Mansions once owned by infamous New York gangsters aren’t selling, and it’s not because they have mob ties.
Local real estate agents expected infamy to be a big selling point for the mafia mansions, but it turns out what’s scaring off buyers isn’t the dark history — it’s the criminal décor.
A massive Staten Island home at 177 Benedict Road in the Todt Hill neighborhood built by Gambino boss Paul ‘Big Paul’ Castellano, is a 33,000-square-foot gaudy spectacle perched on about 1.7 acres.
It includes indoor and outdoor Olympic-size pools, a 13-car garage, a home theater, a gym with sauna, wine cellar, solarium, and a facade meant to evoke the White House.
The problem is, it’s still ugly.
A Reddit thread dedicated to the home houses commenters opinions on why it’s not selling, with one writing of the decor: ‘My first impression was this had to be a mob boss’s house.’
‘The black vanity in the bathroom almost looks like a safe to me. It’s weird. So much opulence, and it just looks gaudy,’ another wrote.
So, despite being listed at $18 million, it remained unsold and was pulled off the market earlier this month.
Paul Castellano lived at his gaudy home until his 1985 death, when he was shot in Manhattan
New York mobster Paul Castellano commissioned the home in 1976 and completed his vision of it in 1980, but it has now been pulled off the market after struggling to sell
It has been repeatedly listed, taken off the market, relisted, and pulled again.
Despite the home’s views of the Verrazzano Bridge, would-be buyers can’t get their eyes past the heavily marbled interiors and how much it would cost to completely renovate the home.
‘Clients want clean, sleek finishes that are not over the top, which they can then further customize to their own taste with furnishings,’ said Serhant realtor Peter Zaitzeff.
‘There is also always a stigma about buying a property that comes with a notable history.
‘For example, Jeffrey Epstein’s New York City townhouse, with its garish interiors, sold for a fraction of the property’s value based on its past, while his Palm Beach residence was torn down and the address had to be changed.’
In 2024, agents thought Castellano’s home would break the record for the priciest home ever sold in the borough.
Castellano had commissioned the home in 1976 and completed his vision of it in 1980. He lived there until his 1985 death, when John Gotti had him gunned down by four men wearing Black Russian fur hats outside of Sparks Steak House in Manhattan.
John Gotti’s daughter Victoria Gotti couldn’t sell her Long Island mansion either.
Local real estate agents expected infamy to be a big selling point for the mafia mansions like Victoria Gotti’s Long Island mansion, but the décor is scaring off buyers
John Gotti’s daughter Victoria Gotti couldn’t sell her Long Island mansion and it fell into disrepair over the years
Real estate agents say clients want clean, sleek finishes that are not over the top, which they can then further customize to their own taste with furnishings
Gotti’s Old Westbury residence — once featured on her reality show Growing Up Gotti — is in severe decline.
After a 2016 federal raid, the house languished, crumbling more and more as the years went on.
In 2022 it was foreclosed on after Gotti failed to keep up with the mortgage payments.
It went on and off the market for the next two years before finally selling in 2024 for $1.1 million, well below its earlier listing prices.
Gotti personally picked out the marble floors and gold-trimmed chandeliers throughout the home.
The entryway features a grand staircase fit for a king.
Despite being bought at a steal, the 6,000-square-foot home and two-acre estate sits abandoned, its pool filled with leaves and dirty water.
The five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom mansion at 6 Birch Hill Court is a popular destination for explorers of abandoned homes. A quick search for the home’s history will lead to YouTubers touring the home, which still has remnants of the Gotti family’s life there, including dusty furniture, and a secret room hidden behind a built-in bookshelf.
John Gotti, otherwise known as ‘The Dapper Don’ in New York City in 1987
Victoria Gotti’s five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom mansion at 6 Birch Hill Court is a popular destination for explorers of abandoned homes
Gotti’s Old Westbury residence — once featured on her reality show Growing Up Gotti — has fallen into decline
Notorious gangster Al Capone may have had a stronghold on Chicago, but he grew up in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where he lived in a historic brick front townhouse. It was in such bad shape it took a developer to come in and gut it to the studs.
They rebuilt the interiors with a modern formal sitting room and dining area, along with a chef’s kitchen and a backyard garden.
The six-bedroom, eight-bathroom townhouse is currently under contract.
The home at 38 Garfield Place listed for $6.25 million and recently sold to an individual buyer for $5.95 million.
The five-story residence was purchased by Capone’s parents in the early 1900s when he was 11, and he remained there until his early 20s, when he moved to the Windy City to kickstart his career in crime.