THE BLACK HAND FORUM

lennert wrote: ↑Sat Aug 17, 2019 9:22 am Just reviving this interesting topic with a question. Was Falcone the real name of the brothers, or was it Projetto?

I know Projetto is not an uncommon surname in Sciacca, and the Falcone family came to the US under this name. It is also given as an alias both Joseph and Salvatore in the FBN Mafia book.

Attached the manifest showing the arrival of the Falcones/Projettos, as well as a document proving this is indeed the Utica Falcone family.

B, not sure if you know already, but note the father of the Falcone brothers gives his intended destination as his brother-in-law Vincenzo Sabella from 167 Mott Street in New York City. Maybe this was New York City based Falcone soldier Joseph's father?

Hello Lennert, thanks for the reply.

Vincenzo Sabella of Mott Street was definitely Joseph Sabella's father and married to the Falcone brothers' maternal aunt. Here are a couple notes on that from an earlier post in the thread:

- NYC-based Utica soldier Joe Sabella was born in Manhattan in 1913, lived in Brooklyn, and died in Staten Island, 1996. Sabella was the son of Salvatore Falcone's mother's sister. Joseph's father, Vincenzo Sabella, came from Sciacca and was a grocer like the Falcone brothers and their father Antonio Falcone, Vincenzo's brother-in-law.

- Joseph Sabella is unique in that he lived his entire life in NYC but was a made member of a family outside of NYC and NJ, officially belonging to the Magaddino family. His blood relation to the Falcone brothers would account for this, but doesn't quite explain it. It's especially strange because of the many connections between the Falcones/Sabellas and Gambinos, including relation to the Indelicatos and his Sciacca background, which should have made the Gambino family Brooklyn faction an obvious home for Joe Sabella. Maybe it's a testament to Salvatore Falcone's influence/respect that he was allowed to induct a member who lived full-time in NYC.

There was also a Vincenzo "James" Sabella (b.1900) who lived in Brooklyn and, I believe, was a member of an NYC family but I can't recall if his affiliation has ever been officially confirmed. He was was involved in the garment industry and I don't know of any connections to the other Sabellas or if he was from Sciacca like other Sabellas. His associates listed in the FBN book don't make his affiliation obvious.

What I'm particularly curious about is whether the well-known Mike Sabella of the Bonanno family might be connected to the Falcone-related Sabellas, as they all came from Sciacca. Sabella is a common surname in Sciacca, so there may be no connection. I haven't come across much if any connections between the Falcones and the Bonannos, however, as the Utica group didn't share the rest of the Buffalo family's connections to the Bonannos.

--

I read something about Projetto being a surname that was historically given to orphans in Sicily and it's my understanding that the elder Falcone was an orphan. If this is true, neither Falcone nor Projetto would have been their true name, as their true name was unknown, and the elder Falcone may have been legally named Projetto and took on the name Falcone. This might explain why the family continued to use both names in the US.

Just reviving this interesting topic with a question. Was Falcone the real name of the brothers, or was it Projetto?

I know Projetto is not an uncommon surname in Sciacca, and the Falcone family came to the US under this name. It is also given as an alias both Joseph and Salvatore in the FBN Mafia book.

Attached the manifest showing the arrival of the Falcones/Projettos, as well as a document proving this is indeed the Utica Falcone family.

B, not sure if you know already, but note the father of the Falcone brothers gives his intended destination as his brother-in-law Vincenzo Sabella from 167 Mott Street in New York City. Maybe this was New York City based Falcone soldier Joseph's father?

B. wrote: ↑Mon Jul 08, 2019 7:22 pm This is a few years prior to Salvatore Falcone's own travel to Italy, where he's alleged to have donated to the fascists.

Just occasionally these guys act in a socially conscious way.


Pogo

- Another Gambino connection: in 1933, future Gambino NJ captain Antonio Paterno traveled to Sicily with Utica-based Buffalo member Joseph Falcone. Michael DiLeonardo has said his grandfather was close to the Falcones, so we have the Falcone brothers being close to at least two Gambino men connected with Empire Yeast. This is a few years prior to Salvatore Falcone's own travel to Italy, where he's alleged to have donated to the fascists.

- Salvatore and Joseph Falcone's sister married the brother of D'Aquila capodecina Accursio Dimino, Antonino. Not clear if Antonino Dimino was a mafioso, but the Diminos came from Sciacca like the Falcones. Not only is this another connection between the Falcones and the Gambino family, it suggests they were involved with the early Sciacchitani crew under Dimino.

- It is interesting to consider the timing of Accursio Dimino's murder with the Falcones' move from NYC to Utica. The murder of arguably the top Sciacchitano mafia leader in New York happens during the period when the Falcones, Sciacca mafiosi related to Dimino, leave the city. Available info suggests it was the Falcones' father Antonio who initiated the move to Utica.

- The Falcones came from a mafia circle in NYC and immediately became involved in mafia activities with establshed Sicilians upon arrival to Utica, suggesting that there was no "recruitment" process and they were already mafia members/associates who were accepted by the local group.

- The Lima/Aiello/Gambino clan who came to lead the Utica mafia group had come from NYC themselves and given their location and Palermo background likely operated in D'Aquila or Mineo circles, so the idea of Palermitani and Sciacchitani mafia members working together in Utica was similar to what all of these men had already experienced in NYC.

- Many decades later, in the 1980s, an Aiello from Bagheria was living in Buffalo as a heroin trafficker with the Pizza Connection case. Aiello is a common name in Bagheria and there is no indication he is related to the Aiellos from Bagheria who settled in the Utica area. I also haven't been able to connect Domenico Aiello to Joe Aiello of Chicago fame even though both were from Bagheria and lived in the Utica area around the same time. Joe Aiello was most likely involved in mafia circles during his stay given his presence in Frankfort, a Sicilian colony with mafia members from San Giuseppe Iato and Bagheria, among others from outside of Palermo.

- In addition to estimating that Utica had 80-100 made members as already mentioned, Valachi claimed to have known Salvatore Falcone since the 1930s. Valachi had a number of connections to the Buffalo family going back to that time so any information he gives, however strange, is worth mentioning.

- NYC-based Utica soldier Joe Sabella was born in Manhattan in 1913, lived in Brooklyn, and died in Staten Island, 1996. Sabella was the son of Salvatore Falcone's mother's sister. Joseph's father, Vincenzo Sabella, came from Sciacca and was a grocer like the Falcone brothers and their father Antonio Falcone, Vincenzo's brother-in-law.

- Joseph Sabella is unique in that he lived his entire life in NYC but was a made member of a family outside of NYC and NJ, officially belonging to the Magaddino family. His blood relation to the Falcone brothers would account for this, but doesn't quite explain it. It's especially strange because of the many connections between the Falcones/Sabellas and Gambinos, including relation to the Indelicatos and his Sciacca background, which should have made the Gambino family Brooklyn faction an obvious home for Joe Sabella. Maybe it's a testament to Salvatore Falcone's influence/respect that he was allowed to induct a member who lived full-time in NYC.

- The Falcone brothers' mother was a Sclafani. Sclafani is a surname that shows up repeatedly in other mafia-linked Sciacchitani family trees, though I'm unaware of any Sclafanis from Sciacca in the US mafia at the time. The surnames Dimino, Sclafani, Sabella, and Indelicato all show up in connection with each other in Sciacca immigrant family trees, both mafia-linked and otherwise. In 1920, Accursio Dimino had a Salvatore Sclafani living with him but no relation specified. Early San Francisco soldier Luciano Sabella also came from Sciacca and common surnames in his family tree indicate possible connections. No doubt these are common surnames in Sciacca but still could be relations given the small world of the early mafia and the tight network among mafia members from Sciacca in particular.

- Salvatore Falcone's wife was a Provenzano, born in New Orleans. Around the time of her birth, the New Orleans mafia leadership included a Giuseppe Provenzano, with these Provenzanos leaving New Orleans soon after. Falcone and his young wife were married in Trinidad, Colorado in 1911, suggesting that her family had left NO as well. I can't confirm a relation between Falcone's wife's family and Giuseppe Provenzano, only that they share a surname and left NO after both spending time there in the early 1890s.

- Given that Salvatore Falcone was surrounded by mafia figures in every respect of his life, his wife very well could have had her own mafia relations and stops in New Orleans and Colorado would lend something to the idea. Nick Gentile, a leader within the national Sciacca/Agrigento network, visited Colorado as a mafia destination and the early Colorado organization had many members from Agrigento, particularly Lucca Sicula. In fact, the family had leading members from Lucca Sicula, near Sciacca, based in Trinidad around the time Falcone was married there. Early Lucchese soldier Paolo D'Anna, who was from Agrigento province and inducted in Sicily, told his captain Al D'Arco that he was involved in an early mafia war in Colorado, giving another indication of the Sciacca/Agrigento influence in Colorado that may have attracted Falcone before settling in Utica. Utica does not appear to have been a significant part of this Sciacca/Agrigento network but the Falcones' stay in NYC in between likely served as a halfway point and impacted the decision to move to Utica.

SILENT PARTNERZ wrote: ↑Mon Dec 17, 2018 12:16 pm

B. wrote: ↑Fri Dec 14, 2018 8:40 pm The FBN identified Gambino soldier "Joe Scootch" Indelicato as a cousin of the Falcone brothers. That would make old time Gambino captain Antonino Indelicato a relative as well. The Indelicatos were from Sciacca or at least nearby, so that would reinforce this info.

This is yet another connection between the Falcone brothers and the Gambino family, making it even more likely they were associates if not members of the D'Aquila/Gambino family when they lived in NYC, especially because this involves a relation.

Are the above mentioned Gambino Indelicato's related to Sonny Red & Bruno Indelicato
of Bonnano fame?

Yeah, apparently they were cousins, though not sure how far removed. The Gambino branch were all older.

Related to the above Indelicato/Falcone relation, it also came up in the 1958 senate hearings related to labor corruption. "Kennedy" is Robert Kennedy and "Sullivan" is Daniel Sullivan, a witness from Miami apparently connected to the labor groups down there:

Mr. Kennedy: Where did Joe Scootch come from originally, do
you know ?

Mr. Sullivan: I think he came from New York. He is very close
to the New York crowd.

Mr. Kennedy: Is he related to Salvatore Falcone, do you know ?

Mr. Sullivan: We have received information from a reliable source
that he is a cousin of Falcone, and he is married to a woman named
Gussie Siller, who was employed by Falcone.

Mr. Kennedy: And Falcone originally came out of Utica down to
Miami?

Mr. Sullivan: Falcone came to Miami and opened up a wholesale
Italian grocery store.

B. wrote: ↑Fri Dec 14, 2018 8:40 pm The FBN identified Gambino soldier "Joe Scootch" Indelicato as a cousin of the Falcone brothers. That would make old time Gambino captain Antonino Indelicato a relative as well. The Indelicatos were from Sciacca or at least nearby, so that would reinforce this info.

This is yet another connection between the Falcone brothers and the Gambino family, making it even more likely they were associates if not members of the D'Aquila/Gambino family when they lived in NYC, especially because this involves a relation.

Are the above mentioned Gambino Indelicato's related to Sonny Red & Bruno Indelicato
of Bonnano fame?

Ive heard that the Utica guys turned in a lot of bookmaking work to the Gambinos so that makes alot of sense

Agree B......

The FBN identified Gambino soldier "Joe Scootch" Indelicato as a cousin of the Falcone brothers. That would make old time Gambino captain Antonino Indelicato a relative as well. The Indelicatos were from Sciacca or at least nearby, so that would reinforce this info.

This is yet another connection between the Falcone brothers and the Gambino family, making it even more likely they were associates if not members of the D'Aquila/Gambino family when they lived in NYC, especially because this involves a relation.

Pogo The Clown wrote: ↑Mon Jul 16, 2018 5:48 pm Not much. One of the Rochester informants talked about his induction in 1972 and that one of the members present was a local college professor. No name was given from what I saw. Forgot if the informant was Joseph “Spike” Lanovara or Angelo Monachino. They were both made in the same ceremony and both later flipped.


Pogo

Also; originally listed from the Apalachin debacle, Pasquale Turrigiano, and the ‘Monachino brothers’. Where/what specifically was their area of activity, and ‘who’ were they really affiliated with ie: in what capacity. VERY little actual in-depth info on them

SILENT PARTNERZ wrote: ↑Mon Aug 27, 2018 12:59 pm

B. wrote: ↑Sun Jul 15, 2018 10:53 am I'd like to dig into the Bufalino family next, as they are a big part of this whole western NY discussion, too. A number of mafia members along the southwestern border seem to have been Scranton members despite being paesans and having other connections to Buffalo and other western NY cities, even a couple of guys I had assumed were Buffalo members. Most of what I know about Scranton is incidental from looking into Buffalo / Utica and Philadelphia. The FBI consistently ID'd them as the first family in Pennsylvania so I'm curious how early they had membership in NY state. By the way it looks like Anthony Guarnieri's father came from Bari, so non-Sicilian.

My understanding of Rochester, like you said the other day, is it has less of a Sicilian history than other cities in the area, but I could be wrong. Not sure what the ethnic background is for Rochester capodecina Giacomo Russolesi but I recall reading he was non-Sicilian.

Here is a thread I made a while back with a little bit of Rochester info, mostly from the 1950s / 60s:
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=3279&p=69675

In one of the Magaddino transcripts he is discussing some sort of dispute within the Buffalo family, seemingly from the 1920s, where the family split into two factions and the total combined is fewer than 40 members. No idea if he was just referring to members in the Buffalo / NF area or the entire family, or whether this number is even accurate, but the Buffalo family at its peak is believed to have had significantly more members than this. Seems possible that they brought in members from other areas after this, or groups from other cities weren't part of the disputing factions.

There was an article written titled 'The Men from Montedoro' that lays out the early Bufalino/ Wyoming Valley, PA family. It was an article in THomas Hunt's American Mafia INFORMER Magazine.

Agreed; Bufalino (Pittston-Scranton-Wilkes Barre etc section of PA. very interesting. Also; specifically the Utica NY area (Falcone’s and associates) area, would be very interesting reading. A lot has been written about them, but lot of it is repetitive. A fresh perspective would be interesting

huge salt mines in sicily also,

JCB1977 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 28, 2018 11:42 am

SILENT PARTNERZ wrote: ↑Mon Aug 27, 2018 12:59 pm

B. wrote: ↑Sun Jul 15, 2018 10:53 am I'd like to dig into the Bufalino family next, as they are a big part of this whole western NY discussion, too. A number of mafia members along the southwestern border seem to have been Scranton members despite being paesans and having other connections to Buffalo and other western NY cities, even a couple of guys I had assumed were Buffalo members. Most of what I know about Scranton is incidental from looking into Buffalo / Utica and Philadelphia. The FBI consistently ID'd them as the first family in Pennsylvania so I'm curious how early they had membership in NY state. By the way it looks like Anthony Guarnieri's father came from Bari, so non-Sicilian.

My understanding of Rochester, like you said the other day, is it has less of a Sicilian history than other cities in the area, but I could be wrong. Not sure what the ethnic background is for Rochester capodecina Giacomo Russolesi but I recall reading he was non-Sicilian.

Here is a thread I made a while back with a little bit of Rochester info, mostly from the 1950s / 60s:
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=3279&p=69675

In one of the Magaddino transcripts he is discussing some sort of dispute within the Buffalo family, seemingly from the 1920s, where the family split into two factions and the total combined is fewer than 40 members. No idea if he was just referring to members in the Buffalo / NF area or the entire family, or whether this number is even accurate, but the Buffalo family at its peak is believed to have had significantly more members than this. Seems possible that they brought in members from other areas after this, or groups from other cities weren't part of the disputing factions.

There was an article written titled 'The Men from Montedoro' that lays out the early Bufalino/ Wyoming Valley, PA family. It was an article in THomas Hunt's American Mafia INFORMER Magazine.

That was a great piece. Tom does a nice job with the early stuff.

Interesting connection between the sulphur miners in Sicily/Italy
& the guys that came over went into the coal mining areas here is the U.S.
Wilkes Barre still has large coal slag piles around town.

SILENT PARTNERZ wrote: ↑Mon Aug 27, 2018 12:59 pm

B. wrote: ↑Sun Jul 15, 2018 10:53 am I'd like to dig into the Bufalino family next, as they are a big part of this whole western NY discussion, too. A number of mafia members along the southwestern border seem to have been Scranton members despite being paesans and having other connections to Buffalo and other western NY cities, even a couple of guys I had assumed were Buffalo members. Most of what I know about Scranton is incidental from looking into Buffalo / Utica and Philadelphia. The FBI consistently ID'd them as the first family in Pennsylvania so I'm curious how early they had membership in NY state. By the way it looks like Anthony Guarnieri's father came from Bari, so non-Sicilian.

My understanding of Rochester, like you said the other day, is it has less of a Sicilian history than other cities in the area, but I could be wrong. Not sure what the ethnic background is for Rochester capodecina Giacomo Russolesi but I recall reading he was non-Sicilian.

Here is a thread I made a while back with a little bit of Rochester info, mostly from the 1950s / 60s:
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=3279&p=69675

In one of the Magaddino transcripts he is discussing some sort of dispute within the Buffalo family, seemingly from the 1920s, where the family split into two factions and the total combined is fewer than 40 members. No idea if he was just referring to members in the Buffalo / NF area or the entire family, or whether this number is even accurate, but the Buffalo family at its peak is believed to have had significantly more members than this. Seems possible that they brought in members from other areas after this, or groups from other cities weren't part of the disputing factions.

There was an article written titled 'The Men from Montedoro' that lays out the early Bufalino/ Wyoming Valley, PA family. It was an article in THomas Hunt's American Mafia INFORMER Magazine.

That was a great piece. Tom does a nice job with the early stuff.