{"id":464615,"date":"2022-06-18T02:14:02","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T23:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-an-nyc-restaurateur-survived-his-tangles-with-the-mafia\/"},"modified":"2022-06-18T02:14:02","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T23:14:02","slug":"how-an-nyc-restaurateur-survived-his-tangles-with-the-mafia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-an-nyc-restaurateur-survived-his-tangles-with-the-mafia\/","title":{"rendered":"#How an NYC restaurateur survived his tangles with the mafia"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3be4ed05f36\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3be4ed05f36\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-an-nyc-restaurateur-survived-his-tangles-with-the-mafia\/#%E2%80%9CHow_an_NYC_restaurateur_survived_his_tangles_with_the_mafia%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;How an NYC restaurateur survived his tangles with the mafia&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-an-nyc-restaurateur-survived-his-tangles-with-the-mafia\/#Wise_in_wiseguys\" >Wise in wiseguys<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-an-nyc-restaurateur-survived-his-tangles-with-the-mafia\/#Taking_care_of_business\" >Taking care of business<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-an-nyc-restaurateur-survived-his-tangles-with-the-mafia\/#A_friend_of_ours_%E2%80%94_and_a_new_enemy\" >A friend of ours \u2014 and a new enemy<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-an-nyc-restaurateur-survived-his-tangles-with-the-mafia\/#Funny_how\" >Funny how?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-an-nyc-restaurateur-survived-his-tangles-with-the-mafia\/#Going_clean\" >Going clean<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CHow_an_NYC_restaurateur_survived_his_tangles_with_the_mafia%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;How an NYC restaurateur survived his tangles with the mafia&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>When Stratis Morfogen opened his first Manhattan diner in the 1990s, he had no intention of one day telling a member of John Gotti Jr.\u2019s crew to \u201cgo f\u2013k themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But for \u201cThe Golden Greek\u201d \u2014 a nickname Morfogen earned from his mob contacts for his money-making ways \u2014 standing up to the mafia became a way of life as an NYC-based restaurateur. Now, the owner of Brooklyn Chop House in lower Manhattan is naming names in his new book, \u201cBe a Disruptor: Streetwise Lessons for Entrepreneurs \u2015 from the Mob to Mandates,\u201d out Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Morfogen opened Gotham City Diner on the Upper East Side in 1993. Soon after, the mob made their presence known.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had a head of promotions, his name was Noel Ashman \u2026 one night Noel comes in with a black eye, I said, \u2018What\u2019s going on?&#8217;\u201d Morfogen told The Post in an exclusive interview. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome gangster said we have to pay them every month or they\u2019re going to continuously start beating us up,\u201d Morfogen recalled him saying. \u201c[Ashman] pointed out some names to me and I recognized that these are Gambino guys.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Wise_in_wiseguys\"><\/span>Wise in wiseguys<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"745\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Carlo_Gambino_1970-1.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Stratis Morfogen knew Carlo Gambino at an early age. Gambino would slip him $20 bills while eating at his family's restaurant.\" class=\"wp-image-22691468\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Carlo_Gambino_1970-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Carlo_Gambino_1970-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Carlo_Gambino_1970-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Morfogen knew Carlo Gambino at an early age. Gambino would slip him $20 bills while eating at his family\u2019s restaurant.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Bettmann Archive<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Morfogen wasn\u2019t naive about the Cosa Nostra. He grew up on Long Island in the 1970s and his family had owned a Howard Beach restaurant where mob don Carlo Gambino was a regular. Gambino would slip the eager 6-year-old Morfogen $20 bills and ask him about school. <\/p>\n<p>After he opened his own spot, Morfogen enjoyed frequent visits from the Genovese crime family\u2019s Ralph Coppola and Bobby \u201cBucky\u201d Carbone. <\/p>\n<p>Underboss Coppola got so close that he called Morfogen \u201cnephew,\u201d and Carbone entertained him with tales from the other side. One night, Carbone even told him the story of the first man he killed, Morfogen said. It was at a bar, in a debt collection gone awry.<\/p>\n<p>But Gotti Jr.\u2019s crew was different.<\/p>\n<p>Gambino died on Long Island in 1976 and John Gotti was behind bars thanks to testimony from Sammy \u201cthe Bull\u201d Gravano. In his absence, his son, Gotti Jr., was running the show \u2014 and intimidating restaurateurs \u2014\u00a0in the 1990s.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"810\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/John_Gotti_Jr.jpg?w=810\" alt=\"John Gotti Jr's people demanded protection from Morfogen's diner, he said.\" class=\"wp-image-22691676\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/John_Gotti_Jr.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1620 1620w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/John_Gotti_Jr.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1215 1215w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/John_Gotti_Jr.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=810 810w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/John_Gotti_Jr.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=405 405w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/John_Gotti_Jr.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\"\/><figcaption>John Gotti Jr.\u2019s people demanded protection from Morfogen\u2019s diner, he said.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cJohn Gotti, Jr. and his crew, that\u2019s what they lived on. They would shake down every restaurant from the Upper East Side to Midtown,\u201d Morfogen said.<\/p>\n<p>As the new kid on the block, it was Morfogen\u2019s turn to pony up. Or at least that\u2019s what two of Gotti Jr.\u2019s \u201ctop honchos\u201d thought.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said, \u2018What do you guys want?&#8217;\u201d Morfogen recalled. They told him, \u201c\u2018We want $5,000 a month or we\u2019re going to break your windows every week.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said, \u2018Let me give you the quick answer: Go f\u2013k yourself.\u2019 That\u2019s how I was, I had no fear at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Taking_care_of_business\"><\/span>Taking care of business<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/John_Gotti_John_Jr.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"After Gotti Jr's, crew made their threats, black paint was repeatedly thrown on Morfogen's diner windows, he said.\" class=\"wp-image-22691724\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/John_Gotti_John_Jr.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/John_Gotti_John_Jr.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/John_Gotti_John_Jr.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>After Gotti Jr.\u2019s crew made their threats, black paint was repeatedly thrown on Morfogen\u2019s diner windows, he said.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">freelance<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Soon after, someone started throwing black paint on the diner\u2019s windows every night. Morfogen would scrub them down each morning.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Coppola noticed this was h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ening and told Morfogen to \u201csit tight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Two days later, Morfogen got a call from one of Coppola\u2019s guys, telling him to come by the now-defunct restaurant Ferrier Bistro at 10 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I got there, Ralph was there with Bucky and all the Gambino capos were in the back, sitting \u2026 so I sat down with Ralph, Bobby and the five heads of the Gambino family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRalph basically says, \u2018Listen, this kid is with us and you tell [Gotti] Jr. to back off and if he doesn\u2019t back off, this thing is gonna escalate.\u2019 <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd my head just spun \u2026 just like that, the guys turned around and said, \u2018Hey, we like this kid, he\u2019s a good kid. Don\u2019t worry, we\u2019ll talk to Jr. and we\u2019ll squash this.\u2019 And lo and behold, it was squashed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Just like that, Morfogen was under the protection of the Genovese boys. Carbone even put an ice pick into the thigh of an employee whom he believed stole $30,000 from the diner. He said they never asked for anything in return: \u201cIt was true friendship,\u201d Morfogen said.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_friend_of_ours_%E2%80%94_and_a_new_enemy\"><\/span>A friend of ours \u2014 and a new enemy<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-nypost-inline-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"382\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/ralph_coppola_genovese.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"Ralph Coppola, who Morfogen called the &quot;underboss&quot; of the Genovese family had become a silent business partner of his.\" class=\"wp-image-22691827\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/ralph_coppola_genovese.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=600 600w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/ralph_coppola_genovese.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=450 450w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/ralph_coppola_genovese.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=300 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/ralph_coppola_genovese.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=150 150w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/ralph_coppola_genovese.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"\/><figcaption>Ralph Coppola, who Morfogen called the \u201cunderboss\u201d of the Genovese family had become a silent business partner of his.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">FREELANCE<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Following the then-uninterrupted success of Gotham City, Morfogen opened a club called Rouge with silent backing from Coppola.<\/p>\n<p>Things were fantastic. The club quickly became famous when New York Rangers captain Mark Messier brought in the Stanley Cup. One night, Morfogen accidentally turned away Madonna and Tupac at the door because he didn\u2019t recognize them.<\/p>\n<p>But it also caught the attention of a West Coast mafioso who wanted to \u201cbuy\u201d his way into the nightlife.<\/p>\n<p>A \u201cJewish gangster from LA\u201d once sat Morfogen down inside his own club and tried making him an offer he couldn\u2019t refuse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe takes out a pen, he writes on a napkin \u2018$10K\u2019 and then he pulls out a 9 millimeter, pops out a bullet and puts it on the table.\u201d He told Morfogen: \u201cIt\u2019s this or that.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>But Morfogen wasn\u2019t worried. \u201cHe didn\u2019t get the memo,\u201d he said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t know the most powerful people in the world were already protecting me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Morfogen im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>tely brought the issue to Coppola and Carbone. They couldn\u2019t stop laughing. <\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Funny_how\"><\/span>Funny how?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Stratis_Morfogen_1994-2.jpg?w=768\" alt=\"Stratis Morfogen learned what mob partners can do for a business first hand.\" class=\"wp-image-22694769\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Stratis_Morfogen_1994-2.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1152 1152w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Stratis_Morfogen_1994-2.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=768 768w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Stratis_Morfogen_1994-2.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=384 384w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Stratis_Morfogen_1994-2.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\"\/><figcaption>Morfogen learned firsthand what mob partners can do for a business.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Gotham_Diner_1993_Stratis_Morfogen-1.jpg?w=768\" alt=\"Stratis Morfogen went from being leaned on by the mob to becoming a friend of theirs.\" class=\"wp-image-22694892\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Gotham_Diner_1993_Stratis_Morfogen-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1152 1152w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Gotham_Diner_1993_Stratis_Morfogen-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=768 768w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Gotham_Diner_1993_Stratis_Morfogen-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=384 384w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Gotham_Diner_1993_Stratis_Morfogen-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\"\/><figcaption>Morfogen went from being leaned on by the mob to becoming a friend of theirs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>\u201cI walk into the club at 1 a.m. one Saturday night and [Coppola, Carbone and the LA gangster are] all sitting in the back, in the VIP room having a great time, drinking Champagne.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Morfogen wasn\u2019t amused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy around 4:30 in the morning they\u2019re still drinking. I walked up to the table and I said, \u2018You guys having a good time?\u2019 I was kind of pissed. Ralph, I\u2019ll never forget, he says, \u2018Nephew, we\u2019re having a great time,\u2019 and he eyed me to go away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Morfogen got the message. \u201cAs I was walking away I heard Ralph say, \u2018Let\u2019s get down to business. I heard your offer and here\u2019s my counter offer,\u2019 and he took a 60-pound candelabra and hit him over the head. Then Bucky came running to me to get me out of the nightclub and put me in a taxi as this fight was going on.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I got to Rouge nightclub the day after, there was no blood on the floor, no blood on the walls. But I did notice the area carpet was gone.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Going_clean\"><\/span>Going clean<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Stratis_Morfogen_Book4.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Stratis Morfogen paints a very candid picture of life with mob ties in his upcoming book.\" class=\"wp-image-22694726\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Stratis_Morfogen_Book4.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Stratis_Morfogen_Book4.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Stratis_Morfogen_Book4.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Morfogen paints a very candid picture of life with mob ties in his upcoming book.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That sort of drop-of-a-hat loyalty was shown to Morfogen for years to come. He knew Coppola would always have his back \u2014\u00a0which is why he was shocked when he didn\u2019t show up to his wedding in 1998.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>\u201cAt my wedding I noticed two empty chairs. Ralph and his wife never showed up. I was blown away by that. Ralph really was like my uncle and I wouldn\u2019t go a week without talking to him,\u201d Morfogen said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBucky came up to me that night and said, \u2018Ralph\u2019s gone.\u2019 I said, \u2018What do you mean?\u2019 He said, \u2018Ralph\u2019s gone. Don\u2019t ask anymore.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Years later, Morfogen was informed that Coppola \u201cwent to a meeting in Harlem and never came out of the house.\u201d That\u2019s all he knows, even now.<\/p>\n<p>Coppola\u2019s disappearance shook him. With his silent partner gone, he took it as a sign. \u201cI really wanted no part of it anymore,\u201d he said of the mob life.<\/p>\n<p>And, he felt like the mob wasn\u2019t the friend to him it had once been. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn 2005 I was really struggling \u2014 divorced, I lost my [old] business and I didn\u2019t get any calls from any of those guys to see if I needed anything \u2026 [Ralph] would have been calling me every day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>But a few years and business ventures later, the mafia came knocking once again in 2006 by way of a Genovese associate.<\/p>\n<p>The associate came on behalf of two capos who wanted \u201can envelope\u201d from Morfogen, who had just gotten back on his feet.<\/p>\n<p>The answer was the same he gave Gotti\u2019s crew a few years back when he was just starting out: \u201cTell them to go f\u2013k themselves\u2019,\u201d Morfogen said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said, \u2018Don\u2019t make me into a rat \u2026 I\u2019m done with you guys\u2019 \u2026 they never came back or bothered me again.\u201d\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/06\/17\/i-said-go-f-k-yourself-how-a-club-owner-fought-the-mob\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;How an NYC restaurateur survived his tangles with the mafia&#8221; When Stratis Morfogen opened his first Manhattan diner in the 1990s, he had no intention of one day telling a member of John Gotti Jr.\u2019s crew to \u201cgo f\u2013k themselves.\u201d But for \u201cThe Golden Greek\u201d \u2014 a nickname Morfogen earned from his mob contacts for&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":464616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Stratis_Morfogen_Book-1.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[130439,17209,61594,130467,45339,83001,4953,82160,101596,86935,22512],"class_list":["post-464615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-6-17-22","tag-books","tag-exclusive","tag-john-gotti-jr","tag-mafia","tag-mob","tag-new-york-city","tag-nightclubs","tag-ny-post-exclusive","tag-organized-crime","tag-restaurants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}