WEBVTT 00:00:00.020 --> 00:00:03.120 Well, hey, all you wiretappers. Good to be back here in Studio Gangland Wire. 00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:04.660 A little bonus episode here. 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:10.780 Hopefully, you just listened to or watched my interview with Anthony DiStefano, 00:00:10.780 --> 00:00:16.020 who had these books about Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, 00:00:16.060 --> 00:00:22.400 and from which Nick Pileggi researched to write his screenplay for the most 00:00:22.400 --> 00:00:24.220 recent movie that's just released, 00:00:24.380 --> 00:00:26.380 Alto Nights, It's a pretty interesting movie. 00:00:26.400 --> 00:00:31.600 We haven't seen a movie about the mob in the 50s since the 50s or the 60s, I don't think. 00:00:31.780 --> 00:00:35.260 And they talk about the Alto Knight Social Club. That's what this was all about, 00:00:35.400 --> 00:00:36.700 the Alto Knight Social Club. 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:41.460 It was a Genovese social club. But what I've noticed is there's a lot of discussion 00:00:41.460 --> 00:00:43.760 about where was this club? 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:48.820 And there's a whole school of thought, thanks to the New York Times or another 00:00:48.820 --> 00:00:55.240 New York newspaper, were obviously conflating the Ravenite Social Club and the 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:58.620 Alto Knights Social Club. Two different clubs. 00:00:58.800 --> 00:01:03.620 So let's look at the Ravenite, which was at 247 Mulberry Street. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:09.300 And what the papers are saying, that the Alto Knights name was changed by Carlo 00:01:09.300 --> 00:01:13.940 Gambino when he inherited it from Albert Anastasia after he was killed. 00:01:13.940 --> 00:01:18.120 Barbershop Quartet, if you remember, murdered him in the Barbershare most famous 00:01:18.120 --> 00:01:20.000 mob photos ever, I think. 00:01:20.220 --> 00:01:25.500 Bosley Gambino changed it to the Raven Knights, Raven Knights, like, you know. 00:01:26.420 --> 00:01:32.020 Knights with a sword and the raven, because he loved the Edgar Allan Poe poem 00:01:32.020 --> 00:01:36.580 so much, the one called the Raven, you know, the Raven, quote, the Raven nevermore. 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:41.040 Now, it seems kind of weird that Gambino must have been a pretty erudite, 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:43.040 sophisticated mob boss. 00:01:43.520 --> 00:01:49.560 If you read Edgar Allan Poe and poems, you know, I remember it because it's 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:50.860 just so immensely popular. 00:01:51.180 --> 00:01:53.840 It got to, you know, quote the Raven nevermore. 00:01:54.420 --> 00:01:58.960 It's such a great line that, you know, you've heard of it. I don't think I ever read the whole thing. 00:01:59.360 --> 00:02:05.220 It's certainly not for fun, maybe in school. And Raven Nights was then slurred into Ravenite. 00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:09.920 And, you know, that makes sense. And that became Paul Castellano's club. 00:02:09.920 --> 00:02:12.960 Uh neil della croce really don't 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:16.740 neil della croce took it from carlo gambino and 00:02:16.740 --> 00:02:22.520 and then castellano as he was promoted to boss not della croce uh he never went 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:26.080 down there that was that was the the kick on him was he never wanted to get 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:29.560 his hands dirty and come down to on the street level where all the guys hung 00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:34.160 out and and so that's when gotti after he had castellano killed. 00:02:34.820 --> 00:02:41.380 He moved his crew from the Bergen Hunt and Fish Club in Ozone Park and the Queens over to Manhattan, 00:02:41.800 --> 00:02:46.920 you know, the center of the world, Manhattan, New York, and took over the Ravenite, 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:50.960 probably the most bugged or most attempted bug club ever. 00:02:51.160 --> 00:02:56.280 And this was about two blocks away from another club at 86 Kinmar, 00:02:56.500 --> 00:03:00.940 same general vicinity, real close to the old original New York City Police headquarters, 00:03:01.220 --> 00:03:04.440 or they called it the Broom Street Addicts or something like that. 00:03:04.820 --> 00:03:11.720 And the 86 Kinmar was a well-documented bookmaking center, and it was known 00:03:11.720 --> 00:03:14.640 as a Café Royale back in the day. 00:03:14.940 --> 00:03:20.680 Now, going back to 247 Mulberry Street, you know, it was, there's another story 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:23.720 that says it was Albert Anastasia's club. 00:03:24.060 --> 00:03:28.280 This is a Ravenite, and it was called the Knights of the Alto Social Club. 00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:34.660 And he took it over from Joseph Profaci, who inherited it from Lucky Luciano in 1936. 00:03:35.340 --> 00:03:42.540 And so in order to, you know, the 247 Mulberry Street was always a Gambino Club, 00:03:42.540 --> 00:03:44.780 regardless of exactly how it got there. 00:03:44.920 --> 00:03:50.600 But Anastasia, Carlo Gambino took over that crime family after Anastasia was murdered. 00:03:50.780 --> 00:03:54.220 And, you know, I suppose he could have named it the Raven Knights Club. 00:03:54.280 --> 00:03:59.840 I don't know. But then when Neil Delacroach dies, he gives it to his underboss, 00:03:59.940 --> 00:04:01.740 really, because he doesn't like going down there anymore. 00:04:02.480 --> 00:04:08.820 1985, Mr. Neil dies. John Gotti has had Paul Castellano murdered, 00:04:08.820 --> 00:04:13.600 and he's now the boss of the Gambinos. And he moves over there, like I said before. 00:04:13.900 --> 00:04:18.940 But if you think historically, this was Albert Anastasia's club, for sure. 00:04:19.320 --> 00:04:24.160 Gambino club, it's just always been a Gambino club, not a Genovese club at all. 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:29.500 And the Alto Nights in the movie Social Club is a Genovese club. 00:04:29.840 --> 00:04:34.220 Now, the other location is 86 Kinmar, K-E-N-M-A-R-E. 00:04:34.420 --> 00:04:38.160 That's about two blocks away from the Ravenite. 00:04:38.900 --> 00:04:42.340 Still in the same area, Chinatown. You call that Little Italy, 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:44.220 I'm not sure, in the Chinatown area. 00:04:44.300 --> 00:04:52.000 That's where Anthony DiStefano claims the Alto Nights Social Club was after it was the Cafe Royale. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:57.520 There's an old article that I found that shows some bookmaking going on and 00:04:57.520 --> 00:05:02.160 a guy named Willie, they said Willie Morati, who was a Genovese guy, 00:05:02.260 --> 00:05:06.140 was actually probably Willie Morati was arrested there. 00:05:06.340 --> 00:05:10.320 So it goes back as a club Royale as a. 00:05:10.990 --> 00:05:16.250 Or Café Royale as a Genovese club, which then became the Alto Knights. 00:05:16.510 --> 00:05:21.750 Found a surveillance photo with the caption, Alto Knights Club, 00:05:21.750 --> 00:05:24.030 and that's where these photos were taken. 00:05:24.510 --> 00:05:28.970 And that was, you know, many early members of the Genovese crime family, 00:05:29.150 --> 00:05:32.510 as well as Ben Ovidio Genovese and his underboss, Michael Miranda, were there. 00:05:32.790 --> 00:05:39.250 Another source, Scott Bernstein, reports from FBI surveillance logs in 1958. 00:05:39.250 --> 00:05:46.630 They documented that a Genovese soldier named Sally Byrne, called Sally Byrne, Salvatore Granello, 00:05:46.810 --> 00:05:51.230 said he was arriving at the Alto Night Social Club in the afternoon to meet 00:05:51.230 --> 00:05:53.830 with Genovese to discuss some 00:05:53.830 --> 00:05:58.130 recent jewelry heist and hijackings that Genovese was owed a piece of. 00:05:58.130 --> 00:06:03.110 And so, you know, he also talks about in 1955, the Genovese was photographed 00:06:03.110 --> 00:06:08.090 by the NYPD narcotics squad, going on walking talks with one of his Newark, 00:06:08.170 --> 00:06:10.630 New Jersey lieutenants, Little Pussy Russo, 00:06:10.890 --> 00:06:16.110 outside the Alto Night Social Club, which indicates it's a different club. 00:06:16.390 --> 00:06:21.690 And this is in that area. And then it's probably, it's got to be where this 00:06:21.690 --> 00:06:26.270 Club Royale used to be because the Club Royale was at this 86 Kinmar. 00:06:26.270 --> 00:06:28.470 I found an article that said that. 00:06:28.670 --> 00:06:33.630 Never could find anything that said that address, that Kenmar address, 00:06:33.630 --> 00:06:36.350 but it's a different location from the Ravenite. 00:06:37.410 --> 00:06:42.210 1950s era newspaper, several photos taken in front of the Altanite Social Club. 00:06:42.330 --> 00:06:47.470 I may have said that before, showing Vito Genovese and a consigliere Michael 00:06:47.470 --> 00:06:52.110 Miranda standing there with some other photos of Genovese guys. 00:06:52.110 --> 00:06:58.230 You know, Michael Miranda, he was longtime consigliere, and he was actually part of the one. 00:06:58.370 --> 00:07:04.530 When Genovese went to jail after Costello and Luciano purportedly set him up 00:07:04.530 --> 00:07:09.230 to take a pension and actually ended up with a 15 year sentence for dealing 00:07:09.230 --> 00:07:12.030 narcotics and went to Atlanta. 00:07:12.780 --> 00:07:17.180 He set up a three-man ruling panel, which was Tommy Ryan Ibole, 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:20.960 who was the acting boss, but Vito Genovese remained the boss, 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:23.400 and then Jerry Katina and Michael Miranda. 00:07:23.620 --> 00:07:28.020 And they ran it, but Genovese relayed orders in the penitentiary. 00:07:28.180 --> 00:07:29.660 He did not like to give up control. 00:07:30.300 --> 00:07:36.460 Another photo in front of this alternate social club that shows some more long-term, 00:07:36.700 --> 00:07:43.260 well-known Genovese guys. A guy named John Ardito called him Buster Buster Ardito. 00:07:43.460 --> 00:07:48.340 He was a capital regime in the Genovese crime family under Mike Miranda. 00:07:49.540 --> 00:07:53.260 Caption said that he was a well-known narcotics peddler, and he was talking 00:07:53.260 --> 00:07:56.360 with Alphonse, good-looking Al Criscolo, 00:07:56.620 --> 00:08:02.420 who was also a well-known Genovese family soldier, and that Criscolo had been 00:08:02.420 --> 00:08:07.120 arrested once by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics when they, what the article said, 00:08:07.660 --> 00:08:10.360 smashed an international dope syndicate in 1945. 00:08:10.380 --> 00:08:12.520 I couldn't find out much else about him. 00:08:13.860 --> 00:08:18.280 A lot about Buster Ardito. He lasted in the Genovese family, 00:08:18.440 --> 00:08:20.940 clear up to modern times, up in the 2000s. 00:08:21.420 --> 00:08:25.580 Came from Brooklyn. His legitimate cover job or a cover company, 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:31.020 he was part owner of Butcher Shop at 590 East 156th Street in South Bronx. 00:08:32.340 --> 00:08:36.440 He was involved in narcotics. He took pops, took pinches for narcotics, 00:08:36.560 --> 00:08:41.920 extortion, loan sharking, gambling, the usual stuff. He was described as a button 00:08:41.920 --> 00:08:44.140 man in Michael Miranda's crew. 00:08:44.940 --> 00:08:52.840 Ardito was once busted for slipping some medicine to a guy. 00:08:53.100 --> 00:08:57.340 A Genovese mobster was on trial in 1983, Gus Cercio. 00:08:58.600 --> 00:09:01.600 And all of a sudden he had a heart attack, or it looked like a heart attack. 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:05.980 And the FBI found out later that he had, Ardito, Buster Ardito, 00:09:06.160 --> 00:09:11.020 had secretly given him some medication to simulate cardiac problems to delay 00:09:11.020 --> 00:09:16.220 the trial. He ended up actually taking a conviction for conspiracy to instruct justice for that. 00:09:16.420 --> 00:09:19.560 He only did a couple, three years on that one. But, you know, 00:09:19.700 --> 00:09:22.280 it's, I'll tell you what kind of guy he is. 00:09:22.280 --> 00:09:28.540 Back on up into 2003, the FBI had a whole bunch of electronic surveillance on 00:09:28.540 --> 00:09:31.460 him, recorded in several different places. 00:09:31.640 --> 00:09:35.500 He was eating, meeting people in different Bronx restaurants. 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:42.540 And they discovered some of the devices and he moved to retail shops and medical offices. 00:09:42.700 --> 00:09:47.980 But the Bureau was on him. They actually ended up bugging his cell phone where 00:09:47.980 --> 00:09:51.260 they could turn it off and turn it on, 00:09:51.870 --> 00:09:56.290 And once they turned on their cell phone, then it would be the listening device. 00:09:56.490 --> 00:09:59.570 That's pretty scary, ain't it? I was like, have your cell phone turned on by 00:09:59.570 --> 00:10:04.710 somebody, and they listen and tape everything you're saying within earshot of that cell phone. 00:10:04.850 --> 00:10:09.450 You know, as a result of that big-ass surveillance in 2000, they charged Ardito 00:10:09.450 --> 00:10:13.150 and several Genovese family members with labor racketeering, 00:10:13.350 --> 00:10:18.730 mainly a bakery confectionary and tobacco workers union and the International 00:10:18.730 --> 00:10:21.050 Union of Operating Engineers. 00:10:21.050 --> 00:10:26.570 He was out on bail for these racketeering charges, and he died of pancreatic cancer. 00:10:27.590 --> 00:10:34.190 You know, three other guys are photographed together in this set of photos from the 1950s in front. 00:10:34.330 --> 00:10:38.710 What was described as in front of or next to the Alto Night Social Club, 00:10:38.870 --> 00:10:40.930 although you can't really see the club in the background. 00:10:41.490 --> 00:10:48.190 Lorenzo Brescia, Joseph Jostretz Stracki, and Joseph Toriki Brescia, 00:10:48.450 --> 00:10:51.410 or we'll call him Chappie, which is what everybody called him. 00:10:51.770 --> 00:10:55.430 He came from Italy, from Italy, or Sicily, I believe. 00:10:55.930 --> 00:10:59.810 And he had been a soldier in Mike Miranda's crew for a long time. 00:10:59.990 --> 00:11:02.650 He had been a suspect at one time in the Anastasia murder. 00:11:03.690 --> 00:11:07.430 He'd been a strong-armed man, a killer for the Genovese family. 00:11:07.430 --> 00:11:12.030 He was part of their union racketeering, been arrested for homicide, 00:11:12.270 --> 00:11:16.510 extortion, conspiracies, all those different kinds of things. 00:11:16.510 --> 00:11:24.630 He really was a close associate and in a crew by a guy named Peter DeFeo and 00:11:24.630 --> 00:11:26.770 was supposedly DeFeo's top soldier. 00:11:27.510 --> 00:11:33.030 A number one man number one killer that don't gross joe stretch or strachy he 00:11:33.030 --> 00:11:36.770 was a long time friend of mafia and former of joe velacci again he's you know 00:11:36.770 --> 00:11:38.210 obviously he's a genovese guy, 00:11:38.790 --> 00:11:43.770 uh according to blotchy strachy was president the assassination of joe the boss 00:11:43.770 --> 00:11:51.530 masseria in that coney island hit uh back in 1930 so this guy you know he he 00:11:51.530 --> 00:11:53.630 is a long time genovese guy Uh. 00:11:54.610 --> 00:12:01.190 Strocky was actually came up under Lucky Luciano back in those days. 00:12:01.390 --> 00:12:07.830 And as, as a blot, she did another guy toward a Ricky, I couldn't find out anything about him. 00:12:08.050 --> 00:12:14.510 Uh, but he was listed as a soldier in a, in a, uh, organizational chart in the 00:12:14.510 --> 00:12:18.930 family, but really it was people going back to Cyril, the artichoke King. 00:12:19.450 --> 00:12:22.990 Uh, Terranova and trigger Mike Coppola. 00:12:23.470 --> 00:12:29.130 So, I mean, these were long time guys. And, uh, another newspaper article identified 00:12:29.130 --> 00:12:34.530 this cafe Royals and gambling location. And they gave the address there, 86 Kenmar street. 00:12:34.990 --> 00:12:36.950 And, you know, that, that newspaper 00:12:36.950 --> 00:12:42.890 article had a guy named Willie Morata, M O R A T T A is proprietor. 00:12:43.170 --> 00:12:48.050 But at the time there was really well-known Genevieve's bookmaker named Willie Moretti. 00:12:48.190 --> 00:12:52.610 So I got a feeling that to me that puts it together. 00:12:52.630 --> 00:12:57.770 My humble opinion the Alto Nights Social Club is 00:12:58.070 --> 00:13:02.370 was at 86 kenmar not 247 mulberry 00:13:02.370 --> 00:13:07.050 247 mulberry the raven knight was historically anastasia 00:13:07.050 --> 00:13:10.110 and then gambino club and the alto knights 00:13:10.110 --> 00:13:15.950 was historically and always a genovese club going back to cafe royale so a little 00:13:15.950 --> 00:13:20.570 extra one thanks a lot guys how you like my uh my little uh got my book as my 00:13:20.570 --> 00:13:25.710 backdrop here kind of cool i just figured that out uh how to do that i'll probably 00:13:25.710 --> 00:13:29.170 do some more different kind of fun backdrops to get tired of seeing my, uh. 00:13:29.870 --> 00:13:31.830 Stupid little office and studio here. 00:13:32.110 --> 00:13:36.810 And don't forget, I like to ride motorcycles. So watch out for motorcycles when you're on the street. 00:13:36.990 --> 00:13:41.710 If you have a problem with PTSD and been in the service, go to the VA website, 00:13:41.870 --> 00:13:44.670 drugs or alcohol, get hold of Anthony Ruggiano. 00:13:45.750 --> 00:13:50.170 I'll put links down there to my author page. I've got three books out there. 00:13:50.390 --> 00:13:55.930 One on Chicago, a windy city mafia, and one on New York to Big Apple Mafia or 00:13:55.930 --> 00:13:57.930 something like that by the crime families. 00:13:58.230 --> 00:14:02.770 You'll find it if you go to the, if you hit that link and my book on the Las 00:14:02.770 --> 00:14:05.970 Vegas skimming investigation from the Kansas city standpoint. 00:14:05.970 --> 00:14:08.310 And I've got movies out there. 00:14:08.470 --> 00:14:12.790 I got three documentary movies about Kansas city mob activities. 00:14:13.270 --> 00:14:18.730 You can get, you can rent those on Amazon for, I don't know, buck 99 or two 99. 00:14:19.290 --> 00:14:23.090 And I go, that's all I got to sell. Well, I really appreciate you guys tuning 00:14:23.090 --> 00:14:24.710 in and being supportive. 00:14:24.910 --> 00:14:28.730 You know, my YouTube page, you're so supportive. 00:14:28.890 --> 00:14:32.990 We're over 20,000 subscribers now and get a lot of comments. 00:14:32.990 --> 00:14:34.630 I really like it when you give me comments. 00:14:34.810 --> 00:14:38.970 I usually comment back or try to answer questions or, you know, 00:14:39.170 --> 00:14:43.250 whatever, as long as it's a rational, logical question or whatever. 00:14:43.690 --> 00:14:45.090 So thanks a lot, guys.