Something I was always wondering about, with DeMeo and Castellano dead do you suppose then that Gotti would of had Gaggi killed if he hadn't already been indicted and convicted?

Absolutely

I dont think so. Gotti said any Castellano loyalist that fell in line wounldt be harmed...plus Gaggi was a powerhouse (even without Demeo and Paul)...LCN needs/needed guys like Gaggi

Yea and by the time castellano was dead him and gaggi weren't so close
Because of the Demeo case

John would have left him as a capo

There was a beef with a landlord and a soldier in ninos crew told gotti to have the soldier bring John gotti to a sit down and John said " bring me, hes under me tell him get his ass up here to see me

I read some where the bull talking to maybe gotti he's lucky pauls gone cause after trial paul wanted him dead. gravano said this on tape this isn't a hard find I think its in the gotti transcript book. he;s not talking to gaggi there but they had the convo.

Gaggi was definitely no fan of Gotti but he wasn't stupid. More than likely he would have pledged fealty to John just as everyone else did. I could see Gaggi being in Frankie Loc's position as underboss in '92 if he hadn't have gone to jail and croaked.

Yes..you are correct pmac, it was in the Gotti Tapes

http://books.google.com/books?id=V0CfjAsrMBQC&pg=PT276

http://books.google.com/books?id=V0CfjAsrMBQC&pg=PT277

i could see nino being gravanos 20th..nino was not well like by decicco and gotti

Gaggi was a pretty tough guy. Even as a capo and guy in his 50's he still did hits (demeo, eppolitios)

I don't know if anyone here is from Brooklyn but if you ware, the Eppolito hit is exceptionally interesting if you go down to that section of Brighton Beach to see...

* first where "The Clam" & "Jim-Jim" got whacked

* where Patrick Penny would have been driving to accidentally see the hit

* where the shootout between Nino & the off duty cop took place (Neptune & Coney Island Ave I think)...

I tend to think Nino was a piece of shit for numerous reasons but there's no doubt he was tough, smart and a little bit crazy... Trying to think, how many of made guys have shot at cops like that though getting caught moments after doing a piece of work is also unusual.

cono had great seafood, yes nino was very tough..

Definately! Gaggi was a power in his own right when Gotti became Boss. I believe Gaggi hated Gotti, but would have fell in-line and continued to operate as a powerhouse.

Castellano was mad at Nino, but I do not believe he would have had him killed. Gaggi was a powerhouse with strong connections to the Sicilian faction of the Gambino family. Gotti got luckey and dodged a few attemps on his life that were meant for him by the Genovese, the Lucchese crime families, Danny Marino and Jimmy Brown after the Castellano hit. Gotti would have left Nino alone and let him serve out his sentence, he would not have wanted to deal with an inner family fued if he killed Gaggi. Gotti wanted to stablize the Gambino crime family and killing Nino would have ignited that war. Most likely John would have left Gaggi as Capo so he could make a peaceful grab for boss of the family without angering the other skippers and members of the family.

gotti would have killed nino in a heartbeat, gotti was more treacherous than most people give him credit for. gaggi was no neil.

I don't think nino liked or respected gotti. gaggi was firmly in the Castellano wing and gotti in the "other" faction with Neil.
He was the only capo not present at the dinner meetings where gotti announced they were investigating pauls murder and then when Decicco proposed gotti as boss. Ive read several times where he wouldn't go meet with gotti and I think it may have been in underboss?? that gotti was getting annoyed by gaggi not fronting.
Whatever the case, Castellano was clipped in Dec 85, Gotti got uped in Jan 86 and Gaggi was convicted and jailed in April 86 so he was only on the street for a couple of months with JG as boss.

Yes,and i think Gotti wasn't affraid of Gaggi because Roy was long gone.What happened to Nino's crew.It seems it was broken up.Any thoughts?

Gotti wasn't the most trigger happy of bosses was he? Gravano was responsible for the Milito, Di Bernardo and Di Bono hits.

Yeah Gotti wasn't as much of a killer that Gravano was.Also wasn't as greedy.

You are correct. Gotti was a tough guy BUT he wasnt much of a hitman/killer. He usually just gave out orders to whackings and didnt really participate besides the Mcbratney and possibly the Tony Plate killings

There has been some great discussion on this board with regards to Gotti and what kind of boss he was. But it seems, and I don't know this but am asking the more experienced posters, that he wasn't as greedy as other bosses or his predecessor. Is that true?

Powerhouses that were wacked - Johnny Roberts , Mimi scialo, Frank Scalise ,Andimo papaddio , Sally Burns , DB from Gambino family , Lil Augie ect.

NINO was not a captain at this time…he was on thin ice..

There are only two choices I think, Nino either got in line or he would have made a power play. With Castellano gone though, I think he would have gotten in line.

paul was close to killing nino..only thing that saved him was their families were close..

graveno was evil..john thought saying no to killing was a weakness, and sammy was killing his own guys, john's non actions to stop graveno made him a bad leader..he should have killed sammy instead of talking about it in a bugged apt with frank loc.. he also should have let angelo die for all the rules he broke and took that family into turmoil..i.e. drugs killing paul,, trying to kill the under boss of another family..getting that kid tortured..robbing captains and killing for money..angelo was a street thug..not coda rostra..nino knew the life..and lived it.

The Gemini Twins killed DeMeo on Gaspipe's orders.

And wasn't Gotti supposed to have whacked Tommy DeSimone?

That's not proven it was on casso's orders but it probably is.Him or Frank decicco.And Gotti probablly didn't shot Desimone himself

What do you think of Josip Simunic, alexandarns?

I don't give a damm really..why you ask?

I think that if Antonino Gaggi would not have been indicted and died in prison, that Gotti would have been hit and replaced with Nino as Boss.

My opinion is that Nino as somewhat of an old school Sicilian had solid backing from the Sicilians that used to run the Gambinos before Gotti (not a Sicilian), and also possibly Sicilian Bosses from other families. Nino was adamant about the Gambino family being a Sicilian run enterprise. Anyone who remembers what Nino said to Roy Demeo in Murder Machine agrees. Nino told Roy that only Sicilians can become Capos in the Gambino family, and that was at the moment Roy got made. So Nino was clearly upset about Gotti, a Neopolitan, rubbing out a Sicilian Boss without majority consensus from the Commission authorizing him to do so.

No, I think Nino and Gigante and many others would have eventually gotten rid of Gotti and installed a Sicilian Boss, probably Nino himself. When Nino summoned Gotti to a meeting, he was sending a signal to the Gambino family that he was the new power.