Rockets’ Red Glare: John Gotti didn’t let...

Rockets’ Red Glare: John Gotti didn’t let a few laws ruin his Fourth of July in the old neighborhood. Gotti, reputed to be the nation’s most powerful gangster, capped off his party in Queens, New York, with an illegal fireworks display. “It’s a great thing that Mr. Gotti is doing,” one resident said. “No matter what you guys say in the press about him, he looks after the neighborhood.”

Medicine Cabinet: An 18th-Century Italian baroque cabinet believed to be the world’s most expensive piece of furniture was sold Thursday in London to Barbara Johnson, widow of the heir to the Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals fortune. The Polish-born Johnson, who married J. Seward Johnson after serving as his housekeeper, paid $15.8 million. The cabinet was auctioned by the 11th duke of Beaufort to raise money to pay his taxes.

Mandela’s Motown: Flight attendant Germaine Smith helped shape the speech Nelson Mandela gave in Detroit’s Tiger Stadium last week. Mandela aide Essop Pahat asked Americans on Mandela’s chartered plane if there was a Motown song with lyrics that reflected conditions of blacks in South Africa and the United States. Smith suggested “What’s Going On” by the late Marvin Gaye. Mandela drew thunderous applause when he quoted the song: “Brother, brother, there’s far too many of you dying.”

Art Scene: William Britt, 54, who spent his first 34 years in a mental institution, has been commissioned to create a painting to commemorate Rose Kennedy’s 100th birthday. The work in progress is titled “The Roses of Hyannis Port” and shows the Kennedy home and its rose bushes. It will be presented to Mrs. Kennedy at her home in Hyannis Port, Mass., a week before her July 22 birthday.