St. John Cemetery in Queens, New York, is one of the largest and most imposing burial grounds in the United States. The 169-acre site is filled with mausoleums, gravestones, and family plots, and it is run by the Catholic diocese.
It is also known by another name: a kind of boot hill for the mob. The cemetery was established around 1872, and it holds the remains of an extraordinary number of organized crime figures, from old-world bosses to modern Mafia leaders.
Michael Francis, a former associate who left that life and became a person of faith, has walked the grounds many times. Much of his own family is buried there, including his father, Sonny Franzese, his mother, and two of his sisters.
His grandfather, known as Tooky the Lion, bought roughly 25 plots more than a hundred years ago, expecting the whole family to be buried together. Francis said he will not be buried there; he now lives in California and plans to be buried with his wife.
The cemetery sits directly below the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, just after the Manhattan tunnel. Francis remembers driving over it as a boy with his father, who told him a friend once paid him good money to walk through the cemetery at night, and that he did it.
As an adult, Francis drove past the same grounds with a producer friend and told him how many former mob figures were buried inside. That conversation led him to recount 21 of the most notable names resting at St. John.
One of the oldest is Benedetto Salvatore, known as Toto D'Aquila, who came from Sicily around 1906. He was one of the original "Mustache Petes" and is described as probably the first boss of the Gambino family. He ruled for about ten years until he was murdered, shot once in the head and seven times in the chest. His mausoleum is elaborate and ornate.
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano is buried in a large mausoleum marked with the family name and flanked by Grecian columns near the entrance. Luciano was deported to Italy and tried to return to the United States but could not. He died of a heart attack in Italy at about 64, and his body was brought back to be buried at St. John. He is remembered as the man who formed the Mafia commission in America and, in many ways, the original godfather of organized crime in the country.
Joe Profaci, known as the olive oil king, ruled his family for about 30 years. He rests in a mausoleum at St. John. After his death, his underboss took over briefly until the commission moved him out, and Joe Colombo eventually became boss.
Vito Genovese also has an elaborate mausoleum there. He took over after Luciano, clashed with Frank Costello, and was the target of a power struggle that included a botched hit on Costello. Genovese was later indicted on a major drug case, received a long sentence, and died in prison. His family name still exists today.
Jimmy "Jimmy Nap" Napoli was from Francis's old neighborhood in Greenpoint and ran a huge gambling operation as a captain in the family. Francis met him a few times, including with his father. Napoli was also indicted on a murder conspiracy for trying to kill John Gotti.
John Gotti's site is in a very elaborate building near the center of the cemetery. It draws tourists who want to see it, something the cemetery does not particularly like, though visitors are allowed at certain times.
Carlo Gambino ran the Gambino family for more than 20 years and was once called boss of bosses. He died at home on Long Island at 75 or 76 and served very little prison time. Francis described him as the epitome of a mob boss: low profile, low key, and never convicted despite numerous investigations.
Frank Abbandando, known as "The Dasher," was part of Murder Inc., the contract-killing group linked to Luciano and Meyer Lansky. He was said to have used an ice pick to stab victims through the heart. Murder Inc. was blamed for more than 200 murders.
Joe Colombo, a boss Francis knew intimately through his family, is also buried at St. John. After he was gunned down, he lingered for about six or seven years, largely brain dead, before he died.
Johnny Dio, a major union figure active with the Teamsters, was indicted for labor racketeering several times and helped Jimmy Hoffa become boss. Francis met him once as a kid.
Salvatore Maranzano was another of the original Mustache Petes and a boss in the Castellammarese War against Masseria. Both Masseria and Maranzano were killed in a plot attributed to Lucky Luciano.
Roy DeMeo, associated with the Gemini Lounge, had a reputation for violence and was said to be responsible for several hundred murders, many committed personally. Francis met him a couple of times and once got two stolen Jaguars back the same day through DeMeo's chop shops.
Carmine Fatico, known as "Charlie Wagons" for hijacking transport trucks, was a Gambino figure and an early mentor to John Gotti, along with Neil Dellacroce.
Willie Boy Johnson was an associate, not a made member, and a government informant from about 1965 until he was murdered in the mid-1980s. He was said to have turned informant because Fatico failed to care for his wife and children while he was in prison. Francis had used him to put money on the street and feared exposure, but Johnson never implicated him. He was murdered by Tommy Patera, who was indicted but reportedly acquitted.
Carmine Lombardozzi was known as "The Doctor," "Alberto," "The King of Wall Street," and "The Italian Meyer Lansky." Francis sat with him a few times alongside Larry Carosa and remembered him as highly intelligent and one of the Gambino family's biggest earners.
Vincent Papa was a Lucchese made man known for stealing heroin from the NYPD lockup, heroin that had been taken during the French Connection case.
Philip "Rusty" Rastelli was boss of the Bonanno family and lived in Greenpoint. He spent most of his time as boss away, and Francis met him a few times while he was home. Joey Messina followed him as boss, was convicted of murder and sentenced to a couple hundred years, and eventually became an informant.
Frank "Funzi" Tieri was boss of the Genovese family in 1972. Francis described him as low profile and diplomatic, a boss who believed in sharing the wealth and was well liked by his soldiers.
Neil Dellacroce was a high-ranking and widely respected Gambino figure and a mentor to John Gotti. He was passed over for boss when Carlo Gambino chose his brother-in-law Paul Castellano instead. Dellacroce never got along with Castellano, and he later helped orchestrate Castellano's murder before becoming boss.
Finally, there is Sonny Franzese, Michael Francis's father, buried with his parents and roughly 20 other family members in the extensive family plot at St. John.
Francis noted that many of the men buried there did not die well. Some died in prison, and some were murdered. He said he is grateful he walked away from that life and did not meet the same fate as so many of his former associates.
He also reflected on how law enforcement changed the life. The racketeering laws and bail reform measures of the mid-1980s, he said, were devastating, putting many men in jail and turning many into informants. In the days of Luciano and Capone, the government's arsenal was different, but the pressure eventually reshaped the entire world of organized crime.
For anyone driving over the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the sight is hard to miss: a vast expanse of headstones and mausoleums stretching out below. St. John Cemetery remains a quiet, imposing place where many of the most notorious names in Mafia history now rest, some close together in death as they once were in life.