TOXIC VI - The Italian Connection

- Little Italy -

 

     In my youth ‘Little Italy’ was much larger than it is today now that Chinatown has absorbed most the Italian neighborhood. In the 60’s Little Italy started on Mulberry Street, extending south to Canal Street, north to Bleecker Street, west to Lafayette Street and east to the Bowery where it then bordered Chinatown. As you would expect, the heritage and culture of this community was predominantly Italian as many of the first immigrants seemed to have brought every facet of the home country to New York City with them. Italian traditions, regional dialects, religious festivals and of course delicious recipes were passed down to future generations of Italian Americans that were born here. This is where Flo would take me to visit the relatives on my father’s side of the family. We would walk along the narrow cobblestone streets and beneath fire escapes of turn-of-the-century tenements as I took in the sights, sounds and smells of Italian cuisine and culture which emanated from the surrounding restaurants, shops and people that lived within Little Italy’s limits. Despite the fact that by blood I am Puerto Rican, it was here in Little Italy that my Italian heritage began. Specifically in a little restaurant and lounge located Kenmare Street which was a private social club for wise guys.

     In those days organized crime had a very prominent presence in Little Italy, a presence that went back as far as the early 1900's. Since then many powerful members of Costa Nostra have operated in the neighborhood. At the time the controlling benefactor was the Genovese family. Although the 'Godfather' Vito Genovese was imprisoned in 1959 he was still the head honcho in charge of organized crime of the Italian American community. Despite his absence there were many other smaller crews which were affiliated with Genovese that operated from within the neighborhood, and one of those groups included the family that I was adopted into. Although I don't really know the full extent of my families’ involvement in the criminal organization, I do know that they were involved in illegal gambling and racketeering and that the illegal gambling hall was located across the street from the social club within the basement of a parking garage which still stands today. The garage itself is a three story building between Mulberry and Mott streets and was a forbidden place to Flo and I, as an unspoken rule for us to never even set foot on the north side of the Street was adhered to whenever we were on an outing to visit with my father during his working hours doing whatever it was that he did.



The parking garage 2009

     As for the social club, it was not a fancy place, it was more of a bar and lounge that had a couple of booths and a few tables scattered about the room. There was a small menu that offered simple Italian dishes on it since it did have a kitchen and a cook which was usually one of my uncles. It was obviously not a place that was frequented by the public. In fact it was very exclusive to my family and members of ‘The family' that had business with my uncle Johnny. My uncle Johnny was quite a character, to everybody else he was known as Johnny 'Balls,' and he was the go to guy to ask for favors or take care of 'family' business within the local territory. Being a 'made-man' he was an imposing figure whom was well respected and often feared by other wise guys, and wherever he went whether coming or going my father and my uncle Dominick were always by his side. Thanks to infantile ignorance and being totally unaware of his reputation I idolized my uncle Johnny who was a large balding, burly man that wore pair of thick black framed eyeglasses and was always glad to see me as he lifted me up in his big arms in greeting. His very presence demanded respect but despite his repute he was very devoted to his immediate family and to me he was like a second father. In fact I was drawn to my uncle more so than I was to the man who adopted me. Even to this day I think about Uncle Johnny who mysteriously disappeared in the early nineteen eighties.

     So it came to be that my father and my uncles were a bunch of hoods, and you would think that the social club was a dark place where men in dark suits planned to rub out other mobsters, plotted extravagant heist or risky narcotic negotiations but in truth it was nothing like that, at least not from what I was exposed too. Not to say that those things never happened, but to me it was like visiting a second home filled with love and laughter. Just like the movie ’Goodfellas’ social joviality and flaunting money was a common occurrence in a room that smelled of tomato sauce, garlic, cigarette smoke and alcohol as the music of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and other Italian American vocalist seemed always be playing on the continuous loop of the reel to reel player that sat atop the counter behind the bar. As one would expect with an Italian family despite the marginal menu, food was always plentiful with Italian specialties that were prepared by my Aunts Annette and Lucy during our improvised visits which ended up becoming more like bi-monthly holiday gatherings’.

Uncle Johnnys Social Club - 2009
a lot of family history occured  behind that door

     Although these family get-togethers’ at the club were a few weeks apart, there were other times that I was willingly dragged around Little Italy to see my relatives. I was unaware of it the time but these occasional calls that Flo was making around the neighborhood were not so much social as they were business for the family. She was actually collecting kickback money from other establishments. These fronts were owned and controlled by my uncle Johnny, and managed by other immediate family members, and despite the fact that they were at different locations, they were still fairly close to the family social club which was basically headquarters for the ‘family’. But the fact that it was other relations that were managing these facilities made our visits quite pleasant and fun as I found these treks to be wondrous as my senses were filled with the sights sounds and smells of the neighborhood.