In the early 1960s, the Colombo crime family was torn apart by an internal war, and at the center of that conflict was an alleged contract on the life of Larry Gallo, the leader of the rebellious Gallo crew. The Gallo gang had risen up against family boss Joseph Profaci, and the violence that followed nearly cost Larry Gallo his life. In August 1961, Larry Gallo walked into what was supposed to be a peace meeting at the Sahara Lounge in Brooklyn. Instead, he was ambushed.
According to FBI records, Gallo was nearly strangled to death, and his attackers fled only after a patrolling police officer stumbled onto the scene. An FBI file detailed Gallo’s account of the events. He said he noticed he was being followed by a car with two men inside on his way to the club, but he thought nothing of it because he recognized both men. He believed the person who accompanied him to the Sahara Lounge was acting on orders from Joseph Profaci and stated that Profaci was definitely behind the attempt on his life.
Gallo had previously made peace with Profaci, and he said no one had the right to harm him. He also suggested that certain individuals believed they could take over his operations and cause trouble for Profaci if he were killed. One name that repeatedly surfaced in connection with the attack was Carmine Persico, who had initially sided with the Gallo crew in their revolt against Profaci. An informant told the FBI that the assassination attempt on Larry Gallo had been carried out by Persico and others.
The informant added that the order for the murder supposedly stemmed from a deal between Persico and John “Bath Beach” Oddo. After the attack, police picked up Persico and brought him to President Street in Brooklyn, the Gallo crew’s base, to see if Larry Gallo would identify him as one of his attackers. Gallo refused to make any statement, and Persico also remained silent. One FBI file noted that Persico had been identified by police as one of the individuals seen leaving the Sahara Lounge after the attempted murder, but no formal identification was made by Gallo himself.
Despite nearly being killed, Larry Gallo held back from ordering revenge against the Profaci faction. According to FBI files, he was waiting for a call from the Mafia’s ruling Commission to determine whether the hit had been approved by them or whether Profaci had acted alone. Gallo was confused, unsure if the murder order had come from Profaci personally or from the Commission itself. In October 1961, Larry Gallo’s brother, Joseph “Crazy Joe” Gallo, struck back against Carmine Persico.
FBI records state that Crazy Joe and his associates took over a Brooklyn bar called Chateau Russo, which was controlled by Persico. Crazy Joe immediately replaced the bartender with one of his own men and declared the bar was now under his control. An informant claimed Crazy Joe had said he planned to cause much more damage to the Profaci faction. Albert Gallo Sr.
, the father of the Gallo brothers, made a similarly threatening statement, reportedly saying, “They can get my sons, but a lot of them will go too. ”
Around the same time, the Gallo crew was reportedly planning to take over numerous nightclubs across New York City. An informant said the Gallos were looking for people willing to run these clubs, a move that would boost their own income while weakening the profitability of their rivals. Amid this heightened tension, Larry Gallo reportedly told authorities that he wanted Sonny Franzese to know he was safe.
Gallo knew Franzese had not been involved in the attempt on his life. An FBI file noted that Gallo said, at the end of an interrogation, that he wanted to tell Franzese everything was fine because he knew Franzese had no part in the murder attempt. But despite Gallo’s apparent trust in Franzese, an informant later told authorities that he had been approached to carry out a new hit on Gallo — this time on Franzese’s orders. An FBI file states that an IRS informant was approached by a Franzese intermediary to kill Lawrence Gallo for $10,000.
The informant reportedly grew up with Franzese and had also served time in prison with Gallo. It remains unclear whether Sonny Franzese ever successfully organized a second attempt on Larry Gallo’s life. Some have speculated that Profaci may have used Franzese precisely because Gallo did not see him as a threat, but that theory remains unconfirmed. Larry Gallo ultimately survived the Gallo-Profaci war.
He died of cancer in 1968, several years after the conflict had run its course.