Here is some great info from The blackhand forum. A poster named Wiseguy posted this. He summed up an old post from the old RD fourm. Credit goes to him for posting this.


* Barney's father was a made guy around Fat Tony. Barney came up under Sammy Santoro.

* Barney hung around a deli on Eastchester Rd. Had his own following since he was 16 years old. He volunteered as a kid to help the old timers with anything they needed and was given responsibility at a young age.

* One of the early jobs he had was managing a 2 table card room and he turned it into a cash cow with blackjack, craps, shy, book, hookers, etc. Barney was always business first. He also said to have a big numbers bank for his age. When Barney got involved with heroin trafficking, he sold by the key and his guys under him bought on credit and sold by the ounce. He was rumored to be a millionaire by the age of 25.

* Barney was rumored to have done his first couple hits (at the request of the older guys) at the age of 18 or 19.

* Guys around Barney included Nicky Auletta, Anthony Fiorino, Patty Falcetti, Lou Dinapoli, Ernie Mucarella and his brother Jimmy, Scop Deluca, Artie Nigro, Jimmy D'elia, Carmine Dellacava, Michael Ragusa, Ralph Coppola, and Barney's cousin of the same name who owned Sigma Builders.

* In addition to his involvement with the Javits Center and Carpenters Union, Barney also owned a sanitation company that cleaned sewers.

* Whereas Barney was always low key, Ralph Coppola was flashy. Barney was godfather to Ralph's first son.

* Barney was always surveillance-conscious and would have meetings in strange places, including in the front of cars with the hood up and the engine running, on medians and traffic islands, and at black clothing stores (where a fed would stand out).

* The last time this guy saw Barney in person was around White Plains Rd and Gleason Ave. Barney was dressed in jogging pants and a fordham hoodie. At the time Barney was still living in his nice place in Pelham Manor.