The clutching hand

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Re: The clutching hand

by Antiliar » Wed Apr 13, 2016 2:20 pm

I forgot another person associated with that group was Salvatore "Sally the Sheik" Mussachio, also an important Profaci/Colombo guy. It's possible that these guys were originally under Frankie Yale and when his crew was broken up the Sicilian contingent went with Mineo and Profaci, and the non-Sicilians stayed with Masseria. They all lived in Bensonhurst, which was Yale's territory.

Re: The clutching hand

by B. » Wed Apr 13, 2016 9:20 am

HairyKnuckles wrote: I think the document indicates that Mineo ordered the death of Peraino´s son Carmine.

Some researchers claim that the Yale group was splintered into different Families after his death. So it´s possible although being closely associated with eachother, the former Yale group members belonged to different Families.

Another one who is a mystery to me (and his Family affiliation) is Filippo Picataggi. When murdered back in 1931, it was said that he was into real estate and a former Yale associate (if I remember correctly). It seems Picataggi was active in the Bensonhurst section. But that doesn´t help at all finding out his affiliation.

A lot of guys in that part of Brooklyn were being killed around the time but their deaths are not attributed to the Castellammarese War. Even Oddo and Bonasera were shot at. Makes me believe that Oddo and Bonasera joined the Profacis at a later stage unless Profaci was involved in a war of his own that somehow all Mafia historians and researchers seems to have missed.
Yeah I don't know what to believe now as far as affiliations go. The doc Rick posted makes it seem that the victim was on record with the Masseria family and as members died and structure changed, different Masseria members, Peraino among them, took over the victim's "account".

But then you throw in Oddo and Bonasera, plus as JD said Peraino's paesani who ended up with the Profaci family. Oddo and Bonasera weren't from typical Profaci areas in Sicily, so that makes your last point more of a possibility to me... that Oddo and Bonasera were associated with the Masseria family and went with the Profacis after the dramatic changes going on in South Brooklyn during that period.

Re: The clutching hand

by Angelo Santino » Wed Apr 13, 2016 5:55 am

From the time Mineo arrived in 1911 he had a set alliance with Harlem and maybe Williamsburg. Meanwhile Mineo's brother in law boss of Resuttana did business with D'Aquila and was even sent money to him for the Palermo citrus wars.

Re: The clutching hand

by HairyKnuckles » Wed Apr 13, 2016 5:11 am

OlBlueEyesClub wrote:Good stuff there, Antiliar. Its crazy how actual sources from the time, differ from the sources, or lack thereof available to us today.
The big problem with this is to figure out if the new info is more accurate than the old one. Sometimes the original info is "tampered" with or gets diluted with time and eventually gets a life of its own. But then there is also info that sets the record straight and debunks the old one.
Antiliar wrote:
There's another document that indicates that Peraino was ordered killed by Manfredi Mineo, and that Peraino's associates included Tony "the Chief" Bonasera and Johnny "Bath Beach" Oddo -- both known Profaci guys, so it's confusing. There was a lot of overlap and a lot of mystery for this time period.
I think the document indicates that Mineo ordered the death of Peraino´s son Carmine.

Some researchers claim that the Yale group was splintered into different Families after his death. So it´s possible although being closely associated with eachother, the former Yale group members belonged to different Families.

Another one who is a mystery to me (and his Family affiliation) is Filippo Picataggi. When murdered back in 1931, it was said that he was into real estate and a former Yale associate (if I remember correctly). It seems Picataggi was active in the Bensonhurst section. But that doesn´t help at all finding out his affiliation.

A lot of guys in that part of Brooklyn were being killed around the time but their deaths are not attributed to the Castellammarese War. Even Oddo and Bonasera were shot at. Makes me believe that Oddo and Bonasera joined the Profacis at a later stage unless Profaci was involved in a war of his own that somehow all Mafia historians and researchers seems to have missed.

Re: The clutching hand

by Antiliar » Tue Apr 12, 2016 10:14 pm

OlBlueEyesClub wrote:Good stuff there, Antiliar. Its crazy how actual sources from the time, differ from the sources, or lack thereof available to us today. Though I should've known, as Yale was a Masseria guy if I'm not mistaken, so if Peraino did take over his criminal interests, he'd be aligned with Masseria. Despite t he constant switching of sides during the Castellamarese War.
There's another document that indicates that Peraino was ordered killed by Manfredi Mineo, and that Peraino's associates included Tony "the Chief" Bonasera and Johnny "Bath Beach" Oddo -- both known Profaci guys, so it's confusing. There was a lot of overlap and a lot of mystery for this time period.

Re: The clutching hand

by OlBlueEyesClub » Tue Apr 12, 2016 2:38 pm

Good stuff there, Antiliar. Its crazy how actual sources from the time, differ from the sources, or lack thereof available to us today. Though I should've known, as Yale was a Masseria guy if I'm not mistaken, so if Peraino did take over his criminal interests, he'd be aligned with Masseria. Despite t he constant switching of sides during the Castellamarese War.

Re: The clutching hand

by B. » Tue Apr 12, 2016 1:44 pm

Antiliar wrote:This link has some info you may find interesting:

http://www.oocities.org/nymafia2001/towhom.html

http://www.oocities.org/nymafia2001/
Confirms that Peraino was known as "the Clutching Hand" on the street and strongly indicates that he was part of the Masseria family. Everyone else the victim dealt with (at least Carfagno, "James Demino" (Generoso), Sandino Pandolfo, Tony Bender... not sure about Gerardo Scarpato) were Masseria/Genovese members.

Re: The clutching hand

by Antiliar » Tue Apr 12, 2016 12:48 pm

This link has some info you may find interesting:

http://www.oocities.org/nymafia2001/towhom.html

http://www.oocities.org/nymafia2001/

Re: The clutching hand

by LcnBios » Tue Apr 12, 2016 10:17 am

.

Re: The clutching hand

by OlBlueEyesClub » Tue Apr 12, 2016 9:08 am

Gonna try to find some more info, but again, Deal With The Devil refers to him as an associate of Salvatore Maranzano and that he was killed in 1930. Thats literally all the information given on the guy as far as that one source goes.

Take this info for granted, I found it on Wikipedia, Giuseppe Peraino immigrated from Sicily around 1911, after escaping a 25 year prison sentence. He settled in NY on the same year and Anthony Peraino was born 4 years after. Says by 1930 he had risen through the ranks to become the boss of the Bay Ridge, Brooklyn area rackets, taking over bootlegging, gambling and extortion activities once controlled by Frankie Yale. Said to be powerful and once again, a powerful ally of Salvatore Maranzano. He supposedly attended a bootleggers summit on March 27, 1931, in which he was murdered afterward. His death was attributed to the Castellamarese War. Some also state his death was a result of a separate conflict in relation to bootlegging. Mafia historian, Richard Downey, theorizes that Peraino was the early patriarch of the Profaci family, the reason for this is many of his rackets, soldiers and territory was absorbed by Joseph Profaci. This theory is both dismissed and supported by many. Downey uses the fact that the Peraino brothers were members of the Profaci, later the Colombo Crime Family as proof of this. Take this with a grain of salt. And I'm sure you guys probably heard all of the previous info before. Thats literally all I've been able to find on the guy.

Re: The clutching hand

by B. » Tue Apr 12, 2016 9:03 am

Does anyone know if there was a fairly common Sicilian or Italian term that was used to describe people with deformed hands? I am wondering if "clutching hand" was a translation of this which is why it may have been used for more than one guy.

Either that, or the media gave the same nickname to both of them because they each had a deformed hand. I can't imagine both of them were known as "the clutching hand" to their peers unless it was derived from an Italian saying.

I always get Piraino and Pinzolo mixed up in my mind, as they were both "Joes" with P last names who were leaders for a short time around the same period. Pinzolo was the boss of the Luccheses for a brief period, representing the pro-Masseria faction, but who was Piraino with? His sons would be Profaci members and Piraino has been listed as an affiliate of Frank Yale, who had some future Profaci members with him, but it's not clear to me who Piraino was officially with.

Re: The clutching hand

by OlBlueEyesClub » Tue Apr 12, 2016 8:57 am

Morello had like, only an index finger and a thumb. According to Mike Dash, his counterparts never stared at it for too long, and he kept it covered with a cape sort of apparel. Interestingly, there's this kid around my way, street guy, who has the same deformity on his right hand, he keeps it in his pocket mostly, but he'll shake your hand with it. Its so weird because we do a specific type of handshake and it just feels so funny. He's a cool guy though.


And the elder Giuseppe Paraino is mentioned in the Peter Lance book on Scarpa and Devecchio. Says he was a former bootlegger and associate of Salvatore Maranzano.

Re: The clutching hand

by cammy_sanzone1 » Tue Apr 12, 2016 8:55 am

Yeah,definitely morello was the "clutch hand"he wore a cape type of garment to try and hide it but everyone knew what it was.I dont know of the piraino fella,did he have a disfigurement as well?photo anyone of piraino?thanks.

Re: The clutching hand

by CG1 » Tue Apr 12, 2016 7:12 am

I was wrong, it wasn't at least the father Joseph Piraino who was shot with Morello. Piraino was shot on the street and he had a massive funeral in Brooklyn.

This article says "fingers of his right hand were gnarled and weirdly distorted by paralysis." Murder son of slain racketeer http://www.fultonhistory.com/highlighte ... 8d7#page=1

I think Morello was completely missing fingers.

Re: The clutching hand

by Angelo Santino » Tue Apr 12, 2016 7:07 am

Pogo The Clown wrote:That hand of his was freaky. Imagine you are wiseguy and you have to try not to stare at that thing when Morello is inducting you or you're at a sitdown with him. :lol:


Pogo
He covered his arm by putting a cloth over it.

Again, from a social perspective using your left hand would/could prohibit someone from finding work, housing and being accepted by society. It's amazing Morello was able to rise to the level that he did, to be influential in cities outside of NY such as New Orleans or Chicago.

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