Several of my "friends" were in attendance --- It was Sunday --- It was a wake --- It was for John F. Gangemi, one of the little giants of Brooklyn politics
John was a once a very well-known swashbuckler in local politics --- he defied the "old order" time and time again --- he was a Republican --- he was a Democrat --- he was a popularly-elected NYC Councilman, Republican-Conservative County-wide At Large, from Brooklyn
John was very much an acquired taste, like good scotch or fine wine. I started out by being an adversary; and eventually, I became an associate, and eventually even a "friend." We were allied in many political pursuits over the years.
That particular personal history doesn't make me either unique or even rare.....
Apart from the well-known local pols of over two generations, John F. Gangemi was an associate of several NYS Governors and their families, including the Rockefellers and the Careys.....
I'll miss his gravelly voice and ironic humor --- they were so "Old Brooklyn"; now gone, nothing like it will be seen again.....
3 comments:
John Gangemi was one of the best. Such a storied history. Ran for Congress against Hugh Carey in 1972 and scared the hell out of Carey. Next time around in 1974 Carey gave up his congressional seat to run for Governor.
In 1973 Gangemi ran for Councilman at Large and beat Vito Batista. Gangemi represented all of Brooklyn but he was a larger than life presence in Bay Ridge.
In 1974 with the congressional seat now open that he almost won two years earlier everyone assumed Gangemi would run for congress. Instead he took on the entire Brooklyn GOP and tried to oust Angelo Arculeo. A noble move as all that knew Arculeo thought so little of him. Gangemi was a person who feared no one and outlasted them all.
I'll miss his gravely voice and the charm and charisma he always had.
John Gangemi did a lot more in, to and for the Brooklyn Republican Party than people like Eaton and Ghorra ever did or ever will do.
Gangemi's fight against certain people in the Republican-Conservative establishment didn't end with his failed coup in the early seventies. He became a Democrat when people like Meade Esposito, Frank Santo, and Leo Zefferretti came to him and said that they would back John in a State Senate run against Chris Mega. It was not long before that when John Gangemi found out that Mike Long was going to try to stab Congressman Leo Zefferretti in the back and reported that to Meade and Frank. Even though John lost to Chris Mega, John was part of an all-Italian-American slate that helped Zefferretti hold onto his seat until reapportionment wiped it out. Just a few years later, Angelo Arculeo and Chris Mega were both pushed out of the City Council and State Senate respectively by Democrats supported by John Gangemi.
Even though John spent many years identified with the Democrats, he kept sniping at his various former enemies inside the GOP getting friends and family members to run against people like Bob DiCarlo -- first, DiCarlo was ousted as Republican County Chairman, then he got the boot as the Republican nominee for State Senate, even though was the incumbent in that seat for a while. Both times John F. Gangemi was very active behind the scenes against DiCarlo.
In later years, John Gangemi kept his name in the news and never let friends and non-friends alike ever forget thathe was still around and still being political.
John Gangemi was a successful attorney and business person. He owned catering halls in Bensonhurst and The Lamps of China in Bay Ridge. He was also a former Federal Prosecutor in the late 1960's. He left to become Counsel to Governor Rockefeller. Then he ran for congress at the age of 29. I'll end it at 1972.
A full life.
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