The passport/donut slut building was an old Capone era speakeasy. There are articles from back then talking about how it got raided. I went multiple times, a guy I knew was throwing nights there. It's very clear the downstairs was an old school watering hole, it's tiny and narrow with a ton of the original brick. The owner of HSAC is Jack LaRocca, who also owned the coffee shop across from smith park they all hung out at in the 90s. Doesnt' surprise me it maintain its outfit roots if you are correct.chicagodog wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2024 11:40 amI walk past with my kids, who have very very Italian names, and Bobby always says hi and runs into Richard’s and gives them lollipops, so I can’t say a bad thing about him. The thing about Richard’s is it has multiple entrances and exits, so I’d imagine it’s damn near impossible to bug/surveil. That SRO is one of the last ones, I believe Salvation Army shut down their SRO building across the street on Grand or they’ve just let that building go to absolute shit. Spina owns the “boarded up” buildings on the Southside of Grand across the street from Bennett Private School… my guess is he’s holding out to make millions as they keep expanding and building out their campus. I also know he owns the building where the office of Re-elect Walter Burnett was located and there used to be a barbershop. The guy who owns the Huron Social club also owns the building where Passport bar and Donut Slut used to be, it’s now a bagel place and bar (random as fuck I know). Rumors are that the Cozzo’s own the gas station on Grand and Ashland (northside of Ashland) that is pretty blatantly a cash drop/joker slots establishment/money laundering operation. I don’t know the guys name, nor if he is connected, but he’s always at the gas station with a huge lit cigar taking slips from people that play the slots. He’s also at Imperial talking with Joe quite a bit and I’ve seen him at Salerno’s as well. That neighborhood is very very interesting at night walking around.Cosmik_Debris wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2024 9:37 am I used to walk past Richards every day on my commute to work. I've tied one on with Bobby numerous times and he's always been a super nice guy. I've never mentioned the mob or anything like that, but he's bought me countless drinks over the years and always been super friendly.
I worked in politics/government in those days and he would always try to get my business card or ask questions pertaining to my employment, but I would always play coy and change the subject as quick as possible.
This is a good article, for anyone who's never seen it that kind of explains his pull in the area. https://chicago.suntimes.com/2015/10/10 ... and-an-sro
Spina definitely owns the building you mentioned where the barber shop was, as i said a few years ago his name was on the mailbox. Funny, when the stabbing went down at Richards, Burnett vocally said Richards and its owners have always been a pillar of the community or something to that effect lol.