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Video: Mafia Bus Tour Ad Makes You An Offer You Can Refuse
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 15, 2010
Modified Feb 15, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 15, 2010
Modified Feb 15, 2010
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Ah marone, this low-budget video promoting a new bus tour of Manhattan Mafia spots is so full of Italian-American mob cliches the only thing missing is a bloody horse head. In fact, it's so hilariously awful it actually makes us want to get on the bus—and we're not just saying that because some goomba's got a telephone cord wrapped around our necks.
The NYC Mob Tour, which got some love in the Daily News today, promises to "show you where wise guys have slept and hung out throughout their illustrious history in New York City, where they got food and got made, where they whacked and were whacked... Come on, admit it, you may be repulsed by these mobsters, but, just like the rest of us, you're fascinated by them. So fugeddabout it."
Starting in April, tourists and mob-curious New Yorkers are expected to pay $50 tribute for the tour, which also gets them a 20% discount at Little Italy's ChaCha's Restaurant. That place is owned by the tour's Godfather, John (Cha Cha) Ciarcia, who had a bit part as Albie Cianflone in The Sopranos. To be clear, his tour isn't focused on fictional sites, but rather locations were actual mobsters did business and real people were killed, like the former hotel barbershop at 55th and Seventh where mob boss Albert (The Executioner) Anastasia was shot in 1957. Now, of course, it's a Starbucks. Is nothing sacred?
Tagged
little italy
mafia
mob tour
nyc
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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