Inside Frank Costello's Home: Rare Photos of Domestic Life with Lauretta Geigerman
By Robert Thorne
The couple's privacy shattered on May 2, 1957. As Costello entered the lobby of The Majestic, gunman Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, sent by Costello's ruthless rival, Vito Genovese, fired a bullet directly at his head. The shot grazed Costello's skull, leaving him bloody but alive.
The shooting immediately drew police cordons and swarms of photojournalists directly to their home. While Costello refused to name his attacker in court, Geigerman stepped in to secure his recovery. She maintained total composure during the chaos, managing his private medical care and firmly turning away syndicate members who attempted to crowd the hallway. Recognizing that their Central Park West home had lost its safety, she coordinated their move to an upscale suite at the Waldorf Astoria Towers and leaned more heavily on their Sands Point retreat.
Federal scrutiny tightened further when the Kefauver Committee brought Costello's finances into national living rooms via televised hearings. Throughout the legal turmoil, tax evasion trials, and prison sentences that followed in the late 1950s, Geigerman remained fiercely loyal. She never spoke to the press, never gave tell-all interviews, and carefully handled their remaining finances through quiet trusts.
Robert Thorne covers electric vehicle innovations, autonomous driving systems, global mobility trends, and automotive engineering developments.
