Politician Giulio Andreotti is elected Prime Minister of Italy;[1] the first of three elections won by Andreotti for the title of Prime Minister. He would later be convicted of mafia association and conspiracy to murder.
Tommaso Buscetta arrested in New York for the second time on a double murder conviction in Italy. This time he is extradited to Italy to begin a life sentence.
Frank Joseph Valenti, a New York syndicate leader and gambling racketeer, is imprisoned.
July 16 – Thomas Eboli, "front boss" of the Genovese crime family, is shot five times in his head and neck and killed while staying at his girlfriend's Brooklyn home in Crown Heights. Capo Frank "Funzi" Tieri is selected to replace Eboli, but the real power behind the throne since 1969 is Philip "Benny Squint" Lombardo
August 11 – An unidentified gunman shot 4 men, 2 to death, at the Neapolitan Noodle, a Manhattan restaurant. The victims were wholesale meat dealers, having been mistaken apparently for Alphonse Persico, Gennaro Langella, and other members of the Colombo Family faction, who were dining at the restaurant the same time. The shooting was likely orchestrated by the remaining powers in the Gallo gang, including Joe Gallo’s youngest brother, Albert "Kid Blast" Gallo and Frank Illiano.
November 13 – Joseph Yacovelli, Carmine Persico, Carmine DiBiase, and Joseph Russo, of the Colombo Family, are indicted for their efforts to enable Russo to avoid prosecution for murder. Mistrial is declared in the case against Persico and Russo on September 25, 1973, due to prejudicial publicity relating to Persico's background.
December 28 – A loanshark for the Gambino crime family, known only as "Junior", is abducted from a Staten Island neighborhood by James McBratney and "Crazy" Eddie Maloney and held for ransom. Although the two successfully received $21,000 for his release, McBratney was identified as one of the kidnappers after local kids had witnessed the attack and copied the licence plate number. The two Irish gangsters has been successfully kidnapping New York mobsters over the past two months.
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