Neighbors Mourn The Don Is Gone

Neighbors Mourn The Don Is Gone
It began in Maspeth and wound its way through the streets of Ozone Park and Howard Beach. Thousands of onlookers lined the streets along Crossbay Blvd. and 101 Ave to watch the funeral procession of John Gotti. Flower cars carried massive arrangements, depicting the pleasures of his life: horses, playing cards, the logo of his beloved Bronx Bombers, a Cohiba cigar, a martini glass complete with olive, all sent by those closest to Gotti. There was even a map of the state of Missouri, where he spent his last months in a losing battle with cancer.
At the intersection of Woodhaven Blvd. and 101 Ave. a large banner read: John Gotti Will Live Forever. All along 101 Ave. there were small signs, pictures and makeshift tributes to the man that residents said "kept the garbage out" of their neighborhood.
They waved, cried and yelled out "John, we love you" as the hearse that carried his body passed by. Some ran up just to touch the car.
The motorcade included close to four hundred cars and tied up traffic for over an hour. The procession ended at St. Johns Catholic Cemetery on Woodhaven Blvd. where John Gotti was laid to rest next to his son Frank, who died in a traffic accident in 1980.
The Brooklyn Diocese, which refused to allow a traditional funeral mass, will allow a "Mass for the Dead" on a date yet to be decided.