Today, just before 5:30pm John Carneglia, Vinny Artuso, Sal Scala and Ed Lino, on orders from John Gotti and under the nearby direction of Sammy Gravano executed Paul Castellano and Thomas Billotti in front of Sparks Steakhouse on E.46 St between 2nd and 3rd Aves.
Was this the most brazen Mafia hit on a boss in the history of the American Mafia? Was it bigger than the assassination attempt of Joe Colombo in Columbus Circle in 1971 or bigger than the murder of Albert Anastasia in 1957 at the Park Sheraton? Did it impact the operations of organized crime in NYC and the US more than those earlier hits did and was it the beginning of the end of the American Mafia.