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Showing posts with the label George Conte

Bath Avenue Crew Story: Kill One of Ours, We Kill Two of Yours

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In the late 1980s/early 1990s, mobsters and associates were routinely murdered in all of New York's boroughs. George Conte, middle. In places like Bath Avenue, the remains of violent gangland hits were found in car trunks or slumped over steering wheels; they ripened in the backs of trucks and vans. Some were buried, many never to be found. The victims were shot late at night or in the early morning when no witnesses were around. But bullets also flew in broad daylight, sometimes just across the street from a police station. Often, law enforcement--NYPD, DA's detectives, the Feds--knew who the killer was, but knowing and having the evidence to prove it in court are two different things and can be worlds apart. George Conte back then was a capo in the Luchese family. Called "Georgie Goggles," he and Luchese capo George "Georgie Neck" Zappola were later charged for the slaying of painters union official and potential government witness Jame...

The Day "Jimmy Gap" Almost Bought It

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Jimmy "The Gap" Calandra , a well-known former gangster out of Brooklyn, provided me with an excerpt of a manuscript he is working on about the life and crimes of the  Bath Avenue Crew . I've been waiting for him to email me the thing for three goddamn days but I finally have it, am giving it a read and will post it later today. Calandra made an appearance on National Geographic's documentary about the New York Mafia. He also made news last year when he visited his old stomping grounds and stepped into a Dunkin' Donuts on 18th Avenue. A couple inside recognized him and harassed him. The male, a local convicted hoodlum, shouted "rat" at him while the lady threw a cup of coffee in Calandra's face.