Matteo Ianniello – “This Horse Always Ran First”

His name “Matty the Horse” became a household word after the mob execution of Crazy Joey Gallo early one morning in his restaurant, the infamous Umberto’s Clam House at Hester and Mulberry Streets in 1972.....But Ianniello was so much more than that!

Matteo (Matty the Horse) Ianniello was born in 1920 in the downtown “Little Italy” section of the Lower East Side. By the mid-1960s, he had relocated to Nassau County to 10 Tredwell Drive in the multi-million dollar neighborhood of Old Westbury.

FBI # 890429H

He was identified by the FBI, and repeatedly before various U.S. Senate Hearings, as a longtime inducted member. By the late 1960s, he was elevated to a “capo di decina” in the Genovese/Tieri Family.

Ianniello was considered by both local and federal law enforcement as one of the most venerable members and “money makers” for decades in that Family.

A “pioneer” of sorts in many sophisticated operations and rackets (creating or forging new avenues of revenue) over and over!

From “soldier”, he was elevated to “caporegime”.... and higher!

He is believed to have helped run the Family in later years (he installed veteran soldier Ciro Perrone as the capo for his crew) while he helped govern the borgata..... regardless of his “official” rank (like John Dioguardi) he was a mob powerhouse!! ....Always!

His activities included bar and nightclub infiltration, bankruptcy fraud, pornography and “flesh” rackets, business infiltration, profit-skimming (tax evasion), stock-securities fraud (boiler rooms), shylocking (on a fantastic scale), extortion, gambling, and suspected narcotics.

His monetary financial backing was instrumental in a host of rackets over the years.

Early on, he possibly served in Mike Miranda’s regime (Pete DeFeo succeeded). Or he may have possibly served under Pasquale Eboli (Vincent Gigante succeeded).

Ianniello's associates included Vito Genovese, Thomas Eboli, Gerardo Catena, Vincent Gigante, Lorenzo Brescio, Frank Tieri, Anthony Provenzano, and virtually all major figures in the Family - and in NYC for that matter.

In 1965, he was identified by a former FBI agent and investigator for the FCC and the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) as being closely affiliated with a state liquor authority investigator (SLA).

He was a partner in a large factoring firm that held mortgages on bars (a trend that he would continue all his life) and in 1968, came under investigation in Florida in a Miami bank kickback scheme.

By the early 1970s, Ianniello was described by authorities as the “king” of smut in Times Square. He owned or held hidden interests in many topless bars, porno palaces, dirty book stores (and the buildings housing them), and the like.

He operated The Metropole, arguably the single most notorious topless bar in Times Square for decades.

His name “Matty the Horse” became a household word after the mob execution of Crazy Joey Gallo early one morning in his restaurant, the infamous Umberto’s Clam House at Hester and Mulberry Streets in 1972.....But Ianniello was so much more than that!

As a young man, Ianniello was arrested once for the sale of heroin. He was not convicted..... and up until he was well into his mid-50s, that was his only brush with the law.

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, Matty the Horse became the focus of intensified law enforcement scrutiny.

In the following decades, he would be indicted numerous times on very serious charges including extortion, racketeering, various tax evasions, criminal contempt of court, complex interstate business frauds, Teamsters Union kickbacks, garbage racketeering (monopolies) in Connecticut, and more.

Matty the Horse

Suffice it to say that Ianniello certainly made up for all the years his “shadowy” underworld persona allowed him to “fly under the radar”!

In the ensuing years, he would see the inside of a jail cell many times and served many years in federal prison on his many convictions.

One federal RICO case that came down around 1986 was with his longtime friend and partner, Benjamin (Benny) Cohen.

They were accused in a complex multi-million dollar long-running restaurant, bar, and nightclub infiltration and money skimming racket that defrauded the IRS of millions...... THAT was just one of a multitude of his operations!

In 2012, “Matty the Horse” Ianniello died a free man at the ripe old age of 92 in the comfort of his luxurious mansion on Long Island, surrounded by his blood family! ...... a giant of a man, both in stature and in deed!

Postscript: If the full info were to be printed on his exploits and life, this article could have been ten times longer and more intricate than I made it. I drew the line because he was such a complex racketeer and more than a simple “hoodlum” or mobster.

Matty was the consummate “racketeer,” a tribute to his intelligence and business sa vvy!

...... it is often said that if certain mafiosi would have gone to college and went into the legitimate business world how well they could have done. Well, in Matty the Horse’s case, no truer words were ever spoken!

Until the next time..."The Other Guy"

Matteo Ianniello – “This Horse Always Ran First”

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Matteo Ianniello – “This Horse Always Ran First”

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You May Also Enjoy

Philip (Cockeyed Phil) Lombardo – The Boss in the Shadows

Sabato (Tommy Jr.) Milo – Genovese Family Soldier

Ralph (The Beak) Jacobson – Meyer Lansky’s Enforcer

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