How the Italian Mob Helped Donald Trump Build Trump Tower HT
The office was on the 26th floor of a building in Midtown Manhattan. May 15th, 1980. Thursday afternoon. Expensive furniture. Florida to ceiling windows overlooking Central Park. The kind of office that screamed success and power. Sitting behind a mahogany desk was Roy Conn, 53 years old, one of the most feared and connected lawyers in New York.
Con had been Senator Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel during the Red Scare hearings in the 1950s, had destroyed careers, had ruined lives through accusations of communist sympathies. By 1980, Con was a power broker, a fixer, a lawyer who could make problems disappear and make deals happen. And Conn’s client list read like a who’s who of New York power.
politicians, businessmen, celebrities, and mobsters. Lots of mobsters. Anthony Fat Tony Serno, boss of the Genevazi crime family. Paul Castiano, boss of the Gambino crime family. Carmine Galante before he was murdered. Multiple other organized crime figures. Con represented them all. Sitting across from Cone that May afternoon was Donald Trump, 33 years old, young real estate developer trying to make his mark in Manhattan.
Trump had inherited his father Fred’s outer burrow construction business, building apartments in Queens and Brooklyn. But Donald wanted more. Wanted to build in Manhattan. Wanted to build something big, something with his name on it. Trump had a plan. A 58-story mixeduse skyscraper on Fifth Avenue. Luxury apartments, retail space, premium location. He was calling it Trump Tower.
But Trump had a problem. Actually, he had several problems. And solving those problems required something Trump didn’t have. control over New York’s construction industry, which in 1980 was completely controlled by the Italian mafia. That’s why Trump was sitting in Roy Con’s office because Conn was the bridge between legitimate business and organized crime.
Was the lawyer who could make the introductions could arrange the meetings could ensure that Trump’s project which would require millions of dollars in concrete union labor and construction materials could actually get built. Roy Conn looked at Trump and asked a simple question. Donald, do you understand how construction works in New York? Trump, confident as always, said, “I understand business.
I understand real estate. I’ll figure out construction.” Con smiled. Not a friendly smile. The smile of someone who knew things Trump didn’t know. Donald, let me explain something to you. In New York, you don’t just build. You don’t just hire contractors and pour concrete and construct buildings. Not if you want your project completed on time.
Not if you want it completed at all. In New York, construction is controlled, completely controlled by two men. And if you want to build Trump Tower, you’re going to need to work with them. This is the story of how Donald Trump, who would become the 45th president of the United States, built Trump Tower in the early 1980s with the help of the Italian mafia.
The story of how two mob bosses, Anthony Fat Tony Serno and Paul Castellano, controlled New York’s concrete industry so completely that anyone building in Manhattan had to work with them. and the story of how Trump through his lawyer Roy Conn made the deals that allowed Trump Tower to be constructed. Deals that involved mobcont controlled concrete companies, mob influenced unions, and millions of dollars flowing through organized crime networks.
This isn’t a political story. This is a historical story about how New York operated in the 1980s, about how the mafia controlled entire industries, and about how everyone, developers, contractors, politicians, had to work with organized crime if they wanted to build anything in America’s largest city. To understand how Trump Tower got built, you need to understand how construction in New York City operated in 1980.
The industry was completely controlled by organized crime. Not partially, completely. The control operated through several mechanisms. The concrete club. In the late 1970s, the major concrete suppliers in New York formed a cartel called the Concrete Club, though they never use that name officially. The cartel included SNA Concrete controlled by the Genev family through fat Tony Salerno, certified concrete controlled by the Gambino family through Paul Castayano.
other smaller suppliers that followed the cartel’s rules. The concrete club operated a bid rigging system. When a construction project needed concrete, companies would submit bids, but the bids were coordinated. The club decided which company would win each project. The winner would submit the lowest bid, but that lowest bid was still inflated by 20 to 30% above actual market rates.
This meant developers paid artificially high prices for concrete concrete companies made enormous profits. Competition was eliminated. Nobody could build in New York without paying the mob tax union control. construction unions and news. York were heavily infiltrated by organized crime. The mob controlled teamsters local 282 truck drivers, concrete delivery.
Local 6A cement and concrete workers, various carpenter and electrical unions. Union control meant the mob could shut down construction sites through strikes, demand cash payments to avoid labor problems, control which contractors got union cooperation, ensure mob connected companies got preferred treatment.
The commission’s role, the Mafia Commission, the governing body of New York’s five crime families, had divided construction as follows. Projects under $2 million open to various families. Projects two to5 million required approval from relevant family bosses. Projects over $5 million. Required commission approval and profit sharing.
Trump Tower was projected to cost over $200 million. That required commission level approval. That required the blessing of the two most powerful bosses, fat Tony Solerno, Genevvesi, and Paul Castayano Gambino. Roy Conn was the crucial connection between Donald Trump and the mob bosses who controlled New York construction.
Conn was born in 1927 in the Bronx. His father was a New York Supreme Court Justice. Conn was brilliant. Graduated from Columbia Law School at age 20. Had to wait until 21 to be admitted to the bar. By age 23, was assisting with the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for espionage. In 1953, at age 26, Conn became chief counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy.
worked on the anti-communist hearings that destroyed hundreds of careers. The hearings eventually collapsed amid accusations of overreach and fabrication. McCarthy was censured. Con returned to New York. By the 1960s and 70s, Con had built a private law practice that specialized in three things. First, aggressive legal tactics.
Con would sue, counter sue, file motions, delay proceedings, exhaust opponents made litigation so expensive and prolonged that people settled rather than fight. Second, media manipulation. Con had extensive press connections, could plant stories, could shape narratives, could destroy reputations through selective leaks.
Third connections. Con knew everyone. Politicians, judges, businessmen, and mobsters. Lots of mobsters. Con’s mob clients included Anthony Fat Tony Solerno, Genevvesi family boss. Paul Castayano, Gambino family boss. Carmine Galante, Bonano, family boss before his 1979 murder. various other organized crime figures.
Con represented these men on criminal charges, on business matters, on personal issues, was their lawyer, and in some cases their friend. Con also represented legitimate businessmen who needed to work with the mobcont controlled construction industry was the bridge, the fixer, the person who made introductions and facilitated deals. Donald Trump met Roy Con in 1973.
Trump’s company was being sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination in housing. Fred Trump asked around for a tough lawyer. Someone recommended Conn. Con took the case, used his aggressive tactics, eventually settled with no admission of wrongdoing. Trump was impressed, kept Conn as his lawyer.
Over the next decade, Conn became Trump’s mentor, his adviser, his guide to how New York really worked. In 1980, Donald Trump identified a location for his Manhattan Dream project, 725 Fth Avenue, the site of the old Bonwit Teller department store. Trump’s vision was ambitious. 58story mixeduse tower, luxury condominiums in the upper floors, high-end retail in the lower floors, atrium with pink marble and waterfalls.
His name in huge gold letters, Trump Tower. The project had several advantages. Premium location, Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets. existing structure to demolish simplifying zoning strong luxury market in Manhattan. But the project also had massive challenges. Challenge one cost projected at over $200 million, roughly $750 million in 2024.
Trump needed financing, needed investors, needed to keep costs controlled. Challenge two, timeline. Trump wanted to complete construction quickly. Every month of delay cost money and financing, lost rental income, and opportunity costs. Challenge three, concrete. The building required approximately 200,000 cubic yards of concrete.
That amount of concrete meant working with the major suppliers, which meant working with the mob. Challenge four, unions. Construction required union labor, union cooperation, union efficiency, which meant working with mobcontrolled unions. Trump understood challenges one and two. He was a businessman, understood financing and timing, but Trump didn’t fully understand challenges three and four.
didn’t understand that in New York you couldn’t just hire contractors and build. Had to get approval from the people who really controlled construction. That’s why Roy Con’s May 1980 explanation was crucial. Con was telling Trump, “You need the mob’s blessing. Need to work with Fat Tony and Paul Castano. need to accept that your project will involve organized crime at every level.
Anthony Fat Tony Solerno was born in 1911 in East Harlem. By 1980, was 69 years old, boss of the Genev crime family, the most powerful crime family in America. Fat Tony controlled illegal gambling numbers running sports betting lone sharking labor racketeering construction industry through SNA concrete various legitimate businesses as fronts.
Fat Tony’s headquarters was the Palma boys social club at 416 East 115th Street in Harlem. an unassuming storefront where one of America’s most powerful criminals conducted business. Roy Conn arranged a meeting between Donald Trump and fat Tony Salerno in June 1980. The meeting was at Con’s office, neutral ground.
Trump brought his plans for Trump Tower. Solerno brought his understanding of how construction worked. According to sources who later testified about New York’s construction industry, primarily during the commission case prosecutions in the mid 1980s. The meeting went something like this. Solerno Roy tells me you want to build a tower.
Big project. Lots of concrete. Trump. That’s right. Trump Tower. Fifth Avenue. Going to be the most luxurious building in Manhattan. Solerno, congratulations. Beautiful location, but you understand you need concrete. A lot of concrete. Trump. Yes. I’ve been getting bids from various suppliers.
Solerno, those bids you’re getting, throw them away. You’re going to use SNA concrete, my company. Actually, you’re going to use a combination SNA and certified. We work together. We handle all major projects in Manhattan. Trump, what if I want to use other suppliers, get competitive bids? Solerno smiling.
You could do that, but then you might have problems. Union problems, delivery problems. Your concrete might not show up or it might show up defective. Your schedule might get delayed. Months, years. You understand? Trump understood. This wasn’t a negotiation. This was Solerno explaining reality. If Trump wanted to build Trump tower, he’d use mobcont controlled concrete companies.
He’d pay mob inflated prices and he wouldn’t complain about it. Trump agreed. Paul Castayano was boss of the Gambino crime family, was more businessoriented than Serno, preferred profit to violence, controlled various industries including construction through certified concrete and other companies, food distribution, poultry, meat, labor unions.
A separate meeting was arranged between Trump and Castellano. This meeting occurred at Castellano’s home, the White House, a mansion on Staten Island. Con again facilitated. Castellano’s pitch was similar to Solernos, but more refined. Mr. Trump, I understand you’re building a major project. That’s good for New York, good for business.
We want to help you succeed. Certified concrete will provide materials. We guarantee quality. We guarantee delivery. We guarantee no union problems. In exchange, you pay our prices. You don’t shop around. You don’t complain to authorities about costs. You build your building. We make sure it gets built. Everyone wins. Castellano explained the profit sharing arrangement for major projects.
For projects over $5 million, the mob families expected a percentage, not officially, but through inflated concrete prices, through cash payments to union officials, through various consulting fees paid to mob connected companies. For Trump Tower’s 200 plus million dollar budget, the mob’s cut extracted through various mechanisms was estimated at 10 to$20 million, about 5 to 10% of the total project cost.
The mob tax on New York construction. Trump could either accept these terms or not build. There was no third option. Trump accepted. Once Trump agreed to work with the mobcont controlled concrete companies, the construction of Trump Tower proceeded through several coordinated mechanisms. Concrete supply. Trump Tower’s concrete was supplied by SNA concrete.
Geneovves controlled approximately 60% of supply certified concrete. Gambino controlled approximately 40% of supply. The company’s coordinated deliveries, ensured quality, maintained schedule. From Trump’s perspective, the service was excellent. Concrete arrived on time, was high quality, construction proceeded smoothly. The price was another matter.
Independent analysis later estimated Trump paid 20 to 30% above market rates for concrete on 200,000 cubic yards. That premium cost approximately 8 to 12 million in inflated prices. Where did that extra money go? To the mob families distributed through the concrete companies to the bosses who controlled them. Union cooperation.
Construction unions at Trump Tower were model employees. No strikes, no slowdowns, no problems. Why? Because the unions were controlled by the same families controlling concrete. Teamsters local 282, which controlled concrete truck drivers, was heavily influenced by the Gambino family.
The union made sure Trump Tower got priority. Trucks arrived on schedule. Drivers were efficient. No labor disputes. Other construction unions followed suit. When the mob families wanted a project to succeed, unions cooperated. When they wanted a project to fail, unions struck. Trump Tower succeeded because the families wanted it to succeed. They were making money from it.
City approvals. Various city permits and approvals were needed for Trump Tower. Zoning variances, building permits, safety inspections. These approvals could be delayed or denied if certain people objected. Roy Conn through his political connections ensured smooth approvals. Some of Con’s connections were legitimate politicians he’d supported.
Others were less legitimate people who owed favors or feared Con’s ability to destroy reputations. The combination of Con’s influence and the mob family’s indirect control over various city agencies meant Trump Tower faced minimal bureaucratic obstacles. Trump Tower’s construction began in 1980 and was completed in 1983.
The timeline was remarkably smooth for such a large project. Why? Because everyone who could cause problems had been paid off or controlled during construction. No strikes. Despite using dozens of contractors and hundreds of union workers, Trump Tower experienced no strikes. Unusual for a project of that size in 1980s New York, where strikes were common. No concrete delays.
Concrete arrived on schedule for every pour. Critical because concrete pores had to be continuous. Stopping midpour could create structural weaknesses. No significant accidents. While construction accidents were investigated later, Trump was criticized for safety violations. No major accidents delayed the project. No organized crime violence.
In the early 1980s, New York’s construction sites often experienced violence, intimidation, vandalism, occasional bombings when contractors didn’t pay extortion. Trump Tower experienced none of this. The smooth construction was evidence that Trump had made the necessary arrangements, had paid the mob tax, had worked within the system.
Trump himself later said in interviews, though not in these exact words, “Building in New York required working with tough people. You had to deal with unions, deal with suppliers, deal with various interests. I did what I had to do to get the building built. Trump never explicitly admitted working with organized crime, but the evidence was clear to anyone who understood how New York construction operated.
Trump Tower cost approximately $200 million to build. Independent analysts later estimated that if Trump had been able to buy concrete at actual market rates without the mob premium and if he’d avoided various other mob related costs, he could have saved 15 to $25 million. But saving that money wasn’t an option.
The choice was pay the mob tax and build or don’t build at all. Trump chose to pay and Trump Tower was completed. Opened in 1983, was a massive success. The retail space leased quickly. The luxury condos sold for premium prices. Trump’s reputation as a major Manhattan developer was established. The mob families also profited.
15 to $25 million divided between the Genevies and Gambino families, distributed to bosses, captains, soldiers, invested in other criminal enterprises, or laundered through legitimate businesses. Everyone won. Trump got his building and his reputation. The mob families got millions of dollars. The unions got well-paid jobs.
the city got a new landmark building. The only losers were the concept of free market competition and the rule of law. But in 1980s New York, those concepts didn’t really exist in the construction industry. In 1985, federal prosecutors led by Rudolph Giuliani, US attorney for the Southern District of New York, indicted the leaders of New York’s five crime families on racketeering charges.
The commission case was the largest organized crime prosecution in American history. Among the charges, control of the concrete industry, bidrigging, extortion, labor racketeering. Among those indicted, Anthony Fat Tony Salerno, Genevvesi boss, Paul Castayano, Gambino boss. Actually, Castellano was murdered in December 1985 before trial.
other family bosses and captains. The prosecution presented evidence of how the Concrete Club operated, how families controlled unions, how every major construction project in New York involved mob participation. Trump Tower was mentioned in the trial, not as illegal activity by Trump. Trump was never charged with anything, but as an example of how the system worked.
Prosecutors showed that Trump had used mobcontrolled concrete companies, had paid inflated prices, had benefited from mobcontrolled union cooperation. The evidence wasn’t disputed because it was obvious to everyone in the construction industry. Trump Tower, like virtually every other major building constructed in New York in the early 1980s, had involved working with organized crime.
The commission case resulted in convictions. Solerno, convicted, sentenced to 100 years, died in prison, 1992. other bosses, various convictions and sentences. The convictions broke the mob’s control over New York construction. By the late 1980s, the concrete club had collapsed. Unions were being cleaned up. Free market competition was returning.
But Trump Tower had already been built. The mob had already made their money. Trump had already established himself as a major developer. Roy Conn died on August 2nd, 1986 at age 59 from AIDS related complications. Con had been closeted gay throughout his life despite publicly attacking homosexuality during his McCarthy days.
Before his death, Conn was disbarred in 1986 for unethical conduct, including lying to clients and misappropriating funds. His legal empire collapsed. His reputation was destroyed. But Con’s legacy remained. The connections he’d made, the deals he’d facilitated, the bridge he’d built between legitimate business and organized crime.
Trump spoke at Con’s funeral, said Conn had been a great lawyer and a loyal friend. Never mentioned Con’s mob clients. never mentioned the introductions Con had made that allowed Trump Tower to be built. Trump Tower’s success launched Donald Trump into the celebrity developer role he would maintain for decades.
He built other projects, expanded into casinos, created the Trump brand, eventually entered politics, and became the 45th president of the United States. Trump’s early dealings with mobcont controlled construction were investigated multiple times. 1980s federal prosecutors looked into Trump Towers construction during commission case. No charges.
1990s various journalists investigated Trump’s mob connections. No prosecutions. 2016 during presidential campaign media examined Trump’s past dealings. No new legal issues. No evidence ever emerged that Trump himself committed crimes. The crimes were committed by the mob families who controlled the industry. Trump, like hundreds of other developers, simply worked within the system that existed.
Was that unethical? Maybe. Was it illegal? No. Was it avoidable? Not if you wanted to build in 1980s Manhattan. The story of how Trump Tower got built isn’t really about Donald Trump. It’s about how New York operated in the 1980s. About how organized crime had infiltrated and controlled entire industries so completely that legitimate businessmen had no choice but to work with criminals.
Want to build in Manhattan? Use mobc controlled concrete companies. Pay mob inflated prices. Work with mob influenced unions. Get approval from mob bosses. Pay the mob tax. Want to open a restaurant? Pay protection money. Use mob connected suppliers. Hire mob recommended vendors. Want to run a business in New York? Work with the mob directly or indirectly.
openly or quietly, but work with them. This wasn’t unique to Trump. This was everyone. Every developer, every contractor, every business owner, everyone who wanted to operate in New York had to accommodate the reality of mob control. Trump Tower was just one example among hundreds. But it’s an interesting example because the developer became president of the United States.
Because the connections Trump, Roy Conn, Fat Tony Serno, Paul Castayaniano are well documented. Because the story illustrates how the system actually worked. Donald Trump built Trump Tower in the early 1980s with help from two of the most powerful mob bosses in America. Anthony Fat Tony Solerno and Paul Castayano controlled New York’s concrete industry completely.
Anyone building in Manhattan worked with them. Trump through his lawyer Roy Conn made the necessary arrangements, used their concrete companies, paid their inflated prices, built his building with mob blessing. Trump was never charged with crimes. The mob bosses were later convicted in the commission case. The system was eventually broken, but Trump Tower still stands.
A monument to 1980s New York, to how the city really worked, to how legitimate business and organized crime were so intertwined that you couldn’t separate them. This is history. This is how New York operated. And Trump Tower, love it or hate it politically, is a perfect example of that era. Built with mob concrete, constructed by mob controlled unions, approved by mob connected fixers, standing as evidence that in 1980s Manhattan, you couldn’t build anything significant without working with the Italian mafia. Here.