Brooklynites lined the streets to watch the procession. He was buried wearing evening clothes, holding grey suede gloves and a gold rosary. Thirty-eight cars were required to bear all the floral arrangements while 250 Cadillac limousines carried the mourners. Yale's $15,000 silver casket rested on an open hearse with a podium. At Holy Cross Cemetery, there was additional drama when two different women claimed to be Yale's wife. As the casket was lowered, 112 mourners simultaneously tossed roses into the grave. Yale's funeral set a standard of opulence for American gangsters that has been seldom matched over the years. Legacy While Yale is somewhat overlooked in crime histories, he was one of New York's leading gangsters in the 1920s. In the initial aftermath of Yale's murder, leadership of his family was taken over by Anthony Carfano. Four months later Joe Masseria orchestrated the murder of mobster Salvatore D'Aquila. The December 1928 Hotel Statler meeting in Cleveland was most probably called to head off a potential New York gang war. Roughly half of Yale's men and territory were absorbed by the D'Aquila crime family, which was now led by Al Mineo, while the rest remained under Carfano. Yale's murder turned out to be the first in a series of events that facilitated Masseria's attempt to consolidate all of New York's Mafia families under his control, which eventually resulted in the Castellammarese War. In popular culture Yale is mentioned in Arthur Miller's play A View from the Bridge. Yale's story was given the comic book treatment in All True Detective Cases No. 2, Avon Comics April/May 1954. Yale is portrayed by John Cassavetes in the 1975 film Capone. Yale is played by Robert Ellenstein in the TV series The Lawless Years and by Al Ruscio in the original The Untouchables television series. A much more simplified depiction of his murder was featured in the opening scene of an episode of the remake series. He is portrayed by Joseph Riccobene in the HBO Series Boardwalk Empire. References Sources External links Prohibition - The "Noble Experiment": Other Crime Figures 1893 births 1928 deaths 1928 murders in the United States American crime bosses Al Capone associates Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn Criminals from Brooklyn Deaths by firearm in Brooklyn Five Points Gang American funeral directors Genovese crime family Italian emigrants to the United States Italian crime bosses Italian gangsters Male murder victims Murdered American