Frank Cali, Reputed Boss of Gambino Family, Shot Dead in New York

Frank Cali, the reputed boss of the Gambino crime family, was shot dead in New York City—outside his home—in a killing that harks back to the mafia wars of the 1980s and 1990s.

Cali, 53, was shot several times in the Todt Hill area of Staten Island on the night of March 13 before he was rushed to a hospital, where he died.

Officers rushed to his residence at around 9:17 p.m. local time after a report of an assault was called in, NBC News reported, citing the New York City Police Department.

“Upon arrival, officers found a 53-year-old male with multiple gunshot wounds to the torso,” the department told the news outlet. “EMS also responded to the scene and transported the victim to Staten Island University North, where he was pronounced deceased.”

According to the New York Daily News, a family member of Cali’s called 911, telling a dispatcher that the gunman’s getaway vehicle ran him over. Officials, however, have not disclosed whether Cali was mowed down by the vehicle.

Sources said the getaway vehicle was a blue pickup truck, reported NBC New York.

“There were like six shots, and then there were three more,” one witness told the Daily News. “The man was on the ground face-up. His head was by his SUV, and the truck was open.”

A witness said that his family members rushed outside after Cali was gunned down.

“Papa! Papa!” one man yelled, a witness said.

A woman yelled into a phone: “Why doesn’t the ambulance come? He’s not breathing!” according to the witness. And another woman “was just making loud noises,” the witness said.

“The cops came, and they were pushing on his chest, but he wasn’t responding,” the witness elaborated.

In 2015, Cali, who was known as “Franky Boy,” became the acting boss of the Gambino family—one of New York City’s “Five Families”—replacing 68-year-old Domenico Cefalu.

In 1985, Gambino boss Paul Castellano was shot dead by notorious mob boss John Gotti in front of a steakhouse in what was considered one of the most infamous mob hits of all time. Castellano was the last New York City crime boss to be gunned down, and Gotti later died in prison in 2002.

Cali, who was born in Sicily, Italy, reportedly had strong ties to an Italian crime family. According to NBC New York, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn had described him as the underboss of the Gambino crime syndicate and was related through marriage to the Inzerillo family in Sicily.

He had pleaded guilty in an extortion conspiracy involving a failed attempt to build a NASCAR track in Staten Island. For that, he got 16 months in prison before he was released.

The Gambino family is one of five mafia families that have operated in New York City for decades. The other families are the Lucchese, Bonanno, Colombo, and Genovese families.

“The assassination of Mr. Cali came on the same day that Joseph Cammarano Jr., the reputed acting boss of the Bonanno crime family, was acquitted at trial,” The New York Times reported, “and about a week after Carmine J. Persico, a longtime boss of the Colombo crime family, died in prison at age 85.”

A week ago, Persico died after serving 33 years in prison. He was serving a 139-year prison term.

Meanwhile, on March 13, two heads of the Bonanno family, Joseph Cammarano Jr. and John Zancocchio, were acquitted in court on conspiracy and racketeering charges, the New York Times reported.