Anthony Scotto

Anthony M. Scotto (; May 10, 1934 – August 21, 2021) was an American New York mobster and labor union racketeer in the Gambino crime family who ruled the Brooklyn waterfront.

Early life Scotto grew up in the Red Hook Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn. 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 and Marion had four children: broadcast journalist Rosanna Scotto, Elaina Scotto, Anthony Scotto Jr. and John Scotto.

As an officer of the International Longshoremen's Association (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 1963, Anastasio died and Scotto succeeded him as head of ILA Local 1814. 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 identified Scotto in U.S. Senate hearings as a member of the Gambino family. Scotto dismissed Valachi's claims, saying it was part of a U.S. Justice Department vendetta against him. 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's 1974 gubernatorial 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. President Jimmy Carter 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. 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. and John Lindsay, 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, a prison in Minnesota and Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville.

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, 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 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.

Scotto lectured about labor relations at Harvard University and the New School for Social Research in Manhattan. Scotto also served as a trustee for the Brooklyn Academy of Music.