25th Anniversary of 'Wiseguy,' Book 'Goodfellas' Film Based On

By Ed Scarpo
The real Henry Hill, left, and Ray Liotta, who played the
Luchese mobster turned informant in 'Goodfellas.'
Twenty-five years after its initial publication, Nicholas Pileggi's Wiseguy remains one of the key memoirs about life in the Mafia. Pileggi adapted his book for the screen, and director Martin Scorsese shot the film 'GoodFellas' in 1990 ('Wiseguy' had already been used as the title of a Mafia film, a quite bad one).

The story follows the rise and fall of true-life Brooklyn gangster Henry Hill — "a little cog" in the Lucchese crime family who turned FBI informant after a drug arrest, reports NPR.

"He was sort of a soldier in Napoleon's army," Pileggi remembers in the article, noting that his approach to the book sprang from the notion that "it might be interesting to see that world from the point of view of the soldier."

The other key part of Hill's appeal as a subject, Pileggi explains, is that he was "no dummy."

Read full article, For One 'Wiseguy,' A Permanent Place In Mobster Lore : NPR:

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Hoodwinked: Restaurateur on Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares Was a Mobster

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So has the rest of New York's Cosa Nostra, according to FBI documents and Peter Pasta himself.

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By Ed Scarpo
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Question: I'm Paul from Italy. Do you know something about the active families outside New York (not only the Decavalcante family and Philly)???

John Pennisi: Paul, piacere, I had some dealing with and met a few Ndrangheta I believe they were from Canada. What impressed me with them was we were once in a restaurant and I was brought over to a table where about 12 of their people were sitting. I sat and talked for a while and then went back to my table. When they left in a line from young to old, with their boss being last, they came over to say goodbye. Very disciplined and full of respect.

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