Back In The Day, This Quiet New York Town Was The Site Of The Nation’s Biggest Mafia Meet-Up
You wouldn’t know it just driving through, but the small town of Apalachin, New York, has a very interesting history. Well, one day was very interesting at least. That day was November 14, 1957. On that day, dozens and perhaps even more than 100 members of the mafia met in this small town for a very important meeting. It didn’t go as planned. Read on to learn all about this big mafia meeting in Apalachin, New York, so many years ago and what went wrong – or right – depending on which side of the fence you’re on!
The town of Apalachin, New York, is in a pretty rural part of the state. It sits on the shore of the Susquehanna River, not far from the Pennsylvania border in Tioga County.
Back in 1957, there were probably even fewer businesses and houses in Apalachin than there are today. That's probably why Joe "The Barber" Barbara bought a 58-acre estate here. He didn't want to be bothered.
On November 13, 1957, 100 mafioso from the United States, Cuba, and Italy gathered here to have a big meeting. They planned to discuss loansharking, narcotics trafficking, and gambling, as well as divide the assets of the recently murdered boss Albert Anastasia.
Just as the meeting was getting started, the police raided Barbara's property. Everyone tried to flee the scene. Some people got in their cars and tried to drive away but were stopped by the roadblocks. Others ran into the fields and forest, ruining their expensive suits and shoes.
The arrestees were from 21 different crime families. There were people arrested from all five of the NYC Five Families, plus people from crime families from all over the country. Individuals arrested were bosses or members of the crime families of Kansas City, LA, Colorado, Dallas, Boston, Tampa, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Buffalo, NE Pennsylvania, and Utica.
Twenty of the men arrested were convicted for conspiracy to obstruct justice for lying about the
purpose of the meeting. They all had to pay $10,000 fines and spend three to five years in jail.
However, all of the convictions were overturned on appeal the following year. They were all released.
Even though no one did hard time for their participation, The Apalachin Meeting was an important event in mafia history. One major effect it had was that it forced J. Edgar Hoover, the then director of the FBI, to accept that the mafia existed on a large scale in the United States. He’d previously denied this fact more than once. After this bust, he led the FBI in going after the country’s top mob bosses nationwide, with much success.
Some people speculate that the Apalachin Meeting bust was a set up from the beginning. Three major crime bosses were not present at this very important meeting: Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, and Meyer Lansky. Further, there were no mafioso from Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, or Detroit at the meeting either, and these were all areas where the absent bosses had influence. Perhaps these men wanted to use this bust and its ripple effects to bring down NYC boss Vito Genovese. This seems possible, but it also seems possible that the police just suddenly noticed dozens of fancy cars in a rural area, too. What do you think?
