Cosa Nostra News

EXPANDED Frank "Punchy" Illiano added Larry Gallo and Albert "Kid Blast" Gallo outside Brooklyn Supreme Court, October 25, 1965. The mistaken identity slayings left two dead.  And The Godfather was playing in New York theaters at the time.  This past week marked The Godfather's 45th anniversary as an Academy Award triumph, cementing its status as one of the greatest films ever made. Released in 1972, it received 11 nominations and emerged with three Oscars. The Godfather II, released in 1974, also got 11 nominations, and won six Oscars. (We won't mention Godfather Part III.) Legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola expressed regrets about making both sequels, including The Godfather Part II. In 2011, Coppola, when asked if he'd ever consider returning to the story, said: 'There should have only been one." In August 1972 four innocent businessmen were blasted at the Neapolitan Noodle restaurant at 320 Eas...

This article was first published in the Den of Geek NYCC Special Edition Magazine; you can find the online version here .  It's written by Tony Sokol, the admitted "Gangster Geek" at Den of Geek, for which he writes. Tony is a quite talented writer, in fact (in addition to being a  playwright and musician). Aside from writing for Den of Geek, he also writes for The Chiseler , KpopStarz.com , and  hypnocloud.com . Previously, he wrote for Altvariety, Coed.com , Daily Offbeat, Dark Media Press, Wicked Mystic and other magazines.  He has had over 20 plays produced in NYC, including Vampyr Theatre and the rock opera “AssassiNation: We Killed JFK.” He appeared on the Joan Rivers (TV) Show, Strange Universe and Britain’s “The Girlie Show.” Goodfellas is a classic movie in the gangster genre. It tells the story of a crew of working criminals from the working class section of East New York, Brooklyn. These wise guys pulled off the biggest haul of the Twentieth Cent...

  Albert Gallo under arrest. "Yeah, I left it noisy. That way it scares any pain-in-the-ass innocent bystanders away." In August 1972 the mob committed one of its worst blunders ever when innocent businessmen were fired on in cold blood at the Neapolitan Noodle restaurant at 320 East 79th Street in Manhattan. " The Godfather " was still playing in New York theaters five months after its release. On Friday, Aug. 11, 1972, a hit man from Las Vegas walked into the Noodle during the dinner hour rush. Mistaking four businessmen at the crowded bar for Colombo family acting boss "Little Allie" Persico and three Colombo wiseguys, the shooter opened fire with two long-barreled pistols, killing two of the businessmen — kosher beef wholesalers from Westchester County and Long Island — and wounding their companions. The men were old friends celebrating a daughter's wedding engagement. They arrived at the Noodle at the exact wrong time, as the P...