July 7-13, 2005

city beat

Shore Tour

Where to find your favorite mob types on the Jersey coast.

by Brendan McGarvey

Even guys who bust kneecaps for a living sometimes need to get away from it all. Back in the 1980s, when "Little Nicky" Scarfo ran the local mob from his house around the corner from Atlantic City's White House Sub Shop, the G-men remained all over their each and every move. They even had a surveillance camera perched high atop a telephone pole near Scarfo's house. But today, with law-enforcement resources being shifted away from mob watching and into gun-violence initiatives, local mobsters can lotion up and sunbathe without as many prying eyes. And that's exactly what many of them are doing.

For the past three summers, reputed mob boss Joe Ligambi — who used to rent in Ocean City — has graced the quiet seaside resort of Longport. On weekend nights, he's often espied the next town up inside Memories, the Margate nightclub where the Boss with the Hot Sauce, Jerry Blavat, often mans the mic.

When "Skinny Joey" Merlino was running things, he sometimes stayed in Longport but had a few drunken summer encounters with the Margate police and was detained by security in one Atlantic City casino.

This summer, many alleged members of the Philadelphia Mafia are renting beach houses in Margate and Ventnor, two towns that, along with Longport, share Absecon Island with Atlantic City. On the weekends, you can find the South Philly crew dining at the Greenhouse restaurant in Margate — where one incarcerated mobster's wife works as a waitress — or hanging out on the Washington Avenue beach one block below Lucy the Elephant. Locals call the beach "Hollywood" because its populated by a number of young hot bodies — male and female. There, the women sport some of the smallest thongs and bikinis allowable by ordinance.

Some of the Philly wiseguys are also spending a lot of time in two Atlantic City casinos: the Borgata and the Quarter at the Tropicana. Unfortunately, Ligambi can't casino-hop with them, considering he was placed on the New Jersey's Gaming Enforcement exclusion list two years ago for his reputed links to Scarfo. While Scarfo had a number of profitable legal and illegal businesses there, today's Atlantic City appears to be nothing more than a tourist destination for the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra.

Further north up the coast, Brigantine and Long Beach Island are now home to two former members of the Scarfo mob who appear to have left Mafia life behind for good. They are both working in construction and avoiding the underworld in South Philly and South Jersey.

Further south, Ocean City and Strathmere are virtually mobster-free. When Ralph Natale ran the mob from 1994 to 1999, there were a few wiseguys and associates who spent part of their summers in Sea Isle City. But today, even Natale's former mistress, Ruthann Seccio, avoids that part of the shore; instead, she joined a posh Philadelphia swim club, where she spends time with her much, much younger boyfriend.

Avalon, the tony WASP resort, claims two year-round gangsters, both of whom retired to the shore more than a decade ago. One is a former high ranking member of the K&A mob — the Irish Mafia — and the other is very old member of New Jersey's only all-Garden State crime family, the DeCalvacante mob.

North Wildwood has too many vacationing policemen for the mob but Wildwood and Wildwood Crest boast a number of wiseguy associates from South Philly and several retired K&A mobsters from Northeast Philly who vacation there.

Meth-y Situation
The Warlocks knew it was coming. They just didn't know when.

Two months ago, agents from the state attorney general's office, accompanied by local cops in Philly and lower Bucks County, served sealed search warrants at 20 locations from Bristol to Port Richmond. Last week, state narcotics agents arrested three members of the Warlocks, including Philly chapter president Tom Zaroff, and 10 others in connection with a methamphetamine drug ring. They also seized more than 50 guns and homemade explosives from a Bucks County self-storage locker and other places.

Says state Attorney General Tom Corbett, "this is the largest seizure, here in Southeastern Pennsylvania, of methamphetamine in a long time."

What Corbett isn't bragging about is how the investigation was almost blown when one Warlock realized he was being followed by undercover agents back in the early spring. Once members of the biker gang figured out they were being targeted, the operation had to be sped up.

Sources tell City Paper that the attorney general's office is also investigating a law enforcement official in Bucks County who allegedly was overheard on a wiretap warning a Warlock about the ongoing investigation.

Hell of a Party
They may be under constant attack from the rival Pagan biker gang but that's not stopping the Philly chapter of the Hells Angels from celebrating a glorious West Philly summer later this month.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, July 16, for food, drink, music and fun at the Hells Angels clubhouse in West Philadelphia — family and friends invited. It's only $7, but they may charge more at the door if you're a fully armed Pagan.

We-a Culpa
In a column about the Hells Angels and their alleged connections to an outlaw motorcycle gang known as the Iron Horsemen ["Angels in Disguise," Aug. 7, 2003], the Web site of another organization with a similar name — the Iron Horsemen Motorcycle Club of Denver — was incorrectly cited. The Iron Horsemen Motorcycle Club of Denver is a legitimate, independent riding club, the oldest in the state of Colorado, and has no connections to the two outlaw biker clubs with similar names.