Joseph Gallo, nicknamed “crazy” by fellow mobsters, was a Red Hook–born gangster specializing in typical 1950s and 1960s mafia activities such as extortion and racketeering.
He was also flamboyant, charming, and well-read, and in the early 1970s he became kind of a celebrity, hanging out with writers, actors, and other New York scenesters.
But he made a fatal mistake on the night of his 43rd birthday, on April 7, 1972. After visiting the Copacabana nightclub, he stopped into Umberto’s Clam House on Mulberry Street in Little Italy. It was around 5 a.m. Supposedly a rival mobster saw him enter Umberto’s; within minutes, gunmen entered the restaurant and start firing.
Gallo was hit five times, staggered out to the street, and died. He’s buried in Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery.
There’s the crime scene at Umberto’s early the next morning. Apparently Gallo thought he was safe there because of an unwritten agreement among gangsters that Little Italy was off-limits to bloodshed.
Umberto’s Clam House has since relocated a few blocks away, on the corner of Broome and Mulberry Streets in ever-shrinking Little Italy.
What happened when Gallo loyalists tried to avenge his murder? Here’s the story of a hit gone very, very wrong.
Bob Dylan’s 1976 song “Joey” tells Gallo’s story. Watch Part I and Part II here.
Tags: Bob Dylan's song "Joey", Copacabana, Crazy Joe Gallo, Gangsters in New York City, Green-Wood Cemetery, Joseph Gallo, New York Mafioso, Red Hook, Umberto's Clam House
February 7, 2009 at 3:18 pm |
Thanks for posting this. I recently finished reading “Joey” by Donald Goddard. An interesting guy for a gangster…I wonder why there hasn’t been a movie made about him – as far as I know anyway.
March 30, 2010 at 2:39 am |
Would you agree that the actor to play Joe Gallo, should be Matt Dillon? He is perfect in my opinion. I always thought that a movie about both Joe Colombo and Joe Gallo should be made. It can be call the Gallo Wars, or Two Joe’s, One Mob. What say you?
February 7, 2009 at 10:34 pm |
I’ve wondered whether Gallo was killed at the present day Umberto’s or the location down the street, where you can still see the restaurant’s name embedded in the cement on the corner. Do you know when the restaurant relocated? I suppose I could just go in and ask …
February 7, 2009 at 10:50 pm |
Gallo was killed at the original location, at Hester and Mulberry. I don’t know when Umberto’s moved but their website explains that it happened “approximately two years ago.” http://www.umbertosclamhouse.com/about.html
February 8, 2009 at 3:13 am |
Thanks for this post. I did a walking tour down there, and I knew something big had happened there, and every time I bring people down there, I’m like “some gangster got gunned down there, but I dunno who.” Now I do. Cool.
(Mind you, that’s still better than my friend’s tour in DC, when we were walking by a building, and she was like, “this is a famous hotel, something big happened here.” I looked down at the entryway carpet, and the monogram was “WH.” I said disbelievingly, “Watergate? You don’t know about Watergate?”
February 8, 2009 at 2:29 pm |
it’s longer than two years; umberto’s has been on broome as long as i have, which is more than two years, and i seem to remember it here before that. i’m going to walk in and ask and let you know what i find out.
February 9, 2009 at 2:26 pm |
man, Umberto’s! Great food!
When I was a kid, my family and I would go there to eat all the time. Growing up Italian in NYC, it was a very well known Mafia eatery. After Gallo’s rubout, we stopped going there. My dad said it was no longer safe. As he would say, “things changed”. My dad certainly wasn’t in the Mafia, but many of his friends he grew up with in Brooklyn were. It was a few years before we went back to Little Italy for food.
I’m sure a few of you remember the Mafia drug wars of the late 60′s and early 70′s.
February 11, 2009 at 1:58 pm |
There is a movie about Joe Gallo. It is called “Crazy Joe” starring Peter Boyle as Joe. The only problem is it is very rare and not available on dvd or vhs. A few years ago, I was very lucky to obtain a copy made from cable of this movie on ebay. It took me many years to find this because it is a movie that might be broadcasted maybe once every 20 years.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071369/
February 14, 2009 at 4:42 am |
The story was that Gallo was gunned down because he was alleged to be involved a bit earlier in the robbing of Fererra’s Cafe, a favorite hangout, on Grand Street. Such rude behavior had to be corrected.
Bob Dylan wrote a song about him shortly after he died, as if he were Pretty Boy Floyd.
February 24, 2009 at 9:50 pm |
to patrick. you said you have a copy of that movie??? I have been looking for that movie for the better part of 15 years…. If you be interested in selling me a copy it would be greatly appreciated…. contact joeygss@hotmail.com and leave subject crazy joe gallo thanks
March 3, 2009 at 3:52 pm |
They moved to the current location in the late ’90s. I ate at the original location a few times in 1996-97 – legend had it that the big dings in the kitchen door were caused by bullets. I know I visited the new location in 99 or 2000, so they moved somewhere in between.
March 10, 2009 at 2:26 pm |
Joey Gallo was used a the model for a character in Jimmy Breslin’s book “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight”, made into a movie in 1971 Wikipedia says:
The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight is a novel written by Jimmy Breslin. A film of the same name was released in 1971, directed by James Goldstone. The novel is a roman à clef of the life of Joe Gallo whose fictional counterpart is played by Jerry Orbach in the film. This Mafia comedy tells of the member of an Italian cycling team (played by a young Robert De Niro) who gets lost in New York. He soon finds himself in trouble with the local Mafia and so masquerades as a priest.
This film is one of Robert De Niro’s earliest. Originally, Al Pacino signed up to play the part of Mario Trantino, but this was later given to De Niro when Pacino was given the part of Michael Corleone in The Godfather. De Niro subsequently dropped out of The Godfather, having been cast as Paulie Gatto – which opened the doors for his return to the Godfather series with The Godfather: Part II.
This film started a friendship between Joey and Jerry Ohrbach (Joey hated the film) who introduced Joey into New York Society. Joey’s humble final resting place is a stop on my “Scandals, Scalawags and Murder Most Foul” tour of Green-Wood. Albert Anatastasia and Johnny Torrio are also buried there.
June 7, 2009 at 10:36 pm |
In the early 1970′s I worked with a man named Tommy Seabrook, who said that he was with Joey Gallo at Umberto’s the night Joey Gallo was killed. At some point he said Joey asked him to take his mother home, so Tommy left with Joe’s mother, and shortly after that Joey was killed. Tommy said the only reason he wasn’t taken out after that was the fact that it was Joey who asked him to do that. True or false??????
July 21, 2009 at 7:02 pm |
[...] New York City locations, a pretty awesome soundtrack, finishing with a recreation of one of the famous hits in mob history. Currently unavailable on VHS or DVD this is a true, lost, gangster [...]
August 11, 2009 at 11:21 am |
Interesting stuff. It’s good to pad out the knowledge i’d gleaned from dylan and from the brief mention in Goodfellas – Henry Hill talks about Crazy Joe taking on a boss and starting a war. I’ve seen The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight but never realised the connection, the scene with the radio controlled dynamite is pretty funny.
In his song ‘Joey’ Bob Dylan (or Jacques Levy) wrote “he threw the table over to protect his family…” I’d always tken the term ‘family’ at face value, but given that the killing took place at 5am i guess they meant “family”.
August 26, 2009 at 4:19 pm |
This was my Grandmothers brother!fagudaboutit!!
September 2, 2009 at 2:53 pm |
I think the story behind the Dylan song is just great Jerry Orbach was one of the greatest stage and TV actors of our time. As for the song embellishing some parts of Joe’s life its nothing like all the false of misinformation that people believe about JFK’s assassination and it makes for a great song he is not writing a biography. The images are great. Thanks
November 16, 2009 at 12:24 am |
Thugs!! Get rid of them all!!
November 24, 2009 at 1:11 pm |
the movie can be viewed on crackle.com
December 5, 2009 at 1:37 am |
Joey Gallo was gunned down at Umberto’s Clam House because he disobeyed Carlo Gambino’s order not to recruit black people into his gang.
After being instructed by Gambino himself an open contract was issued on
Joey Gallo.
He got his nickname for recruiting blacks he had met in prison.
When he got of prison and asked for his old territory back and was told no
he spat in the face of Joe Colombo who had taken over his territory. To
get a foothold again the Gallo gang used a black man to shoot Colombo dead as he was speaking to a crowd at Columbus Circle in Manhattan.
March 5, 2010 at 4:33 am |
[...] wrong on East 79th Street By wildnewyork On April 7, 1972, Colombo crime family racketeer Joseph “Crazy Joe” Gallo (below) was gunned down in Little Italy—celebrating his 43nd birthday at Umberto’s Clam [...]
March 11, 2010 at 11:15 pm |
Gallo and his crew (brother Larry included) were also involved in the hit on Joe Columbo. That was always assumed due to a black shooter being used and it was well known that Joey associated with all races when it came to makin’ a buck. And let’s not forget the Anastasia hit as well, also Joey and Larry’s handy work.
April 15, 2010 at 11:48 pm |
years ago, you could see the bullet holes in the walls of Umberto’s when Joey got whacked. I guess it’s all gone know. if I remember the walls were knotty pine.
May 7, 2010 at 5:36 am |
OK Brooklyn historians: What happened to Monte’s Venetian Room Italian
Restaurant in Brooklyn. It is closed but used to be one of my favorites when
I was a Brooklynite.
Let me know, please.
December 12, 2012 at 1:28 pm |
it was sold to a new owner and has re-opened. they renovated and the menu is different, but it’s still really good.
July 29, 2010 at 5:55 pm |
[...] you sure? Hold steady, ready, aim fire! Pump me full of shells and watch as I stand here like Crazy Joe Gallo dining at Umberto’s Clam House at 129 Mulberry Street in Little Italy, [...]
November 8, 2010 at 6:37 am |
Joey was my Great Uncle
November 27, 2010 at 6:37 pm |
Slain Gangster Inspires Retrospective in Little Italy:
GODFATHER GAME: LEGEND OF ‘CRAZY’ JOE GALLO
Gangland’s notorious past is present at a new gallery retrospective on the life and times of enigmatic gang leader Joey Gallo, mere steps away from the spot where “Crazy Joe” fell.
Among the items on display through early 2011 are vivid photographs from Gallo’s personal album as well as notebooks and letters confiscated from Gallo during a 10-year prison sentence.
Four decades after the fact, Gallo’s slaying remains unsolved – but theories are plentiful. Some say revenge for a pastry shop burglary. Others point to older scores, belatedly settled with bullets. But even as Gallo lay bleeding on asphalt, his legend lived and breathed in the streets of New York City.
MOB SCENE offers revolving exhibits of gangland history in contrast with Hollywood versions of the underworld. Hosted by Casino /Analyze This/Kill The Irishman actor Vinny Vella Sr., a Little Italy native.
WHERE: 396 Broome Street – between Mulberry & Centre Market.
With an unobstructed view of old Police Headquarters, MOB Scene sits beside the former NYPD evidence vault where the heroin seized during the ‘French Connection’ case mysteriously vanished in the early 1970s.
In 1912, the gallery was a pool hall called “Little Rock”, a hangout of top underworld figures and where the NYPD’s “Killer Cop” Charles Becker brutally maimed two neighborhood youths — three years before he was executed in the Sing Sing electric chair.
WHEN: Nov. 22, 2010 – Spring 2011
ADMISSION: Free
###
Contact:
Vinny Vella Sr.: 1-855-MOB-SEEN
April 4, 2011 at 11:11 pm |
Peter Boyle played Joe Gallo in a film called “Crazy Joe”. Boyle did a hell of a job and the film had an unbelievable cast…..Rip Torn, Eli Waliach(?), Luther Adler and a young Henry Winkler.
April 6, 2011 at 1:35 am |
Amazing! Umberto’s the old & new location has always been my favorite. The Best baked clams in the business!!!!! ( Umberto’s is closed now). I’ve heard that a mobster was murdered there but I didn’t know who or when…. Come to find out that it was Joey Gallo & on the morning of my Birthday….
February 6, 2012 at 2:12 am |
Great my uncle is on there he is Joey gallo
It is interesting reading about him
February 6, 2012 at 8:47 pm |
G Says:
February 6, 2012 at 2:12 am | Reply
Great my uncle is on there he is Joey gallo
It is interesting reading about him
Hey there looks like we are related caus ehe was my uncle as well:)
February 9, 2012 at 9:13 am |
Christopher & G my name Salvatore and my dad was Frank Capone and my uncle was Al from Red Hook and I met your uncle in 1952 and it was at a party and my dad who was no angel himself said he reminded him of his bother Al when he was young.I’m a 81 year old retired university teacher!!! Look my uncle was Al Capone who was an underworld icon! but do not think either were cool because they weren’t …… they were murders and thugs and yes they were loved ones and blood relatives but they chose a life that didn’t contribute to society. I knew my uncle Al and I dropped a tear when he died,but the day he died he was terrified of death because he new what was waiting for him! the souls that he ordered to be taken and the terror of eternity.
March 6, 2012 at 1:31 pm |
My aunt Rose Avellino was Joe’s first cousin. I grew up( born in 1958) hearing storys about “our connection to the mob”. Pretty cool stuff. I remember hearing about his demise in 72. I think they should make a real film about him also. Not like “The gang that couldn’t shoot straight”, a comedy loosely based on his crew. They did keep a lion in the basement.
March 9, 2012 at 5:58 am |
Anyone know what motivated Al Capone to move to Chicago from
Brooklyn?
A rumor in Brooklyn was that he was told he would never move up in
the ranks because he was not Sicilian.
An older Italian guy told me that is where the expression “Go west,
young man” came from.
June 27, 2012 at 7:38 pm |
[...] was a problem with her secret panelist. Crazy Joey Gallo, the racketeer-cum-celebrity had been murdered at Umberto’s Clam House in Little Italy. He would have to [...]
December 22, 2012 at 2:02 am |
In the Afterword of Charles Brandt’s “I heard You Paint Houses” (about the Jimmy Hoffa disappearance” Mr. Brandt notes an alleged wintess of the Gallo killing, stating that a lone gunman killed Gallo. Perhaps so, perhaps not. One thing I did notice, however, is that the witness pointed out that she had not been drinking when she went to Umberto’s Clam House because she was only 18 and couldn’t drink. I believe that at the time of the killing of Gallo, the drinking age in New York was actually 18 (it was subsequently raised.) The comment about her not drinking seems to be a gratuitous one by the witness. If she WAS drinking, perhaps her menory was not as clear as Mr. Brandt would like.
April 4, 2013 at 7:46 pm |
It was April 7 on Mullberry Street where they sell the best imported ham,
In Umberto’s sat Gallo in his birthday best, no longer on the lam,
A man burst in with mid-bore drawn, BAM, BAM BAM, BAM BAM,
April 7, Seventy-Two, Joe Gallo had had his last clam.
April 30, 2013 at 5:41 pm |
[...] was celebrating his 43rd birthday at Umberto’s Clam House on Aptil 7, 1972, when he was gunned down by a team of rivals. His marker at Green-Wood is somewhat difficult to find, but is located in Section 12 of Lot [...]