Longest running crews

[Brovelli]

Question I had on my mind: what are some crews with direct lineage the longest ago? First example I can think of is terranova crew still linked directly to Barney and whoever is running that crew today. Are there many others out there today like this?

[johnny_scootch]

https://mafia.substack.com/p/fiction-me ... he-gambino

A great rundown of the Olympio Garofalo crew courtesy of B.

[B.]

Yeah Michael was told the Garofalo and Traina crews were the longest running, continuous crews in New York. Both crews can be traced back to some of the earliest known Gambino leaders/members.

[Brovelli]

Great, thank you. As there’s so many gambino Brooklyn crews I get confused which is which, looking forward to reading this.

I don’t know whose running the crew now but pretty long legacy of that red hook crew from the Anastasios to Scotto and ciccone if the crew still exists which I assume it does

[InCamelot]

https://mafia.substack.com/p/fiction-me ... he-gambino

A great rundown of the Olympio Garofalo crew courtesy of B.

Agree its a fascinating article.

Does anyone have any idea who might the current captain of the Traina/Oxie Marino crew might be?

[Wiseguy]

https://mafia.substack.com/p/fiction-me ... he-gambino

A great rundown of the Olympio Garofalo crew courtesy of B.

Agree its a fascinating article.

Does anyone have any idea who might the current captain of the Traina/Oxie Marino crew might be?

The Traina crew is probably gone. If I'm not mistaken, Joseph Marino was the last known captain of that crew (at least he was identified as a captain in a 2012 article), but he'd be well into his 90s if not already dead.

[Wiseguy]

If we're talking still active crews with no breakoffs, the crews run today by Michael Zanfardino, Thomas Ficarotta, Joseph DiChiara, Joseph Juliano, and Michael Scarola seem like they go back the longest.

[Brovelli]

If we're talking still active crews with no breakoffs, the crews run today by Michael Zanfardino, Thomas Ficarotta, Joseph DiChiara, Joseph Juliano, and Michael Scarola seem like they go back the longest.

What is the origins/lineage of these crews?

[B.]

DiLeonardo was clear when he mentioned Traina and Garofalo that those were the longest running unbroken crews. Obviously there are other crews with roots in much older crews but they had been split or reconfigured over the years, especially in Brooklyn.

Some of those crews were mysterious even within the Gambinos. When Mario Traina died the admin had little idea who was even in the crew or who could replace him so DiLeonardo was tasked with finding a good candidate (Oxie Marino). Most if not all of the known members of that crew in the 1990s were old timers so no idea who if anyone could succeed him or what the crew consisted of in its later years.

It's interesting because Traina was D'Aquila's consigliere and may have held the title until 1931 so maybe there was a previous captain or he had a decina direct with him. He was likely a captain before becoming consigliere as he had been close to D'Aquila since the beginning, they went to Sicily together, etc. A possible earlier captain of that crew was Traina's paesan Giuseppe Giallombardo who was clearly important during the Lupo years and along with his brother Pietro being a later member of the Traina crew, Giuseppe was linked to a Salvatore Traina who is likely the same guy that witnessed Giuseppe Traina's naturalization. Pietro Giallombardo was himself someone of importance as he, along with Traina, attended the 1932 meeting where Pittsburgh boss John Bazzano was killed although Pietro was living in Trenton at the time.

I notice Pogo took Sal Franco off his list of captains. Did something come out confirming that? He was probably running his uncle Joe Arcuri's crew which would be another old crew, tracing back in some form to Vincenzo LoCicero's old Agrigentino decina. Michael said that was another crew where some of the Family leaders were like, "who is even with them?" If Franco stepped down I'd be curious if the younger Francos may have stepped up.

I'm curious if the D'Amico-Garofalo crew still exists or if it was split up in the last couple decades as at least a few guys involved have been captains after D'Amico joined the admin in the mid-2000s. Grillo, Rizzo, and Paradiso all have history with the crew.

The 116th Street crew must be one of the oldest unbroken crews outside the Gambinos. We don't have confirmation but can be almost certain Ciro Terranova was given that decina when the Genovese Family formed circa 1923. If Terranova was previously a captain in the Morello Family it could be argued the crew is even older.

[Pogo The Clown]

I notice Pogo took Sal Franco off his list of captains. Did something come out confirming that? He was probably running his uncle Joe Arcuri's crew which would be another old crew,

That was a judgement call. Franco is pushing 90 and there has been no mention of him or his crew for years. So most likely he was replaced. It was a pretty small crew. According to Gravano, Arcuri only had 3 members under him by the early 1990s (2 of them were the Franco brothers, I forgot the third one). So the crew being disbanded is a pretty strong possibility.


Pogo

[Wiseguy]

If we're talking still active crews with no breakoffs, the crews run today by Michael Zanfardino, Thomas Ficarotta, Joseph DiChiara, Joseph Juliano, and Michael Scarola seem like they go back the longest.

What is the origins/lineage of these crews?

Zanfardino goes back to Ciro Terranova, Ficarotta back to Charlie Luciano, DiChiara back to Rocco Pellegrino, Juliano back to Saverio Virzi, and Scarola back to Vincenzo DiLeonardo.

DiLeonardo was clear when he mentioned Traina and Garofalo that those were the longest running unbroken crews. Obviously there are other crews with roots in much older crews but they had been split or reconfigured over the years, especially in Brooklyn.

Some of those crews were mysterious even within the Gambinos. When Mario Traina died the admin had little idea who was even in the crew or who could replace him so DiLeonardo was tasked with finding a good candidate (Oxie Marino). Most if not all of the known members of that crew in the 1990s were old timers so no idea who if anyone could succeed him or what the crew consisted of in its later years.

It's interesting because Traina was D'Aquila's consigliere and may have held the title until 1931 so maybe there was a previous captain or he had a decina direct with him. He was likely a captain before becoming consigliere as he had been close to D'Aquila since the beginning, they went to Sicily together, etc. A possible earlier captain of that crew was Traina's paesan Giuseppe Giallombardo who was clearly important during the Lupo years and along with his brother Pietro being a later member of the Traina crew, Giuseppe was linked to a Salvatore Traina who is likely the same guy that witnessed Giuseppe Traina's naturalization. Pietro Giallombardo was himself someone of importance as he, along with Traina, attended the 1932 meeting where Pittsburgh boss John Bazzano was killed although Pietro was living in Trenton at the time.

I notice Pogo took Sal Franco off his list of captains. Did something come out confirming that? He was probably running his uncle Joe Arcuri's crew which would be another old crew, tracing back in some form to Vincenzo LoCicero's old Agrigentino decina. Michael said that was another crew where some of the Family leaders were like, "who is even with them?" If Franco stepped down I'd be curious if the younger Francos may have stepped up.

I'm curious if the D'Amico-Garofalo crew still exists or if it was split up in the last couple decades as at least a few guys involved have been captains after D'Amico joined the admin in the mid-2000s. Grillo, Rizzo, and Paradiso all have history with the crew.

The 116th Street crew must be one of the oldest unbroken crews outside the Gambinos. We don't have confirmation but can be almost certain Ciro Terranova was given that decina when the Genovese Family formed circa 1923. If Terranova was previously a captain in the Morello Family it could be argued the crew is even older.

Unless somebody has succeeded Joe Marino, that crew is probably gone. I say that because there really hasn't been anything about that crew in God knows when. Michael Scarola appears to be running the D'Amico-Garofalo crew.

[Pogo The Clown]

Scarola could be runnnig the Corozzo Crew (if he indeed is a Captain). At least he was busted with Corozzo and that crew in 2008.


Pogo

[Adam]

I think in Detroit you could make the argument that the Aceto/Joey Giacalone crews are just continuations of the Anthony/Vito Giacalone crews which were a continuation of the Bommartio/Corrado crews which will take you all the way back to the 1930s.

[Wiseguy]

Scarola could be runnnig the Corozzo Crew (if he indeed is a Captain). At least he was busted with Corozzo and that crew in 2008.


Pogo

Yeah, the reason I lean toward him running the Grillo crew (he was indicted with Grillo in 1988 and was identified as an associate of that crew in court docs in 2001) is because Pennisi said he was in the Grillo crew in 2018 and has also still identified Corozzo as a captain. If some kind of merging has happened, and he is running the Corozzo crew, I wouldn't find that difficult to believe at all.