A Novemmemo states, “According to what informant learned Ianniello owns mortgages or shares in about 60-80 bars in the Broadway area and controls the ‘strip’ from 6th to 8th or 9th Avenues between West 43rd and West 49th Streets.” The FBI records support the assertion that Ianniello dominated the market. On June 22, 1966, Harold Baer, an assistant US attorney in the Southern District of New York, launched a grand jury investigation into “hoodlum infiltration and control of hotels, motels, bars, restaurants, and caterers… in the Greater New York area.” The result is that the FBI records refer to other mobsters who also operated bars serving the LGBTQ community. Published reports from the ‘70s identify Ianniello as the leading mob owner of bars in the city, and Gay City News originally sought records only on Ianniello’s businesses.
In response to a Freedom of Information request, the FBI released 1,600 pages of documents that detailed organized crime ownership of nightclubs and bars in Manhattan.