I believe that Dominic Truscello, Capo in the Lucchese Family, still runs his crew down there. I am virtually certain that I saw him sitting on a bench on Elizabeth Street with a couple of other guys a few years ago. I sat on a stoop nearby pretending to be on my cellphone so that I could listen to what they were saying. I kid you not that these guys sounded like they were straight out of central casting. Clearly they were not talking about business, but everything else under the sun that you would excpect.
Good to see you back here, Ovation
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I don't doubt that you saw Dom on that block. He was a fixture there all his life. And like I said in an earlier post, a couple guys still own legit restaurants and cafes in the neighborhood. And I mean ALL THE WAY legit. Perry's place is famous; cops and politicians eat there every day, knowing full well who owns the place.
But getting back to Dom, he owned a cafe near Elizabeth for ages, but it closed a few years ago. He may have been hanging out and bullshitting with visitors, but probably nothing more than that. Plus, it makes total sense that he'd be the last guy to leave the neighborhood. He was there all his life and he must be close to 80. My Dad is 83 now, and I think they're relatively close in age.
I can tell you for sure that his crew is no longer centered in that neighborhood. None of them are. The ridiculous gentrification aside, Gotti made the neighborhood a lightning rod with his ridiculous Tuesday night meetings. The truth is, the other families started pulling out of that neighborhood not long after Gotti went away for good.
