Carroll Gardens, Home Sweet Mobbed-Up Home
I'll always remember the Court Street butcher who, a decade ago, described Carroll Gardens to me as the perfect safe neighborhood: "A Mafia foundation with a Yuppie overlay."
Over the years, people have tried to convince me that the respectable Yuppie onslaught had all but scrubbed away the Mob residue from the streets. But, even as I saw the social clubs disappear and the old Italian families sell their brownstones and move away, I never quite believed it. The devil was still in the details, and I was good at squinting.
My feelings about the nabe have been borne out by this whole crazy Lucali mess, in which the owner of the famous Henry Street pizzeria, Mark Iocono, got in a knife fight (a knife fight!—how old school!) with Benny Geritano, an ex-con with connections to the Gennovese crime family. On Smith Street, outside Joe's Superette (great prociutto balls!), opposite a public school, at 3 PM in the broad daylight. Blood was spilled, both went to the hospital, and both have been charged with attempted murder.
The coverage of this story has been crazy. The reason for the dispute keeps changing. Geritano was trying to collect a debt from Iocono. No, he was trying to shake down Iocono for a cut of the Lucali money. No, it was a love quarrel, with the two men fighting over the affections of neighborhood gal Annette Angeloni. And both men claim that they were acting in self-defense; the other guy struck first.
All three of the lead characters work in the neighborhood. Iocono at Lucali, of course, a place I've been to many times; which has already been reported as the place of employ of a Columbo Mob associate; and always has some old Italian guys sitting at a back table. Geritano works at Bagels on the Park, near Carroll Park. And Angeloni works at Marielena Card & Gift Shop on Court Street, a storefront that used to house the great old red sauce joint Helen's.
As my friend, born in the neighborhood, told me: "Every business around here less than 10 years old is connected in some way." Keeps things interesting, that's for sure.
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15 comments:
juicy!
Thanks, Brooks. I was waiting for your response to all this!
For the record, I am among those who think Lucali's pizza is fantastic and not overrated in the least. As for Bagels on the Park, they always screw up my order. And I love them for it.
Ha! I see the Post story quotes one "Paul DeFontes" talking about what a saint Iacono is. I wonder if he's any relation to the Red Hook sandwich shop DeFontes family you profiled recently?
The pizza in Giuseppina's,the new South Slope place, is very good too. Is Black Dom there in any capacity?
Speaking of mobbed up, Brooks, do you know anything about this deli/coffee shop on Carroll near 4th (on the north side of the street)? It has a neon coffee sign in the window, one you'd see at any old luncheonette, except inside I could see no register, no counter - just a few old and middle-aged men playing cards and, when I first walked by there 30 minutes earlier, another paying out money to the same man who was later playing cards. It's clearly not open for outside business.
This kind of violence, while unsettling and horrific, seems to be so much part of the classic neighborhood affairs rather than part of the changing safety of the area. The muggings, lately, and stolen laptops are worrisome. This knife fight ended up in a post I wrote for We Who Are About To Die because I could've witnessed it, but luckily, my timing was off.
If interested: http://wewhoareabouttodie.com/2011/04/19/not-the-best-kind-of-hurt/
Now don't be telling me that the nice old men at Marietta's who sell the undies and socks are mobbed up!
Ryan, you can get coffee in the Carroll Street place, though it's not really set up for walk-in customers! Yes, have heard reports of a lot of money changing hands in there, but I don't know much about it. I second the query to Brooks!
I'm not familiar with the coffee shop at 4th Avenue and Carroll. Sorry.
Taking the 5th Brooks?
I think the restaurant Fragole, not the card shop, occupies the old Helen's space. But I could be wrong. Helen's has been gone for, what, at least 10 years?
Carol: No, Helen's was definitely in the space now occupied by the card shop (which is currently closed). The weird gold metal facade storefront.
I think you are talking to dutchmungo, who has a great name!
Okay. I guess it just seemed logical for a restaurant to be replaced with another one. Fragloe replaced Max's, but what was in that space before that?
And I miss Helen's.
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