This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/13/briefing/frank-cali-gambino-shot.html

The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Francesco Cali, Reputed Gambino Crime Boss, Shot and Killed on Staten Island Francesco Cali, Reputed Gambino Crime Boss, Shot and Killed on Staten Island
(30 minutes later)
Francesco Cali, the reputed boss of the Gambino crime family, was fatally shot outside his home on Staten Island on Wednesday night, a senior police official said.Francesco Cali, the reputed boss of the Gambino crime family, was fatally shot outside his home on Staten Island on Wednesday night, a senior police official said.
Mr. Cali, 53, was shot multiple times. The police said they received a report about the shooting outside 25 Hilltop Terrace in the Todt Hill section of Staten Island around 9:20 p.m. There was also a report of a blue pickup truck leaving the scene around the time of shooting. Mr. Cali, 53, was shot six times, the official said. The police said they received a report about the shooting outside 25 Hilltop Terrace in the Todt Hill section of Staten Island around 9:20 p.m. There was also a report of a blue pickup truck leaving the scene around the time of shooting.
Mr. Cali was pronounced dead at Staten Island University Hospital.Mr. Cali was pronounced dead at Staten Island University Hospital.
A 58-year-old neighbor who gave only his first name, Salvatore, said that he heard a burst of about seven gunshots shortly after 9 p.m.
“I just heard the pow-pow-pow-pow-pow,” he said.
He said he rushed to his window but could not see anything. He said the shots were all the same volume, as if fired from the same gun.
Two other neighbors who declined to give their names corroborated Salvatore’s descriptions.
The Gambino family was once the nation’s largest and most influential organized crime group, but several of its leaders were convicted in the 1990s of crimes that included murder and racketeering.The Gambino family was once the nation’s largest and most influential organized crime group, but several of its leaders were convicted in the 1990s of crimes that included murder and racketeering.
The family was led at the time by the showy crime boss John J. Gotti, who frequented expensive restaurants and nightclubs with a crew of bodyguards. He took power in the family by arranging for the murder of his predecessor, Paul Castellano, in 1985, at Sparks Steak House. The family was led at the time by the showy crime boss John J. Gotti, who frequented expensive restaurants and nightclubs with a crew of bodyguards. He took power in the family by arranging for the murder of his predecessor, Paul Castellano, in 1985, at Sparks Steak House in Manhattan.
In 2013 Mr. Gotti’s son, the former Gambino boss John A. Gotti, was stabbed in the stomach in Syosset, N.Y. He survived. Mr. Gotti was convicted of racketeering and murder in 1992 and died of cancer in prison in 2002, at the age of 61. In 2013 his son, the former Gambino boss John A. Gotti, was stabbed in the stomach in Syosset, N.Y. He survived.
The assassination of Mr. Cali came on the same day that Joseph Cammarano Jr., the reputed acting boss of the Bonanno crime family, was acquitted at trial.The assassination of Mr. Cali came on the same day that Joseph Cammarano Jr., the reputed acting boss of the Bonanno crime family, was acquitted at trial.
While it has been decades since a mafia boss was killed in New York, lower level members have been attacked or killed in recent years.
In October, Sylvester Zottola, 71, a reputed associate of the Bonanno crime family was shot and killed as he waited in his S.U.V. to pick up an order at the drive-through window of a McDonald’s in the Bronx.
Just three months earlier, Mr. Zottola’s son, Salvatore Zottola, was ambushed by a gunman and left for dead on a leafy street outside his family’s Throgs Neck compound. He survived.
On Staten Island, Todt Hill is known for its mafia history. Castellano, who was the last Gambino boss to be assassinated, owned a home on Benedict Road. A home on nearby Longfellow Road served as the filming location of the Corleone compound in “The Godfather.”
Salvatore, the neighbor, said he had lived in his house for 12 years and did not know any of his neighbors, which struck him as unusual. “Nobody talks to nobody around here; it’s crazy,” he said. “People kind of keep to themselves. They like their privacy.”
He described the street where the shooting happened, which was blocked off by the police on Wednesday night, as quiet and full of old homes. “Dead street,’’ he said. “Dead quiet all the time.”