Anthony Ruggiano Jr Interview (Ed Scarpo)

[bronx]

eliphise? not sure on the spelling

[johnny_scootch]

Let me add that there is a VAST difference between an associate and a member. Associates come in all shapes and sizes and they are not all equal. You wouldn't expect to see a Terrance Caldwell at a Londonio or Crea wedding would you?

[bert]

Let me add that there is a VAST difference between an associate and a member. Associates come in all shapes and sizes and they are not all equal. You wouldn't expect to see a Terrance Caldwell at a Londonio or Crea wedding would you?

If he was I'd tell any guest who didn't know better that he was the groom, just to see the reactions.

[maxiestern11]

Used to be a big nightclub in the bottom of a motel outside Kennedy airport that Andy and many other friends of mine used to hang in every week. The name is on the tip of my tongue. I’ve gone there myself on numerous occasions. Off the Conduit.

The Jade East?

To say him, or any captain had 75 associates is wrong, unless they want to count anyone who ever worked in a club he had a piece of, or just hung out with a person in his crew for a while. Do they count his neighbors too? A associate is with a crew, so the captain if he was one might have a lot, but no where in the area of 75. An associate, a real one is like a member, and has to come in if sent for, and show up at any occasion like a wedding or funeral, or at least kick in for a gift to the event.

The discrepancy lies in how you're defining an associate and how Jr was defining one. I take it that your definition is someone with whom Fat Andy was making money with and was put on record with the family. You wouldn't be wrong because that's the technical definition if you read all the books but it's different on the streets. There are plenty of guys who aren't on record but are considered with one made guy or another, the people you would sit down for or call upon for a favor, neighborhood guys you know for 20 years, relatives or the guys that hang out at your club. All these type of people would be considered associates even if they aren't officially put on record. Let me emphasize the social club aspect because Fat Andy's club was one of the most popular in the entire city, everyone and anyone who was someone that made the rounds stopped by there and you had plenty of no ones who wanted to be someone hanging around and they all would do anything Fat Andy asked them to. So Bert you're right and you're wrong at the same time it's a gray area that comes down to definition. Did Fat Andy have 75 guys on record? probably not. Did he have 75 guys he considered part of his crew that he could call upon for whatever, it's possible.

No. On the same side..... a few doors down from the diner by the airport. Today they turned it into a welfare hotel I think. But back in the day...60’s, 70’s, 80’s... it was a big mob joint. Always a shitbox, but live wire place everyone used to go. Fat Andy was practically a fixture in the place

[bronx]

was it the old name for the airport? now jfk?

[maxiestern11]

was it the old name for the airport? now jfk?

The other big one was across the street - The Kennedy Inn, which was owned by a friend of mine Little Dom Cataldo. He had a hidden interest. But this was the same side as the Jade East. I’m having a mental block here because I should know this.... it’ll come to me.

[johnny_scootch]

No. On the same side..... a few doors down from the diner by the airport. Today they turned it into a welfare hotel I think. But back in the day...60’s, 70’s, 80’s... it was a big mob joint. Always a shitbox, but live wire place everyone used to go. Fat Andy was practically a fixture in the place

Got ya, the 60’s and 70’s was before my time anyway but the Jade East I remember.

was it the old name for the airport? now jfk?

The old name was idlewild.

[maxiestern11]

No. But I’ll be posting it up soon as it comes to me. I’m much older than most of the guys on this forum. I go back many decades with all this shit. So I’ll be posting stuff that’s new to many. But that’s the charm of this forum no?

[bronx]

o.k. Maxie

[TallGuy19]

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.

Vincent Cafaro, a Genovese soldier, testified that he had 72 "controllers" working under him in his numbers operation. A soldier having 75 associates under them is not unheard of, especially in the glory days of Cosa Nostra.

[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.

Vincent Cafaro, a Genovese soldier, testified that he had 72 "controllers" working under him in his numbers operation. A soldier having 75 associates under them is not unheard of, especially in the glory days of Cosa Nostra.

Bingo!.... especially when he’s in something as wide ranging as a numbers business or being a bank for a sports-horse book. It doesn’t mean that every one of those guys is a “dyed in the wool” hoodlum, by they are at least associates on that gambling level. And of course if any of them have a beef they can run to their guy for help. Other runners MAY be more deeply involved and become more than just a numbers guy. Everyone is different and has a unique trajectory all their own. Like anything else in the world.

[HairyKnuckles]

Ed Scarpo (possibly misled by Jr) seems to suggest that Sr was a captain and that he had one of the biggest crews,

HK where does he seem to suggest he was a Captain? You can't mean the paragraph where 75 crew members because he literally says as B pointed out that NONE of them were made.

Also I'd refer you back to this section of the 3rd part of interview

We refer to him as Anthony Junior here to distinguish him from his father, Gambino soldier Anthony (Fat Andy) Ruggiano who ran a crew out of the Café Liberty social club in Ozone Park, Queens. Fat Andy died in 1999.

I must have overlooked that part and jumped to the conclusion that Ed Scarpo referred to him as a skipper. Good catch!

[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.

Vincent Cafaro, a Genovese soldier, testified that he had 72 "controllers" working under him in his numbers operation. A soldier having 75 associates under them is not unheard of, especially in the glory days of Cosa Nostra.

They are not associates, they are people who come and go, a few may be female too. They are not associates, unless one or two are also with the crew often, and answer to being called in on non number related stuff. An associate means a potential future member or a person like a member. Not workers or fringe people like their friends.

[Fughedaboutit]

was it the old name for the airport? now jfk?

The other big one was across the street - The Kennedy Inn, which was owned by a friend of mine Little Dom Cataldo. He had a hidden interest. But this was the same side as the Jade East. I’m having a mental block here because I should know this.... it’ll come to me.

Right, Cataldo told you about his hidden interests...lol

[johnny_scootch]

An associate means a potential future member or a person like a member.

I disagree. Joe Watts, Terrance Caldwell, Marat Balagula, Burt Kaplan, James Bishop, John Morrisey, Angelo McConnach, Sidney Lieberman and many many many more all official on record associates and not one could be a future member while only Watts could be considered 'like' a member.