John Alite
John Edward Alite (born September 30, 1962) is an American former mobster and Gambino crime family associate who turned government witness and in 2008 testified against the crime family and its former acting boss John A. "Junior" Gotti. That year, Alite pleaded guilty to racketeering charges, including two murders and a variety of other crimes, and in 2011, was sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison. Due to his cooperation with prosecutors, he was released on a five-year supervised release in 2012. Alite has estimated that he shot between 30 and 40 people, beat about 100 people with a baseball bat, and murdered 7 people. Later in life, Alite publicly denounced organized crime and became a motivational speaker, podcaster and author. In 2025, he was appointed a councilman in Englishtown, New Jersey. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |
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Queens
Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn and by Nassau County, New York, Nassau County to its east, and shares maritime borders with the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, as well as with New Jersey. Queens is one of the most linguistics, linguistically and ethnically diverse places in the world. With a population of 2,405,464 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Queens is the second-most populous county in New York state, behind Kings County (Brooklyn), and is therefore also the second-most populous of the five New York City boroughs. If Queens were its own city, it would be the List of United States cities by population, fourth most-populous in the U.S. after the rest of New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Queens is the fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |
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Queens College
Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offers undergraduate degrees in over 70 majors, graduate studies in over 100 degree programs and certificates, over 40 accelerated master's options, 20 doctoral degrees through the CUNY Graduate Center, and a number of advanced certificate programs. Alumni and faculty of the school, such as Arturo O'Farrill and Jerry Seinfeld, have received over 100 Grammy Award nominations. The college is organized into seven schools. It competes in Division II of the NCAA and sponsors 15 men's and women's championship-eligible varsity teams. History Before 1937 Before Queens College was established in 1937, the site of the campus was home to the Jamaica Academy, a one-room schoolhouse built in the early 19th century, where Walt Whitman once worked as a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cocaine
Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated almost exclusively in the Andes. Indigenous peoples of South America, Indigenous South Americans have traditionally used coca leaves for over a thousand years. Notably, there is no evidence that habitual coca leaf use causes addiction or withdrawal, unlike cocaine. Medically, cocaine is rarely employed, mainly as a topical medication under controlled settings, due to its high abuse potential, adverse effects, and expensive cost. Despite this, recreational drug use, recreational use is widespread, driven by its euphoric and aphrodisiac properties. Levamisole induced necrosis syndrome (LINES)-a complication of the common cocaine Lacing (drugs), cutting agent levamisole-and prenatal cocaine exposure is particularly harmful. Street cocaine is ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lucchese Crime Family
The Lucchese crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. Members refer to the organization as the Lucchese borgata; ''borgata'' (or brugard) is Mafia slang for criminal gang, which itself was derived from a Sicilian language, Sicilian word meaning close-knit community. The members of other crime families sometimes refer to Lucchese family members as "Lukes". The family originated in the early 1920s; Gaetano Reina served as its boss until his murder in 1930."The Lucchese Family: Blood and Gravy" by Anthony Bruno TruTV Crime Librar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Numbers Game
The numbers game, also known as the numbers racket, the Italian lottery, Mafia lottery, or the daily number, is a form of illegal gambling or illegal lottery played mostly in poor and working-class neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a bettor attempts to pick three digits to match those that will be randomly drawn the following day. For many years the "number" has been the last three digits of "the handle", the amount race track bettors placed on race day at a major racetrack, published in racing journals and major newspapers in New York. In the loosest sense of the word “ racket”, the numbers game is a common racket or ongoing criminal scheme among organized crime groups, especially in the United States. Gamblers place bets with a bookmaker ("bookie") at a tavern, bar, barber shop, social club, or any other semi-private place that acts as an illegal betting parlor. Runners carry the money and betting slips between the betting parlors and the headquarters, ca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lucky Luciano
Charles "Lucky" Luciano ( ; ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian gangster who operated mainly in the United States. He started his criminal career in the Five Points Gang and was instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate. Luciano is considered the father of the Italian-American Mafia for the establishment of The Commission (mafia), the Commission in 1931, after he abolished the Capo dei capi, boss of bosses title held by Salvatore Maranzano following the Castellammarese War. He was also the first official Crime boss, boss of the modern Genovese crime family. In 1936, Luciano was tried and convicted for compulsory prostitution and running a prostitution racketeering, racket after years of investigation by District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey. Although he was sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison, an agreement was struck with the U.S. Department of the Navy through his Jewish Mob associate, Meyer Lansky, to provide na ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Soldato
A soldato or soldier is the first official level of both the Sicilian Mafia and the Italian-American Mafia in the formal Mafia hierarchy. It is also commonly used as a rank in other Italian criminal organizations, such as the 'Ndrangheta and Camorra. The promotion to the rank of soldier is an elevation in the chain of command from the associate level. The associate, who is not an initiated member of the Mafia, must prove himself to the family and take the oath of Omertà in order to become an initiated made man and therefore rise to the rank of soldato. Picciotto (plural: ''picciotti'') is often used to refer to a lower-level mafioso or soldato, but it usually indicates a younger, inexperienced soldato and may even be used loosely to refer to a closely connected, up-and-coming associate who is not necessarily a made man yet (and therefore not yet officially a "soldato"). "Picciotti" usually perform simple tasks such as beatings, money collection, robbery, kidnappings and h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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University Of Tampa
The University of Tampa (UTampa, UT or Tampa U) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UTampa offers more than 200 programs of study, including 19 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, minors, pre-professional programs and certificates. The school was initially established in 1931 as a junior college housed in a local high school. In 1933, it became a four-year university and moved onto the grounds of the recently closed Tampa Bay Hotel. The large and lavish central building of Henry B. Plant's resort was converted into Plant Hall, and the Moorish minarets atop the distinctive structure have long been a symbol of both the school and of the city of Tampa in general. UTampa grew gradually in the 20th century while navigating several periods of financial difficulty, including in the 1970s, when the school decided to fold its locally popular football program due to concerns about costs. Successful ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Best Man
A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be selected. From his groomsmen, the groom usually chooses one to serve as best man. For a wedding with many guests, the groom may also ask other male friends and relatives to act as ushers without otherwise participating in the wedding ceremony; their sole task is ushering guests to their seats before the ceremony. Ushers may also be hired for very large weddings. In a military officer's wedding, the roles of groomsmen are replaced by swordsmen of the sword honor guard. They are usually picked as close personal friends of the groom who have served with him. Their role includes forming the traditional saber arch for the married couple and guests to walk through. The first recorded use of the word ‘groomsmen’, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, was as recently as 1698, al ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti Jr.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 25–26 ( , ; October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American '' mafioso'' and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambino boss Paul Castellano in December 1985 and took over the family shortly thereafter, leading what was described as the most powerful crime syndicate in the United States. Gotti and his brothers grew up in poverty and turned to a life of crime at an early age. Gotti quickly became one of the Gambino family's biggest earners and a protégé of Aniello Dellacroce, the family's underboss, operating out of Ozone Park, Queens. Following the FBI's indictment of members of Gotti's crew for selling narcotics, Gotti began to fear that Castellano would kill him and his brother Gene for dealing drugs. As this fear continued to grow, and amidst growing dissent over the leadership of the family, Gotti arranged the murder of Castellano. At his peak, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |