The Mafia, the Teamsters Union and the Garbage Industry

My book looks at the dominance of the Squillante Brothers and Teamsters Local 813 in controlling the New York City garbage industry during the 1950s. Vincent J. Squillante was the godson of Albert Anastasia. In fact Squillante was in a barber's chair beside Anastasia's when the Mafia enforcer was executed at the Park Sheraton Hotel in 1957. Vincent and Nunzio Squillante were members of the Gambino crime family syndicate. They were born in Harlem's Little Italy. Both testified before the Senate Rackets Committee in 1957. Many of the Long Island store managers and shop owners who were the victims of Squillante shakedowns also gave testimony. The owners were usually forced by the Squillantes to change their sanitation provider to one that was owned by the brothers. Teamsters 813 secretary Bernard Adelstein also profited from the hegemony enforced by the Squillante's over vulnerable New York merchants.