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That guys got the most money on Staten Island.
He lets out a phrasein quasi-Italian: Mataraz!
That means mattress, right?
(Its actually a localism meaning, more or less, a miser.)
Thats right, Dom says, and thats where he keeps it!
Multiple other favors are secured via the surreptitious gifting of fresh mozzarella.
Were likeShark TankmeetsDuck Dynasty!
Like they were in a car together and they crashed he slams his hands together andwepopped out!
Mike nods effusively, and points to a nearby CNBC repwith an implicitwrite that down gesture.
But theyve been scrappily entrepreneurial from early on.
Dom, who owns a citywide construction company, made his first dollar shining shoes.
(Soon after, he switched to selling them fireworks.)
Mike, a third-generation auto-shop proprietor, shoveled snow.
Hustlehas been in development for a few years, originally under the titleI Got a Guy.
Right across the street from the Panini Grill, theres a massive and lovely Big Ang mural.
Janine, Doms wife, comes and goes from the dinner table with a bottle of Big Angbranded prosecco.
And the series already has some notoriety.
We cant, you know, discuss that at the moment, Adolfo says, citing their attorneys advice.
I stole checks when I was a kid …
While inside, he took anger-management classes.
Im sensitive, he continues.
Im a mix of emotions.
I fight hard, I love hard, I try hard, I … he drops his voice fuckhard.
Everything I do is extreme.
Now that hes actually on camera, is this how he envisioned TV stardom?
We actually envisioned wed be retired already, Ron says, $20 million in the bank!
(Thats an extremely expensive private jet.)
Were gonna make big money off this!
Whats better marketing than a TV show?
Were all in our late 40s, early 50s.
We only got a certain amount of time, and we got obligations to our families.
We wanna take it to the next level.
He reaches over to graba bite of chicken scallopini off Rons plate and is rebuffed.
But I ordered the bolognese for us!
Forus, I ordered the bolognese!
The aforementioned richest man in Staten Island comes by the table and Dom greets him with a cheek kiss.
Before they take their leave, they make a run at impart the spirit of what they do.
Hustling is not for the faint of heart, Dom explains.
Theres a lot of rejection.
And people got over on me more than I got over on them, trust me!
But were showing what the true Italians did.
They were bricklayers and laborers.
They broke their backs to support their families!
Its not necessarily about the money, Ron adds.
I can hustle the waiter to give me a discount, or hustle a girls phone number.
Its the challenge of getting something.
I cant explain it.
But youre born with it.
