A former Gambino crime family associate has cast new light on the relationship between Neil Dellacroce and John Gotti, challenging the idea that the two mobsters’ bond was straightforward or constant. Anthony Ruggiano Jr. , son of Gambino mobster Anthony “Fat Andy” Ruggiano, discussed the inner workings of the crime family in a recent interview. He described watching Dellacroce and Gotti interact at the Ravenite Social Club in Little Italy during his youth.
Dellacroce served as underboss to Paul Castellano, while Gotti would later orchestrate Castellano’s murder and take control of the family. Public accounts have long emphasized the closeness between Dellacroce and his protégé Gotti. According to Ruggiano, Dellacroce was not the fearsome figure often depicted in media. He remembered Dellacroce as friendly and approachable at the Ravenite.
“Everybody talks about Neil as very staring, dead eyes and shark eyes,” Ruggiano said. “He never appeared that way to me. He always had a smile on. ”
Dellacroce regularly played pinochle on Saturdays at the club and enjoyed a glass of wine.
He frequently visited Jimmy Weston’s, a Manhattan piano bar, with his girlfriend and Joey “the Cat” along with his girlfriend. At the same time, Ruggiano acknowledged that Dellacroce could be serious and intimidating when required. He recalled a moment when Dellacroce threatened to break his fingers over a tab he had signed. Despite the pleasant demeanor, Ruggiano noted that Dellacroce clearly favored Gotti and Angelo Ruggiero in private conversations.
Dellacroce and Ruggiero were related, which explained part of that closeness. “John had a lot of potential,” Ruggiano said. “John was very sharp, a likable guy. ”
He described how Gotti would anticipate Dellacroce’s needs.
If Dellacroce mentioned needing a suit, a rack of suits would appear at the club within hours. If he mentioned a new television, one would arrive shortly after. Ruggiano also discussed Dellacroce’s reputation among law enforcement. He referenced former NYPD detective Ralph Salerno, who reportedly said only two men truly scared him: Dellacroce and Carmine Galante, noting the intensity of their eyes.
The interview also touched on Roy DeMeo, the notorious Gambino associate. Ruggiano said DeMeo would visit the Ravenite on Saturdays, always alone, always in a suit. The atmosphere would shift when he walked in. “Everybody knew he did a lot of work,” Ruggiano said, explaining that his father never called DeMeo a crazy killer but acknowledged the meaning behind the phrase.
Ruggiano’s father’s relationship with Gotti evolved significantly over time. In their younger years, Gotti and Nicholas “Nicky” Corozzo had serious friction in East New York, Brooklyn. There were fistfights, stabbings, and shootings between their crews. “Fat Andy was the gangster in East New York back then,” Ruggiano said.
“All these young guys looked up to him. ”
Gene Gotti reportedly told Ruggiano that when he and his brother John were kids and ran into Fat Andy, “we didn’t know if we should shake his hand or duck. ”
Their relationship improved after Gotti became a made man. Ruggiano described visits to his father in prison where his brother Tony Lee would update their father on family matters.
The elder Ruggiano would jokingly ask if they were talking about the same John Gotti from East New York. Ruggiano said that even after Sammy Gravano flipped and Gotti was fighting his case, Gotti reportedly told associates that if Fat Andy were still alive, the situation would not have happened. A prison tape of Gotti speaking with his son Junior shows Gotti expressing interest in being transferred to Allenwood prison because Fat Andy was housed there. Ruggiano noted that Gotti mentioned Fat Andy’s name first.
Ruggiano also recalled Gotti once saying, “I’m like 50 Andys,” comparing himself to other mob figures, with Fat Andy being the first named. The relationship between Dellacroce and Fat Andy Ruggiano was reportedly very close, as they had come up together and put their lives on the line after Albert Anastasia’s assassination. But it was not without conflict. Ruggiano described a significant falling out between his father and Dellacroce.
It began at a dinner with the underboss of Chicago, who was visiting New York. At the dinner, Fat Andy was joking around and cursing as he often did. The Chicago underboss turned to Dellacroce and asked, “That’s how you let your guys talk to you? ”
Dellacroce felt embarrassed and reprimanded Fat Andy at the table.
After the dinner, the two men nearly came to blows outside the restaurant before Frankie Martin broke it up. The next morning, Fat Andy went to the Ravenite alone and waited for Dellacroce to leave his apartment across the street. “What are we going to do? ” Fat Andy asked, according to his son.
Ruggiano said his father went there prepared to die. Dellacroce put his arms around him and said, “Forget it. I’ll always be your captain. ”
They went inside, and that was the end of it.
But Ruggiano said his father always believed Dellacroce kept that incident in the back of his mind. Ruggiano also discussed Joe Watts, a powerful associate who became prominent after Gotti took over. Watts had a multimillion-dollar lumber yard and provided Gotti with large envelopes of cash. Tony Lee Ruggiano, Anthony’s brother, reportedly never liked Watts.
He was old school and resented that Watts was allowed to kill made men and sit at the captains’ table during weddings. “Tony would curse under his breath: ‘Look at this guy sitting with the captains,'” Ruggiano said. Despite the tensions, Ruggiano said he personally liked Watts, who always treated him well. The last time he saw Watts was at a Manhattan club called Rouge, shortly before Ruggiano went to prison.
Ruggiano’s book, “Reformed Gangster: My Life Inside the Gambino Crime Family,” is expected to be published soon. He encourages interested readers to register on his website, anthonyrugiano. com, to receive advance copies.