![]() ![]() Things could go wrong, however, most often due to leaks that alerted subjects to the presence of recording devices. "Our success rate was around the 99th percentile," said Cantamessa. If he had, he could have been called to testify in court, and in the courtroom, the contents of his "black bag" would have been discussed and analyzed, alerting the mob to developments in FBI technology. This is why, though he installed wires, Cantamessa never listened to the surreptitiously recorded audio. Microphones, for example, could be concealed inside of telephone pieces. "'Hold the flashlight, can you give me a hand with this, can you pull on this,'" he'd ask, "Whatever the case was."Ĭantamessa was able to pull this off because few outside the FBI knew what the agency's technology looked like. "That helped me," he said, "my undercover identity was, in fact, back stopped by me and my life experiences."Īnother technique he deployed to sooth suspicions was enlisting his targets' help with his work. Cantamessa drew on his real-life knowledge of the area to prove his Bronx bonafides. On one occasion, Cantamessa realized that a subject was subtly quizzing him about the Bronx, perhaps to see if he was a genuine New York repairman or an outsider. Sill, it wasn't unusual for those in the home he was bugging to be suspicious. After returning to the New York area, he earned an accounting degree before joining the FBI in 1976. Cantamessa, who grew up in the Bronx and New Jersey, worked as a telephone man before serving in the army during the Vietnam War, where he served as an electronics technician. It was undercover work, but not exactly a stretch for the agent. ![]() Cantamessa was sent in dressed as a telephone repairman, and he installed a recording device in the household's phone. In one of the operations outlined in Fear City, the FBI, having learned that Gambino crime family member Angelo Ruggiero needed his telephone repaired, gained cooperation from the telephone company to intercept the assignment. That's when he would be tapped as an undercover operative. "When we could not effect a surreptitious entry during the night or during some unoccupied time, we had to create an alternative scenario that might work," Cantamessa told Esquire. The 78 Best Documentaries on Netflix to Watch Nowįor years, Cantamessa worked as a "black bag man," an intelligence operative skilled in entering suspects' homes, cars, and hangouts and installing hidden surveillance technology.It's likely it'll have new characters and cast members though most of the original cast members bounced by the time NYU finished its fourth season, and swapping out or killing characters is, if of course, par for the course in the procedural game. Should New York Undercover's revival get a full series commitment it could go to ABC or possibly Fox, which Deadline reports showed interested in the series. ![]() Meanwhile, a stream of African-American and Latino guest stars, including Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell, Ice-T and Giancarlo Esposito among others, appeared frequently, making it a singular series in the landscape. ![]() The first police drama on American TV with two people of color in the lead roles, New York Undercover was part of a Thursday night lineup on Fox that also included Living Single and Martin - a schedule that helped Fox become a major player against ABC, NBC and CBS. Blige and other then-emerging talents - the series dripped with hip-hop flavor and a gritty feel unlike any other show at the time.ĭiscover your new favorite show: Watch This Now! The original series starred Malik Yoba and Michael Delorenzo as two NYC undercover detectives, and since the series was also executive-produced by Andre Harrell - founder of the Uptown Records label that incubated Sean Combs, Mary J. It will be helmed by procedural god Dick Wolf, who co-created the original series, and written by Ben Watkins, creator of Hand of God. Deadline reports that ABC has made a commitment for a pilot to go into production. New York Undercover, the 1990s procedural with a hip-hop edge, just got one one step closer to landing a revival. ![]()
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