I always thought that to "come healed" meant carrying a gun.
Apropos of nothing, but why do Mafia kingpins always wear track suits? Who started that? It's not like they ever hosted aerobics at the "social club"....
The trial pales in comparison to the Pizza Connection or Gotti or Sammy the Bull trials. The writer missed the heyday. Asaro is 80, and the evidence against him is not overwhelming.
All that's left are a bunch of tired old men.
All that's left are a bunch of tired old men.
Yea, exactly, that is the story.
The mafia, the all invasive, terrifying boogie man of yesterday, has been reduced to the memories of old men. That is exactly what Ms Clifford is bringing to light.
The mafia, the all invasive, terrifying boogie man of yesterday, has been reduced to the memories of old men. That is exactly what Ms Clifford is bringing to light.
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Contrary to many of the commentators below, I am sick of reading about these old crooks and what they were like when they were young crooks. I note that FBI handlers have been working with Valenti for seven years in order to convict Asaro, a man who is now 80 and committed crimes about 40 years ago. Probably the prosecutors are using the conspiracy statute to get around the statute of limitations. I am sick of reading about the old crime families and should think the government would have better things for which to employ FBI agents and Assistant US Attorneys in Brooklyn. After having seen 'Goodfellas' in the Fall of 1990, I vowed never again to read a book, see a tv show or watch a film based on the Mafia (except re-runs of GF I & II). I think that 'Goodfellas' was tasteless and annoying, even if based on true events. Since the men who played the parts are not actually ill-educated, viscous gangsters, I grant the film was well acted. That these criminal lives continued for generations is a disgrace to the sub-culture that produced them. No honor at all. We did have free high school and colleges in New York, didn't we.
And today Asaro was complete acquitted by a jury, in what might be a case of jury nullification based on the notion that the government wasted our money going after an old man for seven years of having to build the case utilizing a PAID informant.
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Nicely done.
I have to say that daily I have been looking for your columns on this case, this is my guilty pleasure.
I was disappointed yesterday when I could not find an update.
These stories which you are publishing are to me like the short novels of sometime ago, full of interesting story, plots and subplots and engaging.
Please do not stop, your work makes me glad I have an insider subscription.
And am looking forward to tomorrow's story, which I will once again read, riveted to my LCD screen, absorbing the next twist and turn. Thank you!
I was disappointed yesterday when I could not find an update.
These stories which you are publishing are to me like the short novels of sometime ago, full of interesting story, plots and subplots and engaging.
Please do not stop, your work makes me glad I have an insider subscription.
And am looking forward to tomorrow's story, which I will once again read, riveted to my LCD screen, absorbing the next twist and turn. Thank you!
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These crimes took place almost 40 years ago. Murder is not being charged. As such, how is it that the Statute of Limitations, which for most crimes is about 5 years, has not run on any of the charges?
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He IS being charged with murder...
I no longer live in the city, and I have no illusions about what kind of people mafiosi are, but I still love mafia stories. I guess you can take the boy out of Staten Island...
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Will the feds get testimony from Jimmy Two Times??
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Hey Stephanie, you have a knack for story telling, too. Thanks for this anecdote !
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He had a good life,750 grand in one score,for himself. Plus you can't say he's a rat. Some guys wished they lived his life. The only thing it caught up with him,&old,he has to die,in the joint.
Hi,
Told to “come dressed,” Mr. Valenti picked out his best clothes: a seersucker jacket with white and gray stripes, burgundy pants, a burgundy shirt and burgundy patent-leather boots. The other guys involved in the robbery looked at him and started cracking up. “They laughed at me,” Mr. Valenti testified. “ ‘Come dressed’ meant ‘come with the pistol.’ ”
That is funny
Told to “come dressed,” Mr. Valenti picked out his best clothes: a seersucker jacket with white and gray stripes, burgundy pants, a burgundy shirt and burgundy patent-leather boots. The other guys involved in the robbery looked at him and started cracking up. “They laughed at me,” Mr. Valenti testified. “ ‘Come dressed’ meant ‘come with the pistol.’ ”
That is funny
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great story! Proves a good beat reporter knows the value of economy - can
pack a whole magazine article in a few paragraphs!!!
pack a whole magazine article in a few paragraphs!!!
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He carried a coffee pot in his club, and sunned himself outside on nice days. That convinced the writer that he indeed was a gangster?
The paragraph says '...seemed like endless F.B.I. testimony ...' she was just mentioning what the FBI had to say, which was not much, and that was the point. Not much was known until he was ratted out by his friends.
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@Jade: I think -- just guessing here -- the endless testimony of the feds might have played a role in convincing Ms. Clifford Asaro was a gangster. Her previous story and this sweet little backgrounder was a great payoff for me as a reader and -- guessing again -- for her as a long-suffering beat reporter.
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This is a great article, how Ms Clifford puts the ambience into words is perfect.
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This piece be a teaching model for a journalism course. Ending with the punch. Just about perfect.
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Your coverage has been terrific, as capturing any of these guys' essence is what made GoodFellas and The Godfather series so fascinating.
Great chronicling of the end of their era, but social clubs, "come dressed" and Asaro acting like Uncle Junior is almost akin to getting outtakes of The Sopranos. What characters!
Thanks for capturing that.
Great chronicling of the end of their era, but social clubs, "come dressed" and Asaro acting like Uncle Junior is almost akin to getting outtakes of The Sopranos. What characters!
Thanks for capturing that.
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