[1] In the city, he is still widely known for his philanthropy: donating animals to the Philadelphia Zoo, helping build youth programs and funding parades.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Philadelphia was an important pop music center, with many bands and singers being made or broken in the city at Palumbo's clubs.
Disturbed by an article critical of the area, singer Mario Lanza penned a response which identified Palumbo as an unsung hero of the city.
Lanza lauded Palumbo for taking thousands of orphans to the circus, arranging parades for visiting celebrities and buying animals for the zoo.
[7] The Click Club featured the world's longest bar and a rotating stage large enough for two bands, so as to provide uninterrupted music.
Prima was also scheduled to perform the national anthem at the Philadelphia Phillies game earlier that day to promote the opening.
"[6][9] Though he never held elected office, Palumbo had unofficial power with South Philadelphia's Republican ward leaders[10] and allegedly served as the mob's "political fixer".
An Inquirer Magazine article in 1975 suggested that his intense need for privacy and philanthropic zeal may have been used to cover an unexplained secret life of some kind.
They took on the newly formed, and thus "undefeated", "Frank Sinatra's Cyclones" in a game heavily promoted by the Philadelphia Daily News.
After the game, Palumbo drew the names of two players for trips to the Sugar Bowl, generating three more days of coverage as the News ran articles penned by one of the winners.
[14] A 1950–1 U.S. Senate investigation into organized crime found that Palumbo's CR Club was the meeting place for some 50 of the Philadelphia mob's numbers game backers.
Philadelphia City Councilman and later U.S. ambassador to Italy Tom Foglietta was godfather to Palumbo's daughter said, His friends go down to the restaurant, and if they want to talk, or they need a favor, Frank's there.
Sinatra visited the "black tie saloon" frequently[3] and mayor Frank Rizzo spent most evenings there during his rise to power, years in office and beyond.