any truth to vinny artuso freezing up and not being able to pull the trigger during the castellano hit? sorry if this has been discussed before

Who knows?

Vinny's no punk, though. I can assure you of that.

story is gun jammed..if he froze...hmmm could have been trouble for vinny

he took a hit in fla, i think 9 years

I read it and yes, as I recall it, it's worth a read.

Yeah, Johnny too. Johnny comes home next year, I think. But I think his father got an extra year or two.

I hope Vinny retires and Johnny sticks to real estate down there. He's pretty good at it. But I'm not holding my breath.

vinny may stay here .. whats left... cannoli's up there.. how much supv. release does he have? if you know..

No idea, but I'll bet it's a bunch. Tony Connecticut came home last week and his restrictions are going to be tight for years. The Feds claim that there's no Federal Parole System. But come on. These restrictions are just a fancy way of saying that if you fuck up you're going back inside.

Greetings Giacomo.

I think you meant Carlo when you said Paul above?

And when you said Gambino being like Bill Bonanno, you meant Paul Castellano?

I think also that it was probably Neil Dellacroce not being too bright that partly necessitated a white collar "Underboss" or acting Boss or what have you to help Carlo keep track of the more complicated rackets.

No disrespect to fans of Neil, but by looking at him he seemed primitive, impulsive, paranoid, and infantile. How can a killer crocodile or dinosaur sit down and do calculations?

So maybe it was the sheer size of the Gambinos along with complexity of white collar rackets that prompted Carlo to bring the more intelligent Paul Castellano in to help Carlo and Neil run the family. Carlo probably had the brains for white collar, but he needed an Underboss with those brains too and I don't think Neil was that man.

life on installment plan..

PB, how come Gotti was mad at Ruggiero?

didn't chin have a bomb planted in a car meant for gotti?
the wrong guy got blown up. why didn't chin keep trying to whack him? eventually he would have got him.
carlo Gambino appointed castellano boss because paul was his cousin. to carlo blood was higher than dellacroce.

He didn't stop. Bobby Manna got put away for life for conspiring to kill Gotti and by that time, Chin was already in legal problems of his own.

I would guess billotti was also a bk guy. He was loved by Paul. He becomes underboss his brother would probably get capo. Sammy the bull trashes everyone in his book but only says tommy wasn't the smartest bulb. Think he was under indictment with armone and hallo so he was going to jail to win he was killed. Or he might have been indicted with jimmy brown. Big Paul was already indicted in the commission case with all the other bosses in December 85 why would you want to be any boss that year everyone was going to jail.

That's true, Snakes. Chin finally took the plea and went inside in 1997, so people forget that his charges dated back to the late '80s. He was under constant surveillance those last few years, and it coincided with the complete gentrification of the West Village. Towards the end he couldn't walk Sullivan Street without a million eyes on him. And if he saw Sullivan and Houston today, he'd think that he honestly did go crazy. That's how different that corner is today.

He blamed Angelo for the tapes, which I guess was justified. But it was also a bit ironic (if not hypocritical). Because John left behind more recordings than Sinatra.

Was it also about his involvement with the drugs?

yeah john swore he would never get caught on tape like paul..

no ..just being so sloppy and stupid on the phones..who knows what angelo said to john alone..angelo might have let him have it.. he loved john but was not afraid of him..

Gotti new that crazy guy wore a wire in the begin club back in 84 85. I do remember reading he swore he would never hear his voice on tape in court again after he beat that case with nick corrozo and demaira carneglia ect 86? Think it was fixed. Vinny gorgeous never thought his boss would tape him 04. Death penalty was the biggest change in the american lcn. There talking about killing some bambino ass. Over a drug related killing 10 yes ago.unless the 5 families came up to new rules about killing and orders there just gonna keep getting weaker. Murder was there fear factor and it worked for 90+/years but they need to adapt or get forgotten.

I had a book off eBay couple bucks gotti files just a bunch of wire taps and Sammy's testimony. Gotti seen the writing on the wall but was stuck in his ways.

The Gotti Tapes?

That book came out the exact same day that they sent John to Marion in June of '92. It was a rush job. I don't think it was from a major publisher, but they were just looking to capitalize I guess.

Anyway, some nitwit was trying to sell them right outside Artuso's Pastry Shop in the neighborhood. They chased him all the way down to Southern Boulevard .

john loved to hear his own voice, and stories about himself.you didn't have to ask him, he would tell you,, the best " frank if you lived to be 5000 you'll never find a guy like me" frank got 5000 years listening to this lunatic..frank is the tough guy, he did nothing but listen. too bad he was a loyal guy... same with gas, how his guys didn't kill that nut.

wahoo probably took a book first..LOL..tough guy

True gangster. It came out of his fucking pores.

yeah Bronx, I hear you. if chin would have whacked gotti, a lot of guys would have been saved from doing time.

and gaspipe too, I guess his guys just let him drag them down with him, and what about scarfo in philly, if one of his guys got to him, the family might be doing well now.

everybody was afraid I guess.

if he asked me to kill fat petes sister a woman. or kill testa and blame the gambino guys just to motivate his crew, you had to know you may be next, this guy is just insane. if that was my life, he would have lost his ..

You remember his boy Jerry? Or Anthony?

Those guys ran a huge sports office. They were sharp baseball bettors themselves. They were betting into the islands years before anyone ever heard of the Internet. They should all be rich today. But shit happens.

his brother jerry, did not know his kids.. bettors that are rich..my dream..i should have booked my own plays..I'D be rich..LOL

No no. Anthony wasn't his son. I just meant like, his boy, like he loved him. Anthony had a piece of that place on the corner of Morris Park and Bronxdale. You remember that two story cafe? Back in the early '90s it was called Cafe Dion? The Albanians eventually grabbed it, just like everything else in that neighborhood.


Yeah, hindsight is 20/20 .