| Chapter 5: | The Racketeers |
The Racketeers
One Hundred and Seventh Street in Italian East Harlem was flanked by two rows of tenements opening at First and Second avenues. The tenements gave the block the appearance of a walled medieval town somehow replanted in New York City. The street was the piazza of our East Harlem paese and the poolroom was the place where our racketeers congregated. The poolroom was owned by Wabs. The statue of our patron saint was housed in a store opposite the poolroom. Next to St. Benedict’s store was an indoor garage where the racketeers kept their cars, each racketeer had a Cadillac and a Pontiac. Benny Salsice was the exception. He preferred the Chevy.
In the first fifteen years of the twentieth century the most powerful Italian immigrant racketeers in East Harlem were two brothers, Gennaro and Giosue Gallucci. Gennaro, the older brother, lived in the same building as his married brother, at 318 East One Hundred and Ninth Street. They owned a bakery on the ground floor. Gennaro was shot to death in 1909. Giosue continued to increase the family fortune in East Harlem. His many businesses included