A slight, bespectacled man with white hair sits behind a table, going over today’s bets. At his side: a beeper. You might not even notice it.
Inside the beeper is a tiny microphone. This unassuming bookie in a nondescript storefront is about to take down the most powerful organized crime family in this country.
Peter “Petey” Caporino, a Hoboken native, got into running numbers while working for a trucking company, taking bets from the drivers. He later expanded into a growing numbers racket. It got so big that he needed protection, and the Genovese crime family came to his aid. For a price.
Petey operated his business out of the Character Club and Resolute Club 404 in Hoboken, NJ. Business was good…perhaps a little too good. Caporino’s operation caught the attention of the FBI, who threatened him and his wife with prison unless he cooperated. Caporino didn’t want to see his wife go to jail and worried over who would care for his disabled daughter. So he agreed to cooperate. Caporino fed the FBI information for 18 years, severely weakening the Genovese family.
This week, I went in search of the remains of this shadowy world. My first stop was the Resolute Club 404, at 404 Madison Street. The building seems to have changed little over the years, although 404 is now a private residence. Next door is an appropriately clandestine-looking members only club:
I imagined Petey there, quietly recording everything and probably terrified that these gangsters would discover his secret and kill him. Next, I stopped at what was the Character Club at 111 Monroe St:
Like so much of Hoboken, it has become high end condominiums. All the more reason to search out this history before it disappears completely.
Here’s how it looked in Petey’s day:
Caporino’s testimony led to the conviction of 16 high level mafia members. His tapes provided evidence on bookmaking, loan sharking, and even murder.
Despite this reprieve from punishment, Caporino couldn’t seem to leave the life. Just a few years later he was arrested for bookmaking yet again. In a sign of the mafia’s dwindling power, he had been able to simply continue his business much as before, despite testifying against top mobsters.
Caporino wound up in prison after all, and after his sentence, his trail runs cold. But if you stand outside the Resolute Club, you can almost imagine him coming and going, beeper always at his side.
Have a great weekend everyone!
More interesting spots in NJ:
- Visiting Uncle Junior’s Headquarters from The Sopranos
- Christopher Moltisanti Hit Rock Bottom at This Diner
- A Hidden Castle…In New Jersey?
If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. using the buttons at the bottom of the page. This helps more people find the blog!
Save Money on Stuff I Use:
This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 and returns have been good so far. More on Fundrise in this post.
If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get your management fees waived for 90 days. With their 1% management fee, this could save you $250 on a $100,000 account. I will also get a fee waiver for 90-365 days, depending on what type of account you open.
The only place I buy vitamins and supplements. I recently placed an order and received it in less than 48 hours with free shipping! I compared the prices and they were lower than Amazon. I also love how they test a lot of the vitamins so that you know you’re getting what the label says. This isn’t always the case with supplements.
Use this link to save 5%! I’ll also get 5% of however much you spend, at no cost to you.
My wife and I have gotten organic produce shipped to our house by Misfits for over a year. It’s never once disappointed me. Every fruit and vegetable is super fresh and packed with flavor. I thought radishes were cold, tasteless little lumps at salad bars until I tried theirs! They’re peppery, colorful and crunchy! I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.
Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $10 on your first order. I’ll also get $10.
Tremendous 
Leave a comment