Mike Braiotta From Storage Wars New York

In fact there was one instance where I slapped big Steve across the face and knocked his hat and glasses off and he didn't do a dam thing about it.

And no one yells lawsuit or call the cops? I'm impressed, because around here everyone is so thin skinned that they want to file charges if you look at them funny.

@danny28 that's a real tough one to answer. The worst was probably the time I let my father bid on a room and we ended up with almost 400 boxes of newspapers.

I have found so many cool and out of this world things doing what I do it is so hard to put a "best" tag on something.
When they filmed that Newark NJ auction and I got that call center for $600 because everybody was scared to bid because of the size was a pretty good one.
On the show they totaled me up to about $12K but after they stopped filming I just kept finding. In all reality I probably made close to $30K off of that room.

@alloro that's the one thing in NY that prob makes us different from the rest of the country is that you have to have thick skin to be in this biz in NYC. No cops, no lawsuits just a good old ass whoopin!

$30k. Wow, thats a really good profit 

I will eventually get to that app, I promise...LOL. Probably would have had it done by now, but I had the opportunity to buy our new domain, OnlineStorageAuctions.com, and I had to snatch it up. Then I had to restructure the site, transfer the forum, transfer 300 articles from AuctionsTX.com and a handful of other things. Needless to say, my programmer has been working overtime to get everything done. It is on the to do list though.

Word on the street is that the NY storage wars crippled the franchise and caused the Miami version to be permanently called off.

Also "big" steve was paid to be on the show and any antics were produced.  I know Joe P and was told all about it.

I also know how much everybody made and lost throughout the last 2 seasons.  Even Joe who scored those paintings - not staged ... for real - after taxes and paying for rooms, transportation ..etc. came out way below what he thought he would.

Since I'm sure the show is being cancelled it doesn't really matter anyway.

That being said I did like you the best.  The two girls were terrible actresses before the show and continued to be, although they were nice in person.  Tad and Chris were terrible and that comment that they made in regards to the duck dynasty clan was offputting and Joe P, while I know him, is a arrogant.

I agree with you though, Mike is the most real of the SWNY cast. You have to understand where he came from to appreciate where he's at now.

I'm sure that could be said about alot of the members of the forum.

Even the questions of what is your best find/worst find has to be a production.  I guarantee every person that does this can immediately name their best find, their most profitable locker and their worst off the top of their head.

The one and only good think about Joe P is that if you talk to him in person he will tell you exactly what went down and its a far stretch from what you see on the shows and hear about from other cast members.

@auctionguy honestly if you know Joe P as well as you say you do then you know he is full of sh*t. Of course Steve got paid we all did (not much but we did). As far as Steve goes he was a d*ck before the show. I have dealt with him many of times.
Storage Wars NY has not been canceled or has it tanked the franchise. If you remeber not to long a go a certain somebody tried claiming the show was fake after that certain person got fired.
I would love to know what you "know" as far as how much people were paid and what not.
The Miami version was called off before we started filming so I will correct you on that first off.
Look back to season 1 of LA and see how all of them were when they got on camera. None of us are actors. I appreciate you "liking" me the best but to be honest I think you should state some evidence to the claims of how much people made and lost and where your "facts" came from.
If your source is  Joe P the words that come out of his mouth are worth just as much as a $3 bill.

AuctionGuy: Just out of curiosity, how do you know Joe P and Barry Weiss? One lives in New York, while the other lives in California.

Also, the producers probably just realized that California, Texas & New York are the three big markets for Storage Auctions. 

I have known Joe P for 7 years and was introduced by him to Dolph and Jeff to possibly be on the show but I gracefully declined as I don't need any skeletons coming out of my closet by being on national tv... and the money was ****.  To be fair though Joe "promised" alot of his "friends" in NYC a spot on the show when he was knighted the "creative director" of the upcoming and all powerful storage wars ny.

Sadly for him everyone knows hes a joke and when not filming people bash him at almost every auction I see him at.  I think it was the theme song they gave him that did him in.  A couple of months back one of the guys grabbed his pony tail.. it was cringeworthy to see his face.

I know Barry casually as he and I have a mutual friend.  This friend has done a couple of guest spots on LA version and I have visited him a couple of times and attended a couple of tapings as well as hanging out after filming. My friend likes to party.  Barry likes to party.  I like to party.

I am making the claim that I have an approximate dollar figure that you all made profit wise.  Joe P had the biggest non staged score of the artwork and after everything I think he made about $6k.  You were hoping the big day would come next season as you've made nada so far.  I can see that it gets troubling when the producers make you buy units for ungodly sums of money that you wouldn't buy normally but if you don't buy you can't play.

I know about season 1 finds vs. season 2 finds.  (only you would get that reference)

And yes Steve has a big personality, some might say he is a jerk.  He was always fine with me so I have nothing against him.  For you to say that you ***** slapped him or whatever and acting tough is ridiculous (this is from memory I don't feel like going back to your post to quote you verbatim)  His hand is bigger than your head and if it was real he would have knocked you out.  The false bravado works on television but saying that you slapped him around on and off the air (i went back to your post) is just plain ridiculous.

It was sad because I know he started going to tapings just so he could get noticed and get on the show.  Job well done I guess.

In regards to markets, if the show was getting the numbers that the original gets in reruns (rerun of texas has beaten a new episode of ny) they would pimp the show out in any market they could get into.  Notice real housewives of new york, beverly hills, miami, atlanta, dallas ..etc.

They sold the rights to a Canada production company and they made Storage Wars Canada ... now viewable on youtube because of how well that went.

In regards to hester you aren't really using that as a defense are you?  The guy was making $800k a season and wanted more.  He puffed out his chest, they called his bluff, they fired him and he spilled the beans.  He was biter because he lost everything but that does not negate that what he was saying was the truth.

If you also read the entire lawsuit you will notice references to other cast members voicing concerns about the season 1 vs. season 2 finds.  Are you telling me right now that you do not have knowledge of any item being placed in a locker post purchase ... c'mon.  I mean I know you can't confirm this because of your contractual obligation but don't outright lie.

You buy the unit.
Producers put their lock on it.
You go out to lunch
Producers unpack unit, tape logos and plant the box and use their ipad pics to place everything back in order
You come in and go through the room
You find the "wow factor" and get it checked out
The people that check the items are mostly bogus
Repeat

Am I saying that all cool things are staged.. absolutely not.  I have found money, safes (with and without cash), diamonds, guns, artwork, loose gemstones, motorcycles (under garbage) ..etc.  It's a good business but a better hobby.

In regards to casting if this is all real ... and again I know you can't say otherwise ... then why on earth would a dancer/actress in california get flown to ny days before the first taping, buy a yellow van the day of and then pretend to the world that they have been doing this forever?

I see that A&E made her change her imdb page to remove the actress stuff but check out this

starcasm(dot)net/archives/190547

Scroll down to the comments for her dancing/acting bio  ... do you think an accomplished dancer flying around the entire country to do shows that last for months runs a street business selling used garbage?

It is of course very easy to "discredit" me because I'm an anom forum poster and you are a great big tv star but lets see if the show is renewed or not.  I know Joe is calling Dolph on the reg to get the scoop so we'll see who is right and who is wrong.

oh and stay tuned on our fav gals courtney and candy ... I don't want to spill the beans but I'll refer back to this post when it happens.

@auctionguy

Let me say first off I did slap Steve across his face at the Walabout auction. I guess you missed that one.
I don't try to be a big macho tough guy. I was raised that if somebody puts their hands on you you stand up for yourself no matter how big he is.
Size dosent matter when it comes to anything in life. If you have no heart your nothing.
So don't sit back and say Steve would have destroyed me because I have gone toe to toe with him and just because of his size it means nothing.
I was never on this show for the money or waiting to catch a big payday next season.
I was asked to do it and I did it.
For you to say producers forced anybody to buy rooms you are out of your mind. I bought what I wanted when I wanted.
All the "facts" your a stating are ones that are all over the internet.
Please state your name so at least I could say that I know who you are and give some what of credit to what you say.
I am no big tv star just a auction buyer. I'm not discrediting you at all but for someone who "knows" so much about the show and claims to know Joe P so well but yet you trash talk him constantly at least give us your name.
As far as if the show continues on or not to be honest I could careless.
I went on the show when they called did what I did and that's that.
This is a public form and people can speak as they feel but for some guy "you" sitting behind a keyboard stating so called facts that anybody with a computer can google and look up is pretty funny to me.
At the end of the day I am Mike and that's it. No big TV star no big macho wanna be I am who I am and that's that.

Mike - We call that "hiding behind the monitor." It's easy to post something negative and even sound authoritative, because you can be "seen" or "heard" so no one really knows "who you are" - speaking of course, of the one who stated he had this inside information.

You are a TV reality star, Mikey. It's an accomplishment, even if it's not your intention to be one, you are. Just a nice little piece of your life's journey. I do hope the show is on next season. You guys rock!

Oh, and it's me, ChuckG Writer, just in case you didn't know.

Mike, can you tell us a little about the crew and what it's like behind the scenes?