When Terry Cunningham purchased what would become York Street Café in Newport in 1997, he wasn’t expecting former mobsters to show up on his doorstep.
“The very first day I bought the place, two guys came in with hammers in their hands and they wanted to knock the tops off all my banisters,” said Cunningham.
The two men, who Cunningham said were in their 80s or 90s, claimed to have worked in the building during the mafia’s heyday in Newport. Cunningham said the men had belonged to the Fraternal Order of Eagles on the third floor, which was known to house an illegal gambling operation.
“They always had a watchman up there so when the cops would come, they would open up the banisters and throw all the money and cards in there and cover it back up,” said Cunningham, who promptly sent the men away.
Cunningham knew there was probably some truth to the story. All the woodwork on the stairs of the four-story building was uniform except for the banister tops, which were mismatched types of wood and were very clearly nailed back on at some point.
From 1880 to 1965 the building was a pharmacy until it was shut down because, according to Cunningham, the pharmacy was running numbers. It changed hands several times until Cunningham and his wife opened the York Street Café.
He knew his building housed secrets. He was tipped off eight years ago, by an old gangster who Cunningham said had been questioned by the U.S. Senate’s Kefauver Committee about mob-related activity, that there were three hidden safes in the building. Cunningham knew of two, but this man’s revelation eventually led Cunningham to the third.
Cunningham, 66, has been in the restaurant industry for 47 years and has owned various establishments and clubs throughout Greater Cincinnati. He also co-owned 13 Howl at the Moon Saloons across the nation. He was no stranger to the restaurant business, but the mob twist was a new one.
Although he was well aware that Newport had been steeped in illegal gambling, prostitution and mob activity, he didn’t investigate until he spoke with George Ciccarone, former WKRC features reporter who has also worked for many national television shows and networks, including Good Morning America, Animal Planet and The Travel Channel. Ciccarone also is the creator and producer of the HBO series “Cathouse.”
Ciccarone thought it was worth checking into, so he suggested a live television event to broadcast the efforts to recover what hidden treasure may lie within the building’s banisters.
“I said, ‘What the hell? Who knows what we’re going to find in there?’” said Ciccarone. “It may be nothing or it may be a lot, so we documented the whole thing, and that’s the beauty of it, you just don’t know so you are along for the ride.”
About three weeks ago, after the nightclub closed down at 1 a.m., Cunningham, Ciccarone and a camera crew set out to retrieve what they hoped would be a fortune that had been hurriedly stashed away during a police raid back in the 1950s and 1960s.
They used a light and a snake camera to fish inside the banisters. They found nothing until they got to the third floor, when they spotted some rolled-up bills.
“It was like the Titanic when it first comes into view when you push that camera down there,” said Ciccarone. “Your heart skips a beat.”
What they found were some long forgotten, stray bills amounting to $42 in silver certificate currency dating from 1932 to 1957 and part of an old advertisement for nightlife from over 50 years ago.
They hoped the find would be large enough so they could sell the video to “Inside Edition” or another television news magazine, but the yield wasn’t enough to pique national interest.
“I don’t regret doing it,” said Ciccarone, who is working on a Cincinnati-based reality show about tenants and landlords. “It’s still a very cool story. The thing that fascinates me about Newport is you go into these old buildings where illegal gambling and prostitution was, and there’s still hidden safes and peepholes and things like that.”
Ciccarone said he gave the film to a local producer who is making a documentary about Newport and said while the haul wasn’t large, it proves that the mafia was a strong force in the area years ago.
Cunningham said he may display his findings at his restaurant.
“It’s kind of neat that it happened here in my building. I don’t want to go bragging about finding mob money,” Cunningham joked. “I’m sure there’s still mobsters around.”
Cunningham said he may one day scour the property for more hidden gems, but since there are three buildings and four stories in all, he wouldn’t know where to start.
Until then, he will be satisfied knowing that his building is full of intrigue and had a colorful past rooted deep in the mob underworld.
