James (Jimmy Brown) Clemenza: Old-time Good Fellow

James (Jimmy Brown) Clemenza was active in many rackets for the Profaci-Colombo Family, but was able to maintain a low-key and shadowy profile for most of his underworld career - even as a capo!

James (Jimmy Brown) Clemenza, Sr., was born on May 4, 1910, in (Partanna) Sicily, and soon immigrated to the U.S. He was raised and operated from Brooklyn all his life.

As he became well-established, he chose to reside in a beautiful home at 2381 National Drive in an exclusive waterfront section of the Mill Basin area of Kings County.

James (Jimmy Brown) Clemenza

By the early 1970s, he had also bought a condominium he used as a winter retreat in the Hallandale area of South Florida that he frequented regularly. As he aged, Jimmy Brown spent more and more of his time down there.

He had an older brother Charlie (Charlie Brown ) and a kid brother Fred (Freddy Brown) and two sons who would later join him in “The Life”.

Side Note: His brother Charlie owned the Sahara Lounge, where the attempted strangling of Larry Gallo took place in 1961.

His sons Gerard and James Clemenza Jr., aka “Jerry and Jimmy Brown” are now retired themselves today. They came up and were originally “groomed” under their dad’s careful tutelage.

FBI # 1869871, NYCPD #B-185150

He was an old-time “good fellow” in the Profaci Family believed to have been formally inducted in the 1930s. He served as a trusted soldier in the South Brooklyn regime of capo Enrico (Harry) Fontana .

Clemenza was very active in the gambling rackets over the years including booking numbers-policy and horse races.

“Jimmy Brown” was also very active in garment racketeering and the shylock business for years. He ran a small crew of several trusted associates who handled much of the street action, while he later oversaw garment operations in Manhattan’s famed “Garment District”.

By the late-1950s/early-1960s, he’s thought to have either infiltrated or boss Joe Profaci assigned him to, a position in a key garment industry association. He was listed as an official of the Greater Blouse & Neckwear Assn., of Manhattan of many years.

This was a group of like-minded garment firm owners and related businesses who banded together to better negotiate contracts and laws for their industry. Control over this industry trade group gave Clemenza dominion over various garment district rackets for years, including sweetheart contracts, shakedowns, and extortion of dress factory owners, overbilling and invoice padding, kickbacks, and monopoly control.

He was also in a position to award dress making contracts to favored firms and sub-contractors that are pivotal to the industry.

Clemenza always kept an extremely low profile. He was a “soldier” for almost 50 years and yet the name of Jimmy Brown, although well known to those who had to know, was a shadowy figure in the underworld, and a virtual unknown to the upper world.

In his later years, he was thought to have served the borgata as a “capo di decina” who oversaw operations in the state of Florida for the Colombo crew.

Yet, even as a “capo,” very little was ever publicly heard about Clemenza.

He was a virtual “shadow” mafioso, who always faded back into the woodwork. A true throwback to what life in Cosa Nostra was always technically supposed to be...

By the late-1970s he asked to be “retired” out so that he could enjoy his twilight years with his wife and family. An “up and coming” young mafioso named John (Johnny Irish) Matera was said to have been appointed to take his place as captain over the South Florida crew.

There were many NYC-based mafiosi throughout the Five Families over the years who wore that moniker of “Jimmy Brown”, and invariably when asked about Jimmy Brown most often another would mob figure would come to mind. Good examples of this are:

James (Jimmy Brown) Failla -- The longtime driver for Carlo Gambino who was a top capo and garbage association rackets boss. James (Jimmy Brown) Lucchese -- A Corona, Queens-based bookmaker and boss Tommy Lucchese’s brother. Vincent (Jimmy Brown) Muce -- A soldier in the old Colombo mob, and another garbage racketeer.

There were several others as well.

Our “Jimmy Brown’s” known criminal associates over the years included:

Giuseppe (Joe) Profaci -- Boss of the Family.

Giuseppe (Joe Malyoke) Magliocco -- Longtime underboss.

Joseph Colombo -- Boss after Magliocco and elevated Clemenza to capo status. Jimmy’s boys would become very close with Joe’s kids as the years went on, they become partners at one point.

Enrico (Harry) Fontana --- A veteran mafioso and Clemenza’s capo.

Filippo (Phil) Fontana -- Harry’s brother and a policy racketeer and shylock.

John Fontana -- Another brother of Harry who was active in his regime as a gambler.

John (Johnny Bath Beach) Oddo -- Top capo and notorious racketeer. Owned a Brooklyn dress factory.

Vincenzo Randazzo -- Old-time original member, personal friend of Clemenza.

John (Johnny Scimini) Scimone -- The former driver-bodyguard of Profaci himself.

Frank Fusco -- Bensonhurst-based capo, important gambling rackets boss.

Vincent (Jimmy) Melia - another old-line soldier and personal friend of Clemenza.

Frank (Frankie the Sheik) Mussachio - - Capo Sally’s brother and a gambling affiliate of Clemenza.

Salvatore (Sam) Badalamente -- Another shadowy capo allied with Jimmy in garment firm operations.

Leonardo (Big Leo) Carlino -- Influential capo and major shylock also active in garment racketeering

These are but a few of the many he knew in the underworld. As someone active since the 1920s who lived at ground zero on the mob turf of South Brooklyn, Clemenza knew virtually a who’s who of the Mafia.

By the mid-1970s, Jimmy was pulling back and slowing down. He died on March 26, 1993, after a short illness.

Side Note: I wasn’t able to access Jimmy Clemenza’s police file (if he had any), but I suspect he had a minor record at best, and believe that he never served a day in prison. If he did, it was back when he was a youth. Because as an established mafioso, Clemenza was never indicted to my knowledge in any criminal cases of any consequence.

Until next time..."The Other Guy"

James (Jimmy Brown) Clemenza: Old-time Good Fellow

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