Crime & Safety
Carroll Gardens Restaurant With Mafia Ties Shot Up, Police Say
A person fired several bullet holes into the front of the Marco Polo Ristorante early Sunday morning, police said.
CARROLL GARDENS, NY — A popular Court Street Italian restaurant with ties to the Mafia was shot up while it was closed early Sunday morning, police said.
A person fired several bullets into the storefront of Marco Polo Ristorante, at 345 Court St., while the eatery was empty at about 6 a.m., a spokesman for the NYPD. An employee coming to work at the spot saw the holes at about 9 a.m. and called the police.
No injuries were reported in the shooting.
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The co-owner of the spot told the New York Post that the restaurant got caught in the middle of a gunfight between rival gangs from Gowanus and Red Hook, but sources told the paper the shots were actually a "message" to owners.
Marco Polo was first opened in 1983 by Joseph Chircio and became a popular spot for politicians, judges and local leaders to dine.
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Chircio pleaded guilty in 2008 to laundering money for the Gambino crime family but avoided jail time after he received letters of praise from former Borough Presidents Marty Markowitz and Howard Golden, the New York Daily News reported.
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