The Toyland Social Club

Mob Hangout Manhattan, New York

This is the former Toyland Social Club.

It is located at 94 Hester Street in Manhattan, New York.

The Toyland Social Club was a mob hangout that belonged to the Bonanno crime family.

A senior mafia figure named Nicholas Marangello (pictured above) ran the club and used it as his headquarters.

94 Hester Street Manhattan — These days, 94 Hester Street is comprised of two separate retail units. During the 1970s and 1980s, this street sat between Little Italy and Chinatown. However, since then, it has been absorbed by the latter. The borders of Little Italy have been shrinking for decades due to rising rents and property prices. Growing economic prosperity also gave many Italian-Americans the freedom to relocate from their cramped tenements in Manhattan to larger houses in Brooklyn, New Jersey, Staten Island, Long Island, and Queens.

Marangello was nicknamed "Nicky Glasses" and "Little Nicky" because he was short and wore thick glasses. Previously, he had served as the underboss of the Bonanno family under Carmine Galante. However, he was demoted following Galante's assassination in July 1979.

Marangello ran his headquarters like a place of business. Unlike the other social clubs, mobsters weren't allowed to show up unannounced and hang out. Instead, it operated like an office with set opening hours.

This is an enhanced photograph of Nicholas Marangello, who was the underboss of the Bonanno crime family. He had various nicknames, such as Nicky Glasses, Nicky the Butler, Nicky Cigars, and Little Nicky. During the height of his power, he operated out of the Toyland Social Club in Manhattan. He was demoted from his position after his boss, Carmine Galante, was assassinated in Brooklyn in July 1979. Initially, there were plans to "whack" Marangello as well. However, he was reportedly well liked by other members of the family. Consequently, the conspirators behind Galante's murder decided to demote him to the position of soldier instead. During the early 1990s, he was convicted on RICO charges and sentenced to 4–8 years in prison. Following his release, he retired from the mob world. He died on December 30th, 1999, at the age of 87.

Wiseguys would visit the club between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays, talk business with Marangello, and then leave. Despite the name, there was no "social" aspect to it.

One of the mobsters who regularly visited "Nicky Glasses" was Joseph Pistone, an undercover FBI agent who had successfully infiltrated the Bonanno family under the alias Donnie Brasco.

Pistone said that only one person was allowed in at a time. If someone else was already speaking to Marangello, you had to wait outside.

Meetings were usually kept short and to the point. You told him how much you had made, he asked you questions about the scheme you were running, and then you left. In Pistone's case, he provided the underboss with a weekly report on Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero's bookmarking operations.

Pistone was photographed visiting the Toyland Social Club on a number of occasions, as it was kept under heavy surveillance by both the NYPD and the FBI. Because the NYPD wasn't aware that Pistone was an undercover agent, they identified him as "Don Brasco, an associate of the Bonanno family."

Address

The address and GPS coordinates for the store are as follows:

Address

94 Hester Street, Manhattan, New York, NY 10002, USA

GPS Coordinates

40.716378, -73.992710

40°42'58.96"N 73°59'33.76"W

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Area Information

It is situated on the northern outskirts of Chinatown, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

📍 The store is roughly 200 feet west of the intersection between Allen Street and Hester Street. It is close to the Grand Street subway station.

Private Property Warning

This is private property, not a public space. Please respect the owners and do not enter without permission. Entry without permission is trespassing and may be met with legal or other serious consequences.

This location belongs to the following categories:

Notorious Figures Mafia Locations New York Mafia Locations