The organizer of this negotiation was none other than Harding, the powerful and influential chief of police in New York City.
Although Brotherhood boss Cornelio and Mafia boss Benjamin were towering figures of immense power and renown in the underworld of New York City—individuals who ordinarily paid no heed to rank-and-file patrolmen, and whom even ordinary officers feared and respected—they dared not show the slightest disrespect in the presence of Harding.
For Harding represented the vast and formidable law enforcement apparatus of the entire New York City.
Chapter 215