Reputation
Joseph Pistone said that Mirra was the nastiest and most intimidating man he had met during his seven years undercover. Due to Mirra's irrational behavior, nobody could ever build a close relationship with him. He would never talk about anything that did not involve criminal activities. Pistone said that, "One day you might ask him, 'How's your mother, Tony?' He might say, 'Okay.' Another day you ask him, and he might answer, 'What the fuck you so nosy about?' "
He was known among fellow mobsters as a "knife man". It was a common practice for mobsters to carry knives, because they were routinely rousted by police officers and did not want to be caught with illegal firearms. Mirra carried a folding knife with a long blade. Unlike Mirra, it was uncommon for mobsters to ever use their blade, preferring the use of a firearm. Pistone was warned by fellow mobsters that, "If you ever get into an argument with him, make sure you stay an arm's length apart, because he will stab you."
Mirra was moody and unpredictable and you never knew what might set him off. When he got angry his hand would go into his pocket and he would get ready for a stabbing. At the time Pistone met him, he had no friends, as his obnoxious personality, violent mood swings, and penchant for unnecessary violence made him both unpleasant and a liability to have around. He was hated and feared and most people just tried to stay out of his way. Mirra was almost universally despised not only by law enforcement officials but by fellow mobsters.
Regarded as a "psychopath", Mirra was kept alive only for his ability to generate vast sums of money. Mirra was a hard worker who was out on the street every day, from 8am to 3pm, making around $5,000 a day for the family. He once bragged to Pistone that since he had been out of prison, he had made over $200,000. He had a reputation for either cheating people out of money or outright stealing, demanding that goods and services be provided to him "on the arm".
He was known to be violent with women, physically abusing his mistresses and threatening to murder one when she confessed that she was a lesbian. Ruggiero told Pistone that the problem with Mirra was that he was always abusing somebody. Mirra insulted everybody and was always in arguments. Mirra was so loathed by mobsters that when Donnie Brasco was revealed to be an undercover agent, he immediately went into hiding instead of attempting to negotiate for his own life, as he knew that countless mafiosi would be eager to take the opportunity to murder him.
Read more about this topic: Anthony Mirra, Biography
Famous quotes containing the word reputation:
“You know what the critics are. If you tell the truth they only say you’re cynical and it does an author no good to get a reputation for cynicism.”
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965)
“From the moment a child begins to speak, he is taught to respect the word; he is taught how to use the word and how not to use it. The word is all-powerful, because it can build a man up, but it can also tear him down. That’s how powerful it is. So a child is taught to use words tenderly and never against anyone; a child is told never to take anyone’s name or reputation in vain.”
—Henry Old Coyote (20th century)
““What have I earned for all that work,” I said,
“For all that I have done at my own charge?
The daily spite of this unmannerly town,
Where who has served the most is most defamed,
The reputation of his lifetime lost
Between the night and morning....””
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)