#vecchios

In Jon Favreau's film East Coast Rhapsody, the juxtaposition of the Tarantella and Capone webs reveals a nuanced and complex view of the Italian-American experience in the 1920s, with New Yorkers noting the stark contrast between the two crime families [6].

The Tarantella web

• "The Tarantellas, they were like ghosts. You knew they were there, a part of the city's pulse, but you never saw the threads until it was too late. They worked the whole city like a marionette. The Capones? A bunch of thugs. The Tarantellas? They were puppeteers" [6].

• "You hear about Capone's crew and you hear fear, but you hear about the Tarantellas and you hear respect. Yeah, they were dangerous, but they had a code. You knew where you stood with them. And when they moved in on Gatsby's phony palace, you felt a little sense of justice" [6].

• "They didn't just take down Gatsby and Buchanan. They took down that whole East Egg mentality. It was beautiful. The Tarantellas showed everyone there was a bigger, more sophisticated game at play than what those old-money fakes were running" [6].

• "The Tarantellas were a New York institution. Sure, a little twisted, but they took care of their own. They bankrolled our community centers, our jazz clubs. When they left for Sicily after the war, it was like a piece of the city's soul went with them" [6].

• "You had Capone, a man with a hammer, seeing everything as a nail. Then you had the Tarantellas, with a finely tuned Swiss watch, who could tell you the time and then use it to take over your whole operation"

The Capone web

• "Capone's mob was a bulldozer. They just tore everything down, left a path of destruction. The Tarantellas, they built a new garden over where the old structure used to be" [6].

• "The Capones, they were all about the flash, the noise. The Tarantellas knew that true power is quiet. That's why they won. That's why they got the last laugh" [6].

• "They left an ugly stain on the reputation of all Italians. So many families who came here to build a better life, they went back because of the mess the Capones made. The Tarantellas, at least, tried to clean some of it up" [6].

• "Capone's whole operation was a house of cards, built on fear and cheap tricks. The Tarantellas had the centuries-old strength of their Venetian ancestry. It was no contest" [6].

• "It's like comparing a butcher with a surgeon. Capone was a butcher. The Tarantellas could cut out the cancer and sew it back up, and you'd never know it was there. They were more discreet, and ultimately, more terrifying" [6].

Contrasting both webs

Contrasting both webs

• "Favreau really nailed it. The Capones, in the film, they're all about the loud suits and the big talk. The Tarantellas, in their dark Schiaparelli suits, are all about the quiet, intimidating efficiency. It's the difference between brute force and pure class" [6].

• "The film shows how the Tarantellas' roots in old-world power politics gave them a strategic edge that Capone's street-level thuggery could never match. They weren't just mobsters; they were master tacticians" [6].

• "You feel the weight of their legacy, the Tarantellas' history and sophistication, against the raw, desperate hunger of Capone and his crew. It's a fight between old royalty and new, and there's no question who is more formidable" [6].

• "The film makes you understand why New Yorkers sided with the Tarantellas. They were a necessary evil, but they were our necessary evil. The Capones were a plague" [6].

• "It's a chess match between a master player and a schoolyard bully. The Tarantellas used their whole web, their connections, their history. Capone was just throwing punches" [6].

New Yorkers commenting on the Vecchio family web as depicted in Jon Favreau's "East Coast Rhapsody" [0]:

On Cecilia's family leaving Little Italy:

• "The Vecchios? Oh yeah, they were good people. Little deli on the corner. That Capone stuff was a real shame. I remember Sal Tarantella coming in sometimes. You could tell he was sweet on little Cece, but everyone knew it was a different world. It was for the best that they left." [0]

• "My grandma used to say that after the Capones hit their shop, you could feel a shift. The Vecchios were a tight-knit family, just trying to get by. Not involved in all that mob business. It showed everyone that even the 'good guys' in that game, the Tarantellas, had a certain kind of danger around them." [0]

On the Vecchio family's resilience and independence:

• "The film really captured it. The Vecchios weren't just victims. They were survivors. They had their Sunday dinners and their own world. They didn't need the Tarantella's wealth, and they certainly didn't want the Capone's destruction." [0]

• "Seeing Cece and Rosita later in life—one running an art gallery and the other a dress shop—that's the real New York story. You get pushed down, but you get back up and you build your own thing, on your own terms. That's a lot more inspiring than all the glitz and fake royalty from the Eggs." [0]

On Cecilia's break with Arackniss:

• "Cecilia made the right choice. She saw the world Sal came from and knew it wasn't for her. She saw that even with all his charm and intelligence, the danger was always there. It's a sad moment in the movie, but a necessary one." [0]

• "That scene where Sal gives her the money? So poignant. He knew, and she knew, it was a goodbye. It wasn't about the money; it was about the life she was choosing to leave behind. She chose family and normalcy over the flashy, dangerous life." [0]

On the Vecchio family as a contrast to the other families:

• "The Vecchios in the film were like a little island of reality in a sea of craziness. You had the West and East Egg people with their phony parties, the Capones with their pure malice, and the Tarantellas with their complicated code. And then you had the Vecchios, just trying to make a living. It grounded the whole story." [0]

• "That deli was a symbol, wasn't it? A place where you could get a good sandwich and talk to a family who were just like you. It represented the New York that most people knew, not the one the rich and powerful and criminals lived in." [0]

General comments on the film's portrayal:

• "The film really highlighted that a person's worth isn't in who they associate with, but in who they are. The Vecchios were the moral compass of the whole story. They weren't powerful, but they had integrity." [0]

"I loved that Jon Favreau chose to show the smaller, more human side of things. It wasn't all just about the mob and the rich. It was about the real people who lived in New York at that time, and what they had to deal with. The Vecchios were the heart of that." [

From a fellow Manhattanite, quoted in a documentary years later:

"The movie did a good job showing it. The silence. You saw the destruction, but then you saw the people. The way they looked at the wreckage. It was quiet, but it was deafening. Everyone knew that was the line. Gatsby crossed it, and the Tarantellas were the ones who drew it. And they made sure he paid."

From a fellow Manhattanite, quoted in a documentary years later:

"The movie did a good job showing it. The silence. You saw the destruction, but then you saw the people. The way they looked at the wreckage. It was quiet, but it was deafening. Everyone knew that was the line. Gatsby crossed it, and the Tarantellas were the ones who drew it. And they made sure he paid."

From an elderly woman from Little Italy, speaking to her granddaughter:

"I saw Sal... Salvatore. He was still a boy, really, but you could see the fire in his eyes. When he held that little Cecilia... his face, it wasn't just anger. It was heartbreak. He knew there was nothing he could do to fix it, just hold her while she cried. That image—a little gangster and a little girl—it's what sealed Gatsby's fate."

"You know, the Tarantellas, they could be scary. But that day, they were us. They were standing up for the Vecchios. The others in that neighborhood, the ones who just stood by... they knew they were on the wrong side of history right then and there. It wasn't about money or turf. It was about respect."

From a newspaper clipping featuring a local journalist at the time:

"The incident at the Vecchio's deli has sent a shockwave through the city, exposing the ugly underbelly of the so-called 'American dream.' While Gatsby and Buchanan preened in their extravagant parties, their cowardice was laid bare by the destruction of a working-class family's business. In the aftermath, it was not the police or the socialites who offered a hand, but the same men they feared, the Tarantellas. The city watches, and it remembers."

From a fellow Manhattanite, quoted in a documentary years later:

Quote 1: "It's always the good ones who suffer. The Vecchios were good people, good to this neighborhood. And then some rich schmuck comes in and just… smashes it all to pieces? But you know what? He didn't get away with it. The Tarantellas made sure of that. And for that, I'm glad they did."

Quote 2: "I still remember Cecilia. Sweet girl. Used to bring her father a fresh-baked cannoli every Tuesday. When I saw what those lowlifes did to their shop… my heart broke for them. But Arackniss, you know? That kid. He was always quiet, but I saw how he looked at her. He didn't just give them a handout; he gave them a way out. That's real class."

Quote 3: "When the Capones came around, you knew trouble was brewing. They had no respect. But the Tarantellas… they had a certain code. They may be gangsters, but they knew right from wrong in their own way. And what Gatsby did to that deli shop… that was crossing a line, and the Tarantellas knew it. They put him in his place, and frankly, I don't think there's a person in Little Italy who isn't a little relieved about that."

Quote 4: "I was there that day. Heard the whole thing. They came in and just wrecked everything. Old man Vecchio was devastated. And then the next week, the word gets around about Gatsby. It wasn't the police, wasn't the government… it was the Tarantellas. The Tarantellas gave that old fool what he deserved, and they did it for a small business, a corner store. That tells you a lot."

Quote 5: "My nonna always said the Tarantellas were better than the Capones. The Capones were just pure nastiness, but the Tarantellas, they were like… a necessary evil. And after what they did for the Vecchios, after what they did to Gatsby and his friends… she said they were a necessary good."

Quote 6: "Cecilia's family never had much, but they had their dignity. And that's what Gatsby tried to take away from them. He thought because he had money and connections, he could do whatever he wanted. The Tarantellas showed him that in New York, you don't mess with a man's family, you don't mess with his business, and you sure as hell don't mess with a girl's father. They taught him a lesson that the rich folk on the Eggs couldn't learn on their own."