Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Remo Franceschini was a famous mafia-busting NYPD Intelligence officer. This is another story of his vaunted career. Gary tells about how Remo worked on a Lucchese Capo named Big Sam Cavalieri. He installed a hidden microphone inside his social club on Second Avenue between 111th and 112th. Among other tidbits of information, he heard the Lucchese acting boss, Carmine Tramunti, Mr. Grebs, call Jilly Rizzo and invite him to a feast at the social club. He asked Rizzo to bring some of the NY Yankees players who frequented Jilly’s, and Rizzo replied, “Sure, and Franks in town, so I will get him.” Everybody in that world knew he meant Frank Sinatra.

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GARY JENKINS 00:00

Well hey guys, I’m bringing you another story of the well known and hated and feared New York copper Lieutenant Remo Franceschini and nobody hated him more than John Gotti because Gotti knew that Remo focused a lot of manpower on Gotti and a lot of attention on Gotti especially once he ascended to become the boss of the Gambino family after they killed Paulie Castellano. The NYPD intelligence unit was not like the FBI. Now Remo Franceschini’s worked for the NYPD intelligence unit. And they investigated all five families that kind of depending on you know, where what looked fine, what looked interesting what looked possible, or if there was some crime had been committed that had a lot of heat on it. That was maybe a mob connected deal. Then they might focus on a particular guy or particular family, but they didn’t just focus on one family like the Bureau has, you know, the banana squad my friend Doug pencil worked on the banana squad, and they have a separate squad the Gambino squad is separate squad for everyone in the families at that time. Now looking back over remote career, I found a great story about him, exposing the fact that Frank Sinatra was meeting with wiseguys there in New York City. He had put a wire on a phone and installed a hidden mic inside an East Harlem Social Club operated by a Lucchese family Capo named Big Sam Cavalieri. This club was located for you New York listeners the club was located on Second Avenue between 11th and 12th street I don’t have any more info than that Remo put a listening post inside the basement of a low rent apartment a couple of blocks away now that’s why they would do it in New York tap in but find the the line for the phone and put the microphone inside someplace and then run it down and along with the phone lines and up outside up to a pole and then maybe down a pole and then drop it back down into a listening post and they just put one down in the basement of this apartment building and they just go sit in there on on there all by themselves sometimes they’re made they’d have to guys it’s kind of depends on who was available and they may be sitting in there and they may not Remo usually sat on this listening post by himself he’s probably one of those guys this is when he was still a detective he’s probably one of those guys that everybody else was wanting to go shopping or go dog off someplace he would go ahead and keep working.