Ah damn must have missed it. I always thought their candy store was in South Brooklyn.bert wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:22 am Gohnjotti, when you were in Astoria, if you had walked 8 blocks west from Polito's Pizza, you would have come to the spot where Joe N. Gallo used to hang out. It was not a social club, but a candy store. It's still there, but Arabs have owned and run it for 35 years, but you could have seen the spot where he stood at for a few of the surveillance photos of him standing were taken. While it is not like seeing him, or anyone, you were only a 5 minute walk away.
He's no longer an alleged murderer, not only was his conviction overturned, he sued and get money for a wrongful conviction. The pasties there are the best. I am curious, are you a little surprised at any unexpected expectations of New York, Mafia wise or other? In the other category I am talking about expecting neighborhoods to have a certain demographic and being totally different?bert wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:09 am [quote=gohnjotti post_id=107229 time=<a href="tel:1555946641">1555946641</a> user_id=5299]
Fortunato Brothers Bakery was great, good coffee and good pastries. Alleged murderer and Genovese associate Mario ‘the Baker’ Fortunato was there talking to three old men, all of whom speaking Italian. Myself and Mario & Co. were the only people there and they kept staring at me (although maybe it’s because I was staring at them).
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Well I’ve been walking around with Bensonhurst all morning enjoying the sites, getting coffee, etc. And YES, the amount of Asians is incredible, they must outnumber the Italians 3:1. I knew Bensonhurst wasn’t what it used to be but it’s still a surprise.
Also had coffee at Caffe Gioiosa just now, similar vibes to Caffe Italia, overheard an interesting conversation with a Sicilian talking (in English) to a native New Yorker about placing bets.
Also, I never realised how close Cafe Gioiosa was to the Banner Social Club. I believe it was felice who mentioned Gioiosa was a mob-spot - anyone know if it’s mob owned or just a hangout because of its proximity to places like the Banner Social Club?
Also, it’s interesting how unwelcoming these places are to newcomers. Especially Gioiosa, there was absolutely nobody at the counter when I got there until about ten minutes, just a bunch of guys chatting in a mix of Italian and English drinking coffee and wine.