The tragic fate of John Gotti’s neighbor

Late on the afternoon of March 18, 1980, John Favara was driving to his Howard Beach home.

The husband and father of two, who worked at a Castro Convertibles factory in Long Island, was minutes from his driveway on 86th Street when he hit a 12-year-old boy riding a motorbike.

It was Frank Gotti, son of Favara’s neighbor and Gambino crime boss John Gotti (right).

Frank died later that day; police determined that it was an accident and never charged Favara.

The anonymous threats started almost immediately. “Murderer” was spray-painted on Favara’s car, and Mrs. Gotti reportedly clubbed him over the fence separating their homes.

Police warned Favara to get out of town, but he apparently didn’t take their advice fast enough.

On July 28, Favara was spotted being forced into a van near the Castro factory. He was never seen dead or alive again.

A story emerged in 2001 that he had been shot and beaten, his body encased in cement and tossed into the Atlantic Ocean.

Then in 2009, papers filed by prosecutors against Gambino soldier Charles Carneglia alleged that Carneglia had carried out the hit.

According to the Daily News, after being shoved in the van, “[Favara was] shot in the legs. He was taken to another location in Brooklyn where he was killed and stuffed into a 55-gallon drum,” his body dissolved in an acid bath.

[Photo of John Favara’s former Howard Beach home: Daily News]

Tags: Charles Carneglia, famous mob hits, Frank Gotti, Gambino crime family, Howard Beach Queens, John Favara, John Gotti, John Gotti neighbor, John Gotti son, mobsters in New York City, New York in 1980