Scarfo Sr is dead.

[joeycigars]

Props to To Scarfo Sr and Jr , Jr did what he had to to do took it like a real G , Philly LCN is still kicking because of the old man Scarfo set the proverbial LCN kill them alll bar so high in a Gotti- Capone way that you cant fake, Nicky was the real gangster the shadow of he reign is still lurking

[Stroccos]

Props to To Scarfo Sr and Jr , Jr did what he had to to do took it like a real G , Philly LCN is still kicking because of the old man Scarfo set the proverbial LCN kill them alll bar so high in a Gotti- Capone way that you cant fake, Nicky was the real gangster the shadow of he reign is still lurking

guy was a fucking asshole

[rayray]

Scarfo Sr. comes across like this raging lunatic kill everyone machine but reading some of these transcripts that were out there online, imho, he came across as a stickler for LCN rules and it appears he was well within his rights to do what he did during his reign. I'm not saying things couldn't have been done different but I'm also not buying this maniac persona that has also been painted by others. There seemed to be a lot of guys that just would not fall in line with the new admin of that time.

And then the talk about killing Sal Testa, he gets blamed for going too far...well..who was talking in his ear the whole time? These guys probably wanted Testa killed more then Scarfo. IDK, maybe I'm wrong.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Scarfo Sr. comes across like this raging lunatic kill everyone machine but reading some of these transcripts that were out there online, imho, he came across as a stickler for LCN rules and it appears he was well within his rights to do what he did during his reign. I'm not saying things couldn't have been done different but I'm also not buying this maniac persona that has also been painted by others. There seemed to be a lot of guys that just would not fall in line with the new admin of that time.

And then the talk about killing Sal Testa, he gets blamed for going too far...well..who was talking in his ear the whole time? These guys probably wanted Testa killed more then Scarfo. IDK, maybe I'm wrong.

Agree.
There's a common misconception that Bruno was a pacifist and Scarfo a sociopath.

In truth Bruno was just as murderous and Scarfo was no more or less murderous than any other boss.

[Fughedaboutit]

Excellent discussion in here btw

[Rocco]

Props to To Scarfo Sr and Jr , Jr did what he had to to do took it like a real G , Philly LCN is still kicking because of the old man Scarfo set the proverbial LCN kill them alll bar so high in a Gotti- Capone way that you cant fake, Nicky was the real gangster the shadow of he reign is still lurking

guy was a fucking asshole

You got that right. Had he been about a 1ft taller he would have been less violent. Due to his size(about that of a 6th grader) he felt he had to make up for it. lol

[joeycigars]

Props to To Scarfo Sr and Jr , Jr did what he had to to do took it like a real G , Philly LCN is still kicking because of the old man Scarfo set the proverbial LCN kill them alll bar so high in a Gotti- Capone way that you cant fake, Nicky was the real gangster the shadow of he reign is still lurking

guy was a fucking asshole

You got that right. Had he been about a 1ft taller he would have been less violent. Due to his size(about that of a 6th grader) he felt he had to make up for it. lol

Nicky had to be nuts and paranoid look what happend to the two bosses before him, Was he the sharpest boss no way by a long shot but sharp enough , Nicky had LCN running through his veins 24-7 , At last he didnt take a shower with a umbrella

[Rocco]

Props to To Scarfo Sr and Jr , Jr did what he had to to do took it like a real G , Philly LCN is still kicking because of the old man Scarfo set the proverbial LCN kill them alll bar so high in a Gotti- Capone way that you cant fake, Nicky was the real gangster the shadow of he reign is still lurking

guy was a fucking asshole

You got that right. Had he been about a 1ft taller he would have been less violent. Due to his size(about that of a 6th grader) he felt he had to make up for it. lol

Nicky had to be nuts and paranoid look what happend to the two bosses before him, Was he the sharpest boss no way by a long shot but sharp enough , Nicky had LCN running through his veins 24-7 , At last he didnt take a shower with a umbrella

People might like him because he was violent. But he really wasn't a good boss and he didn't have a very good run either. The fact that he was unable to run the family from prison tells you he wasn't well liked or respected. People feared him when he was on the street as boss. But once he was sent to prison people moved on without him pretty quick. Gotti had a very short reign on the street as boss too (4.5yrs) but he was able to run the family from prison thru proxy's . This shows you he had support from his family and people still liked him. You cant say that for Nicky. People moved on quickly. Most of the Bosses from the 80s didn't last long on the street Amuso etc. You can says its RICO but I think it had more to do with the generation then anything. Gotti and NIcky thumbed their noses at LE. Bosses before them were more low key and lasted longer. They were more LCN then the Gotti and Scarfo era . Gotti and Scarfo played more of the gangster role that Hollywood created then LCN. LCN is suppose to live in shadows. etc

[rayray]

I don't know if that's 100% accurate? What about Capone, Anastasia, Luciano, Colombo...these guys weren't exactly low key hide in the shadows type bosses.

[Rocco]

Look how it all ended for them? lol Colombo shot to death for being the way he was. Luciano inprisoned(though he was able to hold onto the family for sometime as he was respected and liked), Capone became public enemy #1 and was jailed after his short reign. Joe Batters learned from Capones mistakes. Probably the most successful LCN boss of all time Joe Batters died in his own bed like Carlo Cambino did.

My point in making a comparison was that NIcky was not well liked. Guys feared him that's why they stayed in line. But as soon has he was hit with 55yrs he was out. Nobody liked the guy in the end. While Merlino is a complete idiot driving around in a Bentley like a moron....he was obviously well liked and was able to hold onto his position while imprisoned. Big difference there. Gotti too. Another moron who sent scores of guys to jail by making them report every week for the FBI photo shoot infront of the Ravinite. Then not letting them plead out in trial. Despite all that he still had a loyal following after he was jailed and was able to hold onto the family thru proxys for sometime. NIcky didn't that. He started to lose the family bit by bit after he was locked up. He just wasn't well liked.

[B.]

A flashy, violent psychopathic Mafia Godfather with a Napoleon complex, the John Gotti of Philadelphia who loved the limelight almost as much as he loved ordering hits. He was banished from Philadelphia by the peaceful old world Sicilian Don Angelo Bruno because of his erratic and murderous behavior, only to return and go on the warpath against anyone and everyone who looked at him wrong.

That's what sells books.

What's missing from that? Scarfo was a killer with a bad temper, but also a stickler for the rules of the organization, both when he was a loyal Bruno soldier and for the most part as a boss. When Scarfo killed the Irishman in the diner, FBI documents from the 1960s show that Bruno didn't banish Scarfo and in fact held at least one meeting with Scarfo and Merlino where he tried to pull some legal strings to help them. That is one of the perks of being a member -- under most circumstances, the leadership of the family will defend and even try to help a made member in any kind of dispute or conflict with a non-member especially an Irish guy who wasn't connected to the family. For Bruno to have gone against Scarfo would have been a major controversy within the family, especially the Calabrese faction who already had issues with Bruno.

Scarfo moved to AC because he had come up under Skinny DiTullio who controlled the family's AC interests for a time and Scarfo's parents had bought an apartment building in AC where Scarfo and his wife lived. There was no banishment. Later in the 1970s as Leonetti talks about, Scarfo and Bruno had an amicable relationship which included their jail time together. It's true that the Testa/Scarfo faction had grown apart from Bruno before his death, but they seem to have stayed perfectly in line and didn't violently plot against him, only expressed frustration which is an almost constant at high levels in the mob anyway.

When Scarfo became boss he was very flashy and did try to send a message by having high profile hits right in the city for everyone to see, that's undeniable. He inherited the boss position right after two prior bosses had been killed along with other powerful members -- the family was at war, essentially. Scarfo ordered many hits but the majority of them were due to "legitimate" infractions, with the most notable exception being the Joe Salerno Sr. shooting, which was an extremely vicious and coldblooded way to try and punish or silence an informant.

He did create an atmosphere where members felt they would be killed for relatively minor reasons, which led to two members turning witness, though that's open for interpretation. DelGiorno did have a contract on him, as he had been frequently drunk as a captain, abusing his soldiers and badmouthing Scarfo and the leadership. There's no evidence that Caramandi had a contract on him, he had simply fallen out of favor with Scarfo for bringing informant Pastorella around despite Scarfo's repeated requests that he not do that. Caramandi was told he would be killed by Martorano who was working on getting his own sentence appealed and allegedly looking to usurp the Philly family with Scarfo in jail. The other big witnesses all flipped as a result of their sentences, not due to fear of being killed.

But that's pretty wordy and saying "Scarfo was a flashy and murderous mob boss, but it's kind of complicated" doesn't really sell books or make people want to read articles.

[Pogo The Clown]

Bruno believed in ruling with an iron fist with a velvet glove. Scarfo saw no need for the glove.


Pogo

[Stroccos]

Bruno believed in ruling with an iron fist with a velvet glove. Scarfo saw no need for the glove.


Pogo

Speak softly and carry a big stick

[Doobeez]

Great post, B. The Salvy Testa hit showed it was more than just the rules with Scarfo. Sure, Testa didn't do himself any favors, hlbut it was Scarfo's paranoia that was the real driving point behind the move. IMO.

[joeycigars]

Great post, B. The Salvy Testa hit showed it was more than just the rules with Scarfo. Sure, Testa didn't do himself any favors, hlbut it was Scarfo's paranoia that was the real driving point behind the move. IMO.

When Salvie backed out of the wedding of a underboss's daughter after a ton of money was spent close to the wedding date he broke more then a rule , Chucky and his daughter (A young Joey Merlinos sister) were dissed pretty bad.... Worse then breaking a rule ... that was the end for Salvie and gave paranoia prone Nicky a reason to kill a potential future rival that did have a very viable faction on the come up, Nicky read the tea leaves