Anthony Scotto
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Anthony M. Scotto (; May 10, 1934 – August 21, 2021) was an American New York
mobster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...
and labor union racketeer in the Gambino crime family who ruled the
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
waterfront.


Early life

Scotto grew up in the Red Hook
Carroll Gardens Carroll Gardens is a neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Taking up around 40 city blocks, it is bounded by Degraw and Warren Streets (north), Hoyt and Smith Streets (east), Ninth Street or the G ...
section of
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. His father worked for the New York City Department of Sanitation and was a union organizer. Scotto attended St. Francis Preparatory School in Brooklyn. At age 16, Scotto started working as a longshoreman on the Brooklyn waterfront. Scotto studied
pre-law In the United States, pre-law refers to any course of study taken by an undergraduate in preparation for study at a law school. The American Bar Association requires law schools to admit only students with an accredited Bachelor's Degree or it ...
and
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
at Brooklyn College for two years, then dropped out. In 1957, Scotto married Marion Anastasio, whose father was Capo
Anthony Anastasio Anthony Anastasio (; born Antonio Anastasio, ; February 24, 1906 – March 1, 1963) was an Italian-American mobster and labor racketeer for the Gambino crime family who controlled the Brooklyn dockyards for over thirty years. He controlled Brook ...
of what was the Anastasia crime family. Marion's uncle was boss
Albert Anastasia Umberto "Albert" Anastasia (, ; ; September 26, 1902 – October 25, 1957) was an Italian-American mobster, hitman, and crime boss. One of the founders of the modern American Mafia, and a co-founder and later boss of the Murder, Inc. organizat ...
. Scotto and Marion had four children:
broadcast journalist Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...
Rosanna Scotto Rosanna Scotto (born April 29, 1958) is an American news anchor. She is the Co-host of ''Good Day New York'', on Fox 5 NY WNYW in New York City. She formerly hosted with Greg Kelly. Previously, she anchored the 5 and 10 pm news with Ernie Ana ...
, Elaina Scotto, Anthony Scotto Jr. and John Scotto. The family owns and operates the restaurant Fresco by Scotto on East 52nd Street in Manhattan. As an officer of the
International Longshoremen's Association The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) is a North American labor union representing longshore workers along the East Coast of the United States and Canada, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, Puerto Rico, and inland waterways. The ILA h ...
(ILA) Local 1814 in Red Hook, Anastasio used his position to control the Brooklyn waterfront. Scotto eventually joined Anastasio at the union local and became an ILA officer. In 1957, Anastasia was murdered and underboss Carlo Gambino took over what became the Gambino crime family. Enjoying an excellent relationship with Gambino, Scotto was soon inducted into the family. Scotto rose to the job of clerk in the local and then to recording secretary. In 1959, Scotto became the organization director at Local 1814. In 1963, Anastasio died and Scotto succeeded him as head of ILA Local 1814. Called a "new breed labor leader" by the press, Scotto quickly rose into high level business and political circles. Scotto promised a new era of labor harmony on the waterfront
Who knows what you can achieve when there are reasonable men on both sides of the table?
Scotto eventually became the ILA general organizer, one of the three highest positions in the 100,000 member labor union. In 1969, government witness
Joseph Valachi Joseph Michael Valachi (September 22, 1904 – April 3, 1971) was an American mobster in the Genovese crime family who is notable as the first member of the Italian-American Mafia to acknowledge its existence publicly in 1963. He is credited wit ...
identified Scotto in
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
hearings as a member of the Gambino family. Scotto dismissed Valachi's claims, saying it was part of a
U.S. Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United States ...
vendetta Vendetta may refer to: * Feud or vendetta, a long-running argument or fight Film * ''Vendetta'' (1919 film), a film featuring Harry Liedtke * ''Vendetta'' (1950 film), an American drama produced by Howard Hughes * ''Vendetta'' (1986 film), a ...
against him.


Political connections

Scotto became one of the most powerful mafiosos in New York due to his powerful political connections. Scotto even became friends with the mob's most feared enemy,
U.S. Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...
. In 1972, Scotto used his influence to get his lawyer, Bertram Perkel, appointed as a special counselor to Police Commissioner Patrick V. Murphy. Also in 1972, Scotto was named as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, but stepped down in protest over the actions of the Convention Credentials Committee. Scotto at one point claimed to have raised millions of dollars for Democratic candidate
Hugh Carey Hugh Leo Carey (April 11, 1919 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and attorney. He was a seven-term U.S. representative from 1961 to 1974 and the 51st governor of New York from 1975 to 1982. He was a member of the Democratic Part ...
's 1974
gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
campaign in New York. Scotto had numerous dealings with Carey over political appointments and labor issues. In 1976, both Scotto and his wife Marion were selected as delegates to the Democratic National Convention. When Democrat
Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo (, ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo previously served as ...
ran for mayor of New York in 1977, Scotto donated $50,000 to his campaign. President
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
had named Scotto as a possible candidate for the position of U.S. Secretary of Labor. At the same time, Gambino planned to make Scotto president of the entire ILA in the United States; however, this ambition was derailed by criminal charges.


Racketeering conviction

On January 17, 1979, Scotto was indicted on 33 federal bribery and racketeering charges. Scotto was accused of accepting $300,000 over five years from two dockside businessmen who employed his union workers. Scotto also accepted a free swimming pool built by one businessman at Scotto's vacation home. Scotto was also accused of evading federal
income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
. On November 16, 1979, Scotto was convicted on all charges. Before sentencing, U.S. District Judge Charles E. Stewart Jr. remarked that he was "extremely impressed" by letters from former New York City Mayors
Robert F. Wagner Jr. Robert Ferdinand Wagner II (April 20, 1910 – February 12, 1991) was an American politician who served three terms as the mayor of New York City from 1954 through 1965. When running for his third term, he broke with the Tammany Hall leadership ...
and
John Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...
, businessmen, and labor leaders all requesting leniency for Scotto. On January 22, 1980, Stewart bypassed the maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and instead gave Scotto five years in prison with a $75,000 fine. He served time at
Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury The Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury (FCI Danbury) is a low-security United States federal prison for male and female inmates in Danbury, Connecticut. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Depar ...
, a prison in Minnesota and
Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville The Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville (FCI Otisville) is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates located near Otisville, New York. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), a division of the United ...
. In October 1984, after serving 39 months, Scotto was released from prison. Scotto has been identified as a
made man In the American and Sicilian Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. To become "made", an associate first must be Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man. An inductee will be required to take the oa ...
, or full member, of the Gambino family by government witness
Salvatore Gravano Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano (born March 12, 1945) is an American former mobster who became underboss of the Gambino crime family. Gravano played a major role in prosecuting John Gotti, the crime family's boss, by agreeing to testify as a ...
. Gambino's successor, family boss
Paul Castellano Constantino Paul Castellano (; June 26, 1915 – December 16, 1985), was an American crime boss who succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family. Castellano was killed in an unsanctioned hit on December 16, 1985. Early life Cast ...
, was intercepted by a federal
wiretap Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...
explaining to
Thomas Gambino Thomas Francis Gambino (; born August 23, 1929) is an Italian-American New York City mobster and a longtime caporegime of the Gambino crime family who successfully controlled lucrative trucking rackets in the New York City Garment District. He ...
and
Thomas Bilotti Thomas "Tommy" Bilotti (March 23, 1940 – December 16, 1985) was an American mobster with the Gambino crime family who served as underboss for two weeks. It was this promotion that helped trigger the 1985 assassination of Gambino boss Paul Caste ...
about Scotto that,
We respected him ... It was our union ... We were making him advance in our union ... Go up, up, up ... the ladder. And ... what's gonna happen, we're gonna have a president.
After Castellano's assassination in 1985, new family boss John Gotti replaced Scotto in the labor rackets with another Red Hook mobster, Anthony Ciccone.


Later years and death

During his 20-year reign on the New York waterfront (and quite possibly the most powerful labor racketeer in the entire country), Scotto was also able to penetrate
District Council 37 District Council 37 (Also known as DC37) is New York City's largest public sector employee union, representing over 150,000 members and 50,000 retirees. DC37 was chartered in 1944 by AFSCME to represent public employees in New York City. It w ...
, America's biggest, richest, and most indicted municipal union. Former union leader Victor Gotbaum reached out to Scotto to help him in his battle against the
Teamsters Union The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the un ...
for jurisdiction over New York City's hospital workers. Scotto made his attorney, Bertram Perkel, DC 37's outside counsel (Scotto also appointed Perkel to the New York Port Commission). Eventually, DC 37 would come under the control of the
Colombo crime family The Colombo crime family (, ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was duri ...
. Scotto lectured about
labor relations Labor relations is a field of study that can have different meanings depending on the context in which it is used. In an international context, it is a subfield of labor history that studies the human relations with regard to work in its broadest ...
at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
and the New School for Social Research in Manhattan. Scotto also served as a trustee for the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Scotto died on August 21, 2021, at the age of 87.


Notes


References

*Kelly, Robert J. ''Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. *Sifakis, Carl. ''The Encyclopedia of American Crime''. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001.


External links


''United States of America vs. Anthony M. Scotto and Anthony Anastasio''
''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Scotto, Anthony 1934 births 2021 deaths American trade union officials convicted of crimes American gangsters of Italian descent Gambino crime family People from Red Hook, Brooklyn People from Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Brooklyn College alumni American trade unionists of Italian descent People convicted of racketeering People convicted of bribery International Longshoremen's Association people