OZONE PARK, QUEENS
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(Redirected from Ozone Park)
'Ozone Park' is a New York City neighborhood located in the southeastern part of the borough of Queens bordering Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, Howard Beach, and the borough of Brooklyn, about 8 miles east-southeast of Midtown Manhattan. The northern border is Atlantic Avenue, the western border is Drew Street (City Line) at the Brooklyn border, the southern border is South Conduit Avenue, and the eastern border is 108th Street. It is the home of the Aqueduct Racetrack, a popular spot for thoroughbred racing.
Two partners, Benjamin W. Hitchcock and Charles C. Denton, began carving farmland into building lots after the New York. Housing was first developed in the area after the Long Island Rail Road began service through the area in 1880 as part of its route from Long Island City to Howard Beach. The name "Ozone Park" was chosen to "lure buyers with the idea of refreshing breezes blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean to a park-like community".[1]
Ozone Park is widely perceived as a center for mafia activities. Lucchese crime family members and mob associates owned many businesses throughout Ozone Park. Jimmy Burke owned Roberts Lounge, which was a Lucchese headquarters.
Thomas DeSimone, a Lucchese crime family associate, shared an apartment here, with his then girlfriend, Theresa Ferrara. She was later murdered due to issues involving the 1978 Lufthansa heist at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Her torso was eventually found washed up on the beach. The Lufthansa heist took place on Dec. 11, 1978 and was the biggest heist in Queens history. As far as Lufthansa heist murders go, "Stacks" Edwards was the first to be killed, in his Ozone Park home. Over time, a total of 13 "wiseguys" connected to the crime just “disappeared,†or turned up dead. Mangled bodies turned up all over New York City – from the bloodstained bedroom in Ozone Park to a meat hook in a refrigerated truck in Brooklyn.[2]
Joseph Scopo ( Colombo Family capo) lived in Ozone Park. The first official hit that John Pappa made during his time as a Colombo Family associate was Scopo. On October 20, 1993 Pappa and two other Colombo Family associates, John Sparacino and Eric Curcio, went out to Scopo's house to "whack" him and hopefully become "made" members. When the three arrived at Scopo's house, they found him in his car. Sparacino threw open the door and shot up Scopo's car with a machine gun, missing Scopo with every shot. After seeing Scopo was still alive, Sparacino ran off. Pappa hid behind a tree waiting to see if Scopo had a gun. Scopo yelled at him: "''You got balls, come on. Come on, you need to kill me, kill me you little punk''.", Scopo then threw his cellular phone at Pappa. Pappa now knew enough and walked over to Scopo with a .380 automatic and shot him eight times from close range, leaving him dead in front of his home in Ozone Park. The murder of Capo Joseph Scopo would be the end of the Colombo war.[3]
John Gotti co-opted the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club, which occupies a double storefront in the neighborhood at 98-04 101st Avenue. It has a red brick front with brightly painted red doors on the ground floor, and yellow aluminum siding above the ground floor. The ground floor windows in front are protected by metal grates. For many years there has been no sign in front to identify the owner, tenant, or purpose of the building.
On February 9, 1990, many people in Ozone Park waited anxiously for the jury to reach a verdict on John Gotti's case. The Jury found him not guilty on four assault charges and two conspiracy charges. When the courtroom was cleared, the jubilant Gotti was escorted out of the courthouse through a private elevator reserved for judges. Once on the street, Gotti raised his fist in triumph for the crowds of supporters standing behind police barricades. In Ozone Park, cheers, celebratory fireworks, and red and yellow balloons greeted Gotti upon his return.
Gotti would host a huge block party and throw an amazing fireworks display on 101st Avenue every July 4th. His crew would grill hot dogs and hamburgers by the hundreds. Ice cream vendors were brought in to hand out free cones and pops to delighted children. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani became very unpopular here in the late 1990s when he denied local residents permits to host similar block parties along 101st Avenue in an effort to appear to apply uniform enforcement on such events city-wide. On July 4, 1995, Giuliani sent approximately 250 police officers to assure that Gotti and his crew did not throw his usual party for the Ozone Park community.[4]
Later, in 1992, when Gotti went to prison for life (without the possibility of parole) for murder and other crimes, some neighborhood residents, led by Gotti's brother, protested his incarceration. When Gotti died in jail, many citizens of Ozone Park mourned. His funeral procession traveled through the city. Throughout Ozone Park, there were flowers and remembrance for the mobster.
Peter Gotti eventually became acting boss. He currently still resides in Ozone Park, near the Aqueduct Racetrack and JFK International Airport area.
May 5, 1981, Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato and two of his associates, Philip Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera, were shot to death in an ambush in a Brooklyn social club. Sonny Red's body was discovered three weeks later by children playing in a park in the Ruby St. lot AKA ''"Mafia Graveyard"'' in Ozone Park.
In October 2004, FBI agents, backed by cadaver-sniffing dogs, a helicopter and heavy construction equipment, swooped down on the site on 75th Street in Ozone Park, specifically searching for at least two bodies believed to have been stuffed into steel drums, and three more wrapped in canvas.
Believed to be buried there included John Favara — The neighbor of John Gotti, who accidentally ran over John Gotti's son. Also believed to be buried there, Tommy DeSimone — the crazy hit man portrayed by Joe Pesci in the movie "GoodFellas" — and Bonanno crime family capos Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera, and Philip "Philly Lucky" Giaccone.
The fifth man was described as a thug who refused to carry out the hit on DeSimone, only to wind up being personally killed by a furious Gotti. On Monday, December 20, 2004, DNA tests confirmed that the skeletal remains unearthed from the Ruby St. lot the previous October, are those of Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera and Philip "Philly Lucky" Giaccone. Neither Tommy DeSimone nor John Favara's remains were found in the Ruby St. lot excavation.
For the past two decades, a renowned Gambino Crime Family crew dubbed "The Ozone Park Boys" have committed numerous crimes in and around the neighborhood. The Capo of the crew, Ronald Trucchio was sentenced in 2006 for operating a $30 million-a-year gambling enterprise based in Ozone Park.
Gaussie Humman was charged with the murder of Henry Garbe at Ozone Park on October 27, 1921. She claimed to be 22 and was therefore the youngest woman to go on trial in Queens for a capital crime. Indicted with her was Joseph Libasci, a Brooklyn electrician, who according to the prosecution was her current boyfriend. Henry Garbe was the son of Anton Garbe, former Deputy Sheriff, who is a leader in Democratic politics in Ozone Park. His parents lived a short distance from Gaussie Humann’s home. She and young Garb became acquainted at school. Her father was an employee of the Queens Highway Bureau. Garbe, who had quarreled with Gussie about a year before the shooting, was attempting a reconciliation with her at the time of the shooting. Garbe was in a lonely spot on the then-called Woodhaven Road near then-called Rockaway Road with a young woman when someone jumped from ambush and fired two shots at him. He was taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital, Jamaica, where he died three days later. She went on to be tried for the Ozone Park murder on December 13, 1921. She was acquitted. With the acquittal of Gussie Humann, the Star-Journal predicted that the case against Joseph Libasci for firing the fatal shots at Garbe might be dropped. Events took an unexpected turn early in 1922, when a friend of Libasci’s came forward to testify against him and he was put on trial for murder. Gussie Humann testified on his behalf, insisting that she and Libasci had been together at the Schwaben dance hall in Brooklyn on the night of the shooting. After the Libasci jury was unable to reach a verdict, Gussie was arraigned for perjury. As Gussie went to trial for the second time, Libasci then surprised everyone by pleading guilty to second-degree murder. Later he tried to recant, claiming that both he and Gussie were innocent and that he had only confessed to the murder to avoid the possibility of the death penalty. Gussie’s jury found her guilt of perjury in record time - only 47 minutes and she received a sentence of seven to fifteen years. In April 1924 she was pardoned by Governor Al Smith.
Since its beginnings, Ozone Park has been largely populated by different groups of immigrants. The first to settle into the town were the Italians, who are the largest ethnic group in the neighborhood. Most of the current Italians in the neighborhood are originally from Brooklyn and came to Ozone Park when African-Americans started moving into East New York back in the early 1970's.
Ozone Park is one of Queens’ little Italy‘s. In the past few years however, a considerable number of immigrants from South Asia, the West Indies (Indo-Trinidadians), and South America (Indo-Guyanese) have moved in, bringing their culture with them and adding a diverse atmosphere to the neighborhood, which is especially apparent along Liberty Avenue near the neighborhood's border with Richmond Hill. This is similar to the shrinkage of Italian residents of the Little Italy's in Manhattan and Bensonhurst.[5] These new arrivals have made Ozone Park become one of the fastest-growing and ethnically diverse neighborhoods in New York City. Aside from these larger groups, there is an African-American minority, spread throughout the neighborhood.
Residents vary from working-class to middle-class families, who own or rent private homes on the neighborhood's tree-lined residential streets. There are pockets of wealthier areas in the southern part of the neighborhood close to the Belt Parkway.
There are many bus routes that run through Ozone Park. The Q7 runs on Rockaway Boulevard, Q21 and Q41 run on Cross Bay Boulevard, Q11 up Woodhaven Boulevard, Q112 on Liberty Avenue, the Q8 on 101st Avenue, and the Q24 on Atlantic Avenue.
The New York City Subway's IND Fulton Street Line () runs along Liberty Avenue, and becomes elevated upon entering the neighborhood from Brooklyn. The station at Rockaway Boulevard is a major junction between trains heading towards the Ozone Park-Lefferts Boulevard station and trains heading to Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue, an often confusing or unknown detail for tourists on their way to JFK Airport on the latter line.
;'Public Schools'
★ P.S. 63 Old South School
★ P.S. 64 Joseph P. Addabbo School
★ P.S. 65
★ Middle School 137 America's School-Heroes
★ Junior High School 202 R. H. Goddard
★ Junior High School 210 Elizabeth Blackwell
★ John Adams High School
;'Private Schools'
★ St Elizabeth's RC Elementary
★ St Mary Gate of Heaven RC Elementary
★ Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary School
★ St Stanislaus Bishop - Martyr RC Elementary
★ Little Dolphin Pre-School
;'Closed Schools'
★ Our Lady of Wisdom RC Secondary
★ In the movie ''Boss of Bosses'' starring Chazz Palminteri, there is a scene with John Gotti in Ozone Park at the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club.
★ The movie ''Getting Gotti'' starring Lorraine Bracco is based on a real life woman, Diane Giacalone, who grew up in Ozone Park and through the years first handedly watched Gotti rise to power on the streets of Ozone Park, eventually to become an Assistant US Attorney and build up a case against him.
★ History Channel documentary entitled "Perfect Crimes" featured the Lufthansa heist and talked about lucchese family crews living, killing and running businesses in Ozone Park.
★ Lucky Number Slevin, in the beginning of the movie there is a scene where the father and son are at Aqueduct Racetrack.
★ In A Bronx Tale there is a scene set at Aqueduct Racetrack.
★ A scene from A shock to the system was filmed in the old Aqueduct Raceway Station.
★ The movie "Searching For Bobby DeNiro" was filmed in Aldos II Pizzeria in Ozone Park.
Notable current and former residents of Ozone Park include:
★ Andrew Sarris - Film Critic
★ Angelo John Sepe - Lufthansa heist suspect
★ Angelo Ruggerio - Gambino Crime Family
★ Anthony Rampino - Gambino Crime Family
★ Anthony Ruggiano - Gambino family capo
★ Anthony "Tony Pep" Trentacosta - Gambino Crime Family Soldier
★ Anton Garbe - Deputy Sheriff, was a leader in Democratic politics in Ozone Park.
★ Bernadette Peters - actress/singer.[6]
★ The Capris - Doo Wop Group
★ Carmine Fatico - Mob Capo for the Gambino Family
★ Carol Heiss - Olympics figure skater
★ Charles Camarda - astronaut, Mission Specialist on STS-114
★ Cyndi Lauper - actress/singer
★ Debra Wilson - comedian, one of the original cast members on the sketch comedy series ''MADtv''
★ Diane Giacalone former Assistant U.S. Attorney and John Gotti prosecutor [7]
★ Dominick Pizzonia - Gambino crime family associate
★ Dominick Valenti - Host of ''The Wrestling Hotseat''.
★ Frank James Burke - Lufthansa heist suspect
★ Freddy Dicongilio - Illegal Ozone Park bookmaker and Gambino crime family associate.
★ Gerald Edelman - 1972 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.[8]
★ Gussie Humann - Put on trial for the murder of Henry Garbe(1921).
★ Henry Hill - Lived here while on the run.
★ Jack Kerouac - writer. Although he was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, he lived in Ozone Park with his parents after he was discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1943. He wrote his first novel, ''The Town and the City'', as well as the quintessential ''On the Road'' while living in Ozone Park. His friends jokingly called him "The Wizard of Ozone Park,"[9] believed to be a play on words referring to both the film ''The Wizard of Oz'' and the nickname of inventor Thomas A. Edison, "the Wizard of Menlo Park."
★ Jason Popalardo actor – Flamingo Kid and Cotton Club movies
★ Jimmy Burke - Lufthansa heist suspect
★ Jimmy Herring - Middleweight Boxer [10]
★ Joe LoTruglio - Actor
★ Joe Manri - Lufthansa heist suspect
★ John Frascatore - Baseball Player
★ John Gotti - Mafia Boss.[11]
★ John P. Campo - Thoroughbred racehorse trainer
★ Joseph Patrick Addabbo - Congressman and has P.S. 64 named after him
★ Joseph Scopo - Colombo family capo
★ Nick Scotti - Actor/singer/model
★ Peter Facinelli - actor
★ Peter Gotti - Acting Mob boss of the Gambino crime family.
★ Peter Polaco - Professional wrestler Justin Credible
★ Ray Abruzzo - Actor (The Sopranos)
★ Robert McMahon - Lufthansa heist suspect
★ Salvatore Polisi - Mob Associate and Government Informant
★ Sean Bell - Lived here as a kid and went to John Adams High School.
★ Thomas and Rosemarie Uva - Modern day Bonnie and Clyde.[12]
★ Thomas Joseph Downey - United States Congressman from 1975-1993
★ Thomas DeSimone - Mob associate
★ Thomas Von Essen - Senior Vice President at Giuliani Partners and New York City’s 30th Fire Commissioner
★ Tony Modica - Creator of "The pizza dance".[13]
★ Vincent Asaro - Bonanno Crime Family Capo
★ William Devino - Lufthansa heist suspect
'The Ozone Park Boys:'
★ Ronald Trucchio
★ Kevin Antinuche
★ Gennaro Bruno
★ Robert “Bucks†Bucholz
★ Peter "Bud" Zuccaro
★ Frank Roccaforte
★ Joseph Kondrotos
★ Valentino Nucci
★ Darrin Sirrota
★ Dave Prevete
★ Jamie Carr
★ Edward "Crazy Eddie" Callegari
Mafia
Little Italy
MADtv
Lufthansa Heist
JFK International Airport
1. If You're Thinking of Living In/Ozone Park; Changing Faces, Enduring Values, ''The New York Times'', October 5, 2003
2. Moments In Queens History: Mob Hits Lufthansa, ''Queens Tribune''
3. Gangsters Incorporated Story: John Pappa, ''by David Amoruso''
4. Bangs and Booms on the 4th: Fireworks, the Illegal Kind, Don't Disappear, ''The New York Times'', July 5, 2005
5. Ozone Park: Changing faces - Article from NY Times
6. Artshound.com biography of Bernadette Peters, accessed December 16, 2006
7. Attorney Diane Giacalone, from the neighborhood.], ''Time (magazine)'', September 29, 1986
8. Gerald Edelman - 1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, ''Israel High-Tech Magazine'', July 1, 2005
9. "The Wized of Ozone Park", accessed December 31, 2006
10. Boxrec.com Stats for Jimmy Herring]
11. 'Dapper Don' John Gotti dead: Brought down by the Bull, CNN.com, June 11, 2002
12. Ozone Park Stick up couple, the Uva's, ''New York Daily News, January 12, 1993
13. [1]
★ Ozone Park on Google maps
★ Ozone Park Mafia Graveyard
★ Gaussie Humann trial, ozone Park, 1921
★ Robber killed by cop in Ozone Park
★ Ozone Park Stick up couple, the Uva's
★ Diane Giacalone, from the neighborhood.
★ Jack Kerouac, Wizard of Ozone park.
★ Queens Tribune, John Gotti
★ Ozone park gang, Queens Chronicle
★ Dom Pizzonia, Ozone Park Mobster, house arrest/trial.
★ Mafia Article, Dom Pizzonia/Freddy DiCongilio/Thomas and Rosemary Uva.
★ "Getting Gotti" movie review
'Ozone Park' is a New York City neighborhood located in the southeastern part of the borough of Queens bordering Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, Howard Beach, and the borough of Brooklyn, about 8 miles east-southeast of Midtown Manhattan. The northern border is Atlantic Avenue, the western border is Drew Street (City Line) at the Brooklyn border, the southern border is South Conduit Avenue, and the eastern border is 108th Street. It is the home of the Aqueduct Racetrack, a popular spot for thoroughbred racing.
| Contents |
| History |
| Crime |
| Mafia |
| Gaussie Humann Murder Trial |
| Crime Rate |
| Demographics |
| Transportation |
| Schools |
| Pop culture |
| Notable residents |
| See also |
| References |
| Ozone Park Links: Maps, Stories & Articles |
History
Two partners, Benjamin W. Hitchcock and Charles C. Denton, began carving farmland into building lots after the New York. Housing was first developed in the area after the Long Island Rail Road began service through the area in 1880 as part of its route from Long Island City to Howard Beach. The name "Ozone Park" was chosen to "lure buyers with the idea of refreshing breezes blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean to a park-like community".[1]
Crime
Mafia
John Gotti getting into his car on 101st avenue in Ozone Park.
Mar 15, 1987
Mar 15, 1987
Ozone Park is widely perceived as a center for mafia activities. Lucchese crime family members and mob associates owned many businesses throughout Ozone Park. Jimmy Burke owned Roberts Lounge, which was a Lucchese headquarters.
Thomas DeSimone, a Lucchese crime family associate, shared an apartment here, with his then girlfriend, Theresa Ferrara. She was later murdered due to issues involving the 1978 Lufthansa heist at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Her torso was eventually found washed up on the beach. The Lufthansa heist took place on Dec. 11, 1978 and was the biggest heist in Queens history. As far as Lufthansa heist murders go, "Stacks" Edwards was the first to be killed, in his Ozone Park home. Over time, a total of 13 "wiseguys" connected to the crime just “disappeared,†or turned up dead. Mangled bodies turned up all over New York City – from the bloodstained bedroom in Ozone Park to a meat hook in a refrigerated truck in Brooklyn.[2]
Joseph Scopo ( Colombo Family capo) lived in Ozone Park. The first official hit that John Pappa made during his time as a Colombo Family associate was Scopo. On October 20, 1993 Pappa and two other Colombo Family associates, John Sparacino and Eric Curcio, went out to Scopo's house to "whack" him and hopefully become "made" members. When the three arrived at Scopo's house, they found him in his car. Sparacino threw open the door and shot up Scopo's car with a machine gun, missing Scopo with every shot. After seeing Scopo was still alive, Sparacino ran off. Pappa hid behind a tree waiting to see if Scopo had a gun. Scopo yelled at him: "''You got balls, come on. Come on, you need to kill me, kill me you little punk''.", Scopo then threw his cellular phone at Pappa. Pappa now knew enough and walked over to Scopo with a .380 automatic and shot him eight times from close range, leaving him dead in front of his home in Ozone Park. The murder of Capo Joseph Scopo would be the end of the Colombo war.[3]
John Gotti co-opted the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club, which occupies a double storefront in the neighborhood at 98-04 101st Avenue. It has a red brick front with brightly painted red doors on the ground floor, and yellow aluminum siding above the ground floor. The ground floor windows in front are protected by metal grates. For many years there has been no sign in front to identify the owner, tenant, or purpose of the building.
On February 9, 1990, many people in Ozone Park waited anxiously for the jury to reach a verdict on John Gotti's case. The Jury found him not guilty on four assault charges and two conspiracy charges. When the courtroom was cleared, the jubilant Gotti was escorted out of the courthouse through a private elevator reserved for judges. Once on the street, Gotti raised his fist in triumph for the crowds of supporters standing behind police barricades. In Ozone Park, cheers, celebratory fireworks, and red and yellow balloons greeted Gotti upon his return.
Gotti would host a huge block party and throw an amazing fireworks display on 101st Avenue every July 4th. His crew would grill hot dogs and hamburgers by the hundreds. Ice cream vendors were brought in to hand out free cones and pops to delighted children. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani became very unpopular here in the late 1990s when he denied local residents permits to host similar block parties along 101st Avenue in an effort to appear to apply uniform enforcement on such events city-wide. On July 4, 1995, Giuliani sent approximately 250 police officers to assure that Gotti and his crew did not throw his usual party for the Ozone Park community.[4]
Later, in 1992, when Gotti went to prison for life (without the possibility of parole) for murder and other crimes, some neighborhood residents, led by Gotti's brother, protested his incarceration. When Gotti died in jail, many citizens of Ozone Park mourned. His funeral procession traveled through the city. Throughout Ozone Park, there were flowers and remembrance for the mobster.
Peter Gotti eventually became acting boss. He currently still resides in Ozone Park, near the Aqueduct Racetrack and JFK International Airport area.
May 5, 1981, Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato and two of his associates, Philip Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera, were shot to death in an ambush in a Brooklyn social club. Sonny Red's body was discovered three weeks later by children playing in a park in the Ruby St. lot AKA ''"Mafia Graveyard"'' in Ozone Park.
In October 2004, FBI agents, backed by cadaver-sniffing dogs, a helicopter and heavy construction equipment, swooped down on the site on 75th Street in Ozone Park, specifically searching for at least two bodies believed to have been stuffed into steel drums, and three more wrapped in canvas.
Believed to be buried there included John Favara — The neighbor of John Gotti, who accidentally ran over John Gotti's son. Also believed to be buried there, Tommy DeSimone — the crazy hit man portrayed by Joe Pesci in the movie "GoodFellas" — and Bonanno crime family capos Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera, and Philip "Philly Lucky" Giaccone.
The fifth man was described as a thug who refused to carry out the hit on DeSimone, only to wind up being personally killed by a furious Gotti. On Monday, December 20, 2004, DNA tests confirmed that the skeletal remains unearthed from the Ruby St. lot the previous October, are those of Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera and Philip "Philly Lucky" Giaccone. Neither Tommy DeSimone nor John Favara's remains were found in the Ruby St. lot excavation.
For the past two decades, a renowned Gambino Crime Family crew dubbed "The Ozone Park Boys" have committed numerous crimes in and around the neighborhood. The Capo of the crew, Ronald Trucchio was sentenced in 2006 for operating a $30 million-a-year gambling enterprise based in Ozone Park.
Gaussie Humann Murder Trial
Gaussie Humman was charged with the murder of Henry Garbe at Ozone Park on October 27, 1921. She claimed to be 22 and was therefore the youngest woman to go on trial in Queens for a capital crime. Indicted with her was Joseph Libasci, a Brooklyn electrician, who according to the prosecution was her current boyfriend. Henry Garbe was the son of Anton Garbe, former Deputy Sheriff, who is a leader in Democratic politics in Ozone Park. His parents lived a short distance from Gaussie Humann’s home. She and young Garb became acquainted at school. Her father was an employee of the Queens Highway Bureau. Garbe, who had quarreled with Gussie about a year before the shooting, was attempting a reconciliation with her at the time of the shooting. Garbe was in a lonely spot on the then-called Woodhaven Road near then-called Rockaway Road with a young woman when someone jumped from ambush and fired two shots at him. He was taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital, Jamaica, where he died three days later. She went on to be tried for the Ozone Park murder on December 13, 1921. She was acquitted. With the acquittal of Gussie Humann, the Star-Journal predicted that the case against Joseph Libasci for firing the fatal shots at Garbe might be dropped. Events took an unexpected turn early in 1922, when a friend of Libasci’s came forward to testify against him and he was put on trial for murder. Gussie Humann testified on his behalf, insisting that she and Libasci had been together at the Schwaben dance hall in Brooklyn on the night of the shooting. After the Libasci jury was unable to reach a verdict, Gussie was arraigned for perjury. As Gussie went to trial for the second time, Libasci then surprised everyone by pleading guilty to second-degree murder. Later he tried to recant, claiming that both he and Gussie were innocent and that he had only confessed to the murder to avoid the possibility of the death penalty. Gussie’s jury found her guilt of perjury in record time - only 47 minutes and she received a sentence of seven to fifteen years. In April 1924 she was pardoned by Governor Al Smith.
Crime Rate
OzpCrimeChart.jpg
Demographics
Since its beginnings, Ozone Park has been largely populated by different groups of immigrants. The first to settle into the town were the Italians, who are the largest ethnic group in the neighborhood. Most of the current Italians in the neighborhood are originally from Brooklyn and came to Ozone Park when African-Americans started moving into East New York back in the early 1970's.
Ozone Park is one of Queens’ little Italy‘s. In the past few years however, a considerable number of immigrants from South Asia, the West Indies (Indo-Trinidadians), and South America (Indo-Guyanese) have moved in, bringing their culture with them and adding a diverse atmosphere to the neighborhood, which is especially apparent along Liberty Avenue near the neighborhood's border with Richmond Hill. This is similar to the shrinkage of Italian residents of the Little Italy's in Manhattan and Bensonhurst.[5] These new arrivals have made Ozone Park become one of the fastest-growing and ethnically diverse neighborhoods in New York City. Aside from these larger groups, there is an African-American minority, spread throughout the neighborhood.
Residents vary from working-class to middle-class families, who own or rent private homes on the neighborhood's tree-lined residential streets. There are pockets of wealthier areas in the southern part of the neighborhood close to the Belt Parkway.
Transportation
There are many bus routes that run through Ozone Park. The Q7 runs on Rockaway Boulevard, Q21 and Q41 run on Cross Bay Boulevard, Q11 up Woodhaven Boulevard, Q112 on Liberty Avenue, the Q8 on 101st Avenue, and the Q24 on Atlantic Avenue.
The New York City Subway's IND Fulton Street Line () runs along Liberty Avenue, and becomes elevated upon entering the neighborhood from Brooklyn. The station at Rockaway Boulevard is a major junction between trains heading towards the Ozone Park-Lefferts Boulevard station and trains heading to Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue, an often confusing or unknown detail for tourists on their way to JFK Airport on the latter line.
Schools
;'Public Schools'
★ P.S. 63 Old South School
★ P.S. 64 Joseph P. Addabbo School
★ P.S. 65
★ Middle School 137 America's School-Heroes
★ Junior High School 202 R. H. Goddard
★ Junior High School 210 Elizabeth Blackwell
★ John Adams High School
;'Private Schools'
★ St Elizabeth's RC Elementary
★ St Mary Gate of Heaven RC Elementary
★ Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary School
★ St Stanislaus Bishop - Martyr RC Elementary
★ Little Dolphin Pre-School
;'Closed Schools'
★ Our Lady of Wisdom RC Secondary
Pop culture
★ In the movie ''Boss of Bosses'' starring Chazz Palminteri, there is a scene with John Gotti in Ozone Park at the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club.
★ The movie ''Getting Gotti'' starring Lorraine Bracco is based on a real life woman, Diane Giacalone, who grew up in Ozone Park and through the years first handedly watched Gotti rise to power on the streets of Ozone Park, eventually to become an Assistant US Attorney and build up a case against him.
★ History Channel documentary entitled "Perfect Crimes" featured the Lufthansa heist and talked about lucchese family crews living, killing and running businesses in Ozone Park.
★ Lucky Number Slevin, in the beginning of the movie there is a scene where the father and son are at Aqueduct Racetrack.
★ In A Bronx Tale there is a scene set at Aqueduct Racetrack.
★ A scene from A shock to the system was filmed in the old Aqueduct Raceway Station.
★ The movie "Searching For Bobby DeNiro" was filmed in Aldos II Pizzeria in Ozone Park.
Notable residents
Notable current and former residents of Ozone Park include:
★ Andrew Sarris - Film Critic
★ Angelo John Sepe - Lufthansa heist suspect
★ Angelo Ruggerio - Gambino Crime Family
★ Anthony Rampino - Gambino Crime Family
★ Anthony Ruggiano - Gambino family capo
★ Anthony "Tony Pep" Trentacosta - Gambino Crime Family Soldier
★ Anton Garbe - Deputy Sheriff, was a leader in Democratic politics in Ozone Park.
★ Bernadette Peters - actress/singer.[6]
★ The Capris - Doo Wop Group
★ Carmine Fatico - Mob Capo for the Gambino Family
★ Carol Heiss - Olympics figure skater
★ Charles Camarda - astronaut, Mission Specialist on STS-114
★ Cyndi Lauper - actress/singer
★ Debra Wilson - comedian, one of the original cast members on the sketch comedy series ''MADtv''
★ Diane Giacalone former Assistant U.S. Attorney and John Gotti prosecutor [7]
★ Dominick Pizzonia - Gambino crime family associate
★ Dominick Valenti - Host of ''The Wrestling Hotseat''.
★ Frank James Burke - Lufthansa heist suspect
★ Freddy Dicongilio - Illegal Ozone Park bookmaker and Gambino crime family associate.
★ Gerald Edelman - 1972 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.[8]
★ Gussie Humann - Put on trial for the murder of Henry Garbe(1921).
★ Henry Hill - Lived here while on the run.
★ Jack Kerouac - writer. Although he was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, he lived in Ozone Park with his parents after he was discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1943. He wrote his first novel, ''The Town and the City'', as well as the quintessential ''On the Road'' while living in Ozone Park. His friends jokingly called him "The Wizard of Ozone Park,"[9] believed to be a play on words referring to both the film ''The Wizard of Oz'' and the nickname of inventor Thomas A. Edison, "the Wizard of Menlo Park."
★ Jason Popalardo actor – Flamingo Kid and Cotton Club movies
★ Jimmy Burke - Lufthansa heist suspect
★ Jimmy Herring - Middleweight Boxer [10]
★ Joe LoTruglio - Actor
★ Joe Manri - Lufthansa heist suspect
★ John Frascatore - Baseball Player
★ John Gotti - Mafia Boss.[11]
★ John P. Campo - Thoroughbred racehorse trainer
★ Joseph Patrick Addabbo - Congressman and has P.S. 64 named after him
★ Joseph Scopo - Colombo family capo
★ Nick Scotti - Actor/singer/model
★ Peter Facinelli - actor
★ Peter Gotti - Acting Mob boss of the Gambino crime family.
★ Peter Polaco - Professional wrestler Justin Credible
★ Ray Abruzzo - Actor (The Sopranos)
★ Robert McMahon - Lufthansa heist suspect
★ Salvatore Polisi - Mob Associate and Government Informant
★ Sean Bell - Lived here as a kid and went to John Adams High School.
★ Thomas and Rosemarie Uva - Modern day Bonnie and Clyde.[12]
★ Thomas Joseph Downey - United States Congressman from 1975-1993
★ Thomas DeSimone - Mob associate
★ Thomas Von Essen - Senior Vice President at Giuliani Partners and New York City’s 30th Fire Commissioner
★ Tony Modica - Creator of "The pizza dance".[13]
★ Vincent Asaro - Bonanno Crime Family Capo
★ William Devino - Lufthansa heist suspect
'The Ozone Park Boys:'
★ Ronald Trucchio
★ Kevin Antinuche
★ Gennaro Bruno
★ Robert “Bucks†Bucholz
★ Peter "Bud" Zuccaro
★ Frank Roccaforte
★ Joseph Kondrotos
★ Valentino Nucci
★ Darrin Sirrota
★ Dave Prevete
★ Jamie Carr
★ Edward "Crazy Eddie" Callegari
See also
Mafia
Little Italy
MADtv
Lufthansa Heist
JFK International Airport
References
1. If You're Thinking of Living In/Ozone Park; Changing Faces, Enduring Values, ''The New York Times'', October 5, 2003
2. Moments In Queens History: Mob Hits Lufthansa, ''Queens Tribune''
3. Gangsters Incorporated Story: John Pappa, ''by David Amoruso''
4. Bangs and Booms on the 4th: Fireworks, the Illegal Kind, Don't Disappear, ''The New York Times'', July 5, 2005
5. Ozone Park: Changing faces - Article from NY Times
6. Artshound.com biography of Bernadette Peters, accessed December 16, 2006
7. Attorney Diane Giacalone, from the neighborhood.], ''Time (magazine)'', September 29, 1986
8. Gerald Edelman - 1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, ''Israel High-Tech Magazine'', July 1, 2005
9. "The Wized of Ozone Park", accessed December 31, 2006
10. Boxrec.com Stats for Jimmy Herring]
11. 'Dapper Don' John Gotti dead: Brought down by the Bull, CNN.com, June 11, 2002
12. Ozone Park Stick up couple, the Uva's, ''New York Daily News, January 12, 1993
13. [1]
Ozone Park Links: Maps, Stories & Articles
★ Ozone Park on Google maps
★ Ozone Park Mafia Graveyard
★ Gaussie Humann trial, ozone Park, 1921
★ Robber killed by cop in Ozone Park
★ Ozone Park Stick up couple, the Uva's
★ Diane Giacalone, from the neighborhood.
★ Jack Kerouac, Wizard of Ozone park.
★ Queens Tribune, John Gotti
★ Ozone park gang, Queens Chronicle
★ Dom Pizzonia, Ozone Park Mobster, house arrest/trial.
★ Mafia Article, Dom Pizzonia/Freddy DiCongilio/Thomas and Rosemary Uva.
★ "Getting Gotti" movie review
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