Ravenite Social Club

Ravenite Social Club
Map
Former namesAlto Knights Social Club (1926–1957)
Address247 Mulberry Street
LocationLittle Italy, New York City, New York, USA
Coordinates40°43′23″N 73°59′46″W / 40.723069°N 73.996172°W / 40.723069; -73.996172
OwnerCarlo Gambino (1957–1960s)
Aniello Dellacroce (1960s–1980s)
TypeSocial club
Opened1926 (1926)
Closed1993[1]

The Ravenite Social Club was an Italian American heritage club at 247 Mulberry Street, in Little Italy, New York City. It was used as a mob hangout and the storefront later became a shoe store, and as of 2022 is a men's clothing store.[2][3]

History

The club was founded in 1926, first as the Alto Knights Social Club (after an old street gang during Prohibition), and later became a hangout for Charlie Luciano and others. The Alto Knights name was derived from the Order of Saint James of Altopascio. In 1957, when Carlo Gambino took over, he renamed the club "The Ravenite" in honor of his favorite poem by Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven"; but Gambino stopped habituating the club when he discovered police had a growing interest in surveillance of the club. It then became under the management of Aniello Dellacroce.[4]

It was frequented and used as the headquarters of the Gambino crime family in the late 1970s and 1980s.[4] Around 1990, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was able to infiltrate the Mafia using secret electronic surveillance, because John Gotti used an apartment above the Ravenite; the FBI subsequently sent agents to install voice recorders and other wiretaps inside the apartment. The FBI then used recordings from secret Mafia meetings in that apartment against Gotti. Exterior surveillance also recorded numerous union officials outside the Ravenite, helping the FBI in connecting the boss of the Gambino crime family to the city's labor unions.[5][6][7]

References

  1. ^
    • Fried, Joseph P. (January 15, 1993). "Government Sues to Seize Gotti's Assets". The New York Times. p. L B3 – via TimesMachine. [The Federal Government] filed a civil forfeiture suit that could bring the shutdown of such legendary mob lairs as the Ravenite Social Club in Little Italy ...
    • Raab, Selwyn (November 13, 1993). "From Prison, Gotti Reportedly Keeps Control of Mafia Group". The New York Times. p. L27 – via TimesMachine. ... Mr. Gotti's former Manhattan headquarters, the Ravenite Social Club, ... is now shuttered.
  2. ^ Campbell, Jeff (2004). Lonely Planet USA. Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781741041927.
  3. ^ "Little Italy | Italy". Archived from the original on January 7, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  4. ^ a b Critchley, David (2008). The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891–1931. London: Routledge. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-415-99030-1. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  5. ^ Lubasch, Arnold H. (June 24, 1992). "Gotti Sentenced to Life in Prison Without the Possibility of Parole". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 18, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
  6. ^ Raab, Selwyn (November 12, 1991). "U.S. Says Top Gotti Aide Will Testify Against Boss". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 23, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  7. ^ "Quick Facts". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on October 17, 2011.
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