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James Burke (mobster)
James Burke (July 5, 1931 – April 13, 1996), also known as "Jimmy the Gent", was an American gangster and Lucchese crime family associate who is believed to have organized the 1978 Lufthansa heist, the largest cash robbery in American history at the time. He was believed to be responsible for the deaths of those involved in the months after the robbery. Following the testimony of Henry Hill, Burke was convicted in 1982, of conspiracy charges related to his involvement in the 1978–79 Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. While in prison, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to another 20 years to life. He died of cancer at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, twelve years before he would have been eligible for parole. Burke inspired the character Jimmy "The Gent" Conway, one of the main characters of the 1990 film '' Goodfellas'', played by Robert De Niro. Early life At the age of two, Burke was pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive with a respective county. The city is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the United States by both population and urban area. New York is a global center of finance and commerce, culture, technology, entertainment and media, academics, and scientific output, the arts and fashion, and, as home to the headquarters of the United Nations, international diplomacy. With an estimated population in 2024 of 8,478,072 distributed over , the city is the most densely populated major city in the United States. New York City has more than double the population of Los Angeles, the nation's second-most populous city. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert De Niro
Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Robert De Niro, various accolades, including two Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for eight BAFTA Awards and four Emmy Awards. He was honored with the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2003, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2011, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2019, and the Honorary Palme d'Or in 2025. De Niro studied acting at HB Studio, Stella Adler Conservatory, and Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio. He went on to earn two Academy Awards, his first for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actor for his role as Vito Corleone in the crime drama ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Ozone Park, Queens
South Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is just north of John F. Kennedy International Airport, between Aqueduct Racetrack to the west and the Van Wyck Expressway to the east. Adjacent neighborhoods include Ozone Park to the west; Richmond Hill to the north; Jamaica, South Jamaica, and Springfield Gardens to the east; and Howard Beach and Old Howard Beach to the southwest. Rockaway Boulevard is South Ozone Park's main business strip. There is also a high concentration of small businesses along Liberty Avenue, which is also one of South Ozone Park's main source of revenue. South Ozone Park is located in Queens Community District 10 and its ZIP Code is 11420. It is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 106th Precinct. Politically, South Ozone Park is represented by the New York City Council's 28th and 32nd Districts. Demographics Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the populati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas DeSimone
Thomas James DeSimone (June 6, 1946 – disappeared January 14, 1979) was an American criminal associated with New York City's Lucchese crime family who is alleged to have participated in both the Air France robbery and the Lufthansa heist. He also committed numerous murders, including killing William "Billy Batts" Bentvena in 1970. DeSimone went missing in 1979 and is believed to have been murdered. DeSimone's career in the Lucchese family is explored in the book '' Wiseguy'' by Nicholas Pileggi, and inspired the character of Tommy DeVito, portrayed by Joe Pesci, one of the main characters of the 1990 film '' Goodfellas''. Early life DeSimone was born in New York City, in the South Ozone Park area in the borough of Queens, on June 6, 1946. The youngest of eight children born to Robert Anthony DeSimone and Camilla Passerelli. He had four elder sisters and three elder brothers. Despite the incorrect fact that there was a belief that two of his brothers were associates of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Vario
Paul Vario (July 10, 1914 – May 3, 1988) was an American mobster and made man in the Lucchese crime family. Vario was a caporegime and had his own crew of mobsters in Brooklyn, New York. Following the testimony of Henry Hill, Vario was convicted in 1984, of fraud, and sentenced to four years in prison, followed by a conviction for extortion in 1985, and an additional sentence of 10 years in prison. He died on May 3, 1988, of respiratory failure in prison. He was portrayed as Paul Cicero by Paul Sorvino in the Martin Scorsese film '' Goodfellas''. Early life Paul Vario was born on July 10, 1914, in New York City. He grew up in South Brooklyn's Old Mill section. In 1925, at age 11, Vario was sentenced to seven months in juvenile detention for truancy. Vario and his first wife, Vita, had three sons, Peter, Paul Jr., and Leonard. He later divorced Vita and married Phyllis. Vario allegedly had a very violent temper. One night Vario took his wife, Phyllis, out to di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italian-American Mafia
The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian-American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian-American criminal society and organized crime group. The terms Italian Mafia and Italian Mob apply to these US-based organizations, as well as the separate yet related Sicilian Mafia or other organized crime groups in Italy, or ethnic Italian crime groups in other countries. These organizations are often referred to by its members as Cosa Nostra (, "Our Thing" or "This Thing of Ours") and by the American government as La Cosa Nostra (LCN). The organization's name is derived from the original ''Mafia'' or ''Cosa Nostra'', the Sicilian Mafia, with "American Mafia" originally referring simply to Mafia groups from Sicily operating in the United States. The Mafia in the United States emerged in impoverished Italian immigrant neighborhoods in New York's East Harlem (or " Italian Harlem"), the Lower East Side, and Brooklyn; also emerging in o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Made Man
In the Sicilian and American Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. In order to become eligible to be "made", an associate must fulfill several requirements, such as being Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man. An inductee will be required to take the oath of '' omertà'', the Mafia code of silence and code of honor. After the induction ceremony, the associate becomes a "made man" and holds the rank of soldier () in the Mafia hierarchy. Made men are the only ones who can rise through the ranks of the Mafia, from soldier to caporegime, consigliere, underboss, and boss. Other common names for members include ''man of honor'' (), ''man of respect'' (), ''one of us'' (), ''friend of ours'' (), ''good fella'', and ''wiseguy'', although the last two terms can also apply to non-initiated Mafia associates who work closely with the Mafia, rather than just official "made men". Earning or making one's "bones" or "button" or becoming a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irish People
The Irish ( or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common ancestry, history and Culture of Ireland, culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has been continually inhabited for more than 10,000 years (see Prehistoric Ireland). For most of Ireland's recorded history, the Irish have been primarily a Gaels, Gaelic people (see Gaelic Ireland). From the 9th century, small numbers of Vikings settled in Ireland, becoming the Norse-Gaels. Anglo-Normans also Norman invasion of Ireland, conquered parts of Ireland in the 12th century, while Kingdom of England, England's 16th/17th century Tudor conquest of Ireland, conquest and Plantations of Ireland, colonisation of Ireland brought many English people, English and Scottish Lowlands, Lowland Scottish people, Scots to parts of the island, especially the north. Today, Ireland is made up of the Republic of Ireland (officially called Republic of Irela ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of the longest-running newspapers in the United States, the ''Times'' serves as one of the country's Newspaper of record, newspapers of record. , ''The New York Times'' had 9.13 million total and 8.83 million online subscribers, both by significant margins the List of newspapers in the United States, highest numbers for any newspaper in the United States; the total also included 296,330 print subscribers, making the ''Times'' the second-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States, following ''The Wall Street Journal'', also based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' is published by the New York Times Company; since 1896, the company has been chaired by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, whose current chairman and the paper's publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bonanno Crime Family
The Bonanno crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City. The family was known as the Maranzano crime family until its founder Salvatore Maranzano was murdered in 1931. Joseph Bonanno was awarded most of Maranzano's operations when Charles "Lucky" Luciano oversaw the creation of the Commission to divide up criminal enterprises in New York City among the Five Families. Under the leadership of Bonanno between the 1930s and 1960s, the family was one of the most powerful in the country. However, in the early 1960s, Bonanno attempted to overthrow several leaders of the Commission, but failed. Bonanno disappeared from 1964 to 1966, triggering an intra-family war colloquially referred to as the "Banana War" that lasted until 1968, when Bonanno retired to Arizona. Between 1976 and 1981, the family was infiltrated by FBI agent Joseph Pistone, who went undercover using th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Press International
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th century until its eventual decline beginning in the early 1980s. At its peak, it had more than 6,000 media subscribers. Since the first of several sales and staff cutbacks in 1982, and the 1999 sale of its broadcast client list to its main U.S. rival, the Associated Press, UPI has concentrated on smaller information-market niches. History Formally named United Press Associations for incorporation and legal purposes but publicly known and identified as United Press or UP, the news agency was created by the 1907 uniting of three smaller news syndicates by the Midwest newspaper publisher E. W. Scripps. It was headed by Hugh Baillie (1890–1966) from 1935 to 1955. At the time of his retirement, UP had 2,900 clients in the United States, and 1, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, HarperCollins and Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster is considered one of the Big Five (publishers), 'Big Five' English language publishers. , Simon & Schuster was the third largest publisher in the United States, publishing 2,000 titles annually under 35 different Imprint (trade name), imprints. History Early years In 1924, Richard L. Simon, Richard Simon's aunt, a crossword puzzle enthusiast, asked whether there was a book of ''New York World'' crossword puzzles, which were popular at the time. After discovering that none had been published, Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster, Max Schuster decided to launch a company to exploit the opportunity.Frederick Lewis Allen, ''Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s'', p. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
