Ed Stack, Dick's Sporting Goods CEO, fondly recalls his days growing up on Binghamton's East Side and its impact on his life, Oct. 22, 2019. Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin


It started by accident in Broome County, which led to Tioga County, which led to an event that altered American law enforcement. It would change the way the federal officials would act and react to organize crime for all time — and yet, it all started with a bad check.

In early November 1957, state Trooper Sgt. Edgar Croswell stopped at the Vestal Motel on the Vestal Parkway to investigate a bounced check claim by the owner of the motel.  Someone had paid for their room, and the check bounced. It was not a monumental event, but one that trooper and other police officers routinely investigated.

Except this time, it was anything but routine. 

As Croswell discussed the matter with the staff, he noticed the expensive car of Joseph Barbara Jr. The desk clerk told him that Barbara was there to reserve a number of rooms. 

Croswell was curious — well, maybe more than curious. 

Barbara’s father was Joseph Barbara Sr. — the operator of the Canada Dry distributorship and also a dealer in alcoholic beverages in the Endicott area. 

Barbara was also a suspected figure in the Mafia and, as such, had been under the watchful eyes of the police for some time. 

For the people of the Endicott area, this was not news. Many were aware of some of the activities of some people in that area, and were savvy enough to avoid any prolonged contact with those suspected. Barbara had recently purchased a 58-acre estate in nearby Apalachin in Tioga County.

Croswell watched as Barbara Jr. left, and quietly followed him back to the estate. The Vestal Motel had several expensive, and mostly black cars already parked, and Croswell alerted his supervisors with the state police. 

Just a year before, a traffic stop near Barbara’s home had set up alarms when a noted mob figure was found to be driving the car. This time, more alarms went up because of the number of rooms and cars that were connected to Barbara Jr.

If Croswell could have had eyes in the skies, he would be even more alarmed at the number of Cadillacs, Buicks and Oldsmobiles that were to be found parked near the Arlington and Carlton Hotels in Binghamton. Dozens and dozens of cars with drivers who all left their hotel rooms about the same time and driving to the west.

Those cars arrived at the home of Joseph Barbara Sr. for a barbecue. This barbecue was not a friendly gathering to celebrate Barbara’s recovery from a recent heart attack — though that would be the excuse. No, this meeting was a gathering of the top Mafia officials from major parts of the county to decide the course and direction for the Mafia in the future.

As the mob figures gathered and sat down to eat, one attendee had gone out to his car and noticed a roadblock down the road. Indeed, state troopers, federal agents and local police had established the roadblock to entrap the cars from leaving. The sheer number of people — now numbering around 100 at the Barbara residence  — indicated the importance of the gathering.

As the mob figure went back to the home and announced the arrival of the police, pandemonium broke loose. Realizing they were trapped, some ran to their cars and tried to run the roadblock but failed to get through. Others, wearing expensive suits, ran through the farm fields hoping to hide out in nearby barns. 

Some made it, while many others did not.

In the end, 62 suspects were rounded up and taken off to holding cells to await further police action. The list of those captured was a who’s who of the Mafia, and the list of their suspected offenses was a litany of crime. 

Yet, there was a serious problem — it was not illegal to have or attend a barbecue. 

Eventually, they were released. However, while they were not arrested, it forced J. Edgar Hoover to acknowledge that organized crime existed in the form of the Mafia. 

Barbara Sr. would die of a heart attack in 1959 while awaiting tax evasion charges, and his home would go through several owners, while the Apalachin mob meeting would forever change our country.

Gerald Smith is the Broome County historian. Email him at 

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