Since 2004 John's Famous Deli has been owned and operated by Lenny Gerardi in Port Richmond, Staten Island. Lenny is quite seasoned in the catering/deli business, having co-owned "John's Deli" in Bensonhurst Brooklyn since the early 1980's and "John's Deli II" in the 1990's. There were this group of wise-guys that came in to eat all the time. They were all dressed up and the smell of Old Spice and Paco Raban cologne would take over the store. One day they came in and one of the men said to me: "When I put money in the bowl say: "Subway!" I asked as an innocent, naive guy what that meant. He told me in the early fifties if you gave a deli man a nickel before he made you a sandwich the man would bang on the counter to show his boss he wasn't stealing, make the sandwich and use that nickel to take the subway home.