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By Jerry Capeci

Things at home had to be pretty bad. Why else would DePalma leave Solomon's comfortable home in tony Scarsdale to go to a nearby Friendly's restaurant. It couldn't have been the ice cream sundaes.  And if it were about Solomon's cooking, Scarsdale has plenty of quaint eateries that deliver.

DePalma had to know a little excursion to Friendly's would mean a short trip back to the Westchester County jail. Federal prosecutors were not happy that his co-defendant and reputed boss, John A. (Junior) Gotti, had just gotten released from the joint and would be eager to demonstrate their angst if DePalma gave them half a chance.

And so, the day after Junior Gotti (left) went home to his wife and kids, DePalma was back in the slammer. White Plains Federal Judge Barrington Parker released him six months ago under strict house arrest conditions, although not quite as severe as Junior's. DePalma was allowed to leave Solomon's house to travel to court, his attorneys' offices or other court authorized locations. Friendly's is not on the approved list.

At least he'll have someone to talk to about his busted romance. His father Greg has been jailed since they and Gotti were arrested in January. But what a way to end a relationship -- especially since Solomon, a Montessori school teacher, signed a $1 million bond to spring him.

The feds say DePalma met some mob associates at Friendly's but Gang Land couldn't raise DePalma's attorney over the weekend to get his explanation.

Meanwhile, the onetime Dapper Don and still official Gambino family boss John Gotti underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his throat at the federal prison hospital in Springfield Missouri on Sept. 26.

The rules are simple as usual: One guess per person, via e-mail, of course. Anyone caught submitting more than one guess will be rubbed out - with all entries eliminated. Deadline is Nov. 1.

There are three prizes. First prize is an autographed copy of Mob Star: The Story of John Gotti.  As most readers know, the book is one of the favorite mob books of Andy, Gang Land's organized crime historian. It is also out of print. But we have a copy and are putting it up as first prize. Autographed, of course.

Second prize is a copy of Murder Machine, also by Gene Mustain and yours truly. Third prize is an autographed copy of Gotti: Rise and Fall.

Just to be different, and difficult, there are six questions, each worth the same 15 points. Question No. 2 has a 10-point bonus part. Good luck.

1. Name the singer who originally had the Frank Sinatra-like role of Johnny Fontaine in "The Godfather" but backed out fearing a negative reaction? Hint. He had a top ten hit with "On The Street Where You Live."

2. Name the Canadian singing group that sang at the August 1956 wedding of Salvatore (Bill) Bonanno and Rosalie Profaci. For extra credit, name the group's three top ten hits at that point in their career.

3. Name the night club singer who became a comedian and a Las Vegas fixture noted for his "insult" humor after a Chicago gangster orchestrated a  disabling attack on him in 1927.

4. Name the Colombo capo who prevented Morris Levy, the Genovese family backed head of Roulette Records, from muscling in on the Shangri-Las after the group had a No. 5 hit with "Remember" (Walking In The Sand) and a No. 1 with "Leader of the Pack" in 1964.

5. Name the hit song by Mickey and Sylvia that typified the relationship  between Robert DeNiro and Sharon Stone and was playing when they first met in the movie, "Casino."

6. Name the three top ten hits that Jay and the Americans had while Jay Black, who sang at a couple of weddings of John Gotti's kids, was the group's lead singer.

In a tedious 17-page decision, Brooklyn Federal Judge I. Leo Glasser rambled on that he wasn't biased in favor of Salvatore (Sammy Bull) Gravano (right) and would not step aside and let another judge handle a wrongful death suit filed against the mob turncoat by the daughter of one of his 19 murder victims.

Glasser, who gave Gravano five years in prison, accused the press of repeatedly misquoting his sentencing remarks, charged the woman's lawyer of doing the same, and said he was listening to his conscience in refusing to give up the case.

Citing provisions which mandate judges to remove themselves from cases in which their "impartiality might reasonably be questioned," lawyer Ronald Kuby had moved to disqualify Glasser.

"My conscience tells me it would be wrong to grant this motion," said Glasser, after recounting many reasons why Gravano's sentence was fair, considering all the help he gave the feds in sending 39 mob killers and other bad guys to prison, often for life.

To step aside, reasoned Glasser, would encourage others who didn't like a particular judge, to follow suit, and that would be wrong.

As expected, attorney Ronald Kuby knocked the decision and said he'll ask a federal appeals court to remove Glasser.

Maybe this time the higher court will tell Glasser to butt out, if only to preserve the appearance of fair play.

Gravano's sentence may have been fair, considering all the help he gave the feds in sending 39 mob killers and other bad guys to prison, often for life. But for Glasser to refuse to step aside and let some other judge with a fresh perspective handle this case is the height of arrogance.

The only judge less suited to handle this case would be former assistant U.S. attorney John Gleeson, who was appointed to the federal bench in 1994, two years after he put Gravano on the witness stand against John Gotti.

ASK ANDY
This week, Andy, our organized crime historian seen here with "Mob Star," answers a query from Lee Rosenthal, who asked for a primer on the Kefauver committee and a few books on the subject.

The Kefauver Committee was an interesting milestone in the fight against organized crime. An ambitious Senator from Tennessee, Estes Kefauver was looking for an issue that would catch the public's attention. He hit the jackpot with organized crime and by televising some of the more spectacular committee testimony made it a national concern. As always, Americans were looking for a boogie man to blame for their troubles, and the sinister cast of characters paraded before the committee and the cameras suggested the possibility of a diabolical, secret organization that controlled illegal gambling and other criminal enterprises. The committee, however, never proved the existence of the Mafia but that lapse was basically overlooked in the glare of the spotlight.

Kefauver's Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce held hearings from March 1950 to May 1951. This was in the era of "machine"politics. Gambling was seen by many as a harmless crime, and corruption was widespread. Political strongmen with mob ties controlled many of the large cities. Dirty cops and crooked politicians of all stripes were exposed at the hearings.

At the time, the Committee was often attacked as an exercise in Italian bashing by academics who dismissed out of hand the idea of an organization like the Mafia. While Kefauver's Committee actually poked around the edges of La Cosa Nostra without gaining a clear picture, it did  contribute to the misleading notion that the Mafia controlled all organized crime in the country. So in essence, the deniers as well as the believers helped create a distorted picture by pushing this fallacy.

In the Movietone news reels of the Committee, the moral posturing of some of the Senators is stunning. The memorial highlights included the appearance of New York crime boss and political power, Frank Costello, (right) often called the Prime Minister of Organized Crime, and Meyer Lansky, (left) the mob's legendary financial wizard.  Another dramatic moment was testimony by Virginia Hill, girlfriend of the late Bugsy Siegel. A legendary seductress, Hill would appear tame, if not conservative, by today's standards. In private session, one Senator reportedly asked her what it was that attracted Siegel to her. She replied that it was because, at the time, she was the best in the world at performing the oral sex act that is Monica Lewinsky's claim to fame.

Some suggested readings:

ORGANIZED CRIME by HOWARD ABADINSKY - a good overview of the subject with a brief analysis of the Kefauver Hearings.

ORGANIZED CRIME IN AMERICA by JAY S. ALBANESE - a brief analysis of the
Committee

THE KEFAUVER COMMITTEE AND THE POLITICS OF CRIME by WILLIAM MOORE - a criticism of the Committee's conclusions which the author claims were not supported by the facts.

CRIME IN AMERICA by ESTES KEFAUVER - a personal perspective by the Senator which seems naive in hindsight.

KEFAUVER COMMITTEE REPORT ON ORGANIZED CRIME

REPORT ON ORGANIZED CRIME by THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION (1952)

THE KEFAUVER STORY by JACK ANDERSON and RALPH BLUMENTHAL (1956) - ugh!

TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS by HARRY JACOB ANSLINGER and W.F. THOMPKINS

BUGSY'S BABY by ANDY EDMONDS - a good account of Virginia Hill's
appearance before the Committee

LITTLE MAN by ROBERT LACEY- a good account of Meyer Lansky's appearances plus some analysis of the Committee itself.

KEFAUVER: A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY by JOSEPH BRUCE GORMAN

MAN OF HONOR by JOSEPH BONANNO -Bonanno gives a brief opinion of the Committee's work, interesting in that it comes from the mobster side.