Cosa Nostra News

By Nick Christophers Anthony Ruggiano Jr.'s Reformed Gangsters podcast recently featured Rita Gigante, the daughter of the late Genovese boss Vincent  (Chin) Gigante. (See podcast below.) Anthony Junior, all dressed up, left; Rita Gigante. The podcast is hosted by owner Pasquale Cosenzo, who heads up Anthony Jr’s management team. Anthony lived “the life” for many years (his father was near-legendary Gambino wiseguy Fat Andy, aka Anthony Ruggiano Sr,) but has since turned over a new leaf and lives a lawful life.   “I led a violent life and fell into drug addiction. As we say when you hit rock bottom is when you realize you need to make a difference. I ended getting clean going to school and becoming a counselor and felt I needed to help others to get back a normal life. Reformed Gangsters is a platform for just that purpose,” said Anthony. Anthony was baptized into “the life” by his father Fat Andy. His father took him along to clubs where he met the likes of John Gotti Sr and ...

UPDATED : The Interboro Parkway opened in June 1935 -- and was renamed the Jackie Robinson Expressway in 1997. Junk(yard) boss: Luchese capo Paul Vario. It cut through cemeteries and residential real estate, requiring the relocation of burial sites and the razing of homes. The parkway's tricky route is why it reportedly took much longer to build than other New York City parkways. It also has many curves -- because the planners and builders had sought to minimize the number of burial plots that had to be relocated. Like many places in New York, that parkway has secrets.... The Interboro was the favorite parkway of savvier New Yorkers who, once upon a time, knew it was the city's least-trafficked major artery, and that even at rush hour, traffic rarely clogged it. (Cab drivers generally didn't know it existed.) The parkway runs through Brooklyn and one of the entrances is near Fulton Street (the Fulton Street in Brooklyn, of course, not the one in Manhattan), w...

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. Fat Andy, Fritzy Giovanelli, sitting Lenny DiMaria, far right in gray Sonny Franzese 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. Tony Lee had wanted to put Anthony (Tony Pep) Trentacosta up to be straightened out with Nicky. Fat Andy prevailed, however, and they both decided that only Nicky would get made. Once Andy proposed Nicky, Nicky went out of his way to express his gratitude to Ruggiano. "After my father proposed Nicky, Nicky went to my father...

"There are two more members that are talking,"   from Joe Valachi's autobiography, as quoted by journalist Jack Anderson in an  article published in 1963 . Fat Andy and Tony Lee. Before Anthony Ruggiano (Senior, aka Fat Andy) could get made in 1953, his name had to go around to the other New York families to solicit any possible objections. There were objections--two, actually--one of which required then-boss Albert Anastasia to win a sitdown with the Genovese family (or the then-Luciano family). As noted, Fat Andy and partner Tony Lee met Carmine (Charley Wagons) Fatico after they robbed his card game, but Fatico decided to hire them rather than kill them. For this, the previous story, and the rest in this series, we are using information provided to us by Anthony Ruggiano Jr.  In the next installment Anthony will address your comments... Profaci family member John Sonny Franzese put in a claim over Fat Andy, who, Franzese argued, belonged to him. A...

Anthony Ruggiano Jr. "was on the verge of becoming a soldier" in the Gambino family , said Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian McCormick. Who’s the toughest guy you know? Well, we know a few tough guys... Relax. This isn’t going where you think... A hungover Fat Andy in 1980, when he and Tony Lee ran a gold store. Anthony here is about to turn 27. He was two weeks out of jail . Anthony Ruggiano was a Gambino family associate for many years. Too many, he'd tell you. He was supposed to get his button—then he was supposed to get it again, and then again. Was it Life that kept getting in the way? Fate? We wonder how best to describe it. Of course we could just say, the law certainly kept getting in the way. It kept arresting him. The State, the Feds, Kings and Queens County, they all nabbed him for things like policy and bookmaking (and murder). Just one of the daily hazards faced by guys who get out of bed in the morning, put their shoes on, and go out to rob pe...