THE BLACK HAND FORUM

There's a lot we still don't know, but who doesn't love a mystery? We know so much more now. I wouldn't have been able to create a list like that twenty years ago.

With Trupia there are a lot of questions since little is known about him. The Gambino Family had a number of guys from Canicatti:

Gaetano Trupia (captain 1930s)
Salvatore Tornabe (Apalachin attendee, possible captain 1950s?)
Pietro Stincone (captain 1960s-70s)
Frank Rizzo (captain 1970s-80s)
James Surrosco
Agostino Amato (ID'd as a 1960s Florida captain on some FBI lists)
Vincent Amato
Frank Amato
Salvatore Curto
Eduardo Aronica

I believe the Amatos were with the Arcuri crew which suggests some level of continuity with Trupia. However Stincone and Rizzo weren't captains of the Arcuri crew and we don't have enough info on Tornabe (who is often mislabeled a Colombo as he worked for Joe Magliocco) so if the Canicattesi were once part of the same decina they eventually split into different crews. Many/most of these guys were members of the Canicatti fraternal society in Queens and Trupia was a member. Pietro Stincone was president of the society for a while and looks to have been close to Albert Anastasia as he witnessed his naturalization.

The Canicatti guys do fit the Arcuri patterns as they moved from the East Side of Manhattan to Queens whereas the Sciacchitani tended to move to Brooklyn.

Another possible link between the Arcuris and Trupia crew is that Arcuri in-laws the Francos came from Naro which is near Canicatti. DiLeonardo said the Francos go back deep in Cosa Nostra like the Arcuris so very possible Salvatore Franco Sr. was a member who was never identified. He was in Tampa then lived in the Arcuri apartment building and was married into the Arcuris. We can see today multiple generations of Francos are still around and Salvatore Jr. likely inherited the Arcuri crew. Calogero Marsala was another Arcuri crew member from Naro who died recently.

Great list.

Based on what's currently known this is close to how I see it as well. We don't know if some crews were split, soldiers reassigned, etc. especially in the earlier years but I'd say there's at least some level of continuity between the people listed in addition to the confirmed examples of succession. DiLeonardo has said only the Traina and Garofalo crews could be traced back continuously/unbroken to the early days of the Family but that was in the 1980s/90s so hard to say if/when other crews were reconfigured.

JD identified Simone "Sam" Riccobono as a capodecina during the Mangano era so he'd be another in the mix for that crew or an adjacent crew. He was a cousin of Joe Riccobono and Sam's father was named Erasmo, maybe the same one who was a member in the Sangiorgi report then moved to NYC?

Salvatore Chiri is another who was likely a capodecina by 1931 and had roots in the Sferracavallo-Capaci element like the Riccobonos. Don't know where he fits in crew wise and he was apparently aligned with Masseria rather than Scalise. He was connected to the Bronx like his paesan (and Riccobono relative) Frank Scalise and the Scalise crew may not have been exclusive to the Bronx.

One of Terry Didato's killers was from Sferracavallo according to Gentile but he unfortunately doesn't ID him and that hit took place at the Sciacca club operated by Parlapiano's crew.

Curious if it's true Dongarra was a cousin of Valente. Dongarra was from Gangi which is ~93 miles from Barcellona but it is on the eastern side of Palermo province so it's closer to Messina than most Gambino hometowns.

now we're talkin'.
i know the Upper East Side like back of my hand so if you need any help separating boundries or nabe names, please let me know.

This is a proposed succession for the three major early Gambino Family East Side Manhattan street crews. After going over their dates and cities of birth and residence, this succession seems like a possibility. What do you think? Agree? Disagree? If you think I got something wrong please let me know. BTW, these aren't meant to be complete.

[b]Upper LES Crew:[/b]
Saverio (Samuel) Virzi (5/10/1858, Sferracavallo, Palermo-10/28/1918, Richmond, NY) [F: Gaetano Virzi, M: Pietra Pensabene; W: Caterina Randazzo (12/5/1883, Palermo); Immigrated to NY, 8/24/1895; Address: 434 E. 13th St., NYC (1900), 428 E 13th St, NYC (1905), 436 E. 13th St., NYC (1916); Occupation: peddler (1900), grocer (1905)]
-Pietro Inzerillo
-Erasmo Riccobono (Sferracavallo)
-Giovanni Riccobono
Umberto Valente (8/14/1891, Barcellona, Messina-8/11/1922, NYC) (possibly capodecina 1918-1922) [F: Jerome Valenti, M: FNU Santa Maria; (1) Immigrated to NY, 7/6/1910, to cousin Salvatore Biondi, 423 E. 18th St., NYC; (1922); (2) Immigrated to NY, 1/18/1922, to cousin Rosario Dongarra, 339 E. 12th St., NYC; 409 E. 9th St., NYC (1922); Occupation: tailor]
- Joseph (“Joe Bandy”) Biondo (4/16/1897, Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, Messina-6/10/1966, NY) (1922?-1931, promoted to consigliere then demoted in 1951) [Address: 439 E. 14th St., NYC (1920), 245 E. 21st St., NYC (1930); Occupation: furrier (1930)]
Joseph Salvatore "Staten Island Joe" Riccobono (4/23/1894, Palermo-1975) (1931?-1957) Became Consigliere. [F: Giovanni (John) Riccobono, M: Rosalia Daleo; Sis: Carmela Pinzola, Bro: Thomas Salvatore Riccobono, Sis: Speranza Vassallo (w of Salvatore Vassalo); W: Christine (Peggy) Gumbman (4/1919, Elkton, MD); Immigrated to NY, 4/23/1894; Address: 426 E. 13th St., NYC (1900), 440 E. 13th St., NYC (1918), 411 E. 12th St., NYC; 781 Pelton St., Staten Island, NY (1957)]
Steven Armone [Stefano Armona] (12/17/1900, Misilmiri, Palermo-6/1960, Dade, FL) (1957-1960) [Address: 406 E. 11th St., NYC (1920), 85 Devoe St., Brooklyn, NY (1940/1942)]
Charles “Rosario” Dongarro (3/20/1896, Gangi, Palermo-10/1973, NY) (1960-1970s) [Address: 200 First Ave., NYC (1918), 884 54st St., Brooklyn, NY (1927/1942)
-Joseph N. Gallo (1960s)
-Frank “Frankie Wops" Gagliadri (1970s) Became Official Capo.
Frank “Frankie Wops" Gagliadri (1970s-1982) Died.
-Joseph "Joe Piney" Armone (1970s-1982) Became Official Capo
Joseph "Joe Piney" Armone (1982-1986) Became UnderBoss.

[b]Yorkville crew[/b]
Vincenzo Lo Cicero (11/11/1865, Calamonaci, Agrigento-12/5/1923, NYC) Died. [F: Felice LoCicero, M; Vincenzo Provenzano; W: Marianna Valenti (6/29/1896, Manhattan); Address: 512 E. 80th St (1910)]
Gaetano Trupia (7/14/1884, Canicatti, Agrigento-1/23/1941, Queens, NY) [Address: 305 E. 39th St., NYC (1918), 245 E. 39th St., NYC (1930)]
Domenico (Mick) Arcuri (10/18/1886 [or 10/26/1886], Alessandria della Rocca-7/1974, NYC) [F: Giuseppe Arcuri, M: Maria Capeci; W: Felicia Longo; Immigrated to NY on SS Italia, arriving 1/14/1906, to uncle Cosimo Martorana c/o Agostino Bonondo?, 336-38 East 12th St., NYC; Address: 1707 Howard Ave., West Tampa, FL (1913), 1513 Francis, W. Tampa, FL (1917), 355 E. 76th St., NYC (1924), 311 E. 76th St., NYC (1942/1960); Occupation: grocer (1913), cigar maker (1917); candy store owner (1950), liquor store owner (1960)]
Giuseppe (Joseph) Arcuri (9/14/1914 [9/22/1913], Tampa, FL-11/27/2007, Flushing, Queens, NY) [W: Harriet Martin (9/22/1940, NYC); Address: 311 E. 76th St., NYC (1940); Occupation: electrician]

[b]Little Italy:[/b]
Accursio Domino (5/15/1885, Sciacca-5/23/1922, NYC) [Address: 91 Elizabeth St., NY (1920)]
Giuseppe "Don Pidduzzu" Parlapiano (3/1/1885 [or 3/16/1885], Sciacca, Girgenti-8/17/1947, Brooklyn, NY) Died [F: Calogero Parlapiano, M: Angela Virzi; Immigrated to NY, 5/29/1900, to 125 Elizabeth St, NYC; Address: 108 Elizabeth St, NYC (1915), 122 Elizabeth St., NY (1923), 92 Elizabeth St., NY (1925/1940)]
Antonio Indelicato (1947-Early/Mid 1950s) (11/11/1890, Sciacca-2/1971, Brooklyn, NY) [F: Gregorio Indelicato; W: Angelina Santangelo (7/13/1923, NYC); Immigration to NY on Columbia, 3/25/1921; Address: 1432 78th St., Brooklyn, NY (1928), 1514 77th St., Brooklyn, NY (1942); Occupation: importer (1928), owns Sciacca Restaurant, 90-96 Elizabeth St., NYC (1942), president of Pinecraft Coat Co. (1966)] Demoted to soldier.
Joseph Franco (Early/Mid 1950s-1957) Died. (8/10/1904, Brooklyn, NY-11/10/1957, Brooklyn, NY) [F: Francesco Franco [b c1876], M: Teresa Baubaro [b c1876]; Address: 367 Columbia St., Brooklyn, NY (1904), 341 Broome St., NYC (1942); Occupation: owns candy store (1942)]
Carmine “The Doctor” Lombardozzi (1957-1963) Demoted to soldier.
-Anthony “Tony the Geep” Sedotto took over part of this Crew in 1960.
Joseph Gennaro (1963-1968) Died.
-In 1967 James "Jimmy Brown" Failla was promoted to Capo over half of this Crew.
-Vincent "Jimmy the Blond" Corrao (1967-1968) Became Official Capo.
Vincent "Jimmy the Blond" Corrao (1968-1970) Demoted.