maxiestern11 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 03, 2019 7:02 pm
JOSEPH (JOE BIKINI) BROCCHINI - born 1933, in Corona, Queens (57-42 Penrod Street). Raised in Corona, by the early 1960’s moved to the neighboring town of Flushing.
Later with his success as a racketeer, he relocated up to Harrison in Westchester County (Polly Park Road).... a multi-million dollar area.
—-
A “key” associate of the Queens (Corona) regime of the Lucchese family. He served directly under (Joe Brown) Lucchese - co-capo of that regime with (Joey Narrow) Laratro.
By the time of his death in 1976, he had been identified by the FBI as a newly inducted “soldier” in the Lucchese Family.
Note: [the Corona “crew” was the base Queens regime of the Lucchese Family. They of course had various crews throughout all the boro’s. But “Corona” per se was ground zero and their “stronghold” outside of Harlem and the Bronx which was their original base. They also had many other crews in other areas.... the Little Italy, Brooklyn and NJ crews among them]
—-
Arguably one of the “tougher” guys to come out of that neighborhood. He had a reputation early on as an enforcer, utilized by the “Two-Joey’s” to quell any trouble or discipline issues for the regime.
—-
Known criminal activities:
-
Shylocking
Strong-arm enforcement
Floating dice games
Thefts and (stolen auto-parts)
Gambling
Pornography rackets
Suspected narcotics (cocaine)
—-
Associates:
Joseph (Joe Brown) Lucchese
Joseph (Joey Narrow) Laratro
Stefano (Steve) LaSalle
Frank (Frankie Bell) Campanello
Alfred (Sonny) Scotti
James Scotti
Ralph Borello
Vincent Borello
.......among many others I didn’t list.
....... any LCN members emanating from Corona today, originally “cut their teeth” under Lucchese. (the exception being the Serpico Family)
—-
In 1950, Brocchini (17) was among five young Corona hoods picked up for operating a burglary-safecracking ring that ransacked eight various businesses along Queens north shore for $26,000. during a one week spree. LE believed that the gang was responsible for appx. 20 such burglaries in Nassau and Queens before being apprehended .
—-
Brocchini started out as a local shylock, which was his main endeavor, augmented by crap games and other rackets.
LE reported during either the late 1950’s-early 1960’s that Joe Bikini was managing a large weekly dice game in the Little Italy area of Manhattan for Joe Lucchese, and had done such a good job earning money for the game that Lucchese had gifted Joe $1,000. cash (a fairly large sum for that era) as a reward for a job well done.
—
In approximately 1967, Brocchini went into the porno business. He knew a Jewish porno-dealer who he partnered with, and ventured into the dirty-book trade..... he hit a complete “home run”, making a huge amount of money in a very short time. By 1968, the State Investigating Commission say his three porno firms were grossing $1,500,000. a year.... Once he saw the potential, he quickly expanded his retail book stores (Blackjack Books), securing leases on some of the most desired locations along 42nd Street (the porno capital of the world), and also expanded his activities into the actual filming and production of his own films, magazines and books instead of previously just buying them wholesale for resale.
By 1971, he had became one of the largest and most important of “porno” racketeers in the New York City area.
All Five Families were active in the trade, but Brocchini was definitely one of the major players, and certainly the main Lucchese member in the pornography racket.
-
Note: [He always made a good “living”, but once he invested in the dirty-book business, his wealth soared as never before. Within two years of going into porno, he bought property and built his own mansion up in exclusive Harrison, New York (Westchester County). In 1972, it was valued in excess of $250,000.... a huge amount for that time period]
—-
Always a very aggressive guy, part of the charm of “Joe Bikini”, was that in addition to the porno business which in and of itself was very profitable, Joe would, on more than one occasion, “bust out” (bankrupt) his existing distributing company, leaving huge debts to creditors who had actually produced the dirty books and magazines that he sold in his stores, thereby reducing his overhead to zero!
One such transaction left $159,000. in unpaid debt to a book manufacturer-supplier in the wake of Brocchini shutting down one of his companies.
—-
In 1971, he was one of many arrested on obscenity charges by the NYPD Vice Squad for the operation of pornography shops and peep shows in the Times Square theatre district.
—-
In 1972, an article on the NYC pornography rackets identified Brocchini as working directly under Stefano LaSalle by that time -Underboss for Carmine Tramunti. Joe Lucchese had been demoted back to soldier and he was allegedly reporting to LaSalle.
Note: [this was after Tommy Lucchese’s death in 1967. Laratro relocated to Florida several years later, and Joe Lucchese was eventually demoted to soldier, and semi-retired]
——
Pornography related firms allegedly owned-controlled by Brocchini included:
-
Among his wholesale distribution firms were:
Cad-Publications, Inc.
Bark Books, Inc.
B. & H. Distributors, Inc.
-
Blackjack Book Stores -among the book shops and peep show locations were:
220 W. 42nd St
136 W. 42nd St
227 W. 42nd St
257 W. 42nd St
711 Seventh Ave.
——
Parliament Auto Sales, Inc., 69-11 Roosevelt Avenue, Woodside, Queens (large used-car lot)
Note: [this was his daily base of operations. Close to Corona and others areas he was active in, but only a few miles out of midtown Manhattan’s “Times Square” district where he maintained his porn businesses.
——
All was looking up for Joe Bikini. He was at the top of his game, and a well respected guy on the streets.
——
The next thing anyone hears, Joe was shot to death in his office at the Parliament used-car lot.....Nobody knew why it happened or who had done it. Only that Joe was dead.
-
This stayed a complete mystery (to both LE and the mob) for years to come. Only in later years, with certain informant testimony did a “reason” and “suspects” emerge.
-
It seems that Brocchini had had a verbal argument with the notorious Gambino member Roy DeMeo, and subsequently had a physical altercation where Brocchini punched out DeMeo, giving him a black eye among other injuries. This was enough for DeMeo to plot Joe’s murder.
-
But since Brocchini was with another crew, DeMeo had to “cop a sneak” on him (not putting it on record or seeking permission from higher ups). The killers made it look like a simple robbery gone bad. After walking into the car lot office, they pulled guns, ordering Brocchini and several workers to freeze. As they walked Brocchini to an upstairs office, they shot Joe five times in the head, killing him instantly....Then fled.
-
The year was 1976. Joseph “Joe Bikini” Brocchini was only 43 years old....... RIP “Joe Bikini”!
Note: [Sonny Scotti and the Borello brothers took over Brocchini’s operation after his death - they operated under the auspices of mob higher-ups who gave them the ok]
———————————————————————————————————-