1960s Timeline

Jan. 31, 1962 - Seven members of the Gallo gang rescued six children today in Brooklyn when a fire in a mattress filled a top-floor apartment at 73 President Street with smoke. The gang’s headquarters is at 51 President Street. The seven gangsters had just left a nearby restaurant when they saw smoke pouring from the apartment, which is occupied by Mrs. Sista Biaz and her six children (pictured with three members of the Gallo gang). Mrs. Biaz was shopping and the children app

Dec. 21, 1961 - Joseph Gallo, a 32-year-old gangland figure, was sentenced today to serve 7 to 14 years in prison on his conviction for conspiracy and attempted extortion. Judge Joseph A. Sarafite imposed the maximum sentence. Gallo, who has a record of 23 arrests and 4 convictions, was convicted last month of having tried to take half the profits and stock of a check-cashing service and 3 taverns owned by Theodor Moss, 28, of Brooklyn. Assistant D.A. Paul D. Kelly said: “In

Nov. 16, 1961 - Joseph Gallo, 32-year-old gangland figure and jukebox racketeer, was found guilty of attempted extortion and conspiracy today by a jury in New York General Sessions Court. Gallo nodded as the foreman announced the verdict, which could put him behind bars for as long as fourteen and a half years. Then he looked toward his wife Jeffie and mouthed the words, “Don’t worry.” Gallo was convicted of trying to take half the profits and stock of a check-cashing service

Nov. 14, 1961 - Joseph Gallo, the 32-year-old gangland figure on trial for conspiracy and attempted extortion, was remanded to jail today by Judge Joseph A. Sarafite. Judge Sarafite made no comment as to why he was ordering the defendant to prison. Gallo had been free on bail. When one of the defendant’s lawyers, Robert Weiswasser, rose to question the judge’s order, Gallo directed him not to, with the comment: “Don’t even bother. He’s too prejudiced.” Gallo is accused of hav

Oct. 11, 1961 - Joseph Gallo (pictured), one of the 13 gangsters rounded up by Brooklyn detectives on Tuesday, denied today that the gang had declared war on a rival faction in the Brooklyn underworld. The 32-year-old ex-convict, known as “Crazy Joey,” accused the police of “harassing us” in their investigation of the attempted strangling of his 33-year-old brother Lawrence and the unsolved murder of Joseph Magnasco, a member of the Gallo gang. Gallo was taken into custody af

Oct. 10, 1961 - The Brooklyn police rounded up 13 members of the Gallo gang today in an attempt to end the warfare between underworld factions fighting for control of rackets in the borough. Most of the gang members, including their leader, Lawrence Gallo, were found asleep in a second-floor apartment over the Direct Vending Machine Company at 51 President Street, Brooklyn. Next door, at 49 President Street, several others were seized. Joseph Gallo (pictured), also known as “

Oct. 5, 1961 - Two men linked to Brooklyn's underworld were indicted today on charges of attempting to kill Lawrence Gallo, a 33-year-old Brooklyn racketeer, in a Flatbush tavern on Aug. 20. The two defendants are Carmine J. Persico (pictured center), 28, and John Scimone, 49. District Attorney Edward S. Silver said today that the attempted strangling of Gallo and the killing of Gallo lieutenant Joseph Magnasco on Wednesday were linked to a rivalry between the Gallo and Persi

Oct. 4, 1961 - A gangland figure was shot dead today on a busy Brooklyn streetcorner. He was Joseph Magnasco, 36-year-old lieutenant of the notorious Gallo brothers, Joseph (pictured) — also known as “Crazy Joe” and “Joe the Blonde” — and Lawrence, jukebox and vending machine racketeers. Lawrence Gallo was the victim of an attempted strangling in a Flatbush restaurant in August. Magnasco was slain by a gunman who fired three bullets into him as he walked out of the College Re