My Dad used to talk about
John Gotti. He had dinner several times over at Gotti's house.
Dad never said if he was into the
mafioso thing or not, but he always seemed to have money even when
unemployed.
Dad said that Gotti was very charismatic. He donated a lot of money to the local churches and supported whole neighborhoods. Was he a nice guy? No, since he had folks killed and (as noted in the writeup by Hesby) he was selling dope to kids. Perhaps he was trying to buy himself absolution. He did, however, make some positive impacts on down-and-out neighborhoods. John owned a few stores, including a plumbing supply store. When he was asked at one of his trials how he could afford to wear a different Armani suit every day of the trial, he said business was good that week.
If he wasn't such a public mafia figure, he would've been elected Governor of New York or New Jersey years ago.
perdedor says: little extra fodder for your node: gotti also owned the ravenites social club and in addition to Armani suits, he ALWAYS was seen driving his mercedes benz