George Anastasia, the retired organized crime reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, reviewed Gil Reavill's book about the Cosa Nostra organized crime summit in upstate New York in 1957 in yesterday's Inquirer.
It is a quintessential event in the history of the American Mafia. On Nov. 14, 1957, dozens of mob figures, including some of the biggest bosses in the country, gathered in the home of Joseph Barbara in the tiny hamlet of Apalachin in Upstate New York.
Barbara, a mob soldier, had stocked his country estate with loads of provisions, including 20 10-pound boxes of top-grade steaks and two 10-pound boxes of veal. On today's market, about $3,500 worth of meat.
The outdoor grill, an elaborate affair off a patio in the backyard of the sprawling estate, was just getting fired up when the word began to spread:
Cops! Roadblock!
The mobsters scrambled, many on foot, through the wooded and muddy countryside that surrounded the home. The meeting was abruptly canceled, but the gathering that day more than a half century ago has taken on a life of its own.
You can read the rest of the review via the below link:
http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/literature/20130203_Mafia_bigwigs_assemble.html
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