“Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”
Liberty State Park — Jersey City, New Jersey
In the New York guidePlan a day here
On screen
Paulie Gatto, the Don’s driver, “was sick” on the very day of the shooting, and Sonny knows he is the traitor. Clemenza takes Paulie and Rocco for a drive. On a desolate road through the marshes, with the Statue of Liberty on the horizon, Clemenza stops to relieve himself and Rocco shoots Paulie from the back seat. Clemenza walks back to the car and delivers the famous line: “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”
The place today
According to New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection, the scene was shot in 1971 on an unmarked road that later became part of Liberty State Park, at a bend closer to Phillip Street than to Freedom Way. The spot lies inside a fenced 210-acre interior, closed to the public since the early 1980s because of contamination and now being restored. The rest of the park is open, with a waterfront walk facing the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan, and ferries to the statue and Ellis Island.
Did you know? According to a 2022 Yahoo News report, Richard Castellano, who played Clemenza, ad-libbed the cannoli part. As Clemenza leaves home at the start of the scene, his wife reminds him not to forget the cannoli; according to Scouting NY, that house is at 1999 East 5th Street in Brooklyn.
Sources: Yahoo News (לפי מחלקת הגנת הסביבה של ניו ג׳רזי) · Scouting NY