The Tanglewood Boys

The Tanglewood Boys are an Italian-American gang from Yonkers, New York, USA named after an area known as Tanglewood in Yonkers. They are named after the shopping mall that they frequent, located on a busy shopping strip, Central Avenue, in Yonkers. They have been around since the 1970s, as a "starter gang" or recruitment for the Italian Mafia, specifically the Lucchese crime family. The Quattrocchi crime family of North Jersey has also picked up associates from the Tanglewood Boys. However, the Quattrocchi family usually stays within its own family system of sons, brothers and cousins. Several members have gone on to other crime families as well, and they are usually the sons of "mafiosi." Famous members include Pasquale Perello, Jr. and Salvatore Quattrocchi, of the North Jersey clan.

The Boys made the news in the late '90s, when their ranks were arrested for the murder of college student Louis Balancio at a Yonkers sports bar in 1994, and the subsequent cover-up by one of their mob fathers; one member, Darin Mazzarella, became an informant, resulting in the conviction of Anthony DiSimone on charges of second-degree murder in December 2005.

In Popular Culture

A fictionalized version of the Tanglewood Boys was featured twice on C.S.I. New York. The first pair of seasons featured them in the first season Tanglewood and the second season Run Silent, Run Deep. Detective Danny Messer, portrayed by Carmine Giovinazzo had ties to the gang and was implicated in a murder in the latter episode.

References

* [http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/2527/ New York Magazine] - April 13 1998