The Ravenite Social Club was an

Italian American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

heritage club at 247 Mulberry Street, in Little Italy, New York City. It was used as a mob hangout and the storefront later became a shoe store, and as of 2022 is a men's clothing store. The Ravenite is sometimes identified as the successor to the Alto Knights Social Club, however, the latter was, in fact, two blocks away from the Ravenite at 86 Kenmare Street. The two clubs existed concurrently.

History

The club was founded in 1919, first as the Raven Knights Social Club, and later became a hangout for John Gotti and others. In the 1950s, Carlo Gambino took over and renamed the club "The Ravenite." Although some sources say he named it in honor of his favorite poem by

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

, "

The Raven "The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a distraught lover who is paid a visit ...

," the club started as the Raven Knights before Gambino came to America in 1921.https://themobmuseum.org/blog/new-film-the-alto-knights-named-for-one-of-mobs-many-social-clubs/ Gambino stopped habituating the club when he discovered police had a growing interest in surveillance of the club. It then became under the management of Aniello Dellacroce. It was frequented and used as the headquarters of the Gambino crime family in the late 1970s and 1980s. Around 1990, the

Federal Bureau of Investigation 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 ...

was able to infiltrate the

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

using secret electronic surveillance, because John Gotti used an apartment above the Ravenite; the FBI subsequently sent agents to install voice recorders and other wiretaps inside the apartment. The FBI then used recordings from secret Mafia meetings in that apartment against Gotti. Exterior surveillance also recorded numerous union officials outside the Ravenite, helping the FBI in connecting the boss of the Gambino crime family to the city's labor unions.

References

Clubs and societies in Manhattan Gambino crime family Nolita {{manhattan-stub