So began a cat-and-mouse game that would eventually give the mafia what it dreaded most: Public recognition of its very existence. “When Galante got sprung, it pissed him off and made him wonder.” “He was your typical great guy: hard working, blue collar, straight-laced and honest,” Abeckaser said of Croswell.

But monitoring the comings and goings of Barbara turned into a side project for Croswell. He canvassed local hotels and found that Barbara - who owned a Canada Dry ginger ale distributor, yet ordered sugar in such massive quantities that it was assumed he engaged in moonshining - had booked a room for crime-hardened Galante. Īfter a New Jersey police chief drove up to engineer the release of Galante, Croswell became curious about the well-connected criminal. He was speeding, did not have his license and got processed by New York State Police Sergeant Edgar Croswell. However, there was a glitch: Invited guest and heroin distributor Carmine “Lilo” Galante got pulled over en route to the fete.

(“On the morning of his wedding, Barbara committed a payroll robbery,” Reavill said.) One year earlier, Barbara had hosted a similar, but less ambitious, gathering. Bettmann Archiveīarbara had good reason for concern, even if he was held in high-esteem by mob bosses. “He knew it would be good if it worked out - and terrible if it didn’t.” Joseph Barbara, Sr. “Barbara, who had a heart condition, was nervous to the point of being terrified,” Reavill told The Post. His case of the jitters was real, according to journalist Gil Reavill, author of “ Mafia Summit,” which tells the tale of the meeting. Later, when there’s a food mix-up, he frets, “I’m gonna be the first wiseguy to get whacked over not having enough fish.” Every goombah in the country is coming here.” New York Post Cover - Nov. Played by Danny Abeckaser, who also directed the movie, he tells his boss, it “will be my honor.” Upon hanging up, though, on the verge of tears, Barbara blurts to his wife, “Jesus f–king Christ. In the new movie “Mob Town,” out Friday, which chronicles the epic sitdown at hitman Babara’s 58-acre estate in remote Apalachin, NY, around 10 miles west of Binghamton - Barbara sweats the details. In the fall of 1957, Joseph “The Barber” Barbara was given an order: Host 96 organized-crime kingpins at his home.

Mafia 13 vito