Alfred Embarrato

Alfred "Al Walker" Embarrato (November 12, 1909 - February 21, 2001) was a New York mobster who became a caporegime of the Bonanno crime family and a powerful labor figure at a New York newspaper.

Newspaperman

Born on the Lower East Side, Manhattan to first generation immigrants from Leonforte, Italy Embarrato lived at Knickerbocker Village, on Monroe st. One of Embratto's neighbors was his nephew, Anthony Mirra, who became a widely-feared soldier in the Bonanno family. Embratto was employed at The New York Post from the 1960s to 1990's as a general foreman for the paper's distribution plant. When real estate owner Peter Kalikow bought the Post in 1988, his managers noted that Embarrato did no visible work and naively tried to fire him. When word of Embratto's firing spread, the other Post foremen quickly agreed to take a salary cut so that Embarrato could keep his job. In 1990, District Attorney Robert Morgenthau began an extensive investigation of mob control at the New York newspapers, including the Post. Three years later, Embarrato was indicted on charges related to this investigation.

Family Dissension

In the late 1970s, Philip Rastelli became the boss of the Bonanno family, causing a major split in the membership. Phillip Giaccone, Dominick Trinchera and Alphonse Indelicato opposed Rastelli and began plotting his downfall. However, Rastelli heard about the plot and instead arranged an ambush for the three conspirators. On May 5, 1981, the day of the ambush, Rastelli loyalist Dominick Napolitano called Embarrato and told him to come down to The Motion Lounge for a "sit down". At the meeting, Napolitano had two of his sidewalk soldiers flank Embarrato. The mobsters then waited until until Napolitano received confirmation that Giaccone, Trichera, and Indelicator were dead. Later describing the meeting to Joseph Pistone, posing as mobster Donnie Brasco, Napolitano said, "When [he] Alfred heard that, he turned ash white. He thought we were going to hit him too. But I just reamed at him about Tony, told him Tony was no good; and that he [Alfred] better recognize that and act right himself." Alfred agreed.

Donnie Brasco Affair

Mirra was also on shaky ground. The day before the ambush, Mirra had told Nicholas Marangello that he was joining the opposition. Later on, when Pistone publicly revealed himself as an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, Embarrato allegedly blamed Mirra for allowing Pistone into the family. Joseph D'Amico, who later became an informant, said that Embarrato ordered him to kill Mirra for that very reason. However, some find that account hard to accept. In 1988, Embarrato was indicted along with other Bonanno leaders in a RICO racketeering case.

On February 21, 2001, Alfred Embarrato died of natural causes.

Further reading

*Raab, Selwyn. "Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires". New York: St. Martin's Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-30094-8
*Pistone, Joseph D. and Woodley, Richard, "Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia" Random House 1990 ISBN 5552531299

External links

* [http://www.ipsn.org/court_cases/us_v_bonanno_organized_crime_family.htm United States of America vs. Embarrato]
* [http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0110,robbins,22839,1.html The Village Voice.com: The Newspaper Racket - Tough Guys and Wiseguys in the Truck Drivers Union] by Tom Robbins