Smoke reg lights up mob brawl

Bonanno soldier to be tried in '05 Little Italy beatdown

December 8, 2006
BY BARBARA ROSS and LEO STANDORA, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

The city's ban on smoking in public places sparked a bloody brawl between mobsters from rival gangs that left one wiseguy permanently brain-damaged and another facing up to 15 years in prison.

Bonnano family soldier Nicholas (P.J.) Pisciotti, 36, goes on trial next month, charged with assault in the brutal beating of Genovese associate Joseph (Joe Clams) Caruso, according to court papers.

The families' feud began in the wee hours of Sept. 18, 2005, at Odea, a Little Italy watering hole on Broome St. where Pisciotti had taken his mom and a couple of dozen others for a nightcap after celebrating a cousin's 30th birthday elsewhere.

During drinks, some in the Pisciotti party began lighting up and Caruso, part-owner and manager of the restaurant-bar, got burned up, according to ganglandnews.com, which first reported the story.

Authorities said he cited the anti-smoking law and reprimanded several of the smokers for jeopardizing the joint's license to operate.

Words led to more words, then to profanity and threats until the escalating anger was brought outside to the corner of Broome and Centre Sts. where it burst into violence.

Witnesses said they saw Pisciotti and a pal, Louis Ventafredda, 24, "kicking, punching and stomping on" an unconscious Caruso.

Last month, Ventafredda pleaded guilty to a lesser count that carries a maximum of seven years and was set free.

A judge said that because he had no previous record, if Ventafredda stays out of trouble for a year he can withdraw the felony plea and instead plead to a misdemeanor charge with a likely sentence of probation.

But Pisciotti is claiming self-defense.

He told detectives that Caruso, whom he's known for 15 years, "punched me with some of the other guys he was with, so I punched Joe a few times and he fell to the ground."

Pisciotti dictated the statement to cops, saying he didn't want to write it himself because he didn't spell well.

His judgment apparently isn't up to snuff either.

Cops at the scene quoted him as blurting out, "F--- it. I did it," and said he then suggested, "Why don't you be real men and take me somewhere and beat me up."
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