Nicholas (Cockeye Nick) Rattenni: Frank Costello’s Chief Lieutenant

Nicholas (Cockeye Nick) Rattenni was a capo in the Genovese Family active in garbage racketeering, extortion, bribery, and official corruption. He was described by law enforcement authorities as being the chief lieutenant for boss Frank Costello.

Nicholas (Cockeye Nick) Rattenni - aka Nicholas Alfred Rattenni (TN) - was born on March 5, 1906, in Manhattan, New York. He was raised in the Bronx and by 1945 had relocated up to Yonkers. He operated in the Bronx-Yonkers and Westchester County areas.

Nicholas (Cockeye Nick) Rattenni

He resided for years in a multi-million dollar home located at 107 Rockledge Avenue. And despite his alleged Mafia connections, Rattenni led a life resembling that of many successful Westchester businessmen.

He lived with his second wife, Evelyn, and their young son, Robert, in a secluded stately home in the exclusive western residential section of Yonkers. The dark red, shingled house sat on 12 acres of land that included a three‐bedroom playhouse, a 200‐yard driving range, and a putting green.

The Rattennis belonged to the Willow Ridge Country Club in Harrison, where his older son, Nick Jr, was a golfing champion. The elder Rattenni was a far poorer golfer than his son, but according to one story, he was good enough to beat Frank Erickson in a match where $100,000 was at stake.

Law enforcement said Erickson paid his debt by giving Rattenni 6,400 shares of Roosevelt Raceway stock. That was in the early 1950s. In 1969, Rattenni sold the stock for $1,322.676. The sale came to light in a lawsuit involving the raceway's stock. Rattenni was not involved in the lawsuit.

A top power in the Genovese Family for decades, he served as the top senior “capo di decina” for the Family troops in those New York communities. He originally served under Rocco Pellegrino and then James Angelina. He acquired his position by taking over the spot previously held by Angelina who died in 1967.

Rattenni's activities included garbage racketeering, extortion, bribery and official corruption, gambling, strong-arm tactics, business infiltration, shylocking, and stock fraud. And he was the guiding force in virtually all criminal activities performed by his minions.

By 1970, he had a lengthy arrest record, starting in 1926, but sustained only one 1927 conviction for robbery and served three years of a 2.5 to 5-year jail term at Sing Sing Prison. He later had a tax evasion arrest as well. Family member John Biello went to jail in this case.

In 1970, Rattenni was arrested along with several other reputed Mafiosi and charged with conspiring to bribe Internal Revenue Service agents. He was placed on $20,000 bail. He was jailed again in 1972 after the bribery conviction and served three more years in prison.

Rattenni's name had long been linked with those of well‐known top gangsters. Federal investigators say that in the 1930s and 40s, he was an associate of the late Frank Erickson, a top New York bookmaker.

In 1953, Herbert Brownell Jr., who was then United States Attorney General, described him as a chief lieutenant of Family Boss Frank Costello.

When Rattenni moved to Yonkers from the Bronx around 1945, he entered the private carting business. He began renting garbage trucks from mobster Joseph (Joey Surprise) Feola who vanished in 1962. Feola is believed to have been murdered on Carlo Gambino's orders over his repeatedly stealing carting accounts, including a huge refuse removal contract at the Ford Motor Company assembly plant in Mahwah, N.J.

Over the years, Rattenni's business prospered, and by 1971, ninety percent of the private garbage collection was done by his two firms, the Westchester Carting Co., and the Fleetwood Haulage Company.

His 25‐year‐old adopted son, Nick Jr., entered the Family business in 1969 when he became president of A‐1 Compaction, Inc., a new firm listed at the same address as Westchester Carting Company.

The Rattenni's business practices were a major subject of an S.I.C. investigation. The commission charged that Westchester Carting Company trucks had been allowed to use the city incinerator while the city's own trucks were forced to go elsewhere. The practice was said to cost Yonkers $1 million a year.

The matter came under investigation by the Westchester District Attorney's office, and the S.I.C. was particularly disturbed by Rattenni's friendships with major city officials.

A good example was during the Commission's investigation of Councilman Frank Adamo (who had been recently elected to a third term) who testified that he had visited Rattenni at home, had frequently driven him to his office, and had used the office telephone to call City Hall to inquire about zoning changes.

The commission described the relationship as very “unhealthy”.

Another indication of Rattenni's power was the dozen “button men” who served as bodyguards or merely came to listen when he testified before the S.I.C. in 1969.

Among the reputed Mafiosi noted among spectators by state investigators were Frank Sacco, another reputed member of the Genovese family (who had been arrested numerous times on loansharking charges in Yonkers), and John A. Masiello Jr., son of “Gentleman Johnny” Masiello.

Nicholas (Cockeye Nick) Rattenni died on April 19, 1982, at age 76.

Until next time..."The Other Guy!"

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