Speaking of the car business, Nicky Buick from Gun Hill is no dummy. He may not have the same money as the Colombo classic car guy. But he's still worth more than 90 percent of the guys in that family. He needed that button like his buddy Joey (the rat in Stamford) needed a hair brush.

Ponte comes right to mind. His brother was no dummy, either. He was known as the tougher of the two (and he was). But he was pretty sharp himself. Sharp enough give his smarter and better-known brother the idea to buy up half of Tribeca while it was still full of empty warehouses and ten dollar hookers.