Weird, Famous, or Infamous Neighbors/In-Laws

[Dan Gould]

I've been receiving PMs from an AAJ member, telling me of how members of her family married into a mob family-some pretty freaky things which made me think of this thread topic.

In 1970 my family moved from Chicago to Long Island, New York, into a, shall we say, interesting upper middle class neighborhood in a town called Old Westbury. I was only 5 to 11 years old during the time we lived there, so my understanding of the events and my parent's suspicions was rather limited, but I came to understand that there were various families nearby, some mafia-connected and some just plain weird.

The first inkling that my parent's had came one night when they hired a babysitter so they could go out for dinner and a movie. As they drove through the neighborhood, they were understandably shocked and concerned to see several police cars, marked and unmarked, parked at various intersections in our small cul-de-sac. Understandably concerned, they came home and called the police and were told that they shouldn't worry at all, their children were perfectly safe, there were so many cops there because they were about to move in on one of our neighbors-who was a major pot dealer in town!

Another story that comes to mind is what happened one summer day when a child from the cul-de-sac just north of ours suddenly appeared at our door. His name was Matty Ianello, Jr., 7 years old at the time. He had a beach towel and a flotation device around his waist and he wanted to swim in our pool! Not just wanted, demanded. When my father told him he couldn't, we were heading out the door, this seven year old pulled out a wad of hundred dollar bills and started peeling them off. My father was not about to be brought off by this punk and sent him on his way.

This story came full-circle almost ten years later, strangely enough while watching Saturday Night Live. It was during the time that Frank Sinatra was getting a hard time about his alleged mob connections, and they did a skit in which Joe Piscopo, as Sinatra, was being interrogated about his friends. The interrogator would name a mob figure and Piscopo would deny knowing him. Well, one of the names he was asked about was ... Matty "The Horse" Ianello! And at that moment I realized that my parent's stories must have really been true-that punk kid was the son of a mafioso.

So what weird, famous or infamous neighbors/in-laws have you had?

Edited August 7, 2003 by Dan Gould

[JSngry]

Just lost a next-door-neighbor who over the course of 10 years went from "eccentric" to just plain nuts to tragically unfunctioning. Had a sympathy and tolerance for her for quite a while - she had become a single mom 3 years into us knowing her (despite her stories/alibis to the contrary, I suspect her husband left her becasue she was just too freakin' wierd. He saw to it that the kids were taken care of though). She seemed harmless for quite a while, and she was. A mess, yes, but ultimately harmless. But...

The truning point in her downward spiral came about 5 years ago when she began having visons from God, which were encouraged by a group of Russian Orthodox immigrants who could always count on her for a place to stay when the job scene got rough (whether this encouragement was genuine or manipulative, I honestly can't say). Well, one day, my daughter and some of her friends came into the house TOTALLY freaked out. It seems that this lady had told them that she had had a vision from God that our town, or block in particular, was so evil that God was going to destroy it with a tornado. She named the date and the time. HER house, she said, would be spared, because she was God's messenger.

The night before her predicted date of destruction, she rented a big truck and moved all her stuff out (yes, I thought that was ironic too) and moved her family into a Motel 6 in our town (I noted the irony in that too). Of course, nothing happened - i was a beautiful peaceful night. But I saw a note on her door, so I checked iut out. She had left her house open as a "sanctuary for the victims of God's wrath" (TOO much irony there...) and invited them in to help themselves to the facilities.

Well, somebody called the ex, who promptly found her and had her committed. Somehow, she passed all the psych exams and was home (WITH the kids) in about a week. The last time I spoke with her was a few days after she got home. She asked if she could use my e-mail to get in touch with the National Weather Service. Seems that she was convinced that there had been tornades in the area SOMEWHERE, and she wanted proof. I told her that my computer was down, sorry. After that, she never spoke to any of us again, for which I shed no tears.

Believe it or not, this is just the tip of the iceberg with this woman. The ex stopped paying support when the kids reached 18, and it wasn't but a matter of weeks before she had to leave, to go God knows where. I felt sorry for her at first, but she refused to even consider the possibility that she needed help, medication, both, or more. Can't help somebody who won't do anything to help themselves, and who somehow has figured out how to get by the legal/psych systems. Just got to make sure that they don't hurt YOUR loved ones.

Edited August 7, 2003 by JSngry

[J Larsen]

JSngry, it sounds like you're talking about my mother. Seriously. She would be my strongest entry into this thread. She used to get phone calls from God on an invisible phone and believed that she was haunted by seven ghosts.

I grew up in an apartment building in the tenderloin district of SF. Those familiar with the neighborhood will not be surprised by or suspicious of my claim that my upstairs, downstairs and adjacent neighbors were all smack addicts, so I have some "good" neighbor stories, too.

The FBI found one of their most wanted two apartments up from me when I was very young. The suspect tried to escape by running down the fire escape. I was playing in the living room when he passed by out living room window. I'm not sure what he was wanted for, but drugs is a safe bet.

The couple who lived across the airwell from my bedroom when I was about 10 or 11 walked around naked with the blinds up all the time, and then the lady would get mad when I looked at her. I was like, "well, what do you expect from a boy my age lady? Close your effing blinds if I'm not supposed to look!" It was not uncommon for them to engage in sexual acitivity with the blinds up.

I could go on and on and on...

Edited August 7, 2003 by J Larsen

[pryan]

Our family has lived in a condominium complex for the past 21 or so years. Another family lives directly behind us and could probably be described as disfuntional (actually that's too lenient; fucked up is perhaps a better, "blunter" description).

The daughter is probably the most "with it", although she still has some problems. She had a baby and eventually moved out west with her boyfriend. Eventually he left her, and now she's back at home, taking care of the baby.

The mother (divorced some years ago) is probably in her fifties and has two grown children, both currently living at home. She is mentally unstable, and over the past few years has almost become anorexic. A couple of years back I happened to be looking out our back window and noticed her get into her car, but instead of putting the vehicle into reverse, she put it in drive and proceeded to ram into the fence, knocking it over. She got out, took a look at the damage and went on her way. Funny thing was, she tried to make the Condo pay for the broken fence, when it was absolutely her fault in the first place.

The son, most likely the weirdest of the three, works at some kind of food packaging plant and has brutal hours. My dad actually taught him in high school and said he was very aloof and quiet. He rarely says anything to me, and I, in turn, don't attempt any small talk with him. He rarely gets out, I've rarely seen him around friends, and he smokes like a fiend and eats copious junk food. He had a car but never bothered to maintain it; his idea of maintenance was to fill it up with gas. The car eventually died and he left it sitting in the driveway for about three months before finally getting someone to tow it away.

Edited August 7, 2003 by pryan

[Alexander]

I grew up in a largely Italian-American neighborhood (it had been a largely Jewish neighborhood when my grandparents moved in, and by this point we were the only Jewish family left). One of my neighbors (and a good friend from Nursery School) was a little boy named Richie. Richie and I used to play together all the time. My parents would sometimes wonder aloud about Richie's family, who lived in the same neighborhood, but always seemed to have new cars, etc. One day, when Richie and I were playing in front of his house, a big black Rolls pulled up. A old man in a very sharp suit got out. Richie at once jumped to his feet, and yelled "Grampa!" After hugging his grandson for a moment, Richie's grandfather asked my name. When I told him, he said: "Hey, Richie. What are you doing hanging out with a jew-boy?" I saw Richie's grandfather a few more times after that, and he was always in the big Rolls in sharp clothes. He flashed around rolls of bills and was always very generous to his family. Why they couldn't afford to live in a better neighborhood, I couldn't figure out.

It's probably unfair for me to assume that Richie's grandfather was in the mob, but that's what everyone said about him.

There was also this TV shop nearby called "Martinos." They had some video games in the front window, and my friends and I would spend many hours there playing "Star Wars." The whole time we hung out there, we never saw any customers. We had no idea how they stayed in business. A lot of trucks came to the back, however, so we had the idea that the shop might be a front.

One day, it burned down. They must have been skimming from the top! That was the end of our video games.

[doubleM]

I used to live in a second -floor apartment whose kitchen window overlooked the backyard of a well-to-do, single, 35-40ish HOT blonde woman. Looked like Susan Anton, but with a better body. I'd always glance out there and see her doing things like washing her jeep in a thong, (which was just f*#ing awesome), sunbathing, etc.. I usually had my girlfriend with me so I had to keep the glances in check. One night I looked out there and lo and behold, she was in her hot tub w/ a dude, so I figured I'd make a snack and watch to see what happened. Minutes later, it was like late-night Showtime (uncensored), right outside my window. I can't say that sucked. She did, though!

[Dmitry]

Dan,

Maybe the guy owned a dry cleaners or a pizzeria or something.

Maybe his kid just wanted to take a whizz in your pool.

[catesta]

The fact the little fucker was wearing a flotation device is reason enough not to let him swim in the pool.

[Dmitry]

Yeah, I was wondering about that one, too. WTF is a floatation device?

Hey, Alexander, it doesn't take a mafia don to hate jews. In fact no intelligent mobster would say such a stupid thing. You know, they're all connected. Children of the East.

[Chuck Nessa]

Hey, Alexander, it doesn't take a mafia don to hate jews. In fact no intelligent mobster would say such a stupid thing. You know, they're all connected. Children of the East.

If you can use 'em, don't dis em.

[catesta]

Yeah, I was wondering about that one, too. WTF is a floatation device?

Shit like this....

[Dan Gould]

Where did you find that, Chris? That's exactly what the little MF had around his waist!

Seriously, the coincidence of names was really quite stunning when it happened ... and I really don't think it was a coincidence!

Oh and one more thing about Little Prince Matty Ianello, Jr.: I was in their house a few times (don't ask why the mafia family didn't have their own pool) and you may not believe it but its absolutely true:

Matty liked doggie treats, and they were kept in candy dishes around the house. I watched him snack on them!

[Alexander]

Hey, Alexander, it doesn't take a mafia don to hate jews. In fact no intelligent mobster would say such a stupid thing. You know, they're all connected. Children of the East.

If you can use 'em, don't dis em.

"Your father may have worked with Hymen Roth, but your father never TRUSTED Hymen Roth!"

[connoisseur series500]

I lived in Bangkok, Thailand as a young man between the age of 24-35. Had my share of adventures, and I could relate a lot about my various neighbors.

I lived in the "penthouse" of a 13-story apartment for many years. When I went out on my balcony, I could see the roof of a whorehouse. This whorehouse was only about 4 stories tall, so I had to look down to see it. Those girls would be out there in semi-dressed states washing their clothes by hand and hanging them out to dry.

Our apartment had a maintenance man who would spend the late afternoons on top of the apartment roof. I became friendly with him and I used to follow him as he unlocked the door which led to the roof. We used to chat as we surveyed the landscape of this great city. On one side of our apartment was this whorehouse, and the maintenance man would bring out his binoculars and pretend to scan around. It was clear the direction in which the binoculars tended to focus. He would put down the binoculars with a grin on his face and say, "pooying," and hand them to me to check out the whores.

On the other side of the apartment was a small temple or wat crematorium. We would see the smoke come out of the chimney and would sometimes catch the smell of bodies burning.

I lived on the thirteenth floor and shared it with only three other rooms. All of them were occupied by homosexuals. I used to stop by their rooms all the time and we would watch television or party. It was fun. I am not homosexual myself, but I learned to love socializing with them. They were great people.

The apartment building itself was full of whores and drug addicts, and paedophile foreigners, and people of all races and sexes, as well as those who had changed their sex. There were also many interesting foreigners. It was fun.

Glad I'm out of that madhouse now though. :rsmile:

[Jim Alfredson]

The house my wife and I rented until last week (we're new homeowners!!! YAY!) was next door to a house that we affectionately called the Crack House. This place had at least three couples living in it (man/woman) and about four kids. They also had two HUGE dogs (can't recall the breed... starts with an "m"), a pitbull, and a mutt. They had a fenced in backyard that we called the Dirt Farm because that's all it was. Dirt and dog poop. Each of the adults had a car, so every night they would park two of them on the lawn. They all drove really nice cars, too, even though the house was falling apart. The roof was ancient, they had birds living in the holes in the siding, etc.

Anyway, I came home from a gig up north one day and there was an orange sticker on the front door. And no cars anywhere. So I went up and read it and it said, "Not fit for human occupancy" and I thought, "Damn, they got evicted!" So I told my wife and we laughed and then worried about the small children they had (who were very sweet, but not parented at all... the littlest one would steal shit out of our yard all the time..... she was only 3, so she didn't know any better... but I would consult her father and he'd just shrug his shoulders..."

Anyway, my wife was talking to our other neighbor a couple days after that and she laid the whole story out. I was out of town the night this went down and my wife was staying at a girlfriend's house.

According to our neighbor, an episode of COPS happened that night. 14 police cars blocked off the street and surrounded the house. Officers in full riot gear with rifles and shotguns and dogs surrounded the house (there were some in our backyard according to the neighbor) and they broke down the door and busted all the people inside. It turns out they had a meth lab in the basement!!!! It really was a crack house!!! The police were carrying out bags of stuff most of the night she said.

CRAZY!

[J Larsen]

They also had two HUGE dogs (can't recall the breed... starts with an "m")

They weren't like this one, were they?

I know, it's a great dane, but I've heard a couple people refer to them as Marmadukes because of the cartoon.

[Big Wheel]

I'm guessing it was one of these:

Mastiffs are HUGE! But they can be quite gentle if properly trained as puppies (same goes for Rottweilers). One of my friends has an Old English Mastiff that is about 4 feet tall and could tear a person apart. But since they trained him almost from birth, the only thing visitors have to worry about is getting drenched in slobber whenever he greets them.

[Big Wheel]

Growing up in suburbia seems to have gotten even more boring these days; I can't think of any neighbors of mine that even approach the ones in some of these stories.

Former Miami Dolphins safety Dick Anderson (from the 1972 team) used to live across the street from me, though...

[Soul Stream]

My wife and I first rented a house after we got married. A dump. Next door was a guy with Elvis hair and sideburns. Out back they kept their dog chained to a tree. The dog always ran around until he was choking (dumbest dog I've ever seen). The dog then barked and squeeled the rest of the day. If you tried to help it, it would almost kill you.

I severly cut my hand after putting it through a window in frustration of the dog barking one morning.

God damn, I'm glad I don't live there anymore.

Of course, like b3-ers', our neighbors yard was all poop and dirt. Oh, and they had 3 rugrats too about in the same condition as the dog.

....Also, my current neighbor (3 doors down) decided to remodel her house about a year ago. She's still not back in it. It's totally gutted. Turns out the lady was hearing the voice of God she thought, telling her to remodel her house. As soon as she would put a staircase in, God would tell her to rip it down and put it in the opposite direction. (Another one with 3 small kids)

Edited August 8, 2003 by Soul Stream

[Aggie87]

I used to live in California (Arcadia) when I was young (from 5-9 years old), and one of my friends was named Dennis. Dennis' older brother was in a rock-n-roll band, and they used to practice in their garage at all hours of the day and night. In fact my folks called the police on one or two occasions when it got too loud. We moved to Japan in 1974, so I only saw Dennis once or twice after that, on visits to the old neighborhood. Turns out his brother is Michael Anthony, the bass player from Van Halen. So it's possible my folks called the cops on a teenaged Eddie Van Halen!

If anyone in the U.S. watched the first season of "The Amazing Race" (one of the early reality shows), my first cousin and her daughter were the mother-daughter team, Nancy & Emily. They made it all the way to India, before making some mental mistakes that lost it for them.

[Alexander]

It turns out they had a meth lab in the basement!!!! It really was a crack house!!!

I would say that a meth house is worse than a crack house.

[rockefeller center]

I'll have to ask my neighbors to post a story about me.

[vibes]

I grew up in a suburb of LA, and a few famous people were neighbors or lived very close by:

Mike Scioscia, the current coach of the Angels, lived over the wall from me when he was still a catcher for the Dodgers. I always used to hit him up when I was doing fundraisers for my elementary school or Cub Scouts. He usually answered the door himself, was always extremely nice and extremely generous. Of course, I was really young then, but he seemed HUGE - he was a really big guy. I always stared at his World Series ring when he'd sign pledge sheets and stuff like that (I believe it was for the 1988 World Series Dodgers team).

Kevin Gross, another former Dodger, lived on the next street over from where Mike Scioscia lived for a while. His bratty children used to play with the children that lived next door to me. I'd often hear them yelling things like "Our dad is richer than your dad!" (Nice kids! ) I never talked to him, but I saw him pick up his kids quite a few times.

Snoop Dogg moved to town when I was a junior or senior in high school. His house is maybe a mile from where mine is. I never saw him, unfortunately (well, I saw his tricked-out Suburban a lot, but couldn't see through the glass), but my brother saw him at a gas station and went up to him and got his autograph. People weren't very happy when he moved to town. He moved to a very nice neighborhood, and almost everyone who lived on his street put their house up for sale right after he moved in. I'm pretty sure he still lives there - I drove by when I visited a few months ago, and there were still black dogs on the gates of his house. When I was in high school, a friend of mine and a few of his friends walked up to his house with a basketball and knocked on his door. Some big guy (presumably a bodyguard) opened the door and asked them what they wanted. My friend said to "Yo, we just wanted to see if Snoop wanted to play some hoops." The bodyguard's response? "Man, get the fuck out of here!" And he slammed the door.

[Jim Alfredson]

Yes, Big Wheel... thank you. Mastiffs. They are frickin' huge!

They got a new puppy a couple months after we moved in and I would constantly find it wandering the streets. Complete idiots.

I love our new house, although I'm knee-deep in bathroom re-modeling right now. I'm so pissed at the former owners. They let a toilet leak for so long that it rotted out the entire floor including the subfloor. I'm really pissed because the entire house has the original 3/4" hardwood floors in it throughout, including the bathroom. If the stuff wasn't rotted it would've been sweet... but I had to rip it all out.

[BruceH]

This is more like "brush with greatness" but-----

The mother of a friend of a friend had Pepper Adams propose to her. I guess they were very good friends, he wanted to marry her, but she turned him down. The old "musician lifestyle" thing, no doubt. Imagine having Pepper Adams as your stepfather though.