Harvey 'Chris' Rosenberg, a 28-year-old male member of the notorious DeMeo crew, met a violent end on May 11, 1979, in Brooklyn, New York. His death was not a random act of violence but a calculated execution ordered from within the ranks of the Gambino crime family he served. Rosenberg, who despite his Jewish heritage was a significant figure in the Italian-American mafia, had become a liability after a drug deal with a Cuban cartel went sour.
He and other members of the DeMeo crew had murdered the drug suppliers and stolen the narcotics, an act that threatened to incite a war between the Gambino family and the Cuban cartel.
The pressure from the Cuban cartel was immense, and they demanded Rosenberg's death as retribution. The order to eliminate him fell to his own crew chief, Roy DeMeo. DeMeo reportedly hesitated for weeks due to his close, almost father-son-like relationship with Rosenberg. However, the escalating situation, which included DeMeo mistakenly killing an innocent college student he thought was a Cuban assassin, forced his hand. The Gambino family leadership made it clear that Rosenberg had to be dealt with to prevent further bloodshed.
On that fateful May evening, Rosenberg arrived at the Gemini Lounge, the crew's regular meeting spot, oblivious to the plot against him. As he sat with his associates, Roy DeMeo shot him in the head. The initial shot, however, did not kill him. As Rosenberg struggled to get up, another crew member, Anthony Senter, fired four more shots into his head, ending his life. To provide proof to the Cuban cartel that the deed was done, Rosenberg's body was not disposed of in the crew's usual grisly fashion of dismemberment. Instead, his corpse was placed in his car and left on a street near the Gateway National Recreation Area to ensure it would be discovered and reported in the news.
In the years that followed, the law caught up with the remnants of the DeMeo crew. While the immediate aftermath of Rosenberg's murder did not lead to arrests, his death was included in a sweeping 1984 indictment against the surviving members of the crew. Government witnesses provided extensive information on the crew's activities, leading to a trial in 1988. At this trial, several members of the DeMeo crew were convicted of numerous crimes, including the murder of Harvey 'Chris' Rosenberg. Anthony Senter was among those who received a life sentence for his role in the killing. Roy DeMeo, the man who pulled the trigger on his protégé, was himself murdered in 1983 before he could be brought to justice for his multitude of crimes.
