Anthony Ruggiano Jr Interview (Ed Scarpo)

[bert]

How can anyone take him seriously after this opening:

By Ed Scarpo

In the 1960s and 1970s, Anthony (Fat Andy) Ruggiano had one of the biggest crews in the Gambino family, and he wanted to keep it that way.
He had had around 70-75 guys in his crew, and out of all of them, Andy wanted to straighten out only one, Nicky Corozzo.

75 guys in a crew, sure.

[maxiestern11]

How can anyone take him seriously after this opening:

By Ed Scarpo

In the 1960s and 1970s, Anthony (Fat Andy) Ruggiano had one of the biggest crews in the Gambino family, and he wanted to keep it that way.
He had had around 70-75 guys in his crew, and out of all of them, Andy wanted to straighten out only one, Nicky Corozzo.

75 guys in a crew, sure.

Because he means soldiers AND associates alike. 70-75 guys is a very viable number for Fat Andy. He doesn’t mean only made guys with that statement understand Bert? A crew included BOTH. Don’t listen to guys who say different. If your WITH a guy, then your in his crew, regardless of your personal status.

[MichaelGiovanni]

How can anyone take him seriously after this opening:

By Ed Scarpo

In the 1960s and 1970s, Anthony (Fat Andy) Ruggiano had one of the biggest crews in the Gambino family, and he wanted to keep it that way.
He had had around 70-75 guys in his crew, and out of all of them, Andy wanted to straighten out only one, Nicky Corozzo.

75 guys in a crew, sure.

Because he means soldiers AND associates alike. 70-75 guys is a very viable number for Fat Andy. He doesn’t mean only made guys with that statement understand Bert? A crew included BOTH. Don’t listen to guys who say different. If your WITH a guy, then your in his crew, regardless of your personal status.

Exactly Maxie.

That is just Bert being Bert.

[HairyKnuckles]

How can anyone take him seriously after this opening:

By Ed Scarpo

In the 1960s and 1970s, Anthony (Fat Andy) Ruggiano had one of the biggest crews in the Gambino family, and he wanted to keep it that way.
He had had around 70-75 guys in his crew, and out of all of them, Andy wanted to straighten out only one, Nicky Corozzo.

75 guys in a crew, sure.

Because he means soldiers AND associates alike. 70-75 guys is a very viable number for Fat Andy. He doesn’t mean only made guys with that statement understand Bert? A crew included BOTH. Don’t listen to guys who say different. If your WITH a guy, then your in his crew, regardless of your personal status.

Can not be. Ed Scarpo wants it to sound like there were two different crews. But it was only one crew and the crew was headed by Carmine Fatico. His father was not a captain. The son testified in court and said his father was never a captain.

[bert]

How can anyone take him seriously after this opening:

By Ed Scarpo

In the 1960s and 1970s, Anthony (Fat Andy) Ruggiano had one of the biggest crews in the Gambino family, and he wanted to keep it that way.
He had had around 70-75 guys in his crew, and out of all of them, Andy wanted to straighten out only one, Nicky Corozzo.

75 guys in a crew, sure.

Because he means soldiers AND associates alike. 70-75 guys is a very viable number for Fat Andy. He doesn’t mean only made guys with that statement understand Bert? A crew included BOTH. Don’t listen to guys who say different. If your WITH a guy, then your in his crew, regardless of your personal status.

Exactly Maxie.

That is just Bert being Bert.

Even with asscociates it's no where near 75, and as for the "That's Bert being Bert" comment, what do you mean?

[HairyKnuckles]

How can anyone take him seriously after this opening:

By Ed Scarpo

In the 1960s and 1970s, Anthony (Fat Andy) Ruggiano had one of the biggest crews in the Gambino family, and he wanted to keep it that way.
He had had around 70-75 guys in his crew, and out of all of them, Andy wanted to straighten out only one, Nicky Corozzo.

75 guys in a crew, sure.

Because he means soldiers AND associates alike. 70-75 guys is a very viable number for Fat Andy. He doesn’t mean only made guys with that statement understand Bert? A crew included BOTH. Don’t listen to guys who say different. If your WITH a guy, then your in his crew, regardless of your personal status.

Exactly Maxie.

That is just Bert being Bert.

Even with asscociates it's no where near 75, and as for the "That's Bert being Bert" comment, what do you mean?

Exactly. Even if Ruggiano was a captain at one point (he could definitely have not been one in the 1960s as Scarpo´s article says) the 75 number is way too high. Looks to me that Ruggiano Jr now wants to faliciously enhance his father´s power and he does it with going 180 degrees on what he said in his testimony.

[maxiestern11]

How can anyone take him seriously after this opening:

By Ed Scarpo

In the 1960s and 1970s, Anthony (Fat Andy) Ruggiano had one of the biggest crews in the Gambino family, and he wanted to keep it that way.
He had had around 70-75 guys in his crew, and out of all of them, Andy wanted to straighten out only one, Nicky Corozzo.

75 guys in a crew, sure.

Because he means soldiers AND associates alike. 70-75 guys is a very viable number for Fat Andy. He doesn’t mean only made guys with that statement understand Bert? A crew included BOTH. Don’t listen to guys who say different. If your WITH a guy, then your in his crew, regardless of your personal status.

Can not be. Ed Scarpo wants it to sound like there were two different crews. But it was only one crew and the crew was headed by Carmine Fatico. His father was not a captain. The son testified in court and said his father was never a captain.

HK, WRONG!!! Fat Andy WAS a captain... FOR YEARS! This I know for a fact! It’s not even up for debate. My Personal knowledge understand

[maxiestern11]

In fact, Andy was a very personal friend of my friends and family.

[maxiestern11]

In fact, Andy was a very personal friend of my friends and family.

The kid is NOT lying. Andy was a top guy for a long time. Very well liked. Very well respected!

[johnny_scootch]

Whether he was a captain or not Fat Andy had a ton of guys around him, he was a money making machine for a very very long time. 50 guys 75 guys what the fuck is the difference? How can anyone here say they KNOW that number is to high? Is the kid exaggerating a little bit...probably but that's how ALL these guys operate. He's going to make his father and himself seem a little tougher and smarter than they actually were that's just how it goes. You're not getting the absolute truth from a mob guy ever, it's not in their nature.

[maxiestern11]

Whether he was a captain or not Fat Andy had a ton of guys around him, he was a money making machine for a very very long time. 50 guys 75 guys what the fuck is the difference? How can anyone here say they KNOW that number is to high? Is the kid exaggerating a little bit...probably but that's how ALL these guys operate. He's going to make his father and himself seem a little tougher and smarter than they actually were that's just how it goes. You're not getting the absolute truth from a mob guy ever, it's not in their nature.

[HairyKnuckles]

In fact, Andy was a very personal friend of my friends and family.

So I should just take that at face value?

Ruggiano Sr was a good friend of mine for a long time. He brought me canolis when I was a kid. He helped out on the block whenever he could. He saved a guy once from getting a beating. Sonny was about to get a whipping but Andy said no. Good guy!

His son testified in court that his father was never a captain. That you can take at face value.

[dack2001]

Not saying he couldn't have been a captain or that the son maybe didn't always know what was up, but I tend to give much heavier credit to testimony under oath than interviews after the fact, especially when considering this guy who is the publisher. Ralph Natale didn't testify about getting inducted by Carlo Gambino and Angelo Bruno for a reason....

[B.]

Am I overlooking something, or does he say somewhere in this interview that his father was a captain?

In the 1960s and 1970s, Anthony (Fat Andy) Ruggiano had one of the biggest crews in the Gambino family, and he wanted to keep it that way.
He had had around 70-75 guys in his crew, and out of all of them, Andy wanted to straighten out only one, Nicky Corozzo.

Fat Andy "didn’t want to make anybody his equal at one point," said Anthony Junior. "He had a big crew with him and he liked it that way. He wound up being right."

Andy and Anthony (Tony Lee) Guerrieri even got into an argument over Fat Andy's reluctance to make any of his guys.

In the above part, it is clearly implied that the 70-75 crew members are all associates, as it says he only wanted to straighten out one of them. It then makes it clear that by straightening them out, they would become his "equal", which is to say a soldier, and they would no longer be "with" him, as they would belong to his captain. By not making many members, he would retain a large crew of associates under him as a soldier.

This segment of the interview is clearly saying he had a crew of 70-75 associates under him as a soldier, nothing to do with being a captain. Whether you want to believe he had that many associates is another question. He very well might be high-balling the estimate, as I doubt the son had an official count and wants to paint an impressive picture, but keep in mind that many associates, especially back then, could just be neighborhood guys, store owners, etc. who happens to be on record with Ruggiano in addition to full-on criminals. An aggressive figure like Ruggiano who was made in the early 1950s and active for decades in NYC and Florida could certainly put a lot of people on record over the years, though again I have no reason to support nor refute the 70-75 estimate.

[HairyKnuckles]

Am I overlooking something, or does he say somewhere in this interview that his father was a captain?

In the 1960s and 1970s, Anthony (Fat Andy) Ruggiano had one of the biggest crews in the Gambino family, and he wanted to keep it that way.
He had had around 70-75 guys in his crew, and out of all of them, Andy wanted to straighten out only one, Nicky Corozzo.

Fat Andy "didn’t want to make anybody his equal at one point," said Anthony Junior. "He had a big crew with him and he liked it that way. He wound up being right."

Andy and Anthony (Tony Lee) Guerrieri even got into an argument over Fat Andy's reluctance to make any of his guys.

In the above part, it is clearly implied that the 70-75 crew members are all associates, as it says he only wanted to straighten out one of them. It then makes it clear that by straightening them out, they would become his "equal", which is to say a soldier, and they would no longer be "with" him, as they would belong to his captain. By not making many members, he would retain a large crew of associates under him as a soldier.

This segment of the interview is clearly saying he had a crew of 70-75 associates under him as a soldier, nothing to do with being a captain. Whether you want to believe he had that many associates is another question. He very well might be high-balling the estimate, as I doubt the son had an official count and wants to paint an impressive picture, but keep in mind that many associates, especially back then, could just be neighborhood guys, store owners, etc. who happens to be on record with Ruggiano in addition to full-on criminals. An aggressive figure like Ruggiano who was made in the early 1950s and active for decades in NYC and Florida could certainly put a lot of people on record over the years, though again I have no reason to support nor refute the 70-75 estimate.

Ed Scarpo (possibly misled by Jr) seems to suggest that Sr was a captain and that he had one of the biggest crews, And you´re absolutely right about that some of the guys around Sr could have been just neighborhood guys, non criminals, who hung around him that Jr thought was on record with him. And the 75 figure could be discribing the number of all guys around him since the early 1950s til he died, not necessarily at the same time. (There may have been let´s say 30 or 40 guys in the 1950s and 1960s and completely other 40 guys later on.)