Mobster Kingpin Of NYC Gay Bars Dies

The mafia kingpin who ran dozens of NYC gay bars in the years before and after Stonewall has died at the age of 92.

Matthew "Matty The Horse" Ianniello, the one-time acting boss of the Genovese crime family who was involved in the gay bar industry in New York City from the 1950s through at least the mid-1980s has died at his Long Island hiome in Old Westbury, NY as reported by Anthony M. DeStefano for Newsday. According to former Daily News reporter and editor Thomas Collins Jr. in his 2002 memoir NewsWalker, Ianniello "was sponsored into the Genovese crime family by Frank 'Funzi' Tieri." Ianniello perhaps is most infamous for the dozens of gay bars and discos he was behind during New York City's sleazy days, and he was convicted in 1985 with several associates for skimming profits out of several establishments including the tranny bar Gilded Grape and the hustler bar Hay Market.

NOTE: The above-linked site is frequently cited on Free Republic as it often examines the seamier aspects of gay nightlife.