Awesome Nicknames From New York's Mafia Bust

The FBI pulled off the biggest mob bust in New York history yesterday. Maybe that’ll reduce mob crime. Here’s hoping. But one thing it will definitely do is acquaint us with some of the weird, straight-out-of-the-movies nicknames New York’s mobsters are using. The Village Voice pored over the indictment looking for juicy monikers, and dug up these gems:

• Anthony “Tony Bagels” Cavezza
• Joseph “Junior Lollipops” Carna
• Giovanni “Mousey” Vella
• Vincenzo “Vinny Carwash” Frogiero
• Luigi “Baby Shacks” Manocchio
• Dennis “the Beard” Delucia
• Anthony “Firehawk” Licata
• Benjamin “the Claw” Castellazzo
• Anthony “Big Fat Larry” Durso

Of course, mobsters don’t always give themselves these wacky noms-de-guerre. Sometimes it’s police or the press, according to Slate. The press may have called John Gotti “Dapper Don,” but he was proud of the fact that on the street he had no nickname; if you said “John,” everyone knew who you meant. (More Mafia stories.)