Vic Amuso is not as bad as he is portrayed to be

[Shellackhead]

Also, anyone has any info on Tommy Ricciardi & any key guys from the NJ faction?

[Dr031718]

Also, anyone has any info on Tommy Ricciardi & any key guys from the NJ faction?

There is a book I enjoyed called the Boys from New Jersey that discusses Ricciardi and the Tacettas. Focuses on the big 80s Jersey Crew RICO case but gives good background on all those NJ guys

[joeycigars]

"Vic Amuso is not as bad as he is portrayed to be"....I think he was worse or very close to what he was and is portrayed, Casso took a lot of the heat for the backfires and killing spree, But Vic was Boss and co singed the insanity that ensued, Amuso inherited a pretty well oiled machine with a few glitches but a good working one, And proceeded to take it apart piece by piece , if it wasnt for Cassos " mafia cops " it would have ended way faster ,

Accetturos wife became a target under Amuso,

The shooting of Patricia Capozzalo, sister of Peter "Fat Pete" Chiodo, under Amuso

Also a threat was delivered,That if Chiodo testified, his wife and children would be killed under Amuso

Amuso wanted the a huge chunk of Jersey crew killed between 12-15 guys on the list, That greed made Accetturo flip , another nightmare scenario that could have been handled way better.

Kubecka and Donald Barstow murders turned out to be a nightmare,

The list goes on and on ...

However Little_Al1991, I see the point your making but its a uphill battle , But a good read thanks

[Pmac2]

yaeh he was a pretty shity boss.87 to 91. he set the family back when they could have gave the gambinos a push for the number 2 family in strength. but he was killing his own guys because he feared there power

[Pmac2]

he demoted guys who been in the life for decades, promoted guys who had no experience but were loyal to him and put over guys in positions because they werent threats like al darco

[furiofromnaples]

The fact that Amuso followed Casso in his decision to kill everyone Casso believe to be a rat and on the "Whack NJ" order mean that Amuso is a bad boss.

[newera_212]

Greed aside, Amuso asked the NJ guys to start kicking up more and they balked. What should he have done? Things change... cost of living, inflation, needs, etc. It was the 80s for christs sake and Amuso figured it was due time for the NJ guys to start paying . He ideally should have had a handle if not a full itemization of what they were all into, so he could easily have someone transition into picking up their rackets and have it be more profitable even considering what would get lost in translation. The Jersey guys gave him no choice if he asked for more money and they ignored him

[Etna]

Agree with everyone above. He was a poor boss. For the most part every family with the exception of the Genovese family had really bad leadership at one time or another. They're the only ones who have always been pretty solid.

[furiofromnaples]

Greed aside, Amuso asked the NJ guys to start kicking up more and they balked. What should he have done? Things change... cost of living, inflation, needs, etc. It was the 80s for christs sake and Amuso figured it was due time for the NJ guys to start paying . He ideally should have had a handle if not a full itemization of what they were all into, so he could easily have someone transition into picking up their rackets and have it be more profitable even considering what would get lost in translation. The Jersey guys gave him no choice if he asked for more money and they ignored him

Newera Amuso ordered or the 50% of the money or whack nj. Im agree that 50k a year was too little tribute but a wise boss would order Acceturo to come for a meeting and make him understand that the time was changed using only the violence led to the rebellion.

[Little_Al1991]

Greed aside, Amuso asked the NJ guys to start kicking up more and they balked. What should he have done? Things change... cost of living, inflation, needs, etc. It was the 80s for christs sake and Amuso figured it was due time for the NJ guys to start paying . He ideally should have had a handle if not a full itemization of what they were all into, so he could easily have someone transition into picking up their rackets and have it be more profitable even considering what would get lost in translation. The Jersey guys gave him no choice if he asked for more money and they ignored him

Accetturo the Jersey Faction leader was greedy for not kicking up.50 percent is a lot but Accetturo claims that he is “Cosa Nostra” he claims he followed the rules and was old school.The boss is the boss, he should have kicked up the money.He became to comfortable under Tony Ducks

[Little_Al1991]

"Vic Amuso is not as bad as he is portrayed to be"....I think he was worse or very close to what he was and is portrayed, Casso took a lot of the heat for the backfires and killing spree, But Vic was Boss and co singed the insanity that ensued, Amuso inherited a pretty well oiled machine with a few glitches but a good working one, And proceeded to take it apart piece by piece , if it wasnt for Cassos " mafia cops " it would have ended way faster ,

Accetturos wife became a target under Amuso,

The shooting of Patricia Capozzalo, sister of Peter "Fat Pete" Chiodo, under Amuso

Also a threat was delivered,That if Chiodo testified, his wife and children would be killed under Amuso

Amuso wanted the a huge chunk of Jersey crew killed between 12-15 guys on the list, That greed made Accetturo flip , another nightmare scenario that could have been handled way better.

Kubecka and Donald Barstow murders turned out to be a nightmare,

The list goes on and on ...

However Little_Al1991, I see the point your making but its a uphill battle , But a good read thanks

But even after all of that, Vic Amuso is still the boss and currently today, the Acting Boss is an Amuso loyalist, Michael DeSantis.Pennisi has even said that Amuso is still well respected today.He also said that he believes the way that Amuso conducted himself on the street has helped him keep the boss position.I am not saying he’s a great boss but I am saying that he’s not as bad as he is portrayed.

[newera_212]

Acceturro withheld monies and when the administration showed their teeth, he ratted. Demanding 50% is pretty crazy though, if that's true.

I always thought, especially after reading the D'Arco book, that the (Brooklyn) admin figured these Jersey guys were running around autonomous for years doing their own thing and they now wanted to bring everyone in, make sure everything was on record, and make sure going forward those guys were kicking up the same as everyone else - instead they all banded together for whatever reason (maybe some didn't trust it and thought they would be killed) and went on the run, ignored the orders to come in, etc. I think they did the same thing with DiLapi and instead of meeting, he fled to California and ended up getting hunted down.

Maybe I am totally off base but it would seem weird that the Admin's plan was to kill all of these guys from the jump...as greedy as they were, why would they want to take out long standing parts of what was a very well oiled machine ? Guys like DiLapi, Acceturo, had been around forever and it'd probably be better to keep them in position and keep things moving. They probably just caught delusions when they were called in, or were greedy themselves, and took off - leaving the Admin "no choice" but to make examples out of them. How does that look when you're a sitting Boss and people are outright refusing to meet with you, what could you do? If it went down the way it's been told over the years, you essentially have a whole crew telling the Admin to go fuck themselves. Maybe Vic and Casso weren't planning on hurting those guys originally, but when they got told to fuck off, they felt they had to.

At the same time they were doing things like putting pressure on longstanding members or guys who had cornered a specific racket in order to put someone more loyal to them in those positions - putting endless pressure and if that didn't work, they'd label the guy a rat and kill him. So I might be wrong about the whole Jersey thing...who knows... but it seems like Vic and Casso only got crazy when the Jersey guys got crazy with them first

[joeycigars]

"Vic Amuso is not as bad as he is portrayed to be"....I think he was worse or very close to what he was and is portrayed, Casso took a lot of the heat for the backfires and killing spree, But Vic was Boss and co singed the insanity that ensued, Amuso inherited a pretty well oiled machine with a few glitches but a good working one, And proceeded to take it apart piece by piece , if it wasnt for Cassos " mafia cops " it would have ended way faster ,

Accetturos wife became a target under Amuso,

The shooting of Patricia Capozzalo, sister of Peter "Fat Pete" Chiodo, under Amuso

Also a threat was delivered,That if Chiodo testified, his wife and children would be killed under Amuso

Amuso wanted the a huge chunk of Jersey crew killed between 12-15 guys on the list, That greed made Accetturo flip , another nightmare scenario that could have been handled way better.

Kubecka and Donald Barstow murders turned out to be a nightmare,

The list goes on and on ...

However Little_Al1991, I see the point your making but its a uphill battle , But a good read thanks

But even after all of that, Vic Amuso is still the boss and currently today, the Acting Boss is an Amuso loyalist, Michael DeSantis.Pennisi has even said that Amuso is still well respected today.He also said that he believes the way that Amuso conducted himself on the street has helped him keep the boss position.I am not saying he’s a great boss but I am saying that he’s not as bad as he is portrayed.

Yes Little_Al1991 , Vic is not a Peter Gotti in name only Boss, He still has clout and respect that is pretty much objective , What percentage of the shots are called by Vic is anyone's guess ,
But your thread title "Amuso not being as bad as he is portrayed" is very subjective , But still glad you posted your insight, I enjoyed it

[dave]

I always thought, especially after reading the D'Arco book, that the (Brooklyn) admin figured these Jersey guys were running around autonomous for years doing their own thing and they now wanted to bring everyone in, make sure everything was on record, and make sure going forward those guys were kicking up the same as everyone else - instead they all banded together for whatever reason (maybe some didn't trust it and thought they would be killed) and went on the run, ignored the orders to come in, etc. I think they did the same thing with DiLapi and instead of meeting, he fled to California and ended up getting hunted down.

Maybe I am totally off base but it would seem weird that the Admin's plan was to kill all of these guys from the jump...as greedy as they were, why would they want to take out long standing parts of what was a very well oiled machine ?

Yeah, they weren't ordered whacked until they just flat out refused to meet with Amuso and Casso. Even then, the soldiers of the faction that eventually came in were forgiven. Accentturo and his son seemed to be the main targets.
1992 article on D'Arco's testimony:

In the fall of 1988, Mr. D'Arco said, he went to the site of a meeting in which a reconciliation between the boss and Mr. Accentturo's crew was attempted. But the meeting was in a basement and the New Jersey crew members who showed up were "leery" about entering a basement in which men loyal to an angry Mr. Amuso might do them harm, Mr. D'Arco said.

"They flatly refused and left," he recalled. After several other aborted meetings and slights, including the New Jersey crew's refusal to attend Mr. Amuso's Christmas party, the boss declared the entire crew "outlaws" and authorized their murders, Mr. D'Arco said.

https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/28/nyre ... -tool.html

[PolackTony]

The fundamental question is, would he be as effective as a boss like Tony Ducks was? And he would be, even more so, but until he was, it was gonna be hard to verify that he thought he would be more effective.