Nick "The Crow" Caramandi 2001 Time Q&A article

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,157251,00.html


Interesting, especially when he tells what Scarfo used to do in order to test who his most loyal soldiers were.

He also speculates why Salvie called off wedding.

Interesting read. He gets choked up when he talks about Testa.

"He (Scarfo) used to get letters from black guys who wanted to join the Mob."

Cook County........

His book was great went to the library to see if it was there and reread it to see the difference between him and crazy Phil'lies. Another good book tommy deals mob father he was a real shitbag. He wife hated his guts and his kids

Which book out of the 3 is the better one:

1.Mafia Prince

2.Blood Of Honor

3.The GoodFella Tapes

Thanks

Is Caramandi still alive?

I only ask because they don't usually write about it when the more obscure protected witnesses die. Henry Hill got a little media attention when he passed away because the movie made him semi-famous. But if a guy like a Joe Dogs or a Nick Caramandi dropped dead, we probably wouldn't even read about it.

Caramandi sounds/sounded like someone you could hold a decent conversation with over a brandy, and you can't say that about many of them.

Yeah, I noticed that too, Moe.

Generally speaking, it seems like the more intelligent guys made the best witnesses. It stands to reason, though. If you put a nitwit on the stand, a good defense lawyer will tear him to shreds 3 out of 4 times. Maybe 8 out of 10.

In my opinion, a good memory and a good eye for detail is a much more reliable way to measure intelligence than "book smarts."

I would go blood and honor cause crow ddoesnt try to hide the fact he was a con man he tells you how he went from driving cab robbing stores selling fake money to trying to run the union in philly. the goodfella tapes is just a book about stanfa and the wire up law office of avena great read to. there so many book from so many point of views on the philly mob in the 80tys. out of all the rats there scarfo had a good eye for the young guys. all the 20somethings that scarfo made back then non flipped except his nephew and crom and del who were both in there 50tys. last gangster by George is ggod to but ron private ego is out of control.

One thing I could never make sense of is why Salvie Testa knowing what a psychopath Scarfo was didn't hightail it out of town after he called the wedding off? I mean he knew how unforgiving Scarfo was and the he'd kill you at the drop of a hat for looking at him cross-eyed. So why didn't he run?

Also, I'd really wish someone would, assuming he's still alive, sit Caramandi down and talk to him for a couple of weeks and make a doc out of it. The interviews he's given on the various Philly docs have all been amazing.

from most accounts it sounds like Salvie was aware that something was up. who knows why he stayed though. he had just lost both parents in less than a decade, he had killed over a dozen so he could have just been tired of life period. I would say it could be a Sonny Black type of acceptance of fait but it doesnt seem like Salvie did anything to seriously violate the rules.......

any way it goes he's definitely my favorite mobster to try to learn about.

Two bit con man and a moron too.

B&H #1 and Phil's book is 1A it reads like a sequel.

Thanks Gram i appreciate the feedback....To the elite F-Y_A

Personally I think blood and honor is the best book of the three and the best book about the Philly family.

Mafia prince is the best book by a mile

One thing about the crow is...the way the mob is today which is 180 degrees different than in his heyday, he could come out of hiding and not sure anyone would care now....that moron veasey walks around s philly trying to start crap

pb the rat joe defede once acting boss of the luchese died with little fanfare until ithink capeci put it out 2 or 3 months later. that was one of the weirdest flips you complete your 5 yrs sentence in 2000 in still think amuso wants you dead. sell your house in nyc and move to florida. but for a old guy that really knew amuso and his craziness might have pushed him into the feds arms.

Salvie didn't split because those guys never split, where they gonna go...Iowa and work on a ranch, lol...

I thought I read he as being very, very careful and was lured to the candy shop by a friend for a late night meeting..?

Not to break your balls but they actually killed Salvie in the middle of the day they had to wait until night to get his body out

Yup, and that asshole Joe Pistone is still wearing those fucking sunglasses .


No doubt about it, buddy. Sometimes they create their own rats. And Little Joe is a good example of that.

I thought De Fede was using his promotion to steal from the family?

Who knows with these guys? At the end of the day, they're all criminals and capable of anything. But Amuso and (especially) Casso have been known to make up lies about their perceived rivals (Buddy Luongo, Mikey Salerno, et al.).

As far as Stevie turning in more money than Little Joe, that's an absolute fact. But Stevie was always a monster earner anyway, Little Joe wasn't. So you can blame it on Amuso and Casso for installing a brokester into that spot to begin with.

But I repeat, they're all liars and thieves by nature. So who really knows?