Anthony "Tough Tony" Federici (July 28, 1940 - November 9, 2022) was a

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

resident who was long accused by law enforcement of being a member of the

Genovese crime family The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American M ...

. Federici was incorrectly identified in 1988 by the

US Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations as a

Lucchese crime family The Lucchese crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, in the United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as ...

soldier.

Queens restaurant owner and businessman

Federici had a number of business and philanthropic interests in the Queens section of New York City. He was the owner of the Park Side Restaurant, a popular Italian restaurant in

Corona, Queens Corona is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. It borders Flushing and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park to the east, Jackson Heights to the west, Forest Hills and Rego Park to the south, Elmhurst to the southwest, and East ...

. He later helped run a fundraiser that netted Flushing Hospital over $100,000 in donations. In the mid-1990s, Federici came under scrutiny during a New York State Senate investigation into corruption in the N.Y.C. District Council of Carpenters and the construction of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. During this investigation, Dominick Lavacca, the longtime president of the Queens-based local, confirmed that he was a close associate of Federici.

Problems with police

On March 13, 1979, Federici was arrested on charges of menacing and criminal possession of a weapon after he was caught shooting at hawks from the roof of his restaurant. Federici explained to police that he was trying to protect his champion

homing pigeons The homing pigeon, also called the mail pigeon or messenger pigeon, is a variety of domestic pigeons (''Columba livia domestica'') derived from the wild rock dove, selectively bred for its ability to find its way home over extremely long dist ...

, which he kept in cages on the roof. Federici fired twice at the hawks using a 20-gauge shotgun. On August 4, 1981, Federici's 19-year-old son Anthony Federici, Jr. was stabbed in a near fatal attack in a Queens nightclub. Nicholas Gambino and Thomas Muschio, reputed soldiers of the Gambino crime family, were charged with the crime. Gambino eventually pleaded guilty and received five years of probation. Muschio was acquitted at trial. On January 26, 2004, Federici was arrested after police stopped his car in Queens and discovered he had a suspended driver's license, a set of

brass knuckles Brass knuckles (variously referred to as knuckles, knucks, brass knucks, knucklebusters, knuckledusters, knuckle daggers, English punch, iron fist, paperweight, or a classic) are "fist-load weapons" used in hand-to-hand combat. Brass knuckle ...

, and six bullets. On June 23, 2004, Federici pleaded guilty to his first felony (possessing the brass knuckles and six bullets). He received a term of

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performe ...

and a $700 fine.

Later life

In February 2004, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall honored Federici for his service to the community. In attendance were many police officers from the 110th Precinct in Queens. In 2005,

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, Judge David A. Gross, was charged with federal money laundering charges. The indictment was based on

wiretap Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...

surveillance conducted at the Parkside, Federici's restaurant. Federici died on November 9, 2022 from complications caused by leukemia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Federici, Anthony 1940 births 2022 deaths American gangsters of Italian descent Genovese crime family American restaurateurs People from Queens, New York Deaths from leukemia

Queens restaurant owner and businessman

Problems with police

Later life

Further reading

References