Posted on 01/23/2013 11:25:38 AM PST by Kid Shelleen
Sgt. Ed Croswell of the New York State Police just couldnt get past that puzzler, as he sat in his unmarked cop car in woodsy upstate Apalachin, pulled off to the side of muddy, bumpy McFall Road in autumn 1957 looking at the Chrysler Crown Imperial parked outside a stone farmhouse.
Maybe if it had just been the one well-polished land boat, Sgt. Croswell wouldve brushed it off. But there were a dozen parked alongside the driveway or pulled into a field by the rustic farm estate. Lincolns, Cadillacs, Continental
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was behind the biggest law enforcement intelligence failure of the 20th century in repeatedly declaring that there was no such thing as the Mafia.
However, on November 14, 1957 state troopers raided the home of Joseph Barbara in Apalachin, NY where Italian crime bosses from across the country were meeting, and after the historic roundup even the good Director had to capitulate.
Following the Apalachin bust the FBI in 1958 released its so-called Mafia Monograph by which it at long last definitively recognized that “available evidence shows that beyond the shadow of a doubt, the Mafia does exist today in the United States, as well as in Sicily and Italy, as a vicious, evil, and tyrannical form of organized criminality.”
While that may have been a major law enforcement intelligence failure, my vote for the biggest one would be the failure to capitalize on the defections of Whittaker Chambers, Walter Krivitsky, and others in the late 1930's and roll up the Soviet Union's spy rings.
Elia Kazan’s classic film about union corruption, “On the Waterfront”, was based in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
— one of my favorite movies. I think it was 1951, ‘52 or ‘53, and Kazan was so ahead of Hoover on the subject. The FBI file on Anastasia is about 1/4” thick. At the time of the Apalachin Summit Hoover had 200 agents targeting commies, and only 4 agents targeting mobsters. Hoover did some great things but he completely failed with the Mafia, and although many theories exist for his otherwise inexplicable failure in recognizing — let alone investigating — the Mafia the dereliction of duty will always remain an unfortunate black mark against the storied Director.
Last summer, I passed through Nichols, NY, which is about 17 miles from Appalachin. That’s beautiful country.
As was the HP Lovecraft horror story “The Horror at Red Hook”.
roll up the Soviet Union’s spy rings.
Bbbbbut then we wouldn’t have the regime NOW.
The Mob crime of the last century that got people so worked up is small potatoes when compared with the criminal activity from Washington DC that is commonplace today.
I’m guessin the ‘Rats didn’t like the competition.
Ever since John Gotti's conviction, the MSM and the federal government have been spreading a myth that organized crime in the United States is a phenomenon of the past. Down through the years, as some mobsters die off naturally or are executed or prosecuted and imprisoned, new generations come in to seize old and new opportunities.
The nexus between organized crime and the political world remains, with the lion's share of it in the Democratic Party as has been the case for a century or more.
As for Appalachin, it is true that it was an important historical event which changed the attitudes of many in law enforcement. But why do a book on it now?
“The nexus between organized crime and the political world remains”
Agreed
“with the lion’s share of it in the Democratic Party as has been the case for a century or more.”
The mob’s been known to rear its ugly head in Republican Party circles in New York from time to time.
Everyone knew the Mafia existed. The question was whether they has as much influence as they said and did as much damage as they said. The Mafia probably killed 1/4 of the people they say they killed.
I went to college in a small Appalachian town. We had a restaurant that was owned by a guy who was mobbed up but on the run. They knew where to find him but left him alone as long as he bought his food from them.
A friend worked for a radio station owned by some folks in the NJ mob. They were tied in with a clothing store and a restaurant. The store sold Italian suits and I never saw anyone in it but they ran tons of ads between 1AM and 5AM on that station. The restaurant hired nothing but Sicilians right off the boat. It was a big money-laundering and immigration scheme.
“The Mafia probably killed 1/4 of the people they say they killed.”
I’d be curious about the actual numbers.
I’ve read that mob-related killings in Chicago over the 20th century numbered between 1,000 and 3,000. Not surprisingly, prosecutions were brought for only a couple of dozen of them. No doubt the numbers for New York and New Jersey would be at least comparable to Chicagoland’s if not higher.
Several mobsters pointed out burial grounds but they usually found a fraction of the number alleged to be buried there.
“Several mobsters pointed out burial grounds but they usually found a fraction of the number alleged to be buried there.”
Good point.
Ill bet their food was good. Most of the "Italian" restaurants in my area are owned by Middle Easterners and East Asians and hire Latinos to prepare the food.
I'm aware of that, but, as I said, the lion's share of their involvement has been with the Democrats nationaly up until this very day. Think "Clinton Body Count," for example.
Frankly, I couldn't think of why the underworld should bother with the GOP in New York now, with the state party so impotent.
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