A derelict Trenton steakhouse, once run by a man convicted in a bribery scheme that included former city mayor Tony Mack, was demolished Monday afternoon.
JoJo’s Steak House was among the six homes in the 1200 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in North Trenton that crews dismantled Monday. It’s where proprietor Joseph “JoJo” Giorgianni discussed and accepted bribes on behalf of Mack in 2012. Both went to prison in 2014 along with Mack’s brother, Ralphiel Mack.
Before it fell, Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora salvaged the sign from out front. The city plans to donate it to the Trenton Free Public Library’s Trentoniana history collection.
“I just thought that in 50 years, people should know what transpired there,” Gusciora said.
Workers pose with signs from JoJo’s Steak House before its demolition on Feb. 21, 2022.
The demolitions are part of the city’s strategic demolition initiative announced last summer, run by the Department of Economic Development. The program uses two parallel tracks for demolitions — imminent hazards and long-term strategic demolitions of city-owned properties – to clear the way for redevelopment.
The city on Monday razed six homes on the block and is still working to condemn a seventh, which is in private ownership, to complete a clean sweep of the block.
The demolition physically removed Jo Jo’s, a symbol of a sad, corrupt chapter in the city, and it’s highly-visible location seen by motorists driving south into the city on Princeton Avenue, just as they pass a sign that says, “Welcome to Historic Trenton.”
Gusciora said he’s like to see a mix of residential and commercial development on the block.
A block of homes including JoJo’s Steak House are demolished in Trenton on Feb. 21, 2022.
JoJo’s was also where Giorgianni peddled painkillers. He pleaded guilty in December 2013 to conspiracy, bribery, extortion and drug and weapons-related offenses just before he was set to go to trial alongside Mack and Mack’s brother Ralphiel.
During his plea hearing, Giorgianni admitted to handing Tony Mack $8,000 in bribe money in the spring of 2012. The money, he said, had come as bribes from the men he thought were looking to build a parking garage downtown. The supposed developers were actually working for the FBI taping conversations with Giorgianni.
The FBI was also listening to phone calls between Giorgianni and Mack though a wiretap.
Giorgianni and the Mack brothers have all been released from prison.
A row of homes, including JoJo’s Steak House, before their demolition on Feb. 21, 2022.
A block of homes including JoJo’s Steak House are demolished in Trenton on Feb. 21, 2022.
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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com.
