Anthony Scotto, union leader and reputed Gambino capo, dies at 87

Brooklyn-born Anthony Scotto, a powerful waterfront union leader and reputed Gambino crime family capo whose career took him to both the White House and a federal penitentiary, has died at age 87, his daughter announced Sunday on Instagram.

Scotto, born in 1934, grew up in Red Hook and Carroll Gardens and first worked on his native borough’s docks as a longshoreman at age 16, his daughter and “Good Day New York” anchor Rosanna Scotto wrote.

He rose through the ranks of his union, and became head of International Longshoremen Association Local 1814 in 1963.

The next year, he was photographed in the White House with President Lyndon Johnson and soon became a powerhouse of political influence.

“Political leaders sought his endorsement everyone from Governor Hugh Carey to Mario Cuomo to Mayors Lindsay, Beame and U.S. Congresspersons including Senator Robert F. Kennedy to President Jimmy Carter,” his daughter wrote. “He lectured about labor relations at Harvard University.”

But Scotto walked in different, less savory corridors of power as well. In 1969, the Department of Justice named him as a capo in the Gambino crime family.

He pushed back, calling the claim “anti-labor tactics” and a vendetta, but Scotto was indicted a decade later on federal bribery and racketeering charges.

Scotto, then 45, was convicted of receiving cash payoffs of more than $200,000. He was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $75,000 on Jan. 22, 1980.

The nine-week trial “historically may be considered one of the most significant investigations and prosecutions undertaken by the FBI at that time,” according to Department of Justice documents.

Scotto, after arriving at the federal prison in Danbury, Conn., behind the wheel of his Cadillac, proclaimed his innocence once more before heading inside.

‘’My conscience is clear,” he said.

Scotto’s family remembered him Sunday as a beloved husband, father of four and grandfather of eight. Rosanna Scotto also credited him with helping reopen the family’s E. 52nd St. restaurant, Fresco by Scotto. The restaurant shuttered because of the pandemic in March 2020.

“He enjoyed golfing with his friends, loved a good cigar, and relished making Sunday Sauce with his family,” Rosanna Scotto wrote. ”He was loved by everyone and will be missed dearly.”