For those of us anxiously awaiting the first wave
of books and movies, chronicling the Rise and Fall of the House of Trump, every
spicy story-appetizer served up by leaks and investigative reporting pleasantly
teases us with the feast that will one day be served – hopefully served warm,
rather than cold.
We already know that the feast will include
heaping portions of Russian caviar and lots of Stolichnaya vodka, so how
appropriate that a catering hall has a prominent place in this Russian flavored
American saga!
El Caribe is a catering hall/social club in
Brooklyn, New York. Check out their website. It looks like a beautiful venue
for a wedding, anniversary or birthday party, bar mitzvah or christening, or a
future celebration of the return of our national sanity, hopefully beginning in
November.
But today’s El Caribe lacks the sizzle that it had
a few decades ago. In the 1970s through 1990s, Russian and Italian mobsters did
a lot of socializing, celebrating and business dealings at the Brooklyn
gathering spot.
Evesei Agron, otherwise known as the Russian
Godfather, had an office there. So did Marat Balagula, sometimes referred to as
the Russian Tony Soprano. Marat was a
sometimes business partner of Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso, a ruthless murderer who headed
the Mafia’s Lucchese crime family.
Back in the day, you would likely have run into
Gaspipe at El Caribe, because Gaspipe was held in high regard by the club’s
owner, Morton Levine, or “Uncle Morty,” as he was known to his favorite nephew,
Michael Cohen.
Michael Cohen and his cousins each owned a piece
of Uncle Morty’s El Caribe, though Michael “the Fixer” Cohen gave up his
interest when Donald Trump was elected president.
I guess he thought it might look bad.
After all, he expected to be awarded a big job in
the Trump administration, maybe chief-of-staff. Attention would be paid to his business
interests.
He never got the job, but he is certainly getting
the attention.
Besides bungling the porn star problem, what else did
Michael “the Fixer” Cohen fix? Besides Donald Trump, the man he called, “Boss,”
who else in the House of Trump did he fix problems for? And, just what means
did he employ to fix those problems?
Clues to answering that third question might begin
in the book chapter entitled, El Caribe.
Well, that's it for now. Time really flies when you're talking about murderous gangsters with colorful nicknames and connections to the president's buddy-in-charge of solving potentially embarrassing problems.
More delicious appetizers will be served in my
next two minutes. Yum!
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