Meade Esposito
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Amadeo Henry "Meade" Esposito (1907 – September 3, 1993) was an American politician who was a
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Democratic leader and
political boss In the politics of the United States of America, a boss is a person who controls a faction or local branch of a political party. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves; most historical bosses did not, at least during the times of th ...
. Esposito served as chairman of the Kings County Democratic Committee from 1969 to 1984. As a leader, he was known as a political fixer, and honored loyalty, running a citywide patronage system involving gratuity exchanges that ultimately resulted in multiple municipal corruption scandals. Following the election of
Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. Koch was a lifelong Democrat who ...
to the mayoralty in 1977 (an outcome facilitated by Esposito's support, which was obscured by mutual agreement due to Koch's political origins in the postwar, Manhattan-based " Reform Democrat" movement), Esposito emerged as New York City's paramount political leader and ''de facto'' shadow mayor, with a multiracial sphere of influence that encompassed such disparate figures as
Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
political leaders Stanley M. Friedman, Stanley Simon and Ramon S. Velez; Brooklyn Assemblymen Stanley Fink (who also served as
Speaker of the New York State Assembly The speaker of the New York State Assembly is the highest official in the New York State Assembly, customarily elected from the ranks of the majority party. As in most countries with a British heritage, the speaker presides over the lower hous ...
at the peak of Esposito's influence) and Anthony J. Genovesi;
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 President Donald Manes; Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden; Brooklyn Representatives
Shirley Chisholm Shirley Anita Chisholm ( ; ; November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress. Chisholm represented New York's 12th congressional dist ...
, Leo C. Zeferetti and Fred Richmond;
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
fixer Roy Cohn; real estate developers
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and
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
(the latter would ultimately serve as the 45th President of the United States between 2017 and 2021 and is currently serving as the 47th President of the United States from 2025 until 2029); and
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leaders Anthony Scotto and
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 c ...
. Critics called him a "medieval king holding court with his barons by sections of the press". Although he ensconced himself in the tradition of urban "Regular Democrat"
machine politics In the politics of Representative democracy, representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a hi ...
, Esposito personally identified as a political liberal in marked contrast to many of his successors, frequently speaking of his admiration for
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(whom he supported at great political risk in the
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) and
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. He also was a vociferous supporter of New York City's first (and ultimately unsuccessful)
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bill. As the apex of his power coincided with historic population declines in New York stemming from decades-long
white flight The white flight, also known as white exodus, is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the Racism ...
, Esposito moved beyond his
white ethnic White ethnic is a term used to refer to white Americans who are not Old Stock or White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. "Religion is the most critical factor in separating white ethnics in American society. As Catholics and secondarily Jews ... they we ...
base in southeastern Brooklyn to collaborate with leaders of nascent
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and
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communities throughout the borough, such as City Councilman Samuel D. Wright and his successor, Enoch H. Williams. By the early 1980s, several Brooklyn-based elected officials with national ambitions—most notably Kings County District Attorney Elizabeth Holtzman, liberal internationalist Representative Steve Solarz and future
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—had either directly repudiated or distanced themselves from Esposito's influence, although Jack Newfield and
Wayne Barrett Wayne Barrett (July 11, 1945 – January 19, 2017) was an American journalist. He worked as an investigative reporter and senior editor for ''The Village Voice'' for 37 years, and was known as a leading investigative journalist focused on ...
reported that Schumer met publicly with Esposito for lunch on at least one occasion. In 1983, investigations into his activities mounted; this, along with a thwarted leadership challenge from erstwhile protege Genovesi (who Esposito believed had been "openly salivating" for his departure) would prompt his retirement in January 1984. Three years later, he was convicted of giving an illegal gratuity in the
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, having given Bronx Representative Mario Biaggi a spa vacation in
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. As a result of this and related scandals (including Manes' suicide and Friedman's conviction on federal corruption charges) amid the political emergence of reform-minded rivals
David Dinkins David Norman Dinkins (July 10, 1927 – November 23, 2020) was an American politician, lawyer, and author who served as the 106th mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1993. Dinkins was among the more than 20,000 Montford Point Marine Associa ...
and
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, the Esposito machine effectively collapsed. During this period, several fledgling African American politicians also withdrew their support, precipitating the 1990 election of
Clarence Norman Jr. Clarence Norman Jr. (born August 25, 1951) is a former Politics of the United States, American politician from the state of New York (state), New York. He was the former chairman of the Kings County Democratic Committee, Kings County Democratic ...
as county chairman of what had momentarily descended into a "largely vestigial structure". Esposito was respected and feared for his street-style management, intimidation tactics and criminal connections. He became known for running politics similar to a junket.


Early life

Amadeo "Meade" Esposito was born in the subsection of Ocean Hill, Brooklyn (alternatively characterized as part of Bedford-Stuyvesant or Brownsville) in 1907. He was the son of Giuseppe and Felicia Esposito. His grandfather came to America from
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in 1885. His father followed his grandfather in 1900 and arrived in America at the age of 18. Giuseppe became a saloon owner. Meade lived with his two sisters above the saloon and claimed to have started working as a child. Esposito grew up in Brownsville (then a predominately Jewish neighborhood with smaller Irish and Italian populations) and received his nickname "Meade" during elementary school. He briefly attended
Park Slope Park Slope is a neighborhood in South Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park and Eighth Avenue (Brooklyn), Prospect Park West to the east, ...
's Manual Training High School, now known as the John Jay Educational Campus, but dropped out at the age of 14. He married at the age of 18 and became a father by 19. Despite his dearth of formal education, colleagues lauded Esposito as a keen
autodidact Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions). Overview Autodi ...
"who read everything from comic books to
Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born  BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
."


Politics

After dropping out of school, Esposito found employment at an
insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...
business (a field he would return to throughout his career) operated by Jim Powers, a former
United States Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the United States federal judi ...
and local Democratic leader. There, Esposito met Hyman Schorenstein, another Brooklyn Democratic leader who went on to secure the presidential nomination for
Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was the 42nd governor of New York, serving from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1923 to 1928. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's presidential nominee in the 1 ...
at the party's 1928 Democratic National Convention. Although Schorenstein was
illiterate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...
, his blunt, transactional management style would profoundly influence Esposito. At the age of 18, Esposito "got a couple of dozen of the guys together" and started the Progressive Democratic Club on Fulton Street. During the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
and the early postwar era, he primarily worked as a
beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...
salesman and
bail bondsman A bail bondsman, bail bond agent or bond dealer is any person, agency or corporation that will act as a surety and pledge money or property as bail for the appearance of a defendant in court. Bail bond agents are almost exclusively found in the ...
. He met many of his future connections through the latter business. Esposito cultivated ethnic and community ties that encouraged more Italian Americans to move into politics. He launched the political career of prominent Brownsville-based haberdasher Abe Stark (who served as New York City Council President from 1954 to 1961 and Borough President of Brooklyn from 1962 to 1970) and assisted in electing longtime
New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...
member Alfred Lama, best known for co-founding the Mitchell-Lama Housing Program. Amid
redlining Redlining is a Discrimination, discriminatory practice in which financial services are withheld from neighborhoods that have significant numbers of Race (human categorization), racial and Ethnic group, ethnic minorities. Redlining has been mos ...
and white flight-driven demographic shifts in Ocean Hill-Brownsville and adjacent East New York throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Esposito's predominantly Italian and Jewish base gradually migrated to southeastern Brooklyn's semi-suburban belt of
Canarsie Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin, East 108th Street, and Louisiana Avenue; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on th ...
, Flatlands and Mill Basin, culminating in the formation of the gerrymandered 39th Assembly District to represent these constituencies in 1972. As early as 1958, Esposito ran for Democratic district leader in Canarsie on a ticket with co‐leader candidate Shirley Weiner. Although they lost by 200 votes, Esposito was ultimately elected to the post in 1960 after being endorsed by Eleanor Roosevelt and Herbert H. Lehman. During this period, his influence continued to grow in tandem with the Canarsie-based
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
Democratic Club, which served as his primary political base for the remainder of his career. Throughout the 1960s, Esposito began to personally select many judges and politicians in Brooklyn. From 1960 to 1970, he also served as assistant vice president of the Kings Lafayette Bank (which was subsumed by the Edmond Safra-led Republic New York in 1966) for an indeterminate period of time "despite no apparent experience" in the profession. Jack Newfield would later report that Esposito sought the position to distance himself from his bondsman career to better ensure his political ascension, while "the single biggest depositor in the bank" during his incumbency "was the nthony Scotto-affiliated International Longshoremen's Association">International_Longshoremen's_Association.html" ;"title="nthony Scotto-affiliated International Longshoremen's Association">nthony Scotto-affiliated International Longshoremen's Association which many law enforcement agencies believe is Mafia-dominated [...] It is suspected that the ILA used its influence to get Esposito the job." Although Esposito attained his longtime goal of becoming chairman of the Kings County Democratic Committee in 1969 as part of a byzantine power-sharing agreement with "sometimes friend and often business partner" Stanley Steingut (who sought to consolidate his control of the
New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...
's Democratic caucus in preparation for assuming the speakership), the Jefferson Club's influence was initially overshadowed by the enduring dominance of Steingut's
East Flatbush East Flatbush is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. East Flatbush is bounded by Crown Heights and Empire Boulevard to the north; Brownsville and East 98th Street to the east; Flatlands, Canarsie and the Lon ...
-based
James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...
Democratic Club, a predominantly Jewish political clearinghouse for such figures as future New York City Mayor Abe Beame, veteran
New York State Comptroller The New York state comptroller is an elected constitutional officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the New York state government's Department of Audit and Control. Sixty-one individuals have held the office of State Comptroller si ...
Arthur Levitt Sr., prominent jurist Nat Sobel and members of the
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. After Beame lost the mayoralty in 1977, the balance of power in municipal politics gradually shifted to Esposito, with accelerating white flight in East Flatbush and the concomitant death of Steingut organization
éminence grise An ''éminence grise'' () or gray eminence is a powerful decisionmaker or advisor who operates covertly in a nonpublic or unofficial capacity. The original French phrase referred to François Leclerc du Tremblay, the right hand man of Cardina ...
Beadie Markowitz (an Esposito ally for decades because of their mutual roots in the Schorenstein machine) in early 1978 all but assuring the then-Speaker's decisive defeat by Andrew Stein-backed primary challenger Murray Weinstein (later succeeded by his daughter, Helene Weinstein). Some observers have asserted that Esposito's authority was functionally attenuated throughout this period due to the failed campaigns of several Esposito-Steingut endorsees, including former
Administrator of the Small Business Administration The administrator of the Small Business Administration is the head of the Small Business Administration of the United States. The administrator is responsible for managing and the day-to-day operations of the agency. The administrator is nominat ...
Howard J. Samuels (who unsuccessfully sought the 1974 Democratic gubernatorial nomination in a voluble campaign managed by
Ken Auletta Kenneth B. Auletta (born April 23, 1942) is an American author, a political columnist for the New York Daily News, and media critic for ''The New Yorker''. Early life and education The son of an Italian American father and a Jewish American mot ...
) and longstanding Washington Senator
Henry M. Jackson Henry Martin "Scoop" Jackson (May 31, 1912 – September 1, 1983) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. representative (1941–1953) and U.S. senator (1953–1983) from the state of Washington (state), Washington. A Cold W ...
, a seminal
neoconservative Neoconservatism (colloquially neocon) is a political movement which began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist Democratic Party along with the growing New Left and ...
who ran for the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination; both were primarily favored by Steingut, with the latter retaining support from the machine for most of the 1976 primary season (mainly due to his advocacy for
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and opposition to
desegregation busing Desegregation busing (also known as integrated busing, forced busing, or simply busing) was an attempt to diversify the racial make-up of schools in the United States by transporting students to more distant schools with less diverse student pop ...
) despite late Madison Club attorney James Harrison Cohen's efforts to campaign for
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
, the eventual nominee. As county leader, Esposito became the main interlocutor between the bellicose eastern Brooklyn constituencies and a less visible coterie of high-ranking
conservative Democrat In American politics, a conservative Democrat is a member of the Democratic Party with more conservative views than most Democrats. Traditionally, conservative Democrats have been elected to office from the Southern states, rural areas, and t ...
s in western Brooklyn, including former
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administrative director and longtime
Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south ...
/ Fort Greene/South Brooklyn district leader James V. Mangano, who was blocked from ascending to the chairmanship of the County Committee by Esposito in 1969; fellow district leader Anthony Caracciolo, whose expansive territory included all or part of such transitional neighborhoods as
Park Slope Park Slope is a neighborhood in South Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park and Eighth Avenue (Brooklyn), Prospect Park West to the east, ...
, Sunset Park, Windsor Terrace and
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; and Windsor Terrace-based
New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...
Majority Leader Thomas J. Cuite. The unanticipated election of alleged Mangano-Caracciolo proxy Bernard M. Bloom (then leader of the eastern Flatbush-based
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...
Democratic Club) as Kings County Surrogate (a role charged with overseeing lucrative
probate In common law jurisdictions, probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased; or whereby, in the absence of a legal will, the e ...
and estate proceedings) in 1976 may have deprived the Esposito-Steingut machine of a key patronage tranche as retribution for the 1969 "coup", although Cohen asserted in his 2019 memoir that Esposito personally "tapped" Bloom to serve in the role after "quietly upporting Hugh Carey, the Mangano-Caracciolo-Bloom faction's successful 1974 gubernatorial candidate. In the summer of 1979, Esposito was tried for allegedly violating a state law barring New York county political leaders from engaging in business dealings with race tracks. Citing the rules of the Kings County Democratic Committee, New York Supreme Court Justice Alvin Klein ruled that Esposito had not violated the law since he was formally identified as chairman of the Committee's executive subcommittee. According to Ken Auletta, Esposito had previously characterized himself as county leader in a 1976 interview with ''
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 ...
''. By the 1970s, Esposito's legitimate employment had primarily shifted to the proprietorship of at least two lower Manhattan-based
insurance brokerage An insurance broker is an intermediary who sells, solicits, or negotiates insurance on behalf of a client for compensation. An insurance broker is distinct from an insurance agent in that a broker typically acts on behalf of a client by negotia ...
s; these included the Grand Brokerage (also known as the Grand Insurance Agency)—a partnership between Esposito, Steingut and prominent Nassau County reform Democratic leader Lester Zirin—and Serres, Visone, & Rice, a similar venture between Esposito and former Brooklyn Heights/Fort Greene/South Brooklyn Assemblyman Joseph Martuscello that functioned as Esposito's main business for the remainder of his life. Esposito and Martuscello also co-owned several properties, including a Carroll Gardens brownstone, a villa in a
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resort and a 50-foot yacht. Esposito's involvement in the former concern appears to have faded following a 1974-75 investigation of money laundering and organized crime involvement in the city's nursing home industry; it was ultimately dissolved amid Steingut's pursuit of a Manhattan legal career in 1982. In press interviews, Esposito noted that he was "not a broker" at either firm, claiming that he instead served as a "stockholder" and "more of an administrator." During the 1980s, he also owned a stake in Beaumont Offset Printing, a printing firm ran by his daughter that was contracted by various New York political campaigns. Esposito elicited a variety of perceptions from his peers. While Robert F. Wagner Jr. called him a "new breed of party leader", Herman Badillo, a critic of Esposito, called him "an old-line boss". During his tenure as county leader, his connections to known Mafia members and associates had become common knowledge. He grew up alongside many of these figures, who continued to retain him during his years as a bail bondsman. In 1972, during a federal investigation into the
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 c ...
, Esposito's name was frequently mentioned in a bugged junkyard trailer used as an office by Paul Vario. Politicians traded favors and gifts with Esposito for political influence and positions, a process that greatly accelerated after he became New York City's preeminent political boss in 1978. By 1983, investigations into his increasingly conspicuous activities were growing. Despite claiming he would never retire, Esposito left his position as leader of the Kings County Democratic Committee in January 1984, unexpectedly leaving the position to incumbent Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden amid internal conflict with former protege Anthony Genovesi. Nevertheless, Esposito continued to retain significant surreptitious influence in New York City politics after his retirement. In the fall of 1985, during an
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
investigation into the
Genovese crime family The Genovese crime family (), also sometimes referred to as the Westside, 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 Ne ...
, Esposito was heard speaking with lifelong friend Federico "Fritzy" Giovanelli, a
caporegime A ''caporegime'' or ''capodecina'', usually shortened to ''capo'' or informally referred to as "captain", "skipper" or "lieutenant", is a leadership position in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia). A ''capo'' is a "made m ...
in the organization. This led to a direct wiretap of Esposito's phone. Later in 1985, Esposito was recorded speaking with Mario Biaggi, claiming to have " made" 42 judges in Brooklyn. Biaggi was charged in 1987 with taking an unlawful gratuity, having accepted a free $3,200 vacation in Florida from Esposito. Prosecutors said it was in exchange for using his influence to help a ship-repair company that was a major client of Serres, Visone, & Rice. The defense said it was given out of friendship, and no favors were done in return. While Biaggi was acquitted of both bribery and conspiracy, he was convicted of accepting an illegal gratuity and
obstruction of justice In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investiga ...
, sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, and fined $500,000. Esposito received a suspended sentence. Esposito was put on probation, sentenced to community service and fined $500,000. In 1989, Esposito faced additional charges of bribery and tax fraud; however a federal judge determined Esposito was too sick and elderly to maintain a proper defense.


Personal life

Esposito was known for his "blunt, warm and earthy" nature. He frequently smoked cigars and kept a baseball bat under his desk to symbolically enforce power. Donald Trump, whose family's real estate business frequently interlocked with elements of the Brooklyn Democratic machine, respected Esposito and his management style. Esposito had a daughter, Phyllis. At the height of his power, Esposito primarily resided at 2600 National Drive, a waterfront property in Mill Basin. He also maintained a residence in
Quogue, New York Quogue () is a village in the Town of Southampton in Suffolk County, on the South Fork of Long Island, in New York, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 967, down from 1,018 at the 2000 census. Geography ...
. In 1987, he moved his principal residence to
Manhasset, New York Manhasset is an affluent Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. It is co ...
. While serving as county leader, Esposito eschewed written memoranda and held important meetings in the basement of his mother's Canarsie house to evade potential
wiretaps Wiretapping, also known as wire tapping or telephone tapping, is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connecti ...
at his
Downtown Brooklyn Downtown Brooklyn is the third-largest central business district in New York City (after Midtown Manhattan, Midtown and Lower Manhattan), and is located in the northwestern section of the borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. The neighb ...
office and Mill Basin home. The elder Esposito usually prepared homemade
meatballs A meatball is ground meat (mince) rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, egg (food), eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. ...
for her guests.


Death

In the early 1990s, Esposito developed
bladder The bladder () is a hollow organ in humans and other vertebrates that stores urine from the kidneys. In placental mammals, urine enters the bladder via the ureters and exits via the urethra during urination. In humans, the bladder is a distens ...
and
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 ...
. He died of a blood infection at
North Shore University Hospital North Shore University Hospital (formerly known as North Shore Hospital) is a part of Northwell Health. It is one of two primary teaching hospitals for the Zucker School of Medicine (along with LIJ), offering residency programs, postgraduate t ...
in Manhasset on September 3, 1993.


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Further reading

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Esposito, Meade New York (state) Democrats Politicians from Brooklyn American political bosses from New York (state) American people of Italian descent Politicians of Italian descent 1907 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American politicians