Eugene Hanley

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Eugene Hanley (b. April 2, 1926) was a New York City labor leader, as well as an associate of the Genovese crime family. Hanley took over as President of Local 257 of the New York City District Council of Carpenters for his father-in-law, a Genovese mobster named Will Graziano. Hanley and Local Vice-President Attilio Bitondo extorted building contractors operating in Manhattan in conjunction with Local shop steward Carmine Fiore, a Gambino crime family soldier, and other organized crime figures linked to the Gambino, Genovese and Colombo crime families. The men ordered beatings for those contractors who refused to back in, but typically, violence wasn't needed.

In 1987, Hanley, Bitondo and other high ranking officials of the N.Y.C. District Council of Carpenters were indicted on 79 counts of labor racketeering, including extortion, bribery, and bid rigging. District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau claimed that contractors that cooperated with the DA's investigation claimed they paid over $100,000 in extortion payments, but DA Morgenthau explained that the figure documented less than 10% of the money paid to the gangsters during the investigation. Gambino associate turned informant Dominick LoFaro wore a wire to gather information on the unions and gangsters, and provided information to the New York State Organized Crime Task Force leading to the "bugging" of the offices of Local 608 at 1650 Broadway and of Local 257 at 157 East 25th Street. LoFaro also discussed Hanley's ties to other organized crime figures, including Bartholomew "Bobby" Boriello, Albert "Kid Blast" Gallo, Anthony "Tony" Scotto and Anthony "Sonny" Ciccone. Hanley would receive a 4-year prison sentence to lesser charges of bribe giving, and would be banned from future union activities. Hanley earned an early release from prison and received a no-show work release job at Casale Jewelry on Court Street, Brooklyn. Hanley's son William was dismissed from his position as President of Carpenter's Union Local 157 (which was re-named after the massive racketeering indictment) in November 2007, and the Local was placed under trusteeship, citing connections to organized crime, including prevailing upon a contractor to hire a no-work man named Joseph Vecchiarello.

[edit] Further reading

  • Cafaro, Vincent. "Declaration of Vincent Cafaro". August 1990. (Discussing Vincent DiNapoli and Fat Tony Salerno's involvement in the N.Y.C. District Council of Carpenters). Available at http://www.thelaborers.net/carpenters/background/carfaro/Carfaro_declaration-1990-8-28_Dir/Carfaro_declaration-1990-8-28_Page1.htm.
  • Goldstock, Ronald, Martin Marcus and II Thacher. Corruption and Racketeering in the New York City Construction Industry: Final Report of the New York State Organized Crime Task Force. New York: NYU Press, 1990. ISBN 0-8147-3034-5
  • Jacobs, James B., Coleen Friel and Robert Radick. Gotham Unbound: How New York City Was Liberated from the Grip of Organized Crime. New York: NYU Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8147-4247-5
  • Jacobs, James B., Christopher Panarella and Jay Worthington. Busting the Mob: The United States Vs. Cosa Nostra. New York: NYU Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8147-4230-0
  • Jacobs, James B., Kristin Stohner. "Ten Years of Court-Supervised Reform: A Chronicle and Assessment". The Boalt Journal of Criminal Law, 6 Cal. Crim. Law Rev. 3, available at http://boalt.org/bjcl/v6/v6jacobstohner.htm.
  • Raab, Selwyn. "5 Carpenters' Union Leaders Indicted in Extortion". New York Times, October 14, 1987.
  • Raab, Selwyn. "Prosecutors Say Tapes Show Mob Infiltrating Carpenter Union". New York Times, November 2, 1987.
  • Robbins, Tom., "Nails In Their Stockings: It's a Heave-ho, Not Ho-ho, For Carpenter-Union Bigs", The Village Voice, December 11, 2007, located at: http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0750,robbins,78605,2.html.

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