The Sopranos (TV Series)

Watching Too Much Television (2002)

Joe Pantoliano: Ralph Cifaretto

Photos 

Quotes 

• Assemblyman Zellman : [while in the sauna room]  summer of sixty-seven we're both home on break. I was interning at the state legislature, what were you doing?

  Maurice Tiffen : East Newark Co-op

  Assemblyman Zellman : Right but come July

  Tony Soprano : The Newark riots

  Ralph Cifaretto : What a fuckin summer that was

  Assemblyman Zellman : Later that year Maurice and I have to organize one of the first all black voting drives

  Tony Soprano : Maurice, were you around for Anthony Imperiale? The "white knight"?

  Maurice Tiffen : Around? Who do you think he was fighting against?

  Assemblyman Zellman : Italian pride "keep Newark white"

  Maurice Tiffen : Spying Klansman: some of those boys

  Ralph Cifaretto : So, this group you got now, the Urban Housing League, what's the story there?

  Maurice Tiffen : Like many non-profits, we've fallen on hard times. Republican administration plus proliferation of new charities post 9/11

  Tony Soprano : Sounds like you three got a lot to talk about. I'm going to hit the showers. Maurice: nice meeting ya

  Maurice Tiffen : Same here

  Assemblyman Zellman : I took the liberty of filling in Maurice on the broad strokes

  Ralph Cifaretto : Ok we got a guy Dr. Fried, his an Urologist. We're going to give him half a million of our money, have him grab these four houses on Garside Street for a hundred and twenty-five a piece

  Maurice Tiffen : The old first ward

  Ralph Cifaretto : Once we own the houses we got an appraiser who'll "play ball" and his going to appraise them in the three hundred thousand dollar range. What you do Maurice is you take the phony appraisals to HUD tell them the Urban Housing League will buy these shit holes and convert them into low cost housing for working families

  Ralph Cifaretto : Once HUD guarantees the mortgage app you take it to the bank, they cut a check and we work it up nice

  Maurice Tiffen : At which I assume my organization fails to make the mortgage payments

  Assemblyman Zellman : Unforeseen construction delays and repeated vandalism forced the project into disillusion. We all walk away from the houses

  Ralph Cifaretto : Your cut will be in the ten percent of the profit range

  Assemblyman Zellman : My office will write a letter in strong support of your application

  Maurice Tiffen : Sounds about right

• Ralph Cifaretto : So is there any investment advice for an ambitious young man like myself

  Brian Cammarata : "Buy land I guess because God ain't making any more of it", that's what Will Rogers said

  Anthony 'Tony' Soprano Sr. : It's true, my house is worth nearly triple of what I paid

  Ralph Cifaretto : Location's the key right? Otherwise you get stuck with shit

  Brian Cammarata : Sometimes there's money in shit

  Anthony 'Tony' Soprano Sr. : How'd you mean?

  Brian Cammarata : Nothing, I don't know

  Anthony 'Tony' Soprano Sr. : We're just talking here come on

  Brian Cammarata : I don't know. Some guy I went to school with, this black guy. We worked for one summer for this not-for-profit housing group. He told me about some scam this minister was involved in up in Harlem

  Anthony 'Tony' Soprano Sr. : I read about this: fake mortgage loans or something right?

  Brian Cammarata : Actually, you ever hear of HUD?

  Anthony 'Tony' Soprano Sr. : Housing Development yeah

  Brian Cammarata : HUD was set up to help minorities and low income families become home owners

  Ralph Cifaretto : There are more programs for these dead beats I swear to Christ

  Brian Cammarata : As long as the Fed is guaranteeing the home mortgage the banks figure "what the hell?" They'll loan the money. You get a front man to buy houses in a crummy neighborhood. I'm talking real shit boxes that are worth like a hundred grand a piece. Next, you tie up with some not-for-profit organization who goes to HUD and say they intend to buy these houses from your stooge