From everything I’ve read over the years, it seems like Gotti was a standup guy. In another unrelated video Mike Franzese was saying in this life, everyone is capable of killing and to be respectful because you never know. One day someone might be a nobody but the next day suddenly he’s a boss etc. So what he’s saying is you don’t want to get on the wrong side of people incase they have the power to whack u later on

As for Gotti, it’s widely known he took a beating from little Nicky as a young wise guy and jumped from that 2nd storey window.

I’ve heard he got slapped by Mickey Boy Paradiso too. Yet Gotti never killed them and let by gones be by gones. There was one video from a black guy who did time with him, and Gotti had a fight with that Powerful Jew. But according to the black inmate, Gotti didn’t want to retaliate because it was a 1 on 1 fight.

Now, in contrast if that was Nicky Scarfo, he was a sadistic evil little guy and he would never let old beefs go.

@ Tonytough

He also respected those who he feared; He could have gotten rid of the Cherry Hill Gambino's who were close with Paul Castellano. He let them earn via drugs; knowing they were violent; and he didn't want to rock the boat with those in sicily.


Even though Nino Gaggi was indicted on charges around the time Gotti became boss; He was out on the streets for about 4 months and refused to meet with Gotti. Refusing to meet a boss could be a death sentence.


He was stand-up; and tolerant in some ways...

Some of these stories need to be taken with a grain of salt. As for Gotti running from Corozzo, who knows, if it did happen, what were the circumstances? Was Corozzo there with a bunch of his guys? Did he have a gun? People like to bash Gotti and down play him. You dont kill a boss without the commision backing and become head of the largest crime family in the country if you are an idiot and not respected.
All those so called tough guys in the Gambino family who claim Gotti was dumb for making them pay respect to him every Tuesday at the ravenite but yet they all still went. Any powerful capo in the family, and there were many, could have easily garnered support to have Gotti killed and could of went to the commision and got an ok. Yet that never happened and he was on the street for 6 years. De Cicco was killed in 86 by Chin and Casso as retribution but that died out.
Another thing, Gotti continued to run the family while in prison and then appointed his son acting boss and everyone and every other family went along with it. You always hear informants bashing him and claiming other families wanted to kill him or his son but it never happened. Its ridiculous.

I know from your posts that your a fan of Gotti which is fine. I think we agree he was a tough guy but the criticisms you think are ridiculous are fair criticisms. Whether you like Gotti or not you have to admit he made plenty of mistakes in his mob career. There no no getting around it. I mean I could right pages and pages of his errors. As for the Nicky Corozzo story. I have no idea if it’s true. I do know Anthony Ruggiano jr told that story and Nicky was a protege if Fat Andy so I’m inclined to believe him but who knows. As tough as Gotti was there were guys he feared. We all know about Roy Demeo and Anthony Casso who Gotti never wanted to mess with.

Im not saying he didnt do stupid things, he did. Every mob boss since 1980 did stupid things. How do i know this? They all died in prison. If the FBI knows you are a boss, you are done. Its actually quite amazing Gotti was on the street for 6 years.

My point is this. Every single informant bashes Gotti but all of them worshipped him when he was on the street. Gravano is also full of shit, he did whatever Gotti said and so did every other powerful capo. Why didnt anyone make a move on Gotti? No one ever did a thing. The Gambino’s had huge construction rackets in the 1980’s and no other family tried to step in and take it away from him. Why was that? Gotti could of easily been killed. That whole notion that he was purposely high profile so no one would clip him in front of law enforcement is bull shit. They killed Castellano at rush hour on a busy NY street. Its nonsense.
Why did the family continue to acknowledge him as boss while he was doing life in a supermaxx?
Bobby Manna was planning to kill gotti and the fbi told gotti about it. What did he do? He said “ gee thanks” and slammed the door?.
Why did all those so called tough guy capo’ s pay Jr Gotti tribute money and let him be acting boss? Why did they let Peter Gotti become acting boss?
Lots of rats such as gravano and john alite try to make it sound like they were loyal gangsters who honored the sacred rules. Bullshit. Gravano had 2 of his own friends killed just to steal their rackets. Alite used drugs, sold drugs, and robbed drug dealers. He also sexually brutalized his contractor.

Actually he wasn’t in the street for 6 years As boss . He was voted in January 1986 I believe but was in prison from May 86-March 87 after Gravano was able to buy a juror in the Racketeering case. He had a decent 3 year stretch until finally getting off the Street for good in December 1990. Like I said even informants has said he was a tough guy but that doesn’t make you a good boss and he damn sure wasn’t lol. Even as a capo it’s not like his crew was pulling in a load of money. Whatever money they were making he was pissing away gambling. Both Angelo and Gene confirmed this on wiretaps along with him wanting no part of Demeo was Paul was looming to whack him. That’s part of the reason they had to resort to drug dealing

He was the last of the mohicans. Lenox, Merlino is out of prison.

That’s some bullshit line his daughter Victoria Said after he was convicted lol

Lol.

Nicky was a soldier for 15 years, held back by Gotti who didn't like him but tolerated him because he was a big earner. Gotti Jnr promoted Nicky to capo when the elder Gotti went away.

Also Nicky was under Fat Andy for many years. Nicky was also made before Gotti was

Gotti was still in prison when corozzo got made. Why was Gotti voted in as boss by the whole family including Corozzo? The other crews could of clipped him but they didnt.
Merlino may be out but is he really earning? He didnt make nearly the amount that gotti or scarfo made, lets be real. Merlino doesnt/ didnt control unions or industries.

I know that. Gotti got released in July 1977. Yes they did vote him in although I think if you asked them honestly they would have much rather had Frankie Decicco. I think if Decicco hadn’t gotten killed eventually he would have been boss

Decicco wouldnt be boss in my opinion. Gotti was the boss and Decicco liked him. I mean he betrayed Castellano for Gotti as did Gravano.

Neo, not true ,sr made lil nick captain

. He didn’t betray Castellano because He loved Gotti. There were many other factors than that.
There was Paul’s greed, there was the Frank Piccolo murder that really was a bad move by Paul, there was the fact that Paul planned to name Tommy Gambino as acting boss. So it wasn’t that Gotti was this fantastic choice. I also think Frankie was smart enough to know Gotti would eventually screw himself with his flamboyant ways which did happen. Look like I said I know you are a big Gotti fan that’s fine but you give the guy way too much credit. I just try to be objective. I give him credit for being a tough guy and all of that. But the majority of people will tell you he was one of the worst bosses of all time.

Nicky was promoted in 1992 while Snr was in prison. Since Jnr was acting boss in 1992 and liked Corozzo, I assumed he was responsible for Nicky's promotion.

Crusher
You actually believe Decicco thought Gotti was flashy and would eventually get arrested and thats why he voted for him to be boss?
Gotti wasnt all that flashy when he was based in queens. It was much later after he was boss. I cannot fathom that DeCicco would say “ hey, this guy is flashy, lets make him our new boss so he screws himself and gets arrested”. Its obvious, most of the Gambino’s saw something in Gotti that lead them to believe he would be a good boss and not only that, they let him keep that position.
The decalvacante’s clipped their boss, so killing Gotti wouldnt be that difficult.
Again, if all those powerful capo’s thought Gotti was stupid, why did they continue to let him run the family from prison amd then allow his son to become boss?

I read somewhere (I think it was in Jerry Capeci's book) that Gotti actually offered the Donship to Frank Decicco before they whacked Big Paul. Frank turned it down--allegedly because he knew Gotti wanted to be Don and would have whacked him eventually. This story doesn't have the ring of logic to it.

The flashier the mobster is, the bigger the target he is for law enforcement--they don't like mob guys who flaunt their wealth and have a high profile because it communicates that they're getting away with crimes that law enforcement should be preventing or shutting down. Gotti and Colombo were the worst offenders in modern times, but even Charlie Luciano incurred Dewey's wrath in part because he lived high and liked to be photographed at nightclubs with beautiful women on his arm. By contrast, Carlo Gambino lived like a little old man on a pension; the most that law enforcement had on him was an immigration rap and a feeble conspiracy complaint that was never brought to trial.

Neo not true

Actually it’s not far fetched. Chin Gigante used front bosses for many years and it was effective. I think Decicco knew he would be boss sooner or later. Also Gotti was constantly under indictment for something. I have no doubt they knew Gotti would last too long which turned out to be correct.

Im not so sure about Decicco and the rest of them knowing Gotti would be done sooner or later. If that were true, they never would of let Gotti continue being boss while he was jailed for life and certainly wouldnt of let Gotti jr obtain a leadership role. Gotti sr and JR continued to make millions while he was in supermaxx and there is no way a bunch of greedy mob guys would of let the Gotti’s keep millions if they didnt accept him as being a boss. They could of easily killed him and split the millions amongst themselves.

Totally Disagree. I think a lot was luck and also guys did t want the Boss title because that meant more heat. Plus by the early 90s all the big guys were either dead or in jail. I mean Gotti was not a good boss that’s simply a fact

Who was a good mob boss? Scarfo, amuso, allie boy persico, basciano. Chin gigante who probably lived better when he was in prison?
You cant compare gotti to carlo gambino because carlo died in the mid 70’s when law enforcement lacked technology.
No one is a good mob boss. They all last about 6 5-years.

You better not compare Gotti to Gambino that would be ridiculous lol. Chin Gigante obviously much better than GottI. Scarfo was more bloodthirsty but was a much bigger earner than Gotti. Amuse I will give you because he was basically just a puppet for Casso

Gotti earned much more than Scarfo, the Gambino’s were a much bigger family with much more rackets. Its not even close.
Chin Gigante lived a horrible life. What kind of life did he lead? He couldnt spend money, he walked around in a bath robe for gods sakes.

Not true. Individually Scarfo was a much bigger earner since he had Atlantic City. Gotti was never a big earner. Plus whatever his crew did earn he pissed away gambling. Look man I’m just being honest. Like I said I know you are a hardcore Gotti fan but you gotta at least be fair about his major shortcomings

@Lenox,

@JCrusher is right. Scarfo was a better earner then Gotti "Individually" As a whole when Gotti was boss; He was making more then Scarfo.

Gigante was light years better then Gotti as the boss of a major crime family. Only people I'd say come close to him was Corallo and maybe Castellano....

Chin's life wasn't as horrible as you think..... He was still visiting social clubs; resteraunts.... Things of that nature... Taking vacations...

And too JCrushers point; Gotti was a horrible boss.... I put him on the category of Persico and Rastelli..

Thanks Zavattoni!!! I just try to be fair. I’ve been studying Gotti for many years. This is not just my opinion. The majority of people, mobsters, and law enforcement have said similar things about Gotti.

No problem bud; You're a knowledgble poster; and you're right. It's common knowledge that Gotti was a ******** boss...

If he didn't get arrested in 1992; I think the Genovese and Lucchese's would have had him dead in the streets like a dog.