Harlem Storefront Where Mob Once Met Is Up For Lease

EAST HARLEM, NY — Looking to open up a business in East Harlem? Want a storefront with an unusual backstory? Consider this newly-vacant space on East 115th Street, which once served as the home base for an infamous branch of the Italian Mafia is up for lease.

The storefront at 416 East 115th St., between First and Pleasant avenues, was once home to the Palma Boys Social Club, where famous mobster Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno operated the "116th Street Crew" — an arm of the Genovese family.

The storefront was "where Salerno could be found holding court, meeting with out-of-town gangsters or his New York Mob associates," according to Anthony M. DeStefano's 2015 history, "Gangland of New York."

Salerno advanced through the Genovese family for decades, becoming one of its top leaders in the early 1980s. So prominent was the Palma Boys Social Club in the city's 1980s gang scene that the FBI has surveillance photos on file: black-and-white images snapped by agents showing the storefront from the street corner.

In recent years, the property has sat vacant, though Martin Scorcese meticulously restored it to its former appearance for a shot in his 2020 film "The Irishman."

According to a listing by Tri-State Commercial Realty, the storefront is 1,000 square feet, featuring a "huge backyard" well-suited for a cafe, restaurant or spa. It sits at the base of a four-story building constructed in 1910. The asking rent is $4,500 per month, according to the New York Business Journal, which first reported on the listing.