Vinny Basciano, one time "Boss" of the Bonanno borgata, was a Purple Gang member, responsible for their considerable interests in Westchester County. At the time, the late 1970s through mid 1980's, Vinny Gorgeous was the owner of the heroin brand "Blue Thunder"--a very popular bag sold primarily in the neighborhood around 157th street and Melrose Avenue in the Bronx.
Not your fault , Furio. But this is absurd.
Number One: Vinny grew up in Yonkers. He had no connection to East Harlem whatsoever until after the Purple Gang was pretty much defunct.
Number Two: Vinny is a few weeks younger than I am. Born in 1959. By the time we were in our early twenties, East Harlem was 90 percent Puerto Rican and the Purple Gang was pretty much done.
Number three: While it's true that Vinny made quite a name for himself through the Blue Thunder product, he wasn't the "owner" of the brand. He was a distributor who had absolutely no fear of middling the product to the dealers in the worst Black and Puerto Rican neighborhoods (and as an aside, how he beat that case back then still boggles my mind).
Patty Prisco (Angelo's deceased cousin, rest in peace), was the point man for Blue Thunder, and reported directly to the Palma Boys. Patty made a lot of those guys rich. He died very young (of natural causes), or he would have eventually been a powerhouse himself. In other words, he didn't just ride on Angelo's coattails. He was a tough guy and an earner in his own right.
