Originally Posted by pmac
tony pro seemed like the real deal. was he under bobby manna or bobby manna under him. there both jersey city guys rite?

Tony Pro was originally from downtown. He was groomed by Cockeyed Nick Rattenni, the powerhouse Bronx/Yonkers captain, who was one of Costello's most ardent allies. He was quite a bit younger than Rattenni but served as Rattenni's best man when he was only about 18 and Rattenni was in his early 30's. He also stood Godfather to Nick's adopted son. When Pro grew in power and took over his first Jersey local, he moved there and eventually split his time between New York and Florida. He walked a fine line between the white collar and blue collar factions of the family. But his bread was always buttered by the more subdued white collar faction. He was one of the few who could keep strong relations with both the Costello and Genovese factions. But in my opinion he was a Costello man at heart. The golf, the friendships with politicians, the country clubs, the sojourns to Palm Springs. You didn't catch Genovese trying to become upwardly mobile. Pro was also very close to Jimmy Alo and Jerry Catena as well. The Genovese family always had a knack for having one guy who could straddle the ranks between Jersey and New York. And from the '50s to the '70s, Pro was that guy. I've heard that, in his later years on the street, when Tino Fiumara was making a name for himself, that Pro wasn't a fan. But Tino was close to Fat Tony and a money machine for Tieri, and Lombardo, so there wasn't much he could do about it. So he WAS a major union force, and a captain, but he never quite had the power on the street of Salerno, Ianiello, Lombardo or Tieri. But he was well liked by both factions made a shit ton of money.


"I got news for you. If it wasn't for the toilet, there would be no books." --- George Costanza.