Boss of Bosses: The Bloody Lunch That Changed the Mafia

July 12, 1979. Brooklyn, New York. Carmine Galante sat on the back patio of Joe and Mary's restaurant, finishing lunch with his cigar clenched between his teeth. At 69 years old, he controlled the heroin trade in New York City. He had built a drug empire worth millions through the French Connection. He had murdered at least 80 people over his career. And he had made a critical error: he declared himself "boss of bosses" and refused to share the profits. At 2:45pm, three men in ski masks walked through the restaurant. They raised shotguns. They opened fire. And Carmine Galante learned the ultimate lesson of organised crime: no one is untouchable. When police arrived, they found him sprawled in a tomato patch, his cigar still clenched in his teeth. The photograph would become one of the most infamous images in mafia history. This is the story of the heroin kingpin who rose from East Harlem street gangs to become one of America's most powerful mobsters, and the lunch that ended with betrayal, shotgun blasts, and a cigar that wouldn't go out.

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