Reputed Gambino hit man Charles Carneglia landed in federal court last month on murder charges, but his trial has also focused on charges regarding the extortion of Ozone Park homeowners.
The trial, presided over by The Honorable Jack Weinstein at the United States Courthouse in Brooklyn, included as witnesses former residents of the 95th Street Greentree Condominiums. Federal prosecutors allege that the housing complex was run by mob associates with whom the defendant, nicknamed “Charlie Canig,” conspired.
Transcripts from two days of hearings in late February detail the uncomfortable, even threatening, encounters between former Greentree residents and the condo board, as well as the steep and apparently illegitimate fees owners claim they were told to pay when trying to sell their units.
UPS driver Joseph Mauro purchased a condo at Greentree in 1989 for around $210,000 and, displeased with the level of maintenance of the complex, joined the condo board in the mid-90s, only to be “voted out” after a year.
“The grass wasn’t getting cut, the snow wasn’t getting shoveled when it snowed during the winter months. Hallways weren’t getting cleaned, lightbulbs in the hallway went out,” Mauro said of the situation at Greentree before and after his stint on the board.
In light of Greentree’s lackluster management, Mauro was shocked when, two weeks before closing on the sale of his condo in 2001 – around 12 years after he had moved in and rented his basement and first floor duplex to a tenant – the board presented him with a bill for over $47,000.
Mauro testified that he was hit with fines of $3,500 in “administrative costs;” over $12,000 in “late fees,” although his few late maintenance payments should have amounted to not much more than $100; $6,000 for an “animal harbored without permission of board managers” even though he said he was never told dogs were prohibited; and, among others, a $6,000 fine for “animal excrements thrown from balcony” despite his never having heard any complaints to that effect.
Mauro planned to use the profit earned from the sale of his condo to close on a property on Staten Island. Instead, Mauro’s proceeds went to the condo board in the form of $36,000 – the board reduced their assessments of his property with no explanation – which he says he had “no choice” but to pay.
“I didn’t appeal it, because I would have to pay, anyway,” Mauro said in testimony. He added that he had to “wipe my slate clean” and get the board’s approval before selling his unit, which the board had the “first right of refusal” to.
Mauro would have lost his buyer and his ability to move to Staten Island had he not paid up, he said.
Shortly after purchasing Mauro’s condo, Brian Crowley testified that he approached then-President of the board Robert Porto – a mob associate, according to a report published by the New York Daily News – regarding board elections and condo accounting.
Porto told Crowley his questions involved “behind-the-scenes” people, “Basically saying that they were gangster-related people,” Crowley, a carpenter foreman, said in testimony.
Owner intimidation ensued, with residents waking up to violation notices posted on their doors after they had gathered to discuss condo concerns, Crowley said. He added, “The day I moved out, I received a package from Fedex, which was a lien on my property.” Greentree wanted $80,000, according to Crowley, because he had a dog and rented out his lower level, when he had never been told that canines or basement dwellers were prohibited.
After Crowley obtained a lawyer and filed a lawsuit against Porto, he received Greentree’s approval to sell his unit without paying the $80,000 – just $2,800 for a water bill spanning back eight years prior to his purchasing the condo.
It seems even mob associates were not immune to the extortion, however.
Turncoat witness Kevin McMahon testified that he overheard plans to defraud him, while eavesdropping on a conversation between Porto and local realtor Joseph Panzarella Sr. – a one-time Greentree board member and mob associate, according to the Daily News’ report.
“I was going for closing in a couple weeks. And they were saying, ‘yeah, we’re going to hit him for water bill, we’re going to hit him for maintenance, we’re going to hit him for real estate fees, which [were] all things he told me to my face he wasn’t going to hit me with,” McMahon said during the trial.
On Tuesday, March 3, the defense called on two former Greentree residents and one currently residing at the complex. All three witnesses said the Greentree condo board was free of Gambino influence and testified that no extortion of homeowners had occurred. However, two of the witnesses acknowledged having to pay part of the condo’s back water bill, and one admitted to a very close relationship with Carneglia.
The jury may deliver its verdict in the case as early as next week.
