John Gotti Jr. and Curtis Sliwa[1] put aside their differences and had a cordial conversation for five minutes at the Oyster Bay Oyster Festival on Saturday.
“I hate Gotti Jr., and he hates me. In fact, he had his thugs try to kill me,” Sliwa claimed to me. “But every vote counts.”
In 1992, Sliwa was kidnapped and shot by two gunmen after entering a stolen taxi near his home in the East Village. Federal prosecutors put Gotti Jr. on trial multiple times but couldn’t get a conviction, and the charges were ultimately dropped. Sliwa dramatically testified against Junior.
Sliwa, the head of the Reform Party of New York, was campaigning with his fourth wife[2], animal-rights activist Nancy Sliwa, a candidate for New York state attorney general.
The son of legendary Gambino boss John Gotti[3], smoking a cigar, approached the Guardian Angels founder and told him, “You know, I’m a supporter of animal rights.”
“He wasn’t being a wiseguy. He was serious,” Sliwa said.
After the two chatted, they shook hands. “The bad blood still exists, but I had to put it aside on that day for the good of our Reform Party mission.”
Sliwa, who has a talk show on WABC Radio, underwent 6 ½ hours of surgery last year to repair damage to his intestines from the 1992 shooting.
References
- ^ Curtis Sliwa (pagesix.com)
- ^ his fourth wife (pagesix.com)
- ^ John Gotti (pagesix.com)