Vincent (Jimmy Red) Caserta – The Little Italy Shylock

The brash, disrespectful Mikey Granello was alleged to have repeatedly struck Jimmy Sr. in the head and body with a baseball bat requiring Caserta to be admitted to Columbus Hospital.

Vincent (Jimmy Red) Caserta was born back on September 19, 1905, in Naples, Italy. He alternately listed his dob as February 16, 1924, and February 16, 1965. After immigrating to the United States his family settled in New York City.

He had resided for decades at 168 Mulberry Street, Apt # 2-B in the Little Italy section of Manhattan. At one time, he also resided at 209 E. 21st Street.

1951 - mugshots of Vincent Caserta

He had a son by the same name, Vincent Caserta, who also sported the nickname of “Jimmy Red.” The son was convicted of first-degree murder in the late 1960s.

By 1971, the lightly complected Jimmy Caserta was being described as having a stocky, heavy-set build at approximately 5-feet 9-inches tall and weighed a solid 220 pounds. Grey-haired and balding, he had brown eyes and wore glasses.

NYCPD # B-225354, FBI # 600232A, NYSP # 3377

Criminal Record and Associates

Starting in 1950, he had a New York City police record for which he had a bootlegging arrest. His yellow jacket is as follows:

1950 - possessing and transporting illicit alcohol (bootlegging) 1950 - violating the Selective Service Act 1951 - unregistered still, conspiracy to operate a distillery (3 years - suspended sentence) 1953 - transporting untaxed alcohol in Hartford, CT. ($500 fine, 15 days in county jail) 1954 - grand larceny (auto) 1954 - criminally receiving stolen property (3-6 years in Sing Sing Prison) 1957 - failure to buy an alcohol tax stamp (1 year concurrent with federal sentence) 1964 - violating federal narcotics laws (became a fugitive)

Upon learning that he was wanted by agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN), in October of 1964, Caserta disappeared from his usual haunts and became a fugitive from justice. He remained “on the lam” for years, with an outstanding warrant for his apprehension and arrest.

Federal and local law enforcement listed Caserta as a soldier in the Lower Westside Cosa Nostra Family of Vito Genovese which had been ruled by Vincent (The Chin) Gigante.

Boss - Vincent (The Chin) Gigante

Caserta was a local fixture of the Little Italy section for many years. He was a very well-known hoodlum and strong-arm man who operated as a shylock in his immediate neighborhood.

By the early 1970s, he went ahead and opened up a little sidewalk cafe his aptly named “Jimmy Red’s Cheesecake.” It was a narrow little storefront that had several small round tables out front and served expresso coffee and Italian pastries.

This business went on to thrive for many decades as a Little Italy favorite among tourists, local patrons, and the neighborhood wiseguys alike.

He numbered among his closer associates some of the most notorious members in gangland:

• Joseph (Joe Yak) Yacovelli • Vincent (Chin) Gigante • Carmine (Sonny Pinto) DeBiase • Philip (Fat Funghi) Gambino • Matthew (Matty the Horse) Ianniello • Salvatore (Sally Burns) Granello

Cosa Nostra Soap Opera

In a bit of underworld intrigue and Cosa Nostra “soap opera, ” Jimmy Red’s father, Vincent, was beaten in broad daylight along Mulberry Street one afternoon in September 1968, by Michael (Mikey Burns) Granello, the hotheaded son of the notorious Sally Burns.

The brash, disrespectful Mikey Granello was alleged to have repeatedly struck Jimmy Sr. in the head and body with a baseball bat requiring Caserta to be admitted to Columbus Hospital.

The 20-year old Michael Granello was found shortly thereafter that Christmas Eve in the trunk of an abandoned automobile off Riverside Drive on Manhattan’s Upper East Side with several bullets in his skull.

His father Sally, who was in Danbury Federal Penitentiary serving time for income-tax evasion at the time of his son’s murder, was allegedly beside himself with anger and hatred upon learning the horrible news of his boy’s killing. He openly swore revenge against those he deemed responsible for Michael’s death.

Salvatore (Sally Burns) Granello

With his subsequent parole from jail, almost immediately once Sally Burns arrived back in their Little Italy neighborhood, he set about investigating what had happened and who was responsible. He started cornering fellow mafiosi and demanding answers.

Not more than several short weeks after he hit the streets, Sally disappeared as well. The hardheaded Granellos, father and son, both met violent deaths. And that was that, as they say.

Laying "Chickie"

As for Vincent (Jimmy Red) Caserta, he continued to operate along Mulberry Street for some years to come.

In fact, in 1980, the FBI documented several high-level meetings between Genovese Family boss Chin Gigante and the leaders of other Families where they identified Jimmy Red as keeping a lookout out front of the clandestine locations where these meetings took place.

Gigante had ordered Caserta to keep his eyes open and lay “chickie” for law enforcement or other enemies.

“Jimmy Red” Caserta passed away suddenly on April 8, 1984. He was only 59 years old.

Until next time..."The Other Guy"

Vincent (Jimmy Red) Caserta – The Little Italy Shylock

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Vincent (Jimmy Red) Caserta – The Little Italy Shylock

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