by Angelo Santino » Sun Nov 16, 2014 4:46 pm
Lou_Para wrote:I am Italian,born and raised in the Pittsburgh area,and have some knowledge of the local numbers racket from back in the Grosso and Bobby I. days. My father and uncle were,respectively,small and mid-level numbers operators.
Let me continue to beat two dead horses.
1) Tony Grosso did not kick up to "The Mafia" to protect his business.
2) Bobby was never a "made " guy.
Don't get me wrong, lots of money and favors got tossed back and forth among the local boys,but as far as Grosso having anyone above him who took a piece of his business,it just wasn't so.
Of course, I don't claim to be the ultimate authority on this subject,but if anyone can produce any evidence or documentation to the contrary,I would love to see it.
From what I've found, and I'm not even close to the level JCB and yourself are on this era, those guys from the Hill were national independent operators. They laid off extra business to the mob in a mutually beneficial relationship. If Amato or La Rocca were to have put pressure on Grosso/I, nothing would have stopped them from moving elsewhere and still being able to run a national gambling ring. And had that happened, Amato and La Rocca would have been financially impacted in the blowback.
It's amazing the Hill didn't carry on, I guess too many blacks moved in there in the 20's and white flight occurred sending the I-tals eastward, there was a black crime boss who ran bootlegging and speakeasies in the Hill in the 20's and 30's. Go back in time 20 years and Wylie Avenue was all Catanzaresi, now it's a stadium.
[quote="Lou_Para"]I am Italian,born and raised in the Pittsburgh area,and have some knowledge of the local numbers racket from back in the Grosso and Bobby I. days. My father and uncle were,respectively,small and mid-level numbers operators.
Let me continue to beat two dead horses.
1) Tony Grosso did not kick up to "The Mafia" to protect his business.
2) Bobby was never a "made " guy.
Don't get me wrong, lots of money and favors got tossed back and forth among the local boys,but as far as Grosso having anyone above him who took a piece of his business,it just wasn't so.
Of course, I don't claim to be the ultimate authority on this subject,but if anyone can produce any evidence or documentation to the contrary,I would love to see it.[/quote]
From what I've found, and I'm not even close to the level JCB and yourself are on this era, those guys from the Hill were national independent operators. They laid off extra business to the mob in a mutually beneficial relationship. If Amato or La Rocca were to have put pressure on Grosso/I, nothing would have stopped them from moving elsewhere and still being able to run a national gambling ring. And had that happened, Amato and La Rocca would have been financially impacted in the blowback.
It's amazing the Hill didn't carry on, I guess too many blacks moved in there in the 20's and white flight occurred sending the I-tals eastward, there was a black crime boss who ran bootlegging and speakeasies in the Hill in the 20's and 30's. Go back in time 20 years and Wylie Avenue was all Catanzaresi, now it's a stadium. :cry: