Dons (Bosses) |
 Joseph "little Joe" Notaro (1950s-1970) |
Joseph Notaro represented Joe Bonanno's interest in the Garden State. These included gambling and loansharking rackets. He cultivated them around the Newark Airport airport and groomed an up and coming soldier named Joseph "Bayonne Joe" Zicarelli who became involved in a publicized political corruption case. Notaro's crew also reached into the streets of Brooklyn and the Bronx. He died in 1970 and his interests were inherited by Tony Reila and Stefano Cannone. |
 Joseph "Joe Bayonne" Zicarelli (1960s-Early 90s) |
Joseph Zicarelli known in the press as 'Bayonne Joe' and to his gangster pals as 'Joe from Bayonne' or 'Joe Zic' hailed from the New Jersey town of Bayonne. While much of his criminal career would be spent as a soldier under Joe Notaro's crew, Zicarelli's infamy would rival that of the most publicized and memorable mob bosses. The town of Bayonne would also produce a future congressman Cornelius 'Neil' Gallagher. The congressman would win his 1959 election and serve as such until 1973 when income tax evasion charges brought him down. One of his top campaign contributors would be Zicarelli. Later in 1986 Gallagher would make headlines again when he pled out to bank fraud. By the mid 1950s Zicarelli had become a boss of sorts. He had been inducted into the Bonnano crime family and placed under capo Joe Notaro. Joe Zerilli by then had established a river of cash from various illegal gambling rackets. It was believed that Zicarelli personally had at least five police chiefs from surrounding towns on his payroll. When federal authorities along with New Jersey legislators began looking into organized crime in the Garden State, Zicarelli was high on their list of benefactors. Joe Zic would make a call to his local congressman and much of the heat directed towards him would evaporate. By October 1964 Joe Bonanno would disappear in order to avoid a federal subpoena and more importantly the wrath of the Commission following a failed coupe against gangland bosses Tommy Lucchese and Carlo Gambino. This vanishing act would lead up the violent Banana Wars of the mid-late 1960s. What authorities did not know then was that Zicarelli had emerged from the shadows of his Bayonne criminal empire to act as a fill in boss or prominent figure in the inner workings of the battling Bonnano syndicate. This was not revealed until after the conclusion of the mob war and the permanent displacement of Joe Bonanno. Joe Zicarelli by now may have been promoted as Notaro's replacement as the former was believed to have now held the role of an elder statesman, similar to that of fellow Bonanno capo Anthony Reila. In 1968 southern New Jersey crime boss Simone Decavalcante, a textbook smooth operator and considered gentile by his fellow bosses who operated a legitament plumbing company that earned him the nickname 'The Plumber', was about to see his reign as never spent a night in jail come to an end. Two up and coming Decavalcante henchmen-Gaetano 'Corky' Vastola and Danny Annunziata-had previously held up a dice game in Trevose, PA. Both Vastola and Annunziata felt the dice game was free turf, the operators weren't on record with any crime family but the facilitators refused to pay. A series of sitdowns were held with Decavalcante intervening and eventually settling on a sum or shakedown. Decavalcante himself took home $3800 for his troubles. Federal authorities contended that the attempted robbery and subsequent bargaining was set up by the mob boss and charged him with extortion. What was not yet known as that the federal government had wiretapped the mob boss's headquarters. At the time wiretaps were considered illegal and rarely passed as evidence. The mob boss's lawyer-ironically enough former federal prosecutor Sidney Franzblau-petitioned to have the wiretap transcripts released. Decavalcante must have been surprised when they were handed over. In the conversations time and time again Zicarelli is participating in conversations. The tapes revealed that Decavalcante was a mediator in the ongoing Bananas Wars and that Joe Zic was an important player in the battle. One one tape Zicarelli describes his once close friendship with then US Senator Harrison Williams but following an arrest the two had not been in communications but Congressman Gallagher was very much in his pocket. The tapes also placed Zicarelli in the company of the top New Jersey mobsters-Angelo 'Ray' DeCarlo, Richie Boiardi and his son Anthony 'Tony Boy' of the Genovese crime family. The release of the tapes were a major embarrassment. In fact they would eventually lead to an investigation into Congressman Gallagher and led to his eventual removal from Congress. But before this could happen, Bayonne Joe would call on him again and this time it involved much more than nickle and dime mob rackets and pesty policemen. By now Congressman Gallagher had began serving on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. After the 1961 assassination of then Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo, following a series of temporary leaders, the island nation put former Trujillo puppet leader Joaquin Balaguer in power in 1966. Zicarelli had his eyes on purchasing the faltering Dominican airline Compahia Dominicana de Aviation and quite possibly bringing in capital for casinos. The mob had been at a lost following the nationalization of the casinos and resorts in Cuba. Zicarelli put his lawyer Steve Hoffman and Congressman Gallagher on an airplane bound for the Dominican Republic for the sole purpose of working out a deal with Balaguer. Gallagher also had his own designs on the country's sugarcane industry. Zicarelli's plans never came to fruition. Gallagher also came under intense scrutiny when his role in the matter was questioned. In the world of Zicarelli and Gallagher rarely does a gangster's brutality ever factor into the equation. The order of the day is usually bribes and assurances not guns and knifes. Zicarelli enforcer Harold 'Kayo' Konigsberg was considered one of the most feared gangsters in New Jersey. Bernard O'Brein was just another smalltime loan shark that operated out of the Dairy Treat ice cream store in Bayonne. In October 1962 O'Brien vanished. By 1964 Konigsberg was serving a prison stretch for dealing in stolen goods. He wanted out and decided to talk. According to Konigsberg he knew about a mob burial ground, a spot that contained the bodies of O'Brien, former Genovese crime family leader Anthony 'Tony Bender' Strollo and others. Konigsberg claimed that back in October 1962 he was summoned to Gallagher's Bayonne residence and found the body of O'Brien in the basement. Zicarelli commanded he bury the body. In 1967 Konigsberg was hit with an extortion charge. He offered his services again and led authorities to a marsh located on a farm owned Joe Celsco near Lakewood, NJ. Another noteworthy event in the 1960s involving Zicarelli was the June 1968 robbery of the Fairmount Hotel in Lakewood. The estimated take was $400,000, the highest amount ever grabbed in New Jersey history. Zicarelli and Genovese family mobster Johnny DiGilio played the puppet masters and lent the expertise of Belleville resident Michael Guibilo to beat down hotel owner Louis Kelman, who was 83 at the time. The robbery was actually the brainchild of Herbie Gross, a political and mob bagman who also owned a competing hotel and knew the exact layout of the Fairmount. In the 1970s Bayonne Joe battled subpoenas and indictments and was often thrown in jail for contempt. He would ultimately be convicted of illegal gambling and attempted bribery involving a gambling den in Hudson County, which placed him in prison during the mid to late 1970s. Following the assassination of Bonanno crime family top mobster and self-appointed heir apparent Carmine Galante, Joe Zicarelli was an eyewitness to the triple murder of fellow capos Alphonse Indelicato, Phillip Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera inside a Brooklyn social club in May 1981. Authorities believe Zicarelli was there as a type of bait, assuring the rebellious trio that everything was fine and a peace meeting would be the outcome. The three gangsters arrived unarmed and according to former Bonanno family underboss turned federal witness Salvatore Vitale, Zicarelli was the first person the three saw before being filled with lead. After the smoke cleared Zicarelli quietly excused himself. Joe Zicarelli lived on the southeast coast of Florida in Broward County for his remaining years. Bonanno mob boss Joey Massino passed the New Jersey rackets to Zicarelli protege Gabe Infanti. Joe Zicarelli passed away in August 1983 at the age of 71. |
 Gabriel "Big Gabe" Infanti (1980s-1987) |
:Hailing from Bloomfield, NJ; Gabriel 'Big Gabe' Infanti came up under Joe Zicarelli and made a likely replacement when the elder capo retired in the early 1980s. By time he was elevated to the rank of the Bonanno New Jersey boss, Infanti had already built a sound albeit illegal gambling network in the metro NYC area. Federal agents were already wise to Infanti's rank when they viewed him meeting New Jersey crime boss John Riggi of the DeCavalcante crime family, which was on December 16, 1985. Oddly enough this was the same date that Gambino top boss Paul Castellano was murdered in mid town Manhattan.
In 1987 times were chaotic for the Bonanno crime family. Heir apparent boss Joey Massino was looking at a racketeering indictment, the official family boss Phil Rastelli had been sent away to prison for what would be essentially a life sentence and the legendary heroin trafficing indictment involving many of the Bonannos, known as the Pizza Connection case, was concluding after a marathon trial of nearly two years. The Pizza Connection would reveal the immigrant Sicilian wing, colloqually referred to as 'zips', of the crime family and their massive heroin importation/money laundering racket. Although not involved with the zips, it would be the unfolding events in the case that would spell Infanti's demise. Cesare Bonventre had been one of the zips that was supposed to stand trial. He was described as lanky, sharp, arrogant and full of drive to make it up the criminal ladder. Massino and company had identified him as a threat, either to their powerbase or as a potential cooperating witness for the prosecution. In early April 1984 the 33 year old mobster, who made his name known as the bodyguard and later conspirator in the 1979 murder of Carmine Galante was driven to a garage by Bonanno gangsters Salvatore Vitale and Louie Attanasio where he too would be murdered. On April 16th his corpse was found severed in two pieces, stuffed in drums filled with glue and placed in a Garfield, NJ wharehouse. It took three months before forensic scientists were able to identify his remains. What law enforcement did not know then was who killed Bonventre and who disposed of his corpse in such a ghoulish manner. Gabe Infanti factored into the second half of the puzzle. He had been in charge of his disposal and the original intentions was that his corpse was not to be found. He knew, more importantly Massino as well, that he had botched the disposal. Massino began fearing Infanti may start cooperating. All of this was not entirely known but slick federal agents had a suspicion that the little known New Jersey mobster may have had a hand or intimate knowledge of the Bonventre slaying. In August 1987 Infanti found himself in a sweeping indictment. In this case it involved the top brass of the Bonanno syndicate and their connection to the Teamsters Local 814, Van Drivers, Packers, and Furniture Handlers, Warehousemen's and Appliance Home Delivery Union. Infanti sat beside such notable Bonanno gangsters as Mike Sabella, Nicky Marangello, Alfred Embarrato, Anthony Graziano, the aforementioned Attanasio, Massino, Vitale, Rastelli, Anthony Riella, Frank Lino and Benny Ruggiero of 'Donnie Brasco' fame. Infanti would not make it to trial and his name was dropped from the list of defendants, he was reported missing on December 22, 1987 and is presumed dead. His family would petition the courts after nearly a decade and have him officially labeled as deceased. When the Bonanno family case involving Joey Massino and the avalanche of defectors came tumbling down in 2003-04. Massino would be convicted of the Infanti and Bonventre murders as well as several others, he would later cooperate with the government in order to avoid the death penalty and seizure of family assets. James Tartaglione would take over the Infanti rackets. He too would later testify against several high ranking Bonanno bosses that were picked by Massino to lead the busted crime family. Following the Infanti murder, the Bonanno crime family's presence in New Jersey diminished. |
