Description
How does a determined NYPD officer stop corporate giants from poisoning the water
supply when his own department is tearing up his citations? He calls in the heavy hitters.
This new biography chronicles the remarkable journey of Ron Gatto, a career lawman who pivoted from
traditional policing to become a pioneer in environmental protection. The book details Gatto’s unlikely
but powerful alliance with famed environmental attorney and political icon Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to
dismantle industrial pollution in the New York metropolitan area and New York state.
The narrative follows the transition of a former bodybuilder from a frustrated young officer to a high-
ranking official in the New York and Westchester County police departments. After his early attempts to
cite polluting corporations were suppressed by NYPD “brass,” an invitation to Kennedy’s office sparked a
decades-long partnership and friendship that would change New York’s environmental landscape forever.
