When the Mob Tried to Shut Down NYC

In honor of Italian-American Unity Day, this store will be closed...."

So read the sign - in our local Chinese restaurant.

During the month of June, 1970, these red, white and green posters started appearing in shops throughout town, especially in areas with a large Italian population. They called upon New Yorkers to rally on June 29 in Columbus Circle to show pride in their Italian-American heritage, and to demand an end to the media's stereotyping of this ethnic group as a bunch of Mafiosi. Sounds like a civil rights movement, but this one was special, because the organizer of the event was none other than mobster Joe Colombo. What Joe wanted he got, which was why the aforementioned posters started appearing all over Brooklyn - in Scandinavian delis, Irish pubs, and, yes, even Chinese restaurants. The message did not need to be spoken; these stores were expected to close. I recall well the banter about my neighborhood. Most Italian-Americans were indeed disgusted with being labeled criminals. . In addition, it was well-known that other ethnic groups had organized crime gangs, so many considered it unfair that all racketeers were identified as Mafiosi. But Colombo was not just interested in ethnic pride; he wanted to proclaim that the Mafia did not exist!. Even his fellow crooks were dead set against the whole idea of Unity Day. As far as they were concerned, the less publicity they received, the better.

June 29th came, and many of those stores did indeed close. Thousands of people jammed Columbus Circle to hear speeches and wave red, white and green banners. In the midst of his speech, Colombo was shot by a small-time hood who himself was promptly gunned down. The assassin was killed, but Colombo was paralyzed and remained completely helpless for years before finally dying.

In a sense, Joe Colombo did get part of what he was demanding. Nobody stopped believing that the Mafia existed, but use of the term by the media clearly declined. Even Norman Lear got on the bandwagon with an episode of his classic Seventies sitcom, "All In The Family." When Archie Bunker made reference to the Mafia, an angry counterpart declared that "Duh woyd's deefunct, Bunkuh!"