3. Umberto’s Clam House – 129 Mulberry St.
Da Gennaro now occupies the corner of Mulberry and Hester Streets, where Crazy Joe died.
Tony Soprano frequently had a desire to “hit Umberto’s for some scungilli and calamari,” as this Little Italy eatery has been featured numerous times on The Sopranos. Its real-life mob roots run deeper as the site of the assassination of New York gangster Joey Gallo, aka”Crazy Joe.” In the early morning of April 7, 1972, Gallo was celebrating his 43rd birthday at Umberto’s Clam House in Little Italy when a group of gunmen from a rival mob family burst in and shot Gallo five times in the elbow, buttock and back. A gunfight between the assassin and Gallo’s bodyguard ensued in the restaurant and street, during which 20 bullets were fired. (The bodyguard was injured, but assassin escaped by car). Gallo dragged himself outside after his murderer and collapsed in the middle of Hester Street before dying in the hospital. The killers were never arrested.
New Umberto’s Clam House location.
Umberto’s closed in 1996 due to lack of funds, but reopened in 2000 at a different location at 178 Mulberry, just two blocks down from where Gallo met his fateful end. Umberto’s recently moved yet again to 132 Mulberry. Today, 129 Mulberry is home to another restaurant, Da Gennaro. Gallo’s legacy remains, however, in the form of Bob Dylan’s song “Joey,” which was inspired by his death.