It seems that during the early 2000's, Capo Dom Cutaia (who was the capo of the Vario-Cutaia aka Canarsie crew) took over leading a combine "Brooklyn faction". Cutaia led his Canarsie crew and the remaining Bensonhurst crew after the Bensonhurst capo Joseph “Joey Flowers” Tangorra and most of the Bensonhurst guys were arrested in 2000 including Eugene “Boopsie” Castelle (who was serving as "Acting Underboss").Little_Al1991 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 31, 2021 12:34 pmWhen DeSantis made a move for the Acting Boss position in 2017, he sent Vic a letter which said “There are guys out here loyal to you who want to bring the family back to Brooklyn” Judging by that, i would assume that he has reinstated a crew in Brooklyn.Though Pennisi flipped in October of 2018 and he said that there was talk of reinstating the crew but it didn’t happen during his time.Maybe Pennisi cooperation has effected the idea of reinstating a crew in BrooklynWiseguy wrote: ↑Fri Dec 31, 2021 11:00 amSeems through a combination of attrition, merging, transferring, etc. the multiple Lucchese crews in Brooklyn were consolidated down to one. As chin said, it seems it was also the Staten Island crew because that's where Castellucci was based while he was captain. Also because, as Pennisi said, many crew members who also lived in Staten Island were originally from Brooklyn.Little_Al1991 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 31, 2021 8:19 amCastelucci formerly was the Capo of the Bensonhurst crew until his imprisonment, he moved the crew to Staten Island.Pennisi says there was only one Brooklyn crew during his time which could mean that the Vario crew merged with the Bensonhurst crew.I believe the crews are different because the Vario crew is separate to the Bensonhurst crew.Pennisi has referred to Castelucci’s crew as the Bensonhurst crew which moved to Staten Island.chin_gigante wrote: ↑Fri Dec 31, 2021 8:01 amThe Vario crew is the same as the Cutaia-Castelucci crew, it just moved to Staten Island. It's the same crew, and it was still the Brooklyn faction, but it just moved headquarters over timeLittle_Al1991 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 31, 2021 6:08 amVario crew is based in Canarsie mainly and at one point this crew became inactive under Matthew Madonna because according to John Pennisi, there were 0 Brooklyn crews in the Lucchese Family by the time DeSantis took over in 2017.DeSantis wants to reinstate the original Brooklyn crew which I believe is a reference to the 19th hole crew in Bensonhurst, founded by Furnari then took over by Vic Amuso in 1981.Papagni would most likely be the Capo of the reinstated crew in Bensonhurst.As for a separate crew in Canarsie, I’m not sure about but it’s definitely an idea for DeSantis if he really wants to bring the family back to Brooklyn like he said.chin_gigante wrote: ↑Wed Dec 29, 2021 12:02 pm Cutaia was captain of the old Vario crew, so if you wanted to trace the leadership you could go:
Salvatore Curiale
Paul Vario
Alfonso D'Arco
Louis Daidone
Domenico Cutaia
John Castelucci
Frank Papagni (possibly)
Anyway, only one crew at that point - the Brooklyn/Staten Island crew. Talk about reinstating another crew in Brooklyn but it remains to be seen if that ever happened or it was just talk.
Most of the Amuso-Casso Bensonhurst Brooklyn guys were imprisoned, during the late 1990s the McDonald Ave crew (which was Casso's crew that had spilt from Bensonhurst re-merged back into the Bensonhurst crew under the combine leadership of Joey Tangorra and Eugene Castelle. After Al D'Arco flipped the Canarsie crew took a big hit and a lot of top guys were imprisoned.
It seems that when Steve Crea served as acting boss during 1998-2000 he began breaking down the Brooklyn faction, Crea began splitting up the Bensonhurst guys making them report to Bronx capo Anthony “Blue Eyes” Santorelli.
In 2000, after Crea was indicted, the consigliere and Brooklyn mobster Louis "Louie Bagels" Daidone (he was the former capo of Canarsie crew) became the new as acting boss. It seems that Capo Dom Cutaia led his Canarsie crew and was given control of all the remaining Bensonhurst guys. Cutaia lived on Staten Island himself and used John “Sidburns” Cerrella as an acting capo. When the acting boss Daidone was imprisoned, the family was controlled by the Bronx ruling panel Aniello Migliore, Joseph DiNapoli and Matthew Madonna which allowed Cutaia to remain the capo of the combined "Brooklyn faction". In 2010, Cutaia was imprisoned again and very sick, it seems Cutaia may have stepped down. Cutaia's grandsons began running around with Bronx "capo" John Lubrano (possibly running a new farm team).
It is possible that in 2010, the Bronx crew broke up part of the "Brooklyn faction" that was controlled by Cutaia and created a new long island crew under capo Joe Cafe Desena (who Pennisi said was close with Madonna all the time). This allowed the Bronx acting boss Matty Madonna and Joe DiNapoli to make John Castellucci the new capo remaining Brooklyn faction after a big transfer of soldiers to other crews. Castellucci was original from the Bensonhurst crew but had made friends with Joe DiNapoli in prison. Pennisi stated that all the old time Brooklyn guys refused to respect or report to Castellucci.
Castellucci took over a small crew of guys which was known as the "Brooklyn faction" but based in Staten Island. His crew consisted of Eugene Castelle (from Bensonhurst crew), Joseph DiBenedetto (Amuso's son in-law), Vincent Zappola (from Bensonhurst crew), Scotty Gervasi (from Bensonhurst crew), Anthony “Spanky” Castelle (brother to Castellucci), John Cerrella (from Canarsie crew), Anthony Guzzo (new made member), John Pennisi (new made member) and possibly others.
In 2017, when DeSantis becomes acting boss, he re-creates the original Brooklyn crew (which is probably a reference to the Vario-Cutaia aka Canarsie crew). He makes Patrick “Patty Red” Dellorusso the new capo (who is original from the Canarsie crew). Pennisi stated that plans were to give Dellorusso a few guys which included Carlo Profeta (who was living in Florida, a former Cutaia's Canarsie crew member), John “Johnny Sideburns” Cerrella (from acting capo to Cutaia and Canarsie crew member) along with few new made members Danny “Pilot” Campo, John “Butch” Arpino,, Louis “Louie Jet” Gampero (who is close associate to Ray Argentina). When Dellorusso became "acting underboss" someone possible replaced him maybe Carlo Profeta, John Cerrella or Ray Argentina or someone else.
Pennisi also stated that DeSantis was going breakdown Castellucci back down to soldier and make Frank “Frankie Bones” Papagni the new capo of Castellucci's "Brooklyn faction", allowing DeSantis to recreate the Bensonhurst crew.