Chance encounters with wiseguys?

I live in NYC Manhattan for many years during the 70s-80s in the area NoHo so I hung around Little Italy, Lower East Side, Greenwich Village.
I used to walk bu the Ravenite daily but did not really know it was there but there was always wiseguys on the block because their was another social club around the corner on Spring Street also at Mott and Broome there was the Latineers Social Club. in about 1983 or 84 my girlfriend was across the street from Ravenite shopping in a Batik store so I go out front to smoke a cig, Im standing there and there is an ancient goodfella staring at the corner just staring and there is another dude like an Irishman standing next to me and from across the street comes a good looking husky Guido and he starts talkin to the Irish guy I caught a word by accident here and there , so the Guido leaves and the Irishman stays and the Guido comes back to talk to Irish again, well the Guido was John Gotti, he was running messages from Uncle Neil in the Ravenite.
I saw Gotti a bunch of times around the city before and after his infamy, Little Italy was thick with goodfellas back in the day.
Im gonna shut up but I would love tto hear anyone's stories.

I think the only mobster I ever saw in person was Anthony Scotto at his daughter's restaurant around 2001-2005. He was apparently shelved by that time anyway.

Did you ask the handsome husky guido for a date?

I am no finnuch but know an invitation for an ass kicking. Hey Gotti was the dapper Don, I remember what he was wearing on that specific occasion and it was a polo or a La Coste windbreaker but a loud color. Behind his back his friends called him 'Cump' due to his proclivity for sometimes loud clothing.

I didn't really know him, and didn't know at the time that he was connected, but I used to see Frank Langano in the diner he later got killed outside of. I remember thinking that he was a sharp dresser kind of like John Gotti, but thought nothing of it. I thought he was just another Italian American gentleman that moved down from the city. (That should have been a clue, most owners/managers of diners in NJ are Greek, not Italian) He seemed like a very normal guy. Apparently he was managing the place himself, he used to work the cash register and everything. Whatever his crimes, he did seem to work hard at legitimate business.

I understand he was powerful at one time with the longshoremen, pulled a lot of weight, was he related to the anastatia family?

His wife is Albert Anastasia's niece.

Wait a second, a diner in Jersey not owned by Greeks!?! Now that's shocking and unique....

I believe he was a part owner. The the other owners must have owed him money or something? Or maybe he bought in to the business to have a front?

Sure it wasn't this guy?

lol.... I think that guy is from a clubhouse in the west Village. When they give orders to whack it takes on a whole new meaning.

lol.... I think that guy is from a clubhouse in the west Village. When they give orders to whack it takes on a whole new meaning.

I mentioned once before that I played a party in Gotti's honor at the Roselli building on US1 in FT. Lauderdale Fl. This had to be around 1985-6. For the record I had no interaction with him at all. I just watched him and his pals eat and drink. And yes, they were nice enough to let us eat too. We also did really good on tips that night.

My Father was Ettore "Terry" Zappi's personal air conditioning mechanic for years. He worked on all of the AC units at Terry's houses plus he did work on Terry yacht which he kept docked at "Le Club International".

Terry also ran all the Bobby Rubinos rib joints for the Gambino family. His grandsons Tony and Frank Galgano handled the day to day operations. My Father did all the AC work for them too, plus the ice machines, walk in freezers etc...

They treated my Dad like a king. Always tipping him extra for last minute calls and sending him home with slabs and slabs of rib's

Over the years working in night clubs I've run into others that you would know but they are not worth mentioning because at most it was just a handshake or a "the music sounds great kid" kind of thing.

Sal

I was in a club in Hollywood fl that was always known as a place for gamblers to hang out and my Grampa worked there making sandwiches it was called Hemingways. One night Im in there and there is a couple tables full of New York Guidos but the cops came in FBI and local to arrest a dude at one of the tables that guy was Bruno Indelicato I guess he was in the wind from being a codefendent at the 5 families trial in lower manhattan. They had found his palm print on the hood of the Torino used in the Galante job.

Hey Uncle Vig!

One of the very first places I ever worked was Hemmingways. I started working there in 1980 and there were lines out the door every weekend. Big "Tino" was the doorman.

Boy was that a "hangout". The place was always crawling with gangsters in the 1980's. There were also what we used to call "half a wiseguy's", you know, wannabees with the white tie and black suit and the pinky rings who talked all kinds of shit but were connected to nobody. Just bullshit artists.

Its been my experience that the really heavy guys didn't swagger quite so much.

The owner was a crazy Russian guy named George Young. Every night when I'd walk in he'd say hello to me between long snorts. This guy was doing so much coke he couldn't say three words without his brains falling out of his nostrills.

The place was a hot spot for years, until it finally closed sometime in the mid 90's.

Funny story......My uncle was a carpenter and he did some re modeling when it became a gay place called "ManKind".

He told me that the new owners wanted some walls taken out upstairs where the office was. When they started chopping into the walls they found bags of this sticky yellow stuff. And off duty cop told them it was bags of coke that were probably hidden in those walls 10 or 15 years ago. The Florida humidity just got to them and ruined all of it.

Hollywood was a swinging place back then. Loaded with late night clubs and lots of gangsters during the winter months.....

Thanks for bringing up good old Hemminways.

Sal

There's a very popular place here in present day New Jersey in Seaside Heights called Hemmingways, owned by Jimmy Sinatra Craparotta's son....

https://www.google.com/amp/www.nj.com/ar...p?client=safari

Not a made guy but a semi legend in new england howie winter use to see him a sams club by my house. And a old made westside guy carlo at a deli driving by.

Hemmingways was a night club called Temptations since the late 70's, very early 80's and owned by an italian guy names Eugene up until late 90's or early 2000 when he sold to the current owner.
I was at Temps a lot back in the day and you would of been hard pressed to see hotter girls than the one's at temps.
I eat at hemmingways and they have decent food.

Not wiseguys but I was locked up with David "Super Dave" Warner years back. I got on laundry detail and interacted with him some since I could move around and communicate with everyone. Seemed like a nice guy who was intelligent. For those who don't know who he is, he was once a huge kingpin

Ill be Damned! Ya my Grampa when he retired made sandwiches there his name was Al Ross, it was Rossi or Rossilini at Ellis Island he was an old school gambler, half ass connected because of his own gambling habit so he ran card games, dice etc. It was through him that I met David Szyperski who became my best friend. Who the fuck was that? that was Jake Lanskys Grandson brother of Meyer Lansky. They owned the Diplomat. I never met Meyer but I knew Jake and his beautiful elegant wife Ann Lansky.
I digress.. Ya in the Winter time the whole mob was down in Miami/ Ft. Lauderdale I remember working on a boat to do a repair at pier #66 Marina and the boat at the next slip was 'Usual Suspects' Nicky Scarfos Boat. They were all in Pier 66 drinking but left a Goombah on the boat at all times to prevent bugs, or bombs I guess. They were not a friendly bunch, They gave me the stinkeye just for being near them doing my job.

Hey Vig,

Cool shit, I remember Pier 66 well. I worked there for awhile with the "Wally Hankin Quartet". The top floor revolved was it 66 times an hour or 66 times a day???

Not to be an asshole but I spent years working at the Diplomat "the Dip" we used to call it. Played in the Cafe Crystal for many big names back then. Burt Bacharach, Dolly Parton, Steve and Edie, Danny Thomas and many more that mean nothing unless you are over 60 (I'm 54).

Also worked in the Tack Room which was another big wiseguy hangout.

But I do know for a fact that Irving Cowan (Cohen) owned the Diplomat. I think that Lanksy had a big share of the old Singapore Hotel around 90th street and Collins ave.

Meyer used to walk his little yorkie every day up and down Collins Ave. He also liked to eat at Wolfies on 21st street.

His crippled son Buddy was the night manager of the singapore for many years.

By the 1980's most all the action had moved north to what is now called Aventura, Halendale and Hollywood.

There are still a few places mostly in Boca to spot some guys but theres really not much left of the golden era of pinky rings and Halston Z14.....

Just a bunch of stupid college kids who wouldn't know real entertainment if you hit them over the head with it.

Sal

Saw johnny Chang walking his little dog a few years ago around Hartranft and 20th. It was a little tiny lap dog, which if you didn't know of change reputation, might have made him look as harmless as can be

When we were sneaking into Philly bars in the 1990s you could see Joey Merlino and his crew all the time in certain spots--in Old City, you'd see them at The Continental, or at The Five Spot, which had swing dancing when that became huge, and then later became more of a hip hop spot before it "burned down accidentally." The local weekly used to have a MobWatch page where they'd profile these guys, and then you'd see them drinking it up down the bar from you a week later, it was fun.

The Five Spot had been Ralph Natale's hangout, and Phil Testa's before him, when it was called Virgilio's.

Merlino was a short, slight guy, and George Borgesi was a fire hydrant, but some of the others--Stevie Mazzone, Marty Angelina--were big guys, and big partiers.

Thats pretty cool to hear that there was a club with swing music called "The Five Spot" in Philly.

Back in the 1960's and early 70's there was a Five Spot in NY. I have never been there but it was one of the most famous jazz clubs in history, with many "live" albums recorded there.

Just curious, where is Joey Merlino now? When he first got out he could be spotted all over Boca Raton. Then he opened his own place. I think its closed but I'm not sure, I haven't been by there in well over a year.

Closest is a CT wiseguys daughter. Won't say names, she's not connected, obviously. Friend of mine was scared after hooking up with her once he found out who she was. He was a little dramatic about it, to say the least.

I'm a Jersey guy and I work in the city (Manhattan) but at a certain period in my life I was dating a South Philly Italian girl. I've seen my fair share of the Jersey crew Luchesse's, I ran into Andrew Merola at a Pizzeria once , and have seen a ton of DeCavalcantes where I come from in Jersey.

However, The Philly guys are something else! They're like a traveling circus party and I used to see them out all the time in South Philly and Margate when I was dating this girl. It's hard to explain to outsiders and I'm an outsider but they're like the popular kids in HS who show up to the parties and then the party is instantly cool. Plus everyone gossips about everyone's business there. Even when this girl was bringing me around the South Philly locals kept saying that I was an undercover cop! South Philly is a very insular community and everyone is related or Knows each other . I used to see all the Philly guys who were out at the time: Marty Angelina was a complete nasty fall down drunk, Uncle Joe was extremely polite, I saw Stevie Mazzone and Phil Ligambi once heading into a Borgata suite in AC together wearing those ghetto Powder Blue Colored Yankees hats (WTF?!?), I saw Phil Narducci at The Greenhouse in Margate once right when he first got out, I saw Johnny Chang at Chickies and Pete's, my favorite is at Quattro in South Philly I once saw Sonny Mazzone throw a stink bomb/smokebomb into the packed men's room there and run away giggling !! HAHAHA That was funny...

Salvi,
No Na you aren't being an ass,, I was incorrect thanks for catching that. Jakes grandson worked at the diplomat and of course his family had connections with the diplomat. You are correct Meyer owned secretly I think the Singapore and others.
I used to drive Jake Lanskys widow Anna to another old widows home on Sundays to visit a woman named Kovolick, her husband was known as 'Phil the Stick' he ended upa trunk job I believe.
Here is another old place you remember.
Joe Sonkens Gold Coast in A1A. [img:center]http://[/img]
and a Wikipedia link I just found on Phil the Stick. I wish to God I could have had the deftness to ask these people more questions on Mob history. Even the old ladies pretended that there was no mob, old school standups who watched and were part of the formation of the modern day Cosa Nostra
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Kovolick

Are you talking about the place in Florida? I don't remember a place called temptations but thanagainnames change and I don't keep up.

No, Seaside Heights NJ.

I go to Hemmingways in Seaside Heights a lot year round ever since it opened up back in May 2007. I went to Temptations once as an adult, must have been Summer of 2006? Temptations was mostly before my time, I went there for a teen night or two but for teen nights I usually stuck with the surf club in Ortley Beach. Those were the days man, wearing my Polo Sport cologne and silver chains trying to get a hand job on the beach from girls on a hot July night at the Jersey Shore after a stroll on the boardwalk!!

Ha ha this is very true, especially down the shore. Memories is the sort of place where one night it's mellow, oldies music playing, nothing out of the ordinary...and then you come in the next night and there's the downtown connected guys going after it HARD, and everyone else is watching them!

Fun for those guys when they're basking in the attention. Bad for when you get in a fight with your ex-wife and half of South Philly is watching.

I never made it to Memories, I walked past it: She took me everywhere else though, I'm a North Jersey/Toms River area of the Jersey Shore guy, so being down there around all South Philly people was like discovering another world. I did really like Ventura's Greenhouse Tiki Bar I must say and whenever I go to AC , I try and talk whoever I'm with to join me during the day at the tiki bar at Ventura's whenever I'm there. I still obviously go to AC a lot, but AC is a nothing like Margate. No one from where I come from in Jersey has ever even heard of Margate or even goes to it...

Of course Vig.

The exact name was "Joe Sonkens Gold Coast Restaurant". I was in there only a couple of times . But that was a big hangout for Chicago guys. The NY/NJ guys hung at Hemigways, Top of the Home, Bootsies, Villa Perrone, The Grand Saloon.

And thats just the Hollywood area. We have just scratched the surface. Back in the day during the winter months there were wiseguys everywhere. In North Miami "The Place for Steak" and the "Bonfire" the "Club Top Draw". FT Laud. there was the "Bachelors III" the "Brickyard" and at least a dozen others.

To give you an idea of just how many there were. When I was 15 I bussed tables at a place called "Tre Amici" on US1 in Hollywood. I could ride my bike there.

All of a sudden the placed just closed. Then a few days later there was an article in the paper about how the FBI had bugged the place and was steaking it out. Jimmy Blue Eyes Alo and a bunch of other heavies were all meeting there.

Jimmy had a house in Hollywood since the 1940's.

I got a "whats up" from one of the three Gotti kids at Roosevelt Field mall, this was back when "Growing Up Gotti" was a weekly thing. Thats about it.

Chuck Teemer, host for the Clubs on Rt. 30 in Chester West Virginia, had a home on Tyler St. in Hollywood Fl. He along with Jo Jo Pecora worked for John LaRocca.
Both Chuck and Jo Jo had a residence in Chester to avoid issues with the Federal Government regarding traveling over State lines to promote gambling.

Seen Vincent Palermo "Vinny Ocean" a couple of times at his strip club before it got shut down. Never talked to him or anything.

Oh yeah , I forgot about that, I also walked past wiggles a couple of times. But its obviously under new ownership.

I live in Houston so I guess he was an ex wiseguy? Lol well his place was never really packed down here like I would think wiggles was up there. Southern culture and all don't think many people liked it. I just liked the buffet for lunch.

As a New Jerseyan, I find Southerners to be very fake and hypocrites. Plus there's no Italians, Jews, or any immigrant whites for that matter. It's all "Irish" that's been in America for like ten generations, not like the Irish -Americans we have here in the Northeast...I never liked Southern culture one bit.

Yea , Wiggles was a strip club in Queens that he ran prior to him becoming an informant. I walked past it back then as well like once or twice, and now that I think about it MAY have seen him loitering outside the place on one of those occasions. Its still around and I still drive past it to get to my friends place who lives out that way, buts obviously under new ownership.

Yeah, Margate and Longport really are not that cosmopolitan or well-known outside SP and the Cherry Hill/South Jersey area. For one, people tend to own or to rent the exact same place every summer; and two, there's a suspicion of outsiders in SP that is even stronger down the shore--because at least in the city there might be a reason for a stranger to be talking to you...

As a Southerner I find new jersians very fake & hypocritical. Plus your all fake ethnics of one kind or another. You aren't an Italian or an Irishman, your from fucking new jersey. That's all. Fuck bon jovi & bruce springsteen.

There's only one Irishman here! Drinks on the house.


Happy New Year and all that jazz.

My first time I think I realized things were different for some kids was back in the 90s during the high school wrestling tournaments in NJ they had in Atlantic City me, all my friends n kids from a similar age from other towns would all go to AC to wile out , from age 15 on and it was a complete zoo as no parents and kids hopping from casino hotel to casino hotel with each town having their own parties , tubs filled with ice and beer and everyone going nuts until security closed down that party then on to the next ( best set up was when u and ur boys managed to get a room on same floor as it was more convenient ).

Anyway J Perna made the finals every year in the lower weight class , literally like 120s or under and he lost in the finals every year until his senior year ( kid was a sick wrestler - one of NJ best ever ) and I casually knew him then but my boy was tight with him and I Was either 16 or 17 and we were invited up to what I thought was a little get together as he had his own room I think and was maybe 17 at max , we went up to the top floor or close and this mother F'er had the millionaire big baller suite, I mean some insane shit where the chandelier was the size of a car and all window walls with the sickest view and a ceiling that was probably 20 feet high, spread of food for a king , no bull shit Bush light 30 pack cans in a bathtub but a huge bar w everything . Let's just say that when I became interested in that life as u had a 17 year old kid that weighed under 120 lbs w the Donald Trump room .

Man those wrestling tournaments were the days , AC was totally lawless back then, was 16 with braces and bush light cans in hand doubling down on 12s as I had no idea, kids popping mini thins and passing out , funneling a beer and then to an immediate blunt hit , lol , the 90s were the shit !

Sonkens was also the meeting place on a regular basis for Russ Bufalino, Charlie Imburgia, John LaRocca, Joe Regino, Kelly Mannarino and Ed Sciandra.

Would you want to piss off your girlfriend's father if you knew he was in the mafia?

Paul Castellano had his daughter's partner killed.

And that's just a mob boss.

There are several other similar cases that are escaping me at the moment.

Philadelphians boo Santa. They boo Destiny's Child. They love street thugs.

Go figure.

Correct me if I'm mistaken but the South is W.A.S.P. territory. Far more people of Scottish and English backgrounds. If you are referring to Irish people from the South, you could easily be talking about "Scots Irish". And they aren't really Irish at all in terms of culture.

Would love to hear more about how we're fake and hypocrites.

you leave Springsteen out of this!

Great Post! Yeah I have a buddy a few years older than me who went to Seton Hall with John Perna, they were in the same frat there. I believe Perna was inducted into the Belleville HS Hall of Fame for Wrestling. Those days back in Seton Hall with all the gangsters sons attending were wild too! I was like 13-15 years old at the time.

On a side note, I always wonder and speculate if David Chase based/got the idea for AJ, Carlo, and Pats sons at Rutgers in The Sopranos on the scene in real life at Seton Hall in the late 1990s/early 2000s with the crew of the sons and nephews of Jersey Mafia guys attending there and having a tight little crew together? Just speculation....

I posted this story a ways back, but, I used to have a clothing rack @ the corner of Broad & McKean(Passyunk) of mostly women's apparel like gloria vanderbilt black denim jeans, running suits ,blouses.& shit that madonna was wearing @ the time,,(this was back in 84,85),& 4 a couple weeks I had some nice fuckin' velour men's running suits for $20.00 a pop,nice w/ the pinstripes up the sides of the arms & legs,zip-up jacket style..I did'nt know it then, but real mobster looking shit(remember this is mid-80s),,anyways,some typical south philly chick buys a men's suit from me, & as usual, as I'm wrapping it up 4 her i tell her the boss's policy of exchanges only, no refunds. Next day ,this chick comes back & says it dont fit her brother & she wants her $$ back,I say no refunds,blah,blah,I'm adamant cause i need this job,she gets all loud & shit & says ok ill b back..20 min. later here she comes w/ her brother,some big fuckin'gorilla, back then not much scared me so when he 1rst told me to give his sis back the $$,I explained what a cheap strict jew my boss was, he said "u aint from 'round here is u?,where u from?", I tell him "n.e.philly," he says, "I can tell by that long fa***t hair u got","U know who i work for motherf......,Gimme da fuckin' money now b4 i pull that fuckin' hair out of ur fuckin' head"..well that did it,I gave him the cash as he was about 2 leave, he flipped my whole rack of merchandise out into Mckean st. in a puddle..about 1500.00 worth of shit..as they crossed the street I heard his sister say "u didnt have 2 do that Tory"..when my boss drove up on his rounds he said never fuck w/these people down here,u should have gave up right from the start..we later found out it was Tory Scafidi..I didnt know anything 'bout the mob back then but my boss was following the shit in the papers b-cause of all the violence @ the time..he was into the shit & the dude 50 ft. away from me @ a newstand saw it & knew who it was,he been on that corner for yrs. I lol 'bout it nowdays though!

LMB ...Thanks, I needed that. Great Story!

When I got into this hobby, every time I started 2 see his picture I thought "that IS my close brush w/an asswhoopin'by the scarfo men.

Did your boss comp you for the clothes that got ruined?

Ha ha!....Denny Tsettos and unable to move 3 inches. AND $25 to get in the door.

WTF was I thinking then?

He spun some good music. The music pumped there. Loved the sound factory as well.

Most was salvaged as they were covered in plastic, but he knew it was one of those things,he was cool about it & happy I didnt get my leg busted.

I knew a restaurant manager in Steubenville that fucked a well known mob associate from behind, does that count as a chance encounter? the mob associate disappeared about a year later when it became public knowledge. some sick shit man

The hell ?

Vinnie was my dads college roomate. Still tight to this day.

P I love people who talk tough from behind a screen when if they came to jersey and spoke so foolishly they'd leave with a wedgie and a few less teeth. I ain't gonna go back and forth because enough of these threads get fucked up on a regular basis.

Jerzey gave us mike trout the best baseball player in the world who i would have swore was from texas or somewhere down there and greatest glam metal band ever skid row I'll remember youuuuuuuuuuuu....

http://www.biagiowaltham.com/photos/wide/biagio_ritch3web.jpg

The owner of Biagio's in Waltham MA was a former Capo in the Patriarca's. Here is a photo including he and Lionel Ritchie of all people.

He wasn't a friendly guy the last night we were in there.

[/quote] I love people who talk tough from behind a screen when if they came to jersey and spoke so foolishly they'd leave with a wedgie and a few less teeth. I ain't gonna go back and forth because enough of these threads get fucked up on a regular basis. [/quote]

I also love people who talk tough from behind a screen when if they came down south and spoke so foolishly they'd leave with a headache and a few less teeth. If you don't want to go back and forth and fuck up the thread don't go back and forth....

C'mon guys, let's get back on topic.

I was being serious, they met in the restaurant bar and were fucking a few hours later in a bathroom stall in the ladies room at last call,anyhow thought I'd mention the chance encounter with a half a wiseguy

Okay, you're the consig.

Ive seen Sonny Mazzone around S philly at CVS on Broad and by that old clubhouse on 11th as he was mean mugging every car that drove by...and I believe I saw that Micali guy in the Borgata like 10 years ago when I used to go alot after I turned 21, but I think hes gotta be banned by now bc of that gambling case and i now have a 2 year old so no $ to waste in the casinos...

Im sure Bronx and DB have some solid stories of wiseguys theyve run into...i for one enjoy this topic alot, and would love to hear some of theirs and others stories...and for fucks sake enough with the shit talking and threatening over a god damn internet forum, you two idiots are never going to see each other in person, so lets agree to disagree and move the fuck on please

You know I didn't think I'd start an argument or anything about southern or northern pride lol. Just no wiseguys in Texas a lot of drugs though. Vinny O is the closest I've been to seeing anything close to a wiseguy.

Welcome back mikey..missed ya,,check my post on pg. 2 of this thread..& check ur pm.