[Kid Shelleen]

Full Title:
Paul Castellano hit, 30 years later: The gruesome assassination of New York mob boss that gave way to John Gotti

[OddLane]

In fairness to Gotti, the seeds of the Mafia's unraveling were planted when Carlo Gambino decided to make Castellano his heir.

Also, when RICO was enacted.

[trisham]

Teflon Don. A psychopathic thug with a sartorial flair.

[Michael.SF.]

Little known fact:

Richard Castellano as Clemenza in Godfather I

Paul Castellano was his Uncle

[wideminded]

Thirty years ago Wednesday, shots rang out in front of Sparks Steak House in Midtown

I always liked the name of Umberto's Clam House where there was another Mafia hit (Joe Gallo) in 1972. Apparently Gallo's father was named Umberto, although he didn't start the restaurant.

[zzwhale]

no OMERTA .... no MAFIA

simple as that
and the drugs and greed took em down
becasue drugs brings the feds
and they are very expensive to buy (FBI / JUDGES / DEA) and lots of them
much more than the local flatfoot .......

now drugs are run from the white house ..... its one of the perks....
sinaloa / white house ... partners in crime

[pogo101]

I remember watching Letterman — back when he was still funny, and back when restaurants had smoking (and non-smoking) sections — just after the shooting. On the air, IIRC, he called Sparks Steakhouse and tried to make a reservation in “non-shooting.”

[SamAdams76]

My office is one block away from Sparks. You can see my building on the right side of this photo, which is on the intersection of 46th and Lexington.

In 1985, I was nowhere near there. I was living up in Boston at that time. But I remember reading about the shooting. So many books have been written about it since. Around that same time, the Angiulo family in Boston was being taken down by the FBI. You can say that the early 1980s were the last of the glory years for the mafia.

I've been to eat at Sparks steakhouse. A bit stuffy and expensive but you've got to do it at least once if you are in the city. I prefer going to the Palm Too which is another block over on 2nd Ave. In both places, the appetizers are meals in themselves.

I always thought it a shame they hit Paul C. on the way in instead of on the way out. He never got to have his last proper meal.