The team consisted of Lucchese crime family associate Robert "Bobby" Germaine, whose job would consist of prying open lock boxes maintained for guests in an open vault; Ali-Ben, a contract killer who worked primarily for the Albanian Mafia; and Al Green, the brother-in-law of Ali Ben.
Ten minutes later, Green, dressed in a chauffeur's uniform, drove a black Cadillac limousine up to the hotel's 61st Street entrance.
Most of the hotel's guests were soundly sleeping off their escapades from the previous New Year's Eve extravaganzas, which they had attended wearing their finest jewels.
The jewels were kept in safety deposit boxes downstairs until more secure bank vaults re-opened at 9:00 that morning.
Frankos guarded the 61st Street entrance, handcuffing anyone who confronted him and leading them to Visconti, who brought the hostages to a large alcove near the registration desk, where he ordered them to lie face down on the floor.
The number of hostages grew steadily, ultimately totaling nineteen, but the robbers had brought three dozen pairs of handcuffs to deal with the situation.
Nalo forced the hotel auditor to provide the index cards that matched the boxes to depositors.
They only broke into lock boxes of people whose names they recognized, which included Harold Uris, Tom Yawkey, and Calliope Kulukundis.
The burglars did not handcuff anyone who looked ill or sick, and referred to their hostages as "sir" and "miss", never raising their voices.
Ali-Ben and his brother-in-law, Al Green, read in the newspaper about the stolen property recovered in Michigan and perceived that Nalo had tried to swindle them out of their share.
The only survivor from the cast of the heist at The Pierre is Nick "The Cat" Sacco, who is currently in the Federal Witness Protection Program for an unrelated matter.