Posted by Gary Glanzman on October 23, 1998 at 05:07:46:
In Reply to: Re: Johnny Reb: the Real Story posted by Gary Glanzman on October 20, 1998 at 01:47:41:
Ralph was not from Bella pizza, that was on Stanley Ave. He the son of the owner of the Pizza place on Van siclen, across from George Gershwin, I think the owner was Joe. Ralphie, or Ralphie meatball, had a brother, who was quieter and pretty normal. THat pizza place was originally on Stanley one block past Ashford St., i can't remember the name of that street, and I remember when the pizza was .10 for a slice. Ripoff! Anyway, Bella pizza owner had 2 sons, Ernie and Patsy. Again, one was quiet, the other nuts. Patsy was the wild one, Ernie the quiet one. Maybe there is a pattern here. I'm not sure.
Gary Glanzman
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: : : : : : The way I remember it is: Johnny and his brother Sandy and Ralph from Bella Pizza all hung out together. I'm sure there were more, but memory fails me. Johnny and his crew were the true hitter-faces of the neighborhood. They would just walk down the street and decide to beat someone up. Ask Jeffrey Rubin, he was a victim. If he didn't know you, you got beat up. If he didn't like you, you got beat up. If Johnny was dealing pot, no one else could deal pot until he didn't have anymore. If Johnny had pills, no one else could deal pills.
: : : : : : If you didn't show up for one of their battle of the bands, or a fight when they needed back-up, you got beat up. It was as if he had roll call in his head and knew who was absent. Every summer there would be a big fight between ENY and usually the Puerto Rican gangs. Johnny would call the neighborhood together to fight. The police always broke it up before anything serious would happen. He always left a guy or 2 in the park with the girls..just in case. When I hung out in 306 park, it was a nasty place and I told my mother never to come inside the park to get me..she should stay outside and yell. Well, my folks came home one Saturday night and parked the car outside the park. On Sunday it was gone. My mom remembered seeing Johnny Reb in the park when they left the car there, so she went down to the park the next day and had a little chat with Johnny Reb. My little, fat, Jewish mother confronting Johnny Reb!
: : : : : : She comes upstairs and says to me," You know that red-headed boy Johnny Reb? well, I just asked him about seeing the car. And he was so nice. You should go out with him". I almost died. Johnny Reb did have a way about him.
: : : : : : OK..so now about the murder....The way I have heard it and it comes from a very very reliable source is that Johnny and Sandy and Ralph and some other guys went to a party and somehow they got caught up with a transvestite. and that's who was killed. It didn't happen in our neighborhood. Sandy and Ralph got picked up right away, but Johnny had friends that hid him in a basement apartment someplace. Jill Sklar and I went there a couple of times. We were take blindfolded by a guy who was a good friend to most of us..but that's another story. Anyway, this apt was disgusting! So Jill and I cleaned the walls and refrigerator, yuk.
: : : : : : After Johnny was arrested, I went to one of the court hearings. He did do time for about 4 years. Ralph got out of doing prison time by joining the service. Sandy also did time, I think but I'm not sure. I don't know if Sandy is still around. He ended up marrying Arlene Myers and last I heard he was with the tenant association at Fairfield Towers.
: : : : : : I truely believe that if Johnny Reb had not gone to prison, heroin would not have come into the neighborhood the way it did. I have no rational reason for this, just a feeling. When he got out of prison and came back to the neighborhood, everything had changed so much. When he left, we were all beating each other up and when he got out, we were sitting in the grass playing with the flowers. I can't say that I was Johnny Reb's friend, I don't even know if he ever had a girlfriend, but he was a big part of the neighborhood. Now..who wants to hear about Jimmy Larkin?
: : : : I want to hear about Jimmy Larkin
: : I was also a victim of the old hostile ralph. Yep i remember getting my face pouded by ralph and im also interested in another victim that you mentioned Jeff Rubin does anybody know where i can find him? thanks for the miserable memory....