 --> 00:47:19,000
larger than life gangsters.

924
00:47:19,208 --> 00:47:22,000
♪

925
00:47:22,167 --> 00:47:24,417
FRANK DiMATTEO:
Joey was out of his mind,

926
00:47:24,542 --> 00:47:26,125
wanted to kill everybody,

927
00:47:26,208 --> 00:47:29,083
beat everybody up,
and didn't trust anybody.

928
00:47:29,208 --> 00:47:30,417
♪

929
00:47:30,542 --> 00:47:32,292
TOM FOLSOM: He's erratic
and he's sort of terrifying.

930
00:47:32,417 --> 00:47:35,708
But he also has these ideas
about the future

931
00:47:35,833 --> 00:47:39,583
of organized crime that are
really going against the grain

932
00:47:39,708 --> 00:47:42,208
of what the traditional
mob culture was at the time.

933
00:47:42,375 --> 00:47:43,917
♪

934
00:47:44,042 --> 00:47:45,583
FRANK DiMATTEO:
Larry was always the boss.

935
00:47:45,708 --> 00:47:47,958
He's the brains of the crew.

936
00:47:48,042 --> 00:47:53,333
My father was Larry's bodyguard
from '61 to the day he died.

937
00:47:53,500 --> 00:47:54,917
♪

938
00:47:55,042 --> 00:47:56,833
TOM: And then we have
Albert "Kid Blast,"

939
00:47:56,958 --> 00:47:58,542
the youngest one.

940
00:47:59,500 --> 00:48:02,083
The Gallos performed
probably the most spectacular

941
00:48:02,208 --> 00:48:04,333
mob killing of the XX century,

942
00:48:04,458 --> 00:48:05,917
the Albert Anastasia hit.

943
00:48:06,083 --> 00:48:09,417
♪

944
00:48:09,542 --> 00:48:11,917
Joey Gallo and his brother Larry

945
00:48:12,083 --> 00:48:15,208
were credited as being
the masterminds of that killing.

946
00:48:15,333 --> 00:48:17,667
And so it's said
that that's how they became

947
00:48:17,833 --> 00:48:20,125
made men of the Profaci Family.

948
00:48:21,125 --> 00:48:23,167
The killing of Albert Anastasia

949
00:48:23,333 --> 00:48:26,000
put the Gallo brothers
on the map.

950
00:48:26,083 --> 00:48:28,833
When they were initiated
into the Profaci Family

951
00:48:28,958 --> 00:48:30,958
shortly after,
or straightened out,

952
00:48:31,042 --> 00:48:33,833
as they'd say, insiders knew
they must have been

953
00:48:33,875 --> 00:48:35,333
the ones behind the hit.

954
00:48:35,500 --> 00:48:38,583
FRANK DiMATTEO:
Albert Anastasia got killed.

955
00:48:38,667 --> 00:48:43,583
Right after that, Joey Gallo,
Larry Gallo got made

956
00:48:43,708 --> 00:48:45,250
in the Profaci Family.

957
00:48:45,375 --> 00:48:49,333
In this world, if you know,
there's no other reason for it,

958
00:48:49,458 --> 00:48:51,500
you don't straighten out
somebody unless they earned it.

959
00:48:52,458 --> 00:48:55,500
After the Anastasia killing,
the Gallos would forever

960
00:48:55,625 --> 00:48:57,167
be known as guns for hire.

961
00:48:57,250 --> 00:48:58,958
But they made their real money

962
00:48:59,083 --> 00:49:01,917
in South Brooklyn,
in Red Hook.

963
00:49:02,042 --> 00:49:05,000
They worked for Local 19,
a Teamsters union

964
00:49:05,083 --> 00:49:08,667
that repaired jukeboxes
and extorted local businesses.

965
00:49:08,792 --> 00:49:10,500
Word got around.

966
00:49:10,625 --> 00:49:15,625
On February 17th, 1959,
Joey and Larry Gallo were called

967
00:49:15,708 --> 00:49:18,667
to testify in front of
Senator McClellan's Committee.

968
00:49:18,833 --> 00:49:20,417
FRANK DiMATTEO:
Everybody gets called.

969
00:49:20,542 --> 00:49:22,500
Joey and Larry get called.

970
00:49:22,583 --> 00:49:24,833
MAN: ...shall be the truth,
the whole truth,

971
00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:27,292
and nothing but the truth,
so help you God.

972
00:49:28,292 --> 00:49:30,167
Joey gets famous on TV for that,
for his glasses,

973
00:49:30,250 --> 00:49:32,333
his Ray-Bans and his smoking.

974
00:49:32,500 --> 00:49:36,167
♪

975
00:49:36,333 --> 00:49:40,125
Joey had no fear. He would plead
the Fifth 150 times.

976
00:49:40,208 --> 00:49:43,708
MAN: Are you also known
as a racketeer and gangster?

977
00:49:43,833 --> 00:49:47,042
I respectfully decline to answer
because I honestly believe

978
00:49:47,125 --> 00:49:49,167
my answer might tend
to incriminate me.

979
00:49:49,292 --> 00:49:52,333
TOM: He's got slick back hair,
the shades,

980
00:49:52,542 --> 00:49:56,833
black suit jacket, no tie,
just chain smoking.

981
00:49:56,917 --> 00:49:58,667
The Senator's getting furious.

982
00:49:58,750 --> 00:50:01,250
Have you a father and mother?

983
00:50:01,417 --> 00:50:05,167
I respectfully decline to answer
because I honestly believe

984
00:50:05,250 --> 00:50:06,542
my answer might tend to--

985
00:50:06,708 --> 00:50:10,667
Are you what's known
as a thug or a hoodlum?

986
00:50:10,792 --> 00:50:13,333
I respectfully decline to answer
because I honestly believe

987
00:50:13,500 --> 00:50:15,375
my answer might
tend to incriminate me.

988
00:50:15,458 --> 00:50:17,542
SEAN McWEENEY:
So he was a personality,

989
00:50:17,667 --> 00:50:20,125
a beacon for publicity.

990
00:50:20,208 --> 00:50:22,042
If he was interviewed,

991
00:50:22,167 --> 00:50:24,042
someone stopped him
on the street, the newspaper,

992
00:50:24,167 --> 00:50:25,500
he would talk to the papers.

993
00:50:27,250 --> 00:50:28,708
Joey, what about these stories
that some of your friends are

994
00:50:28,833 --> 00:50:31,667
unhappy they can't get
out of jail because of you?

995
00:50:31,792 --> 00:50:34,833
When I left them, they were
having a party over there,

996
00:50:34,917 --> 00:50:37,708
and they really... were really
having a good time over there.

997
00:50:37,792 --> 00:50:39,625
Yeah, that civil jail is
more like a hotel than a jail.

998
00:50:39,750 --> 00:50:42,000
It's a big hotel, one big hotel.

999
00:50:42,083 --> 00:50:43,667
- Do you miss the place?
- No, no.

1000
00:50:43,833 --> 00:50:46,833
[laughter]

1001
00:50:46,958 --> 00:50:49,125
Joey Gallo,
he's got the cameras rolling.

1002
00:50:49,250 --> 00:50:51,042
He's on national television.

1003
00:50:51,208 --> 00:50:54,167
It just scares the pants off
of mom and pop in Omaha,

1004
00:50:54,333 --> 00:50:56,208
you know, watching these things.

1005
00:50:57,375 --> 00:50:59,792
ED: And the 1950s is a period
in which almost every

1006
00:50:59,958 --> 00:51:01,167
American family,
by the end of the decade,

1007
00:51:01,292 --> 00:51:03,292
has acquired a television.

1008
00:51:03,375 --> 00:51:05,875
And so they are able
to watch these hearings

1009
00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:08,750
and see these characters
and hear the accusations

1010
00:51:08,875 --> 00:51:11,333
about misappropriation of funds
and intimidation,

1011
00:51:11,458 --> 00:51:14,500
union election fixing,
and it's throwing the light

1012
00:51:14,667 --> 00:51:18,167
on these shady dealings between
big time unions and the mob.

1013
00:51:18,333 --> 00:51:21,000
♪

1014
00:51:21,125 --> 00:51:23,917
ALEX HORTIS:
It was great TV.

1015
00:51:24,042 --> 00:51:26,250
It was probably...
its most significant

1016
00:51:26,375 --> 00:51:29,333
impression
on the American public.

1017
00:51:29,417 --> 00:51:32,458
And it did sort of made
people more afraid,

1018
00:51:32,542 --> 00:51:34,167
had more reasons
to not like New York

1019
00:51:34,292 --> 00:51:36,167
or some of the other
big cities like,

1020
00:51:36,292 --> 00:51:37,125
"Oh, that's where all
the gangsters

1021
00:51:37,250 --> 00:51:39,500
and racketeers are."

1022
00:51:39,667 --> 00:51:42,167
CLAIRE: The 1950s
and moving into the 1960s

1023
00:51:42,250 --> 00:51:44,292
are some big decades for Gallo.

1024
00:51:44,375 --> 00:51:46,417
A lot happens for him.

1025
00:51:48,042 --> 00:51:52,667
He's in an organization
where the power dynamics

1026
00:51:52,792 --> 00:51:55,792
and the power struggles
are challenging for him.

1027
00:51:55,875 --> 00:51:58,125
♪

1028
00:51:58,208 --> 00:52:00,167
TOM: Where do the Gallo brothers
stand in this trajectory

1029
00:52:00,292 --> 00:52:02,250
of Five Families of New York?

1030
00:52:02,375 --> 00:52:04,500
♪

1031
00:52:04,625 --> 00:52:06,417
They're the first ones
who decided,

1032
00:52:06,542 --> 00:52:08,625
"I don't care
about your Sicilian codes,

1033
00:52:08,708 --> 00:52:12,000
"and I don't care
about other codes Lucky Luciano

1034
00:52:12,083 --> 00:52:13,708
"put in place
when he built the Commission.

1035
00:52:15,000 --> 00:52:16,458
"We're going to do it our way,

1036
00:52:16,583 --> 00:52:18,708
and you're going
to have to deal with this."

1037
00:52:20,375 --> 00:52:22,042
Once you get
the next generation,

1038
00:52:22,167 --> 00:52:23,667
especially in the 1950s,

1039
00:52:23,833 --> 00:52:27,250
the kids on jukeboxes,
they're not coming back.

1040
00:52:27,375 --> 00:52:30,875
The ideas of omertà
are inevitably gonna get lost

1041
00:52:31,042 --> 00:52:33,000
in the American
cultural landscape.

1042
00:52:33,042 --> 00:52:35,125
♪

1043
00:52:38,833 --> 00:52:40,417
♪

1044
00:52:40,542 --> 00:52:43,125
Joey and Larry Gallo's testimony

1045
00:52:43,208 --> 00:52:44,708
in front
of the McClellan Committee

1046
00:52:44,833 --> 00:52:48,750
in February 1959
put them on a national stage

1047
00:52:48,875 --> 00:52:52,583
and on the radar of every
mafia member in New York City.

1048
00:52:52,708 --> 00:52:56,000
They kept their mouths shut,
honored omertà,

1049
00:52:56,125 --> 00:52:58,708
but still made
a mockery of the hearings

1050
00:52:58,833 --> 00:53:02,000
and made a name
for themselves in the process.

1051
00:53:02,167 --> 00:53:04,375
Having any sort
of public persona

1052
00:53:04,500 --> 00:53:07,458
is never a good thing
for those in a secret society,

1053
00:53:07,583 --> 00:53:09,417
and back in South Brooklyn,

1054
00:53:09,542 --> 00:53:11,917
the Gallos were starting
to get a reputation.

1055
00:53:12,042 --> 00:53:14,208
TOM: The Gallo brothers
were folk heroes

1056
00:53:14,375 --> 00:53:16,333
of Red Hook, Brooklyn,
the sort of king

1057
00:53:16,500 --> 00:53:18,375
of the neighborhood,
king of the streets.

1058
00:53:18,500 --> 00:53:21,917
♪

1059
00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:24,833
What you have to remember about
the neighborhood of Red Hook

1060
00:53:24,958 --> 00:53:27,917
is that it used to be
the Little Italy of Brooklyn.

1061
00:53:28,042 --> 00:53:31,333
♪

1062
00:53:31,500 --> 00:53:33,833
The highway czar of New York,
Robert Moses,

1063
00:53:33,958 --> 00:53:35,667
decides it's a slum.

1064
00:53:35,792 --> 00:53:38,667
He decides he's going
to lop off Red Hook

1065
00:53:38,750 --> 00:53:44,292
by the Brooklyn waterfront with
the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

1066
00:53:44,375 --> 00:53:47,542
It's basically cut off
from the main part of Brooklyn.

1067
00:53:47,708 --> 00:53:50,333
And so it loses its status
as The Little Italy.

1068
00:53:50,500 --> 00:53:52,083
It starts to become
more decrepit,

1069
00:53:52,208 --> 00:53:53,667
starts to become ignored.

1070
00:53:53,750 --> 00:53:58,417
And so that fosters a lot
of anti-establishment feeling.

1071
00:53:58,542 --> 00:54:01,333
And the Gallo brothers
fit right into that.

1072
00:54:01,500 --> 00:54:04,042
They're the heroes
of the neighborhood.

1073
00:54:04,167 --> 00:54:06,375
SEAN: They hung out
on President Street.

1074
00:54:06,542 --> 00:54:10,167
It was called the Dormitory,
three story building.

1075
00:54:10,333 --> 00:54:13,000
They had a social club
at the bottom.

1076
00:54:13,167 --> 00:54:15,333
A lot of people used to pass by,

1077
00:54:15,458 --> 00:54:17,667
and just to see him
hanging out there.

1078
00:54:17,792 --> 00:54:21,333
They allegedly had
a mountain lion in the basement.

1079
00:54:21,500 --> 00:54:25,917
♪

1080
00:54:26,042 --> 00:54:28,917
FRANK DiMATTEO: We had a lion
in the early '60s.

1081
00:54:29,042 --> 00:54:30,375
Some guy from New York.

1082
00:54:30,458 --> 00:54:32,042
I think his name Tony,
I think his name was.

1083
00:54:32,167 --> 00:54:34,375
He had at an exotic store
in Manhattan.

1084
00:54:34,500 --> 00:54:39,792
And he called up and said
that he had a lion, a cub.

1085
00:54:39,875 --> 00:54:41,000
So Joey and Larry said,

1086
00:54:41,167 --> 00:54:43,208
"Man, yeah,
that's what we want."

1087
00:54:43,875 --> 00:54:46,333
So they went to New York,
they picked him up.

1088
00:54:46,458 --> 00:54:47,917
They drove him
to President Street.

1089
00:54:48,042 --> 00:54:49,833
♪

1090
00:54:49,917 --> 00:54:52,042
In a short time, he got big.

1091
00:54:52,208 --> 00:54:54,167
♪

1092
00:54:54,250 --> 00:54:56,375
Someone was always...
wasn't paying something.

1093
00:54:56,500 --> 00:54:58,625
Always a problem
with people gambling

1094
00:54:58,750 --> 00:55:01,500
or lending money to degenerates,
didn't want to pay.

1095
00:55:01,583 --> 00:55:02,875
You gotta collect your money.

1096
00:55:03,000 --> 00:55:05,667
So Joey got the idea
of scaring people with the lion.

1097
00:55:05,833 --> 00:55:08,000
♪

1098
00:55:08,083 --> 00:55:11,708
Chain used to rattle
lion used to run up the stairs,

1099
00:55:11,833 --> 00:55:14,375
and these people used
to get scared right away.

1100
00:55:14,500 --> 00:55:17,292
These guys used to [bleep]
their pants.

1101
00:55:17,375 --> 00:55:18,917
TOM:
The lion's name was Cleo.

1102
00:55:19,042 --> 00:55:21,667
When the idea is that you got
a guy owes us a bit of money,

1103
00:55:21,750 --> 00:55:23,000
"What are we going to do
with this deadbeat?"

1104
00:55:23,125 --> 00:55:25,208
Well, you know,
you bring him down

1105
00:55:25,375 --> 00:55:26,792
to the basement
and introduce him to Cleo

1106
00:55:26,875 --> 00:55:29,667
and all of a sudden, you know,
he empties out his pockets.

1107
00:55:29,750 --> 00:55:33,375
This kind of became part
of the Gallo-lore,

1108
00:55:33,542 --> 00:55:36,833
turning these pretty hardened
hoods into bit of a carnival.

1109
00:55:37,000 --> 00:55:38,833
[growls]

1110
00:55:38,958 --> 00:55:40,875
"Don't mess with those Gallos.
They're crazy.

1111
00:55:41,000 --> 00:55:42,833
That crew's crazy.
Don't mess with them." You know?

1112
00:55:44,250 --> 00:55:47,500
The Gallos liked to march
to the beat of their own drum.

1113
00:55:47,625 --> 00:55:50,667
But they were still a part
of a larger organization.

1114
00:55:50,792 --> 00:55:53,833
They had a boss,
just like everyone else.

1115
00:55:53,958 --> 00:55:56,500
And in the late '50s
and early '60s,

1116
00:55:56,625 --> 00:55:59,542
their boss controlled
all of South Brooklyn.

1117
00:55:59,667 --> 00:56:02,167
From lone sharks to bookies

1118
00:56:02,333 --> 00:56:04,208
to traffickers
down on the docks,

1119
00:56:04,333 --> 00:56:07,083
everybody had to answer
to Joe Profaci.

1120
00:56:07,208 --> 00:56:09,167
♪

1121
00:56:09,292 --> 00:56:13,167
ALEX HORTIS: Joe Profaci was
an extremely long-tenured boss.

1122
00:56:13,292 --> 00:56:19,542
He is involved
in the South Brooklyn region.

1123
00:56:19,667 --> 00:56:21,750
He wasn't considered
a quote, unquote good boss.

1124
00:56:21,875 --> 00:56:23,583
He was considered
a little too isolated,

1125
00:56:23,667 --> 00:56:25,583
a little too, quote, greedy.

1126
00:56:25,708 --> 00:56:30,375
So that was
what his street reputation was.

1127
00:56:30,542 --> 00:56:32,917
I think...
Joey called him a prick.

1128
00:56:33,042 --> 00:56:35,500
♪

1129
00:56:35,625 --> 00:56:37,167
The Olive Oil King.

1130
00:56:37,292 --> 00:56:41,625
But in the small world
known as the Prick.

1131
00:56:41,750 --> 00:56:43,500
He was never very well liked.

1132
00:56:43,583 --> 00:56:44,833
Oh, yes, in his circle
they liked him

1133
00:56:44,958 --> 00:56:46,500
'cause they were making
a lot of money.

1134
00:56:48,250 --> 00:56:52,000
Gambling, lending money,
hijacking.

1135
00:56:52,125 --> 00:56:54,167
That was
their three main things.

1136
00:56:54,292 --> 00:56:57,375
Profaci was more South Brooklyn,

1137
00:56:57,542 --> 00:56:59,875
the docks,
and Joe Profaci actually had

1138
00:57:00,000 --> 00:57:03,000
some legitimate industries
there as well.

1139
00:57:03,583 --> 00:57:05,667
TOM: Again, his front is
being the olive oil company.

1140
00:57:05,750 --> 00:57:08,292
But Joe Profaci,
he's a tough nut,

1141
00:57:08,417 --> 00:57:11,375
and there's a tradition
in old mafia lore,

1142
00:57:11,500 --> 00:57:13,375
which is called
"Wetting the beak."

1143
00:57:13,458 --> 00:57:16,333
It's taking a piece
of your profits where,

1144
00:57:16,500 --> 00:57:19,417
let's say you hijack,
something or another.

1145
00:57:19,542 --> 00:57:21,292
"We're going to take 20%
of that."

1146
00:57:21,375 --> 00:57:23,375
Well, Joe Profaci
likes to take

1147
00:57:23,542 --> 00:57:25,583
more than what he
should be taking.

1148
00:57:25,708 --> 00:57:28,875
For Joe, it's his way
of keeping the troops in line.

1149
00:57:29,042 --> 00:57:32,292
But this starts to foster
a lot of resentment.

1150
00:57:32,375 --> 00:57:35,542
Profaci had this great manor
in Bath Beach,

1151
00:57:35,667 --> 00:57:39,625
and gave all his spoils
to his own little children.

1152
00:57:39,708 --> 00:57:42,333
I think Tony Bennett sang
at the Don's daughter's wedding.

1153
00:57:42,417 --> 00:57:45,333
The Profacis
living in splendor

1154
00:57:45,458 --> 00:57:47,667
and the Gallos are living
in their grandmother's

1155
00:57:47,708 --> 00:57:51,167
tenement on the edge
of the waterfront in Red Hook.

1156
00:57:51,667 --> 00:57:54,000
MICHAEL FRANZESE: My dad was
in the Profaci Family.

1157
00:57:54,083 --> 00:57:56,542
Dad liked Joe Profaci
and got along with him.

1158
00:57:56,667 --> 00:57:57,917
He said he was
a little bit greedy.

1159
00:57:58,583 --> 00:58:01,458
He said greed
is what kills bosses.

1160
00:58:01,583 --> 00:58:04,167
But he didn't
talk too much about him,

1161
00:58:04,292 --> 00:58:06,500
just that he was greedy.

1162
00:58:06,625 --> 00:58:09,208
It was excessive.

1163
00:58:09,292 --> 00:58:11,000
He was a hard guy
to get along with.

1164
00:58:11,167 --> 00:58:12,833
So the Gallos said,
"No, we're not doing it."

1165
00:58:15,417 --> 00:58:17,167
TOM:
So these Sicilian traditions

1166
00:58:17,292 --> 00:58:20,708
that Joe Profaci was bringing
in from the old country,

1167
00:58:20,833 --> 00:58:22,958
this just wasn't washing
with Joe Gallo

1168
00:58:23,083 --> 00:58:26,667
and the American-born generation
that he was part of.

1169
00:58:29,917 --> 00:58:33,833
ALEX HORTIS: Profaci was very,
very conservative and quiet.

1170
00:58:33,958 --> 00:58:36,625
He doesn't get along
with the Gallos.

1171
00:58:36,708 --> 00:58:40,292
And the Gallos have
their own brother-led unit.

1172
00:58:40,417 --> 00:58:44,125
And so Profaci
outgrew the era of the time.

1173
00:58:44,250 --> 00:58:46,167
He had overstayed his welcome.

1174
00:58:46,208 --> 00:58:51,833
♪

1175
00:58:51,958 --> 00:58:54,208
FRANK DiMATTEO: So they went
to try to go to the captains

1176
00:58:54,333 --> 00:58:57,333
and to outside
to force Joe Profaci

1177
00:58:57,458 --> 00:58:59,000
to do the right thing.

1178
00:58:59,125 --> 00:59:00,250
They wanted these guys

1179
00:59:00,375 --> 00:59:02,542
to go to Profaci
and make him give them

1180
00:59:02,667 --> 00:59:05,000
what they deserve.
That's what they wanted.

1181
00:59:05,125 --> 00:59:07,292
They wanted a piece of this,
they wanted a piece of that.

1182
00:59:07,458 --> 00:59:08,250
They thought they'd get
a piece of the book.

1183
00:59:08,375 --> 00:59:09,667
He never gave it to them.

1184
00:59:09,792 --> 00:59:10,917
So that was it, man.

1185
00:59:11,042 --> 00:59:12,833
♪

1186
00:59:12,958 --> 00:59:17,042
So Joey and Larry decided
to kidnap Joe Profaci.

1187
00:59:17,208 --> 00:59:19,583
♪

1188
00:59:24,208 --> 00:59:27,375
Ask not what your country
can do for you,

1189
00:59:27,458 --> 00:59:30,167
ask what you can do
for your country.

1190
00:59:30,292 --> 00:59:33,167
[cheering]

1191
00:59:33,333 --> 00:59:37,792
In February, 1961,
as Americans looked forward,

1192
00:59:37,917 --> 00:59:40,792
optimistically,
with a new president in office,

1193
00:59:40,917 --> 00:59:44,000
members of the mafia,
namely Profaci Family soldiers

1194
00:59:44,125 --> 00:59:45,917
Joey and Larry Gallo,

1195
00:59:46,042 --> 00:59:49,000
were becoming disillusioned
with the life they'd chosen

1196
00:59:49,083 --> 00:59:51,458
and the organization
they'd been a part of.

1197
00:59:51,583 --> 00:59:54,333
They wanted more money
and more autonomy.

1198
00:59:54,417 --> 00:59:56,667
And if their boss,
Joseph Profaci,

1199
00:59:56,750 --> 00:59:58,917
wasn't going to give it to them,

1200
00:59:59,042 --> 01:00:00,833
well, then they were going
to take it.

1201
01:00:02,583 --> 01:00:04,583
TOM: There's already a lot
of underlying resentment

1202
01:00:04,708 --> 01:00:07,208
among this younger generation
of mafia hoods

1203
01:00:07,333 --> 01:00:10,333
and the Profaci Family
and the Gallos boldly decide

1204
01:00:10,417 --> 01:00:14,333
that they're going to take
the Don and his men hostage,

1205
01:00:14,500 --> 01:00:16,083
make them submit
to their demands,

1206
01:00:16,208 --> 01:00:18,667
and either be killed
or they'll release him.

1207
01:00:18,875 --> 01:00:21,583
♪

1208
01:00:21,708 --> 01:00:24,583
The Gallo brothers
put a plan together.

1209
01:00:24,708 --> 01:00:28,167
They sent six, seven guys
out to a couple clubs

1210
01:00:28,250 --> 01:00:30,833
and they kidnapped
Joe Profaci's close guys.

1211
01:00:30,917 --> 01:00:33,708
♪

1212
01:00:33,792 --> 01:00:37,292
His underboss, brother,
Joe Colombo.

1213
01:00:37,375 --> 01:00:39,083
But they missed Joe Profaci.

1214
01:00:39,208 --> 01:00:42,250
The whole idea was to get
Profaci, but Profaci wind up

1215
01:00:42,375 --> 01:00:44,708
getting wind of this,

1216
01:00:44,875 --> 01:00:47,000
and went to Florida and checked
himself into the hospital.

1217
01:00:47,167 --> 01:00:50,333
♪

1218
01:00:50,458 --> 01:00:51,917
So they missed the Don.

1219
01:00:52,042 --> 01:00:53,167
The Don was
nowhere to be found.

1220
01:00:53,292 --> 01:00:54,333
They got all the Don's men,

1221
01:00:54,458 --> 01:00:56,125
but then
the Don himself escaped.

1222
01:00:59,542 --> 01:01:01,042
So the Gallos find themselves

1223
01:01:01,167 --> 01:01:03,000
with a total disaster
on their hands.

1224
01:01:03,083 --> 01:01:07,375
♪

1225
01:01:07,500 --> 01:01:12,917
So when the Gallo brothers take
Don Profaci's top men hostage,

1226
01:01:13,042 --> 01:01:15,083
there's an argument
between Larry and Joey.

1227
01:01:15,250 --> 01:01:18,708
The boys got
in this major shouting match.

1228
01:01:18,792 --> 01:01:21,667
Larry wants to negotiate
through the mafia Commission.

1229
01:01:21,708 --> 01:01:23,250
It's funny,
in the mafia Commission,

1230
01:01:23,375 --> 01:01:25,125
you were talking
about an establishment here.

1231
01:01:25,208 --> 01:01:27,500
This is the ruling body
of not just the Five Families,

1232
01:01:27,583 --> 01:01:31,000
but the national mafia.
There's rules.

1233
01:01:31,125 --> 01:01:33,708
CLAIRE: Joey Gallo
and his faction attempting

1234
01:01:33,875 --> 01:01:38,167
to kidnap his own boss
is a clear breach of etiquette.

1235
01:01:38,208 --> 01:01:41,042
The thing is, though,
with the mafia, you know,

1236
01:01:41,125 --> 01:01:42,750
there's always
breaches of etiquette,

1237
01:01:42,875 --> 01:01:44,958
and that's sometimes
the only way

1238
01:01:45,042 --> 01:01:47,042
that these Families
move forward.

1239
01:01:47,208 --> 01:01:48,292
♪

1240
01:01:48,417 --> 01:01:50,333
TOM:
Larry wants to abide

1241
01:01:50,458 --> 01:01:53,625
by the mafia Commission's
rules behind a coup.

1242
01:01:53,708 --> 01:01:56,083
He's like,
"If we get permission

1243
01:01:56,208 --> 01:01:58,167
"from the Commission about
what we're going to do next

1244
01:01:58,333 --> 01:02:00,250
and we work through them,
then they're gonna help us out."

1245
01:02:00,375 --> 01:02:02,583
And there's talk
from the top men

1246
01:02:02,708 --> 01:02:03,958
in the Commission,
there's murmurings like,

1247
01:02:04,083 --> 01:02:05,833
"Yeah, we'll help you boys out,
but just let them go."

1248
01:02:05,917 --> 01:02:07,500
♪

1249
01:02:07,625 --> 01:02:09,250
NARRATOR:
At the time of the kidnapping,

1250
01:02:09,375 --> 01:02:11,833
the five New York bosses
on the Commission

1251
01:02:12,000 --> 01:02:14,875
were Vito Genovese, Joe Profaci,

1252
01:02:15,000 --> 01:02:19,375
Carlo Gambino,
Tommy Lucchese and Joe Bonanno.

1253
01:02:19,500 --> 01:02:21,500
To have their coup approved,

1254
01:02:21,667 --> 01:02:25,417
the Gallos would need support
from at least two of these men.

1255
01:02:25,583 --> 01:02:27,667
But Profaci had tenure.

1256
01:02:27,833 --> 01:02:29,833
He was one of only
two remaining original bosses

1257
01:02:29,917 --> 01:02:31,500
on the Commission.

1258
01:02:31,625 --> 01:02:34,917
The other, his close friend
and ally, Joe Bonanno.

1259
01:02:35,042 --> 01:02:39,833
Bonanno's son had married
Profaci's niece back in 1956.

1260
01:02:39,958 --> 01:02:41,875
Bosses on the Commission
could entertain

1261
01:02:42,000 --> 01:02:44,500
the Gallo's request
all they wanted,

1262
01:02:44,583 --> 01:02:46,583
but no boss
in their right mind

1263
01:02:46,667 --> 01:02:48,833
would side against
Joe Profaci.

1264
01:02:49,042 --> 01:02:51,542
And Joey Gallo was well aware.

1265
01:02:52,375 --> 01:02:54,000
Joey, on the other hand,
is like, "Forget it, Larry.

1266
01:02:54,083 --> 01:02:55,333
We're going to kill him
right now."

1267
01:02:55,458 --> 01:02:56,333
He wants to kill them all.

1268
01:02:56,458 --> 01:02:57,500
Blood in the streets.

1269
01:02:59,208 --> 01:03:01,167
FRANK DiMATTEO: Somebody came
back with a package from Profaci

1270
01:03:01,333 --> 01:03:04,958
that, if he lets them go,
then he'll negotiate with them,

1271
01:03:05,083 --> 01:03:07,042
give them some territory
and stuff like that.

1272
01:03:07,208 --> 01:03:08,792
Joey didn't want
to let the guys go

1273
01:03:08,875 --> 01:03:11,833
because Joey didn't believe
Joe Profaci.

1274
01:03:13,208 --> 01:03:15,125
That's why he said,
"Let's just go kill them,

1275
01:03:15,250 --> 01:03:17,167
"and then they'll know for real,
we're going to go to war.

1276
01:03:17,333 --> 01:03:18,125
Let's go to war."

1277
01:03:18,250 --> 01:03:22,000
♪

1278
01:03:22,125 --> 01:03:25,167
Larry grabbed Joey in passion
and said, "We can't do this.

1279
01:03:25,292 --> 01:03:27,625
Listen to us.
Can't kill these guys."

1280
01:03:27,750 --> 01:03:30,167
A high pressure situation.

1281
01:03:30,292 --> 01:03:31,833
In this world that you're not
supposed to kill made guys,

1282
01:03:32,000 --> 01:03:33,125
and there was a lot
of trouble here.

1283
01:03:33,208 --> 01:03:37,167
♪

1284
01:03:37,292 --> 01:03:41,333
Joey's actions shocked even
the boldest underworld figures.

1285
01:03:41,417 --> 01:03:44,417
But Crazy Joe
wasn't one for the rules.

1286
01:03:44,542 --> 01:03:47,000
He kidnapped the higher-ups
without permission,

1287
01:03:47,125 --> 01:03:50,292
and if given the chance,
would kill without approval.

1288
01:03:50,417 --> 01:03:53,750
CHRIS COLOMBO: There's a story
that during the conflict

1289
01:03:53,875 --> 01:03:56,583
that was going on
within Brooklyn,

1290
01:03:56,708 --> 01:03:58,250
they had taken
my father hostage.

1291
01:03:59,125 --> 01:04:01,792
I guess he was
going to be executed.

1292
01:04:01,875 --> 01:04:03,750
And Larry spoke
like a gentleman.

1293
01:04:03,875 --> 01:04:05,500
He said, "He's not an enemy,
he's a friend,

1294
01:04:05,667 --> 01:04:06,958
"and he agrees with us,

1295
01:04:07,083 --> 01:04:08,583
but doesn't agree
with our tactics."

1296
01:04:11,000 --> 01:04:12,333
FRANK DiMATTEO:
Larry won the argument

1297
01:04:12,458 --> 01:04:14,750
because Larry was the boss.

1298
01:04:14,875 --> 01:04:18,292
He was more level-headed
and explained why he thought

1299
01:04:18,417 --> 01:04:20,500
it wasn't a good idea
to kill them.

1300
01:04:20,625 --> 01:04:23,292
My father said that Joey,
they call him crazy.

1301
01:04:23,417 --> 01:04:26,167
They call him this,
they call him that.

1302
01:04:26,250 --> 01:04:29,000
TOM: So the Gallo Brothers
let Joe Profaci's men go.

1303
01:04:29,083 --> 01:04:31,000
Commission says,
"Okay, you boys just be patient.

1304
01:04:31,125 --> 01:04:32,167
"We'll get you what's due.

1305
01:04:32,292 --> 01:04:34,000
"We're going to talk
to Profaci,

1306
01:04:34,125 --> 01:04:35,250
"and we'll make sure that...

1307
01:04:35,375 --> 01:04:38,667
you guys did good
for releasing them."

1308
01:04:38,833 --> 01:04:40,167
This goes on for months,

1309
01:04:40,250 --> 01:04:43,000
and the Gallos aren't really
hearing anything.

1310
01:04:43,083 --> 01:04:46,167
And, all of a sudden,
it's too quiet.

1311
01:04:46,333 --> 01:04:47,875
♪

1312
01:04:48,000 --> 01:04:50,208
And this is
when the Don strikes again.

1313
01:04:50,333 --> 01:04:54,458
♪

1314
01:04:54,583 --> 01:04:56,667
FRANK DiMATTEO: At the time,
no one knew that Joe Profaci

1315
01:04:56,792 --> 01:04:59,167
was full of [bleep].

1316
01:04:59,333 --> 01:05:01,000
No one knew that.
We know that now.

1317
01:05:01,125 --> 01:05:03,958
As soon as they released
the captains,

1318
01:05:04,083 --> 01:05:06,792
he put a hit on all of them,
the whole Gallo crew.

1319
01:05:06,917 --> 01:05:09,042
With his top men
kidnapped and threatened,

1320
01:05:09,125 --> 01:05:11,500
Joe Profaci felt he had
no other option

1321
01:05:11,667 --> 01:05:14,250
than to kill off the rogue
faction in his own Family.

1322
01:05:14,375 --> 01:05:16,333
But the Gallos
wouldn't go down easy.

1323
01:05:17,083 --> 01:05:20,000
What ensued was one
of the longest and bloodiest

1324
01:05:20,125 --> 01:05:22,958
sagas ever to be seen
on the streets of Brooklyn,

1325
01:05:23,042 --> 01:05:25,458
The Gallo-Profaci War.

1326
01:05:25,542 --> 01:05:27,042
MICHAEL: People that are not
in the know think

1327
01:05:27,167 --> 01:05:29,375
that Families
war against each other.

1328
01:05:29,542 --> 01:05:31,625
That doesn't happen.
That stopped in the '40s.

1329
01:05:31,708 --> 01:05:34,542
It's always a civil war.
War over a power struggle.

1330
01:05:36,208 --> 01:05:39,375
Well, my dad was
on Profaci's side.

1331
01:05:39,500 --> 01:05:41,583
We had been out in Long Island
at my grandmother's house.

1332
01:05:41,708 --> 01:05:43,375
My dad moved us out there.

1333
01:05:43,500 --> 01:05:46,667
He was gone for several days.
I didn't know why.

1334
01:05:46,875 --> 01:05:49,042
But I remember one day
he came home.

1335
01:05:49,167 --> 01:05:51,417
It was fairly early
in the morning,

1336
01:05:51,542 --> 01:05:55,000
and he walked
into my grandmother's house.

1337
01:05:55,125 --> 01:05:58,000
He had a full beard.
He hadn't shaved in a while.

1338
01:05:58,042 --> 01:06:01,667
And his right-hand guy,
Joey Brancato, was also

1339
01:06:01,750 --> 01:06:05,833
a made guy, was out on the porch
kind of watching guard.

1340
01:06:05,958 --> 01:06:08,625
And I'm sitting on the steps
as my dad came in.

1341
01:06:08,708 --> 01:06:09,958
He grabbed my mom.

1342
01:06:10,042 --> 01:06:12,667
He hugged her,
and then he came over to me

1343
01:06:12,708 --> 01:06:14,500
on the steps and hugged me.

1344
01:06:14,625 --> 01:06:17,250
How was I doing and all of that.

1345
01:06:17,375 --> 01:06:19,792
He was only there for a short
time, and then he left.

1346
01:06:19,875 --> 01:06:22,208
And that was during
the Gallo-Profaci war.

1347
01:06:23,708 --> 01:06:25,250
And it was serious.

1348
01:06:25,333 --> 01:06:28,542
Quite a few people
got killed during that time.

1349
01:06:28,667 --> 01:06:31,500
One of the horrors of that life,
you make a mistake,

1350
01:06:31,625 --> 01:06:32,833
your best friend walks you
into a room,

1351
01:06:32,958 --> 01:06:34,542
you don't walk out again.

1352
01:06:34,708 --> 01:06:36,500
[gunshots]

1353
01:06:43,958 --> 01:06:48,667
♪

1354
01:06:48,750 --> 01:06:53,417
[gunshots]

1355
01:06:53,542 --> 01:06:57,000
TOM: The Gallo-Profaci war
is like a crazy crime thriller.

1356
01:06:57,208 --> 01:07:00,042
The Gallo brothers, they're
holed up on President Street,

1357
01:07:00,208 --> 01:07:03,250
in their grandmother's tenement
by the Red Hook waterfront.

1358
01:07:03,333 --> 01:07:05,000
They've got that block.

1359
01:07:05,167 --> 01:07:07,417
The Profaci Family
has all of Brooklyn.

1360
01:07:07,542 --> 01:07:09,292
So, you basically
have all of Brooklyn

1361
01:07:09,375 --> 01:07:12,417
versus that one little strip
on President Street.

1362
01:07:12,542 --> 01:07:14,167
It's a siege mentality.

1363
01:07:14,250 --> 01:07:19,667
♪

1364
01:07:20,833 --> 01:07:23,083
FRANK DiMATTEO: Everybody went
on to the clubs on the block,

1365
01:07:23,208 --> 01:07:26,833
and you would just get together,
get all your stuff together,

1366
01:07:26,875 --> 01:07:29,542
stock up food,
and everybody pretty much

1367
01:07:29,667 --> 01:07:31,250
ate, drank, and slept there.

1368
01:07:31,417 --> 01:07:33,208
You threw mattresses on the
floor 'cause there was no...

1369
01:07:33,333 --> 01:07:34,667
Everybody didn't have a bed.

1370
01:07:34,792 --> 01:07:37,000
Joey, when shooting started,

1371
01:07:37,125 --> 01:07:38,625
told everybody,
"You gotta come in

1372
01:07:38,750 --> 01:07:40,083
and you hit the mattress."

1373
01:07:40,208 --> 01:07:42,000
They started the expression,
"Hit the mattress."

1374
01:07:42,167 --> 01:07:43,667
That's the first time
I heard of it.

1375
01:07:44,250 --> 01:07:46,667
That's how they lived
for that year.

1376
01:07:46,792 --> 01:07:48,208
Get money and food
and that's it.

1377
01:07:48,375 --> 01:07:50,167
Hang out until the guys
who were in the street

1378
01:07:50,250 --> 01:07:51,542
would do what they had to do.

1379
01:07:51,667 --> 01:07:57,500
♪

1380
01:07:59,083 --> 01:08:01,000
TOM: The Gallos top bodyguard,

1381
01:08:01,125 --> 01:08:04,250
he was a feared hitman
named Joe Jelly.

1382
01:08:04,417 --> 01:08:06,042
He was the Gallos' muscle.

1383
01:08:06,167 --> 01:08:08,375
And before the Profacis
wanted to strike

1384
01:08:08,542 --> 01:08:11,500
the Gallos, the idea was like,
"We gotta get rid of Joe Jelly,

1385
01:08:11,625 --> 01:08:14,292
"because if Joe Jelly's still
alive and we go after Larry,

1386
01:08:14,417 --> 01:08:15,833
"it's going to be over for us.

1387
01:08:16,000 --> 01:08:19,542
This guy's a one man force.
How do we get rid of him?"

1388
01:08:20,250 --> 01:08:21,958
FRANK DiMATTEO:
Joe Jelly was a bad dude.

1389
01:08:22,125 --> 01:08:24,125
Very loyal to Larry and Joey.

1390
01:08:24,208 --> 01:08:25,917
Very loyal.

1391
01:08:26,083 --> 01:08:28,458
Joe Jelly went
on a fishing trip.

1392
01:08:28,583 --> 01:08:30,542
♪

1393
01:08:30,667 --> 01:08:34,083
They wound up killing him,
taking his jacket and his ring.

1394
01:08:36,375 --> 01:08:40,875
TOM: That night, a car goes
past the Gallo family diner.

1395
01:08:41,042 --> 01:08:43,417
A package is thrown out.

1396
01:08:43,583 --> 01:08:47,917
Into the package is the last
suit that Joe Jelly wore,

1397
01:08:48,042 --> 01:08:52,625
and inside that suit, dead fish.

1398
01:08:52,750 --> 01:08:56,708
And that's how they know
Joe Jelly slept with the fish.

1399
01:09:01,542 --> 01:09:03,333
Right after that is
when they went after Larry.

1400
01:09:05,000 --> 01:09:08,250
TOM: Larry Gallo,
he goes to a bar.

1401
01:09:08,375 --> 01:09:10,458
Larry's at the bar,
and he's taking a shot...

1402
01:09:10,542 --> 01:09:16,250
♪

1403
01:09:16,375 --> 01:09:18,292
...and that's when someone
comes from behind

1404
01:09:18,417 --> 01:09:19,833
and starts to strangle him.

1405
01:09:19,917 --> 01:09:26,125
♪

1406
01:09:26,667 --> 01:09:29,792
They try to kill him,
and he lived through it.

1407
01:09:31,500 --> 01:09:34,625
TOM: The cops take him
to the precinct.

1408
01:09:34,750 --> 01:09:40,167
He's got this awful looking
purple rash across his neck.

1409
01:09:40,542 --> 01:09:42,917
The cops are like,
"Who did this to you?"

1410
01:09:43,042 --> 01:09:46,125
Larry keeps quiet.
He didn't say anything.

1411
01:09:46,250 --> 01:09:49,458
The Gallos had lost
all respect for their boss,

1412
01:09:49,542 --> 01:09:53,250
the Profaci Family, and
the antiquated ways of the life.

1413
01:09:53,375 --> 01:09:57,000
So they broke rules,
but never the golden rule.

1414
01:09:57,125 --> 01:10:01,042
Larry would stay silent and not
cooperate with authorities,

1415
01:10:01,208 --> 01:10:02,833
and the shooting would continue.

1416
01:10:05,000 --> 01:10:06,208
FRANK DiMATTEO:
I was with my mother.

1417
01:10:06,333 --> 01:10:08,417
We're coming out of a house
on Union and Fourth.

1418
01:10:16,042 --> 01:10:18,333
We were coming out the door,

1419
01:10:18,458 --> 01:10:20,500
got to the corner.
My mother looked up.

1420
01:10:20,625 --> 01:10:22,792
There was two people across
the street that she recognized.

1421
01:10:22,875 --> 01:10:25,667
I looked up, and all
of a sudden you hear pop pop.

1422
01:10:25,792 --> 01:10:26,875
[gunshots]

1423
01:10:27,000 --> 01:10:28,458
Guy hit the floor. Boom.

1424
01:10:30,458 --> 01:10:32,833
With his crew under siege,

1425
01:10:33,000 --> 01:10:34,958
losing men
and strapped for cash,

1426
01:10:35,042 --> 01:10:37,875
Joey Gallo turned over
every stone in South Brooklyn

1427
01:10:38,042 --> 01:10:40,500
in the fall of 1961,

1428
01:10:40,625 --> 01:10:42,458
looking for money wherever
he could find it.

1429
01:10:46,042 --> 01:10:47,458
TOM: He sort of goes out
on his own.

1430
01:10:47,583 --> 01:10:49,333
He's like,
"I'm going to start making money

1431
01:10:49,458 --> 01:10:51,583
just the old classic way,"
which is extortion.

1432
01:10:53,417 --> 01:10:57,750
He finds this guy, and he starts
to begin to shake him down,

1433
01:10:57,833 --> 01:10:59,583
and he's like, "You're going
to give me part of your action."

1434
01:10:59,708 --> 01:11:01,917
"I don't have that much action
here at all."

1435
01:11:02,042 --> 01:11:05,042
But Joey becomes,
I think, increasingly obsessed

1436
01:11:05,167 --> 01:11:09,042
to the point where he's just got
to prove something to himself.

1437
01:11:09,167 --> 01:11:11,333
♪

1438
01:11:11,417 --> 01:11:13,875
So he sets up
a proper sit-down,

1439
01:11:14,042 --> 01:11:16,375
old Italian place
called the Luna,

1440
01:11:16,458 --> 01:11:18,833
a classic mob hangout
on Mulberry Street.

1441
01:11:19,000 --> 01:11:21,125
Joey basically tells this kid,

1442
01:11:21,208 --> 01:11:22,417
"Why don't I just put you
in the hospital?

1443
01:11:22,542 --> 01:11:24,500
Then you have a few months
to think about it."

1444
01:11:24,667 --> 01:11:27,333
And right then there's two NYPD
detectives at the next table.

1445
01:11:27,417 --> 01:11:28,792
And that's when they arrest
Joey Gallo.

1446
01:11:31,333 --> 01:11:33,167
FRANK DiMATTEO:
He got pinched for it,

1447
01:11:33,292 --> 01:11:35,083
and he really
didn't defend himself well.

1448
01:11:35,208 --> 01:11:37,167
Joey didn't want
to be represented.

1449
01:11:37,333 --> 01:11:39,833
We don't know why.
No one knows to this day why.

1450
01:11:40,708 --> 01:11:43,833
He really didn't give
100% fight in this thing.

1451
01:11:43,958 --> 01:11:46,000
And no one knows why.

1452
01:11:46,083 --> 01:11:47,375
And he winds up
getting convicted.

1453
01:11:47,542 --> 01:11:49,500
♪

1454
01:11:49,625 --> 01:11:51,458
TOM: All of a sudden,
the Gallo Revolution

1455
01:11:51,542 --> 01:11:53,458
has lost their Che Guevara.

1456
01:11:53,583 --> 01:11:55,500
Larry's lost his right hand.

1457
01:11:55,625 --> 01:11:58,500
These are dark times
for the Gallos.

1458
01:11:58,667 --> 01:12:02,000
The Gallos had failed
to overthrow Joe Profaci,

1459
01:12:02,125 --> 01:12:03,917
and when Joey Gallo went away,

1460
01:12:04,042 --> 01:12:07,667
they remained the pariahs
of the Five Families.

1461
01:12:08,292 --> 01:12:10,208
But despite
their public persona

1462
01:12:10,375 --> 01:12:12,500
and headline-grabbing antics,

1463
01:12:12,625 --> 01:12:14,292
the Gallos would never break

1464
01:12:15,875 --> 01:12:17,708
the organization's
most sacred rule: Omertà.

1465
01:12:18,958 --> 01:12:21,708
A member from a different
Family would soon handle that.

1466
01:12:31,000 --> 01:12:34,333
It had been five years of
turmoil for the Five Families.

1467
01:12:34,417 --> 01:12:38,000
Public slayings and shamings,
coups gone wrong.

1468
01:12:38,125 --> 01:12:41,958
By this time, the Families
were led by Joe Bonanno,

1469
01:12:42,125 --> 01:12:44,875
Tommy Lucchese, Carlo Gambino,

1470
01:12:45,042 --> 01:12:48,333
Joe Profaci and Vito Genovese.

1471
01:12:48,417 --> 01:12:50,583
Genovese remained
one of the most feared

1472
01:12:50,708 --> 01:12:53,000
and powerful bosses
on the Commission,

1473
01:12:53,125 --> 01:12:57,583
despite getting nabbed
on a drug charge back in 1958.

1474
01:12:57,708 --> 01:12:59,500
Those charges are fantastic
and ridiculous.

1475
01:13:04,542 --> 01:13:08,083
While in prison in Atlanta,
Vito Genovese feared

1476
01:13:08,208 --> 01:13:11,417
that a member of his own Family,
who was also serving

1477
01:13:11,542 --> 01:13:14,833
a lengthy sentence,
might be tempted to flip

1478
01:13:14,917 --> 01:13:19,667
and turn state's evidence,
to betray omertà.

1479
01:13:20,667 --> 01:13:23,750
The member's name
was Joseph Valachi.

1480
01:13:23,875 --> 01:13:27,333
SELWYN: Joe Valachi was
a two bit hood

1481
01:13:27,458 --> 01:13:29,417
in the Genovese Family,

1482
01:13:29,542 --> 01:13:32,333
and he got arrested
on a drug charge.

1483
01:13:32,458 --> 01:13:35,167
And it wound up
that he was in the same prison

1484
01:13:35,250 --> 01:13:37,083
in Atlanta with Vito Genovese.

1485
01:13:39,750 --> 01:13:41,833
And at some point
he either gets tipped off

1486
01:13:41,917 --> 01:13:44,417
or he gets the sense
that he's run afoul

1487
01:13:44,583 --> 01:13:46,833
of Genovese
and he's going to be killed.

1488
01:13:46,917 --> 01:13:49,750
ANTHONY:
The story is that Valachi

1489
01:13:49,875 --> 01:13:55,333
believes that Genovese had
fingered him for assassination.

1490
01:13:55,417 --> 01:13:59,208
♪

1491
01:13:59,333 --> 01:14:02,708
He said, "You know, sometimes...

1492
01:14:02,875 --> 01:14:05,250
"you buy a barrel of apples

1493
01:14:05,375 --> 01:14:08,792
"and one of these apples
is touched.

1494
01:14:08,958 --> 01:14:11,000
They're not all rotten,
they're a little touched."

1495
01:14:11,875 --> 01:14:15,542
He said,
"That apple has to be removed

1496
01:14:15,667 --> 01:14:18,708
or it'll touch
the rest of the apples."

1497
01:14:21,458 --> 01:14:24,542
Grabbed my hand
and he gave me a kiss.

1498
01:14:24,708 --> 01:14:26,958
This is a suspicious kiss...

1499
01:14:29,083 --> 01:14:30,833
"The kiss of death."

1500
01:14:30,917 --> 01:14:32,875
♪

1501
01:14:33,000 --> 01:14:37,167
Valachi suspected that he was
going to be set up for murder,

1502
01:14:37,375 --> 01:14:40,292
and he suspected
one guy in particular

1503
01:14:40,375 --> 01:14:41,458
was supposed to kill him.

1504
01:14:43,542 --> 01:14:45,792
I made one lap of the yard.

1505
01:14:45,917 --> 01:14:48,625
It was about,
I'd say, four block long.

1506
01:14:48,750 --> 01:14:50,833
Then I made another lap.
And then I made another one.

1507
01:14:50,958 --> 01:14:54,000
And then on my way back,
I spot Joe Beck.

1508
01:14:54,167 --> 01:14:57,417
♪

1509
01:14:57,542 --> 01:15:01,083
Well, he was
walking with another guy,

1510
01:15:01,208 --> 01:15:02,958
and right away I saw the pipe.

1511
01:15:03,042 --> 01:15:06,167
I grabbed the pipe
and I went to work on Joe Beck.

1512
01:15:09,167 --> 01:15:12,750
I... hit him on the head
with the pipe very hard.

1513
01:15:15,333 --> 01:15:17,375
And then I...

1514
01:15:17,500 --> 01:15:20,250
saw a couple of guys
running towards me.

1515
01:15:20,375 --> 01:15:23,958
They made about two attempts
before the officer come over,

1516
01:15:24,125 --> 01:15:29,333
see, all the way to
the associated warden's office.

1517
01:15:29,458 --> 01:15:32,833
He showed me a picture.
I said to him, "Who's this?"

1518
01:15:32,958 --> 01:15:36,333
He said,
"That's the guy you hit."

1519
01:15:36,458 --> 01:15:38,792
You could imagine how I felt.

1520
01:15:39,458 --> 01:15:43,417
I sank in the chair, you know.

1521
01:15:43,542 --> 01:15:45,083
I told him,
"Just locked me up."

1522
01:15:48,083 --> 01:15:51,333
ANTHONY: It turned out it was
a case of mistaken identity.

1523
01:15:51,500 --> 01:15:53,500
Killed the wrong guy.

1524
01:15:53,667 --> 01:15:57,625
The person had nothing to do
with any planned hit.

1525
01:15:59,417 --> 01:16:02,000
Commit a murder in prison,

1526
01:16:02,083 --> 01:16:04,667
you're really going
to face a lot of trouble.

1527
01:16:05,667 --> 01:16:08,250
And so he goes
to the authorities and says,

1528
01:16:08,375 --> 01:16:11,542
"In exchange for protection
and keeping myself alive,

1529
01:16:11,708 --> 01:16:13,000
I'm willing to talk."

1530
01:16:14,583 --> 01:16:16,833
And so the FBI takes him in.

1531
01:16:16,958 --> 01:16:20,625
They interview him,
and before long, he is

1532
01:16:20,792 --> 01:16:22,083
before congressional committee.

1533
01:16:22,208 --> 01:16:23,833
REPORTER:
The story of Joseph Valachi's

1534
01:16:23,958 --> 01:16:25,875
testimony today before
Senator McClellan's

1535
01:16:26,042 --> 01:16:27,833
investigating subcommittee.

1536
01:16:33,417 --> 01:16:35,958
Valachi is going to commit
the greatest sin of a mobster,

1537
01:16:36,083 --> 01:16:38,500
which is to break
the code of omertà.

1538
01:16:38,583 --> 01:16:40,708
Omertà is the code of silence.

1539
01:16:40,833 --> 01:16:43,083
"We do not talk to the law.

1540
01:16:43,208 --> 01:16:46,750
We do not talk to outsiders.
All of our business is private."

1541
01:16:46,875 --> 01:16:51,333
♪

1542
01:16:51,458 --> 01:16:54,375
REPORTER: The convicted hoodlum
whose confessions to the FBI

1543
01:16:54,500 --> 01:16:58,625
have reportedly put a price
of $100,000 on his head.

1544
01:16:59,958 --> 01:17:02,458
ED:
And Valachi breaks that code,

1545
01:17:02,542 --> 01:17:06,750
yanks the curtain back on all
the secrets of what the mob is.

1546
01:17:06,875 --> 01:17:09,792
For more than 30 years,
law enforcement

1547
01:17:09,917 --> 01:17:13,125
and the American public had
extremely limited information

1548
01:17:13,208 --> 01:17:16,042
when it came to the mafia
and how it operated.

1549
01:17:16,208 --> 01:17:19,500
Now, for the first time,
their questions

1550
01:17:19,583 --> 01:17:21,542
would be answered.

1551
01:17:21,708 --> 01:17:23,250
MAN: Do you solemnly swear
the evidence

1552
01:17:23,375 --> 01:17:25,833
you should give before
this Senate Select Committee

1553
01:17:25,917 --> 01:17:28,500
shall be the truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth,

1554
01:17:28,667 --> 01:17:30,167
so help you God?

1555
01:17:30,292 --> 01:17:33,833
SELWYN: He actually disclosed
that there were

1556
01:17:33,958 --> 01:17:37,750
five Families in New York.

1557
01:17:37,875 --> 01:17:40,833
He put on the table
that the mafia

1558
01:17:40,958 --> 01:17:44,208
and Five Families existed,
and here were their names.

1559
01:17:46,250 --> 01:17:49,083
JOHN McLELLAN: Are you a member
of any such organization?

1560
01:17:49,208 --> 01:17:51,500
Yes, I am.

1561
01:17:51,667 --> 01:17:55,000
- What is the name--?
- I was.

1562
01:17:55,125 --> 01:17:57,333
JOHN McLELLAN:
What is the name of it?

1563
01:17:57,417 --> 01:18:01,750
It is Cosa Nostra in Italian.

1564
01:18:01,875 --> 01:18:04,208
JOHN McLELLAN:
Cosa Nostra in Italian.

1565
01:18:04,333 --> 01:18:09,250
"Our thing and our family,"
in English.

1566
01:18:09,375 --> 01:18:12,708
JOHN McLELLAN: "Our thing
and our family" in English.

1567
01:18:12,875 --> 01:18:14,750
We'll come back to that later,

1568
01:18:14,875 --> 01:18:17,500
but that is an organization,
is it,

1569
01:18:17,667 --> 01:18:21,167
that requires
absolute obedience?

1570
01:18:21,250 --> 01:18:25,667
- Yes.
- And conformity to its policy

1571
01:18:25,750 --> 01:18:29,125
as handed down
by those in authority?

1572
01:18:29,208 --> 01:18:31,125
Yes.

1573
01:18:31,208 --> 01:18:33,625
♪

1574
01:18:33,708 --> 01:18:36,167
JOHN McLELLAN: Why do you feel
like it should be destroyed?

1575
01:18:36,333 --> 01:18:40,333
Well, through the years,
I've, uh...

1576
01:18:40,542 --> 01:18:43,250
First of all, I want revenge.

1577
01:18:43,375 --> 01:18:48,875
Second of all, they've been
very, uh...

1578
01:18:49,000 --> 01:18:53,250
I say very bad to the soldiers,

1579
01:18:53,375 --> 01:18:54,792
and, you know, uh...

1580
01:18:54,875 --> 01:18:56,458
they've been thinking
for themselves

1581
01:18:56,542 --> 01:18:58,000
all through the years.

1582
01:18:58,167 --> 01:19:00,667
As the Senator put it before,
what did I get out of it?

1583
01:19:00,833 --> 01:19:02,750
- What'd you get out?
- Nothing but misery.

1584
01:19:02,917 --> 01:19:04,958
Misery was right.

1585
01:19:05,083 --> 01:19:07,000
And for New York's
Five Families,

1586
01:19:07,125 --> 01:19:09,500
there would be
much more of that to come.

1587
01:19:09,708 --> 01:19:11,917
♪

1588
01:19:17,875 --> 01:19:21,667
In the fall of 1963,
Joseph Valachi,

1589
01:19:21,750 --> 01:19:23,917
a soldier
in the Genovese Family

1590
01:19:24,042 --> 01:19:26,542
facing a murder charge,
cut a deal

1591
01:19:26,708 --> 01:19:28,125
with the Justice Department

1592
01:19:28,292 --> 01:19:30,583
and testified
on national television

1593
01:19:30,708 --> 01:19:34,542
before Senator John McClellan's
investigations committee.

1594
01:19:35,458 --> 01:19:36,708
ROGER MUDD:
Good afternoon.

1595
01:19:36,833 --> 01:19:39,167
What set off this latest
round of crime hearings

1596
01:19:39,250 --> 01:19:42,292
by the Senate's Permanent
Investigation Subcommittee was

1597
01:19:42,417 --> 01:19:45,333
the existence of one
Joseph Valachi, 60 years old,

1598
01:19:45,417 --> 01:19:48,250
convicted dope peddler,
convicted murderer,

1599
01:19:48,333 --> 01:19:51,083
and one time member
of the mafia, or Cosa Nostra.

1600
01:19:53,208 --> 01:19:56,000
ANTHONY:
He testified about the mafia,

1601
01:19:56,125 --> 01:19:59,083
about omertà,
about the structure, who is who,

1602
01:19:59,208 --> 01:20:01,875
about Genovese,
and about all the stories.

1603
01:20:02,000 --> 01:20:04,208
JOHN McLELLAN: Well, we might
ask you this time,

1604
01:20:04,333 --> 01:20:07,958
what are the different
positions in that organization?

1605
01:20:08,083 --> 01:20:11,083
Starting at the top,
what do you have?

1606
01:20:11,208 --> 01:20:14,833
They used to have what we call
the boss of all bosses.

1607
01:20:14,917 --> 01:20:17,292
JOHN McLELLAN:
The boss of all bosses.

1608
01:20:17,375 --> 01:20:21,708
All right. You say now,
however, there is a Commission.

1609
01:20:21,875 --> 01:20:24,708
Does it now have
a boss of all bosses?

1610
01:20:24,833 --> 01:20:26,875
No, no more boss of all bosses.

1611
01:20:27,042 --> 01:20:30,250
We have what we call...
is a Commission.

1612
01:20:30,375 --> 01:20:33,458
Charlie Luciano,
Charlie Lucky put it in effect.

1613
01:20:33,542 --> 01:20:39,417
And we had the individual bosses
of the individual Family.

1614
01:20:39,542 --> 01:20:42,000
Then we have an underboss.

1615
01:20:42,083 --> 01:20:44,542
Then we have what
we call a caporegime,

1616
01:20:44,667 --> 01:20:46,708
which is a lieutenant.

1617
01:20:46,833 --> 01:20:49,667
Then we have
what we call soldiers.

1618
01:20:49,792 --> 01:20:51,500
- Soldiers?
- Soldiers.

1619
01:20:51,625 --> 01:20:56,875
ANTHONY: Joe Valachi created
a storehouse of knowledge,

1620
01:20:57,042 --> 01:21:01,000
facts, impressions
about the structure

1621
01:21:01,167 --> 01:21:04,167
of organized crime
in the United States.

1622
01:21:04,625 --> 01:21:07,833
ALEX HORTIS: Joe Valachi's
testimony to the United States

1623
01:21:07,958 --> 01:21:11,083
was a seminal moment
because he gave

1624
01:21:11,208 --> 01:21:15,875
concrete evidence of what
these Families actually were,

1625
01:21:16,000 --> 01:21:18,292
that he actually
names names of bars

1626
01:21:18,375 --> 01:21:22,083
that the mafia owns,
and so he makes it real.

1627
01:21:22,167 --> 01:21:26,083
And he also tells, you know,
about all their secrets,

1628
01:21:26,208 --> 01:21:30,208
the initiation ceremonies,
how somebody was made a member.

1629
01:21:30,333 --> 01:21:34,542
He talks about killings.
He really does not hold back.

1630
01:21:34,708 --> 01:21:36,625
JOHN McLELLAN: Well,
this is a secret organization.

1631
01:21:36,708 --> 01:21:38,333
How do you get to know,

1632
01:21:38,417 --> 01:21:40,250
that someone is a member
of the same Family?

1633
01:21:40,375 --> 01:21:42,625
He'll introduce them to you,
for instance,

1634
01:21:42,750 --> 01:21:44,625
as a friend of ours.

1635
01:21:44,750 --> 01:21:46,375
That means a member.

1636
01:21:46,458 --> 01:21:50,417
Now, if he happens to be
with someone that isn't

1637
01:21:50,542 --> 01:21:53,083
a friend of ours,
he would just simply say,

1638
01:21:53,208 --> 01:21:55,750
"Meet a friend of mine,"
which means nothing.

1639
01:21:55,875 --> 01:21:57,833
That's the code between us.

1640
01:21:57,958 --> 01:21:59,667
So there was a code
that enabled you

1641
01:21:59,875 --> 01:22:01,208
to identify other members
of the Family?

1642
01:22:01,375 --> 01:22:03,333
Yes.

1643
01:22:03,458 --> 01:22:06,000
MAN: Did you do
anything for the Family at all

1644
01:22:06,125 --> 01:22:07,833
in this time, or did they
just do things for you?

1645
01:22:08,000 --> 01:22:10,250
Just go out, kill for them.

1646
01:22:10,417 --> 01:22:13,667
MAN: You'd go out, what?
- Kill for them.

1647
01:22:13,708 --> 01:22:17,417
ALEX HORTIS: And so,
the gangsters were, you know...

1648
01:22:17,542 --> 01:22:20,000
it's absolutely abhorrent
to them to have

1649
01:22:20,125 --> 01:22:23,625
all their secrets
spilled out into national TV.

1650
01:22:23,750 --> 01:22:25,583
♪

1651
01:22:25,708 --> 01:22:28,833
CLAIRE: Valachi really
does create this path forward

1652
01:22:29,000 --> 01:22:31,167
for any mob turncoats.

1653
01:22:31,333 --> 01:22:35,167
And what he does is shows
that there is a way

1654
01:22:35,333 --> 01:22:39,875
to become an informant
and still survive,

1655
01:22:40,042 --> 01:22:42,167
that there's a life after

1656
01:22:42,208 --> 01:22:44,333
for anyone who wants
to take that path.

1657
01:22:44,417 --> 01:22:48,042
And, you know, we'll see
that this continues to happen

1658
01:22:48,125 --> 01:22:50,625
after Valachi does it,
the, you know, floodgates

1659
01:22:50,750 --> 01:22:54,875
in a lot of ways are open
for the federal law enforcement,

1660
01:22:55,042 --> 01:22:56,125
and law enforcement in general,

1661
01:22:56,250 --> 01:22:58,750
to take advantage
of people who are willing

1662
01:22:58,875 --> 01:23:00,667
to break the code of omertà.

1663
01:23:00,750 --> 01:23:05,167
Joseph Valachi would die
in federal custody in 1971,

1664
01:23:05,250 --> 01:23:08,625
but his testimony would be
studied and scrutinized

1665
01:23:08,750 --> 01:23:11,625
by law enforcement
and journalists for decades.

1666
01:23:11,708 --> 01:23:15,250
From the outside,
Valachi's betrayal of omertà

1667
01:23:15,375 --> 01:23:17,542
provided the public
with a glimpse of what life

1668
01:23:17,667 --> 01:23:19,917
was like inside the mafia.

1669
01:23:20,042 --> 01:23:22,333
Amongst members
of the Five Families,

1670
01:23:22,458 --> 01:23:24,833
his testimony
was a grim reminder

1671
01:23:24,958 --> 01:23:28,500
of the looming existential
threat to their way of life.

1672
01:23:28,667 --> 01:23:30,625
♪

1673
01:23:30,750 --> 01:23:34,375
A life saturated in violence.

1674
01:23:34,542 --> 01:23:38,542
RITA GIGANTE: All I remember is
I'm underneath the table

1675
01:23:38,667 --> 01:23:42,125
and I remember
this guy hitting the floor

1676
01:23:42,250 --> 01:23:46,667
and his face was facing me
and he's bleeding.

1677
01:23:46,833 --> 01:23:51,375
I remember the hand coming down,
hitting him, coming up,

1678
01:23:51,500 --> 01:23:54,208
coming down,
hitting him, coming up.

1679
01:23:54,375 --> 01:23:56,000
And I knew it was my dad,

1680
01:23:56,125 --> 01:23:58,333
only because I remember
his pinky ring.

1681
01:23:58,458 --> 01:24:01,417
The last thing he did
was step on him,

1682
01:24:01,542 --> 01:24:04,000
and say, "Get him out of here.
I'm done."

1683
01:24:04,375 --> 01:24:08,167
A life far removed
from your typical 9:00 to 5:00.

1684
01:24:08,292 --> 01:24:10,792
I went on to college
for a couple of months

1685
01:24:10,917 --> 01:24:12,042
and I wound up walking away.

1686
01:24:12,167 --> 01:24:14,375
I had an argument
and I walked away.

1687
01:24:14,542 --> 01:24:16,667
And I guess you could say I took
the wrong train coming back.

1688
01:24:18,125 --> 01:24:20,375
Back when I was around
getting made,

1689
01:24:20,542 --> 01:24:22,167
you had to be part
of doing work.

1690
01:24:22,292 --> 01:24:24,083
Work meaning you had
to be part of a killing.

1691
01:24:25,208 --> 01:24:27,083
The night we killed Rick Mazzio,

1692
01:24:27,208 --> 01:24:29,125
my Uncle Al
was supposed to pick me up.

1693
01:24:29,250 --> 01:24:31,042
He was never there
to pick me up.

1694
01:24:31,167 --> 01:24:32,667
He said he got lost.

1695
01:24:32,792 --> 01:24:35,708
I got rid of the gun,

1696
01:24:35,875 --> 01:24:38,250
found my way back
over the Williamsburg Bridge.

1697
01:24:38,375 --> 01:24:41,000
Did he do it on purpose?
I don't know.

1698
01:24:41,125 --> 01:24:43,333
A life of respect.

1699
01:24:43,500 --> 01:24:47,625
A life earned through silence
and adhering to the rules.

1700
01:24:49,708 --> 01:24:51,125
Omertà.

1701
01:24:51,250 --> 01:24:53,500
For a soldier,
as you all understand,

1702
01:24:53,625 --> 01:24:54,875
once you're in, you're in.
You can't get out.

1703
01:24:55,000 --> 01:24:57,708
♪

1704
01:24:57,833 --> 01:25:00,958
On the next episode
of "American Godfathers:

1705
01:25:01,042 --> 01:25:02,375
The Five Families"...

1706
01:25:03,833 --> 01:25:05,708
TOM: Mobster Joe Columbo.
He's on the "Dick Cavett Show."

1707
01:25:05,833 --> 01:25:08,250
REPORTER: As one police mafia
expert put it,

1708
01:25:08,375 --> 01:25:10,333
a contract was fulfilled
this afternoon.

1709
01:25:10,417 --> 01:25:12,417
NARRATOR: A new generation
of mob bosses

1710
01:25:12,500 --> 01:25:14,208
come to rule New York City...

1711
01:25:14,375 --> 01:25:16,333
- Is there a mafia?
- No, there is not.

1712
01:25:16,417 --> 01:25:18,458
...with new strategies...

1713
01:25:18,542 --> 01:25:20,375
REPORTER: Joe Colombo
had organized a picket line

1714
01:25:20,500 --> 01:25:23,083
around FBI headquarters
in Manhattan.

1715
01:25:23,208 --> 01:25:25,208
NARRATOR:
...and new obstacles.

1716
01:25:25,333 --> 01:25:27,083
REPORTER: Galante was shielded
from photographers

1717
01:25:27,208 --> 01:25:28,625
by two of his daughters
as he arrived

1718
01:25:28,750 --> 01:25:31,167
at the federal courthouse
in Miami yesterday.

1719
01:25:31,250 --> 01:25:33,333
NARRATOR: The Families
continue to bend the rules

1720
01:25:33,500 --> 01:25:37,625
and evolve, as they move
through the 1960s and 1970s.

1721
01:25:37,708 --> 01:25:40,000
TOM: Joey Gallo starts to think,
"If the Black gangsters

1722
01:25:40,125 --> 01:25:42,167
"got organized,
they could team up with us.

1723
01:25:42,292 --> 01:25:44,583
We would really be
kings of the streets then."

1724
01:25:44,708 --> 01:25:46,250
Decades of change...

1725
01:25:46,375 --> 01:25:48,000
I walked 12 steps away.

1726
01:25:48,125 --> 01:25:49,667
And that's
when the shots fired out.

1727
01:25:49,792 --> 01:25:52,167
[gunshots]

1728
01:25:52,333 --> 01:25:54,208
...for law enforcement...

1729
01:25:54,333 --> 01:25:56,292
REPORTER: Eight men were taken
into custody today...

1730
01:25:56,375 --> 01:25:57,417
NARRATOR: New York City...

1731
01:25:57,542 --> 01:25:59,167
CHRISTOPHER:
New York lost almost

1732
01:25:59,292 --> 01:26:01,042
a million people in the 1970s.

1733
01:26:01,167 --> 01:26:02,458
...and the criminal underworld.

1734
01:26:02,583 --> 01:26:04,208
FRANK DIMATTEO:
Joey never acknowledged

1735
01:26:04,375 --> 01:26:05,875
that Joe Colombo
was going to be boss.

1736
01:26:06,000 --> 01:26:07,125
He refused him as boss.

1737
01:26:07,250 --> 01:26:08,500
Sort of like,
"Grease the pistols,"

1738
01:26:08,667 --> 01:26:09,875
you know, "The war is back on."