His family was poor, and his father was rarely able to find work. When he did work, he often gambled the money away, rather than spending it on his family. Obviously, Junior (as John was called while his father was alive) began life with a genetic predisposition to taking great risks and avoiding responsibility.
Most of the neighborhoods of New York were dominated by La Cosa Nostra, organized crime run by Italian mob bosses. Gotti quickly learned to idolize these powerful men. They represented the kind of power and respect he craved, and their way of life offered one of the few opportunities for advancement for the poor son of an immigrant living in the slums. Almost as soon as he started school, Gotti began organizing his own local gang. His borgata started doing odd jobs for the local "men of respect," in Marilyn Bardsley's (1998) words, "molding himself into a young bully with a future" (johnrank, p. 1). In his first brush with police, he tried to steal a cement mixer. It fell on his feet, affecting his walk for the rest of his life. Instead of stopping him in his tracks, this incident provided a lifelong reminder that Gotti was special, gifted with a peculiar combination of talents that would make him famous and an intriguing psychological case study.
The family moved to central Brooklyn. By age 16, Gotti had dropped out of school and joined his oldest brother, Peter, as a member of the Fulton-Rockaway Boys, a gang that took its name from two streets in the neighborhood. His bad temper and bullying nature soon made him the leader's group, and established relationships with several of his goombata (fellow gang members) which would last a lifetime; goombata such as Angelo Ruggiero and Wilfred "Willie Boy" Johnson began an association with the five Gotti brothers that would become legendary.
Although all the Gottis had found their calling with the Fulton-Rockaway Boys, only John showed real promise. His I.Q., es...