Sites of Mafia History

APALACHIN, NEW YORK - AUGUST 21: The former home of mobster Joe Barbara still stands, relatively unchanged, but apparently abandoned, on a rural road on August 21, 2021 outside of Apalachin, New York. The house was the location of the most famous meeting in mob history, held on November 14, 1957 by Vito Genovese. In an attempt to solidify control and become the boss of bosses, Genovese invited most of America's top gangsters to a meeting, held on a remote property over three hours outside of New York City. State police became suspicious of all the expensive cars converging on one location, and set up a roadblock. When they raided the house, they arrested 58 gangsters, including Vito Genovese, Carlo Gambino, Joseph Profaci, and Joseph Bonanno. J. Edgar Hoover, the head of the FBI, had ignored the rise of organized crime for decades, but the arrest of most of New York's top mafia members at once finally proved the existence of an organized criminal structure. After the raid, the Federal Government could no longer deny that the Mafia was a foe to contend with. As for Vito Genovese, he failed in becoming the Godfather, in part due to the disgrace of the police raid on the meeting. Speculation remains that one of his underworld rivals might have tipped off the police to the meeting. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)