Gaspar or Gaspare DiGregorio (October 4, 1905 – June 11, 1970) was a New York mobster and a high-ranking member of the

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 Sal ...

who was a key figure in the "Banana War". In October 1964, during

Joseph Bonanno Joseph Charles Bonanno (born Giuseppe Carlo Bonanno; ; January 18, 1905 – May 11, 2002), sometimes referred to as Joe Bananas, was an Italian-American crime boss of the Bonanno crime family of New York City, which he ran from 1931 to 1968. ...

's two-year absence, Bonanno soldier DiGregorio took advantage of family discontent over Joseph's son Bill Bonanno's role to claim family leadership. The Mafia Commission named DiGregorio as Bonanno family boss, and the DiGregorio revolt led to four years of strife in the Bonanno family, labeled by the media as the "Banana War". This led to a divide in the family between loyalists to Bill and loyalists to DiGregorio. In early 1966, DiGregorio allegedly contacted Bill about having a peace meeting. Bill agreed and suggested his grand-uncle's house on Troutman Street in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

as a meeting site. On January 28, 1966, as Bill and his loyalists approached the house, they were met with gunfire; no one was wounded during this confrontation."Part II: The Mafia at War
New York Magazine, July 17, 1972, page 32 In 1968, DiGregorio was wounded by machine gun fire and later suffered a heart attack. The Commission eventually became dissatisfied with DiGregorio's efforts at quelling the family rebellion, and eventually dropped DiGregorio and swung their support to Paul Sciacca. In 1968, after a heart attack, Joseph ended the family warfare by agreeing to retire as boss and move to Arizona. As part of this peace agreement, Bill also stepped down as consigliere and moved out of New York with his father. On June 15, 1970, Gaspar DiGregorio died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

at St. John's Episcopal Hospital in

Smithtown, New York Smithtown is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Suffolk County, New York, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. The population was 116,296 at the 2020 United ...

. He is buried in Saint Charles Cemetery in

Farmingdale, New York Farmingdale is an incorporated village on Long Island within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 8,466 at the time of the 2020 Census. The Lenox Hills neighborhood is adjacent to Bethpage State ...

Section 30, Row X, Grave #60. He is portrayed by Richard D'Alessandro in Season 3 of TV Series ''

Godfather of Harlem ''Godfather of Harlem'' is an American crime drama television series that premiered on September 29, 2019, on Epix. The series is created by Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein, and stars Forest Whitaker as 1960s New York City gangster Bumpy Johns ...

''.

References

External links

The American "Mafia": Who was who ? - Gaspar DiGregorio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:DiGregorio, Gaspar 1905 births 1970 deaths American gangsters of Italian descent Bosses of the Bonanno crime family Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state)

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