Virtual Registration: The Hood in Our Neighborhood

Sonny Franzese, the Colombo crime family underboss who ran rackets throughout Long Island, is the subject of a new biography, SONNY, The Last of the Old-Time Mafia Bosses, John “Sonny” Franzese, by Newsday investigative reporter Sandra Peddie. Franzese saw Long Island as virgin territory and opened it up to organized crime. At home in Roslyn, he kept a low profile; but at night, he was the star of New York’s club scene. Ruggedly handsome and a meticulous dresser, he dazzled the crowd at the Copacabana. Celebrities flocked to him, apparently untroubled by the fact that he was also a psychopathic killer. Based on interviews with Sonny himself, as well as 130 other people, and extensive document research, the book is a rare look inside the Mafia. The Franzese family spent a fair amount of time in Huntington, including the Rare Olive Lounge on Jericho Turnpike.  Sonny's wife, Tina, lived in Northport after she left Sonny.