Stefano Badami

[Angelo Santino]

I believe the FL guys have a different spelling and hometown. That is a cool Tampa family chart, though. The use of "elder" and placement of Scaglione and Mistretta makes me wonder if Tampa was yet another small US family that had the "council" or "chair" made up of senior members. So far we have Milwaukee, San Jose, Detroit, St. Louis, and maybe one I'm forgetting all giving evidence of a senior council or board of elders. As a smaller Sicilian-centric family, Tampa fits the same mold as the others.

Yes, and lasted into the 90s. However, one very Tampa-specific feature was the appearance of Spaniards and Cubans, like Baby Joe Diez, on some of these councils.

These entities, while all Mafia Groups, at the local level were Syndicates which included a few non-Itals in the mix. Gus Alex of Chicago (most obvious), Maishe Rockman of Cleveland, and others who, if you were to list their affiliations would be LCN despite not being formally made. It's not surprising that when syndicate matters were at hand that non-ceremonied members would take part, despite not being part of the national mafia network.

But anyways, ok so Bedami and Badami and they aren't linked. I wasn't sure so thanks for clearing that up.

[Antiliar]

I think "Don Steve" Badami was the boss of the Elizabeth Family since Gaspare D'Amico headed the Newark Family at the same time. According to Felice's info, Phil Bacino founded the Elizabeth Family, but if so it had to be for a very short time.

[Frank]

I think "Don Steve" Badami was the boss of the Elizabeth Family since Gaspare D'Amico headed the Newark Family at the same time. According to Felice's info, Phil Bacino founded the Elizabeth Family, but if so it had to be for a very short time.

Bacino is another interesting guy, in that if he was boss of the DeCav, went back to the Chicago mob as a soldier. It appears that he had family near Chicago, and was content being a soldier the rest of his life.

[B.]

Is there anything about D'Amico being the Newark boss before the early 1930s? If not, and Badami stepped down in the early 1930s, it doesn't conflict with the window of time when D'Amico was a confirmed boss. D'Amico and other Newark members were in NJ many years predating Badami, though that doesn't tell us much about the organization(s), and any little known figure could have been boss before Badami and/or D'Amico.

A big factor in Badami's story to me is that we know who his underboss was in Monaco and where some surrounding figures ended up. The future Lucchese NJ crew can be traced back to Monaco and Badami, so with the Newark family being split up among the five families, the most likely story is that the Lucchese NJ crew has its origins in the Newark family. That's more logical to me than the Lucchese family randomly taking a big piece of the DeCavalcantes in NJ at some point between the 1930-50s, which is the picture that emerges if Badami/Monaco had been DeCavalcante leaders distinct from Newark.

- I believe it's possible Bacino was boss of what we now call the DeCavalcantes/Elizabeth family but if so I doubt it had the same geographical boundaries it's associated with today, or it was brief. Bacino doesn't appear to have ever lived in NJ and spent only a short period of time in NYC but Bacino's son married a girl from Elizabeth in the 1960s and the wedding was held in NJ. Other info points to Bacino maintaining close contact with NJ and Ribera throughout his life.

- Pasquale Lolordo is a stronger candidate for an early DeCavalcante boss than Bacino. He spent a more significant period in NYC and rose to prominence in Chicago quickly after his arrival, suggesting he may have had mafia status in NYC. Looking at the 1928 Cleveland meeting, in many cases we can identify who attended as a family leader and who was an aide. Following the mold of the other attendees, it looks like Bacino attended as Lolordo's aide. They were possibly Chicago members by then but I would expect the same dynamic to have played out whether they were in Chicago or NYC/NJ. There may have been a window of time between Lolordo leaving for Chicago and Bacino stayed in NYC, which could account for something. Lolordo's brother joining the DeCavalcante family post-Chicago and becoming a NYC-based capodecina adds to the idea that Pasquale Lolordo may have been affiliated with an early element of the DeCavalcante family in NYC.

- Early mafiosi traveled around the US, followed specific patterns based on where they were from and who they knew, transferred into local families, and became top leaders quickly, then when circumstances changed or the status quo was disrupted they stepped down or left. Gentile went to cities where he was in the administration for a blip of time. If Bacino was a boss, it could have been brief for any number of reasons. If it's true that Rotondo was told Bacino had been an early boss, this seemingly obscure detail must have survived over the years because Bacino was alive for many decades and in contact with DeCav figures until his death -- i.e. he wasn't some random old timer who was boss for a year and died in 1927, but someone who was still in the national picture just a few years before Rotondo got involved with the organization. It could have been a conversation this simple:

DeCav member: "You know that old man Bacino who came out from Chicago for so-and-so's funeral? He used to be the boss here."
Rotondo: "Really? Cool."

- This detail came from Felice originally and when Felice posted it many years back Filippo Bacino was not being connected to the DeCavalcante family in any way. It was known that Bacino was from Ribera and affiliated with a small group of Riberesi in Chicago, but nobody was connecting Bacino directly to the mafia in Elizabeth. Felice also identified Luciano Bacino, his brother, as a made member in Ribera which was not publicly known.

But if we're going to take this piece of info from Rotondo seriously, we have to take his comments on Badami and Monaco being DeCavalcante boss and underboss seriously, too. The difference with his mention of Bacino is that Bacino's connection to the DeCavs is not something he could have found in a book, online, or even normal street gossip; if Rotondo mentioned that Phil Bacino was a boss of the DeCavalcante family that shows that someone he knew in or around the DeCavalcante family gave him the info. Whether the info was correct or Rotondo interpreted it correctly doesn't matter, the simple fact that he was able to connect Bacino with the DeCavs in general association is important and was not public information.

Badami on the other hand was mentioned in books and online as a Jersey boss and in some cases an early DeCav boss. This info was available at the time Rotondo flipped and he very well could have read about Badami and put his own spin on it. Not saying that's what he did, only that it's possible. He liked to watch the Sopranos and seemed interested in mafia history, someone who might pick up a book or get on a search engine. To his credit, though, Badami was alive until 1955 and there were members still living in Rotondo's time who may have known Badami.

- I can't discount Bacino or Amari because of their age, as Joe Bonanno and others were young bosses, and either one could have been the boss as early as the 1920s, but I don't believe the family was started by Bacino or Amari. We will likely never be able to identify who may have been older leaders or members for that matter but some names stand out.

- Carmelo Giacobbe is a name who I believe may have been an influential early figure in what became the DeCavalcantes. Carmelo was listed as an uncle of Phil Bacino and was Bacino's arrival contact in NYC. Carmelo Giacobbe was also the great-uncle of future DeCav figure Joe Giacobbe Sr. and an ancestor of many Giacobbes who were mafia members in both the DeCav and Ribera families. The name Giacobbe shows up in many mafia-connected family trees, including the Amaris. Carmelo Giacobbe also lived in Connecticut for a time in the 1910s, which could be a coincidence or could provide a root for the DeCav's CT faction.

- The younger relatives of Carmelo Giacobbe were part of a Manhattan crew in the DeCavalcantes and unlike Brooklyn-Staten Island not much is known about this crew or its history. I wouldn't be surprised if the origins of the DeCavalcante family trace back to this crew in some way, or at least their presence in Manhattan. While there were Merlos and Riggis in Elizabeth not long after the turn of the 20th century, Manhattan was a main destination for the early Riberese and many of these would filter into NJ in the coming years. In the meantime, we have mafia members from Ribera focused primarily in Manhattan who would end up with their own organization, an organization some sources have said is one of the earliest US mafia families. If all of that is accurate, the DeCavalcantes probably started in Manhattan.

- Louis LaRasso was recorded telling Genovese members in the 1960s that they purposely limit the number of DeCavalcante members allowed to interact with other families. Another Lucchese connection comes in. D'Arco made comments along these lines about the Lucchese family maintaining secrecy even among the five families. Informant Taglialatella also reported that the Luccheses prefer not to introduce their members to other families. It stands out that we have DeCavalcante and Lucchese members talking about this approach as if it were a deliberate rule in their organizations.

- Greg Scarpa didn't find out the DeCavalcante family existed until someone else told him about them in the 1960s and believed the boss was named something that sounded like "Leone". His info on membership matched Sam DeCavalcante's own description of the family during that time, being in the ~30 range and made up mostly of elderly members. He said they were entirely in NJ and a "close-knit", "tight" organization who wouldn't propose or make new members.

[Angelo Santino]

Do you think it's possible the Ribera faction originated in the Gambinos and became independent after D'Aquila's 1928 murder?

As we discussed previously, the Agrigento faction of NYC primarily fell under the Gambinos from 1900 up until at least 1940. The Ribera demographics in NYC followed it went alongside those of Agrigento in NYC and Brooklyn. IF the modern DeCav originated in NY and NJ was an outlier, that would coincide with other Agrigento demographics into Pennsylvania which maintained links to NY (reason why Celeste Morello argued Scranton was part of NY.)

You've mentioned several members linked to the Corleonesi and that follows the same pattern I've encountered with Mafiosi from the Agrigento-Palermo province border. Some were more aligned with the Corleonesi (Genovese) whereas others were with the Sciaccatani (Gambinos). But I should bring up Schiro and how he, being from Roccamena, should have- by using this logic- fallen in with the Corleonesi, however his mafia links were in Camporeale. Bisacquina is another city where Vito Cascio Ferro was around the Corleonesi but the DiLeonardos were around D'Aquila. Bagheria appears to be another city, Zarcone being with Lupo and D. Pecoraro being with Morello, interesting that they both apparently held leadership positions.

If the Riberesi started from the Gambinos, the First Family, they could technically lay claim to descending from NY's Founding Family (Palermitan, Agrigentesi). Still doesn't explain why Stango and D'Arco claim the Mafia started in Jersey and filtered into NYC. I can't explain it other than to say it's simply wrong.

Also interesting to the note that the Riberesi were among Birmingham's mafiosi, Joe N Gallo was Bisaquinesi descent from Alabama.

If we really wanted to, we could make a map of Sicily (and Palermo) divide up the factions and then map it to America with what faction went to what city. Palermo and NYC would have to be separate maps. We can show factions and migrations but we can't guarantee everyone was a member. Outside of the bosses and a soldier or captain here or there, we don't have very many confirmed names. And I've grown more conservative with who we confirm as a member that early on, it's why I opt for 'associate' or 'affiliate.'

Joe Lonardo, before moving to Cleveland, was in New York, he too would have fallen under the Gambinos given his Licatese roots. He's credited with being CL's founding boss and I've seen nothing to contradict that. The family was noted by Gentile to contain a large Licatesi element, it also contained out 'factions' such as Carinesi, which in NY would have also fallen under the Gambinos.

It's like a puzzle, the more pieces you fit together the more the picture is revealed.

Leone?... Simone?

[B.]

Carini may have fallen under the Mineo/Profaci family. They had a small faction of Carinesi but nearly every guy was a high-ranking member. There were some other guys from Carini associated with Giuseppe Peraino, which opens up the possibility that they were early Mineo/Profaci members.

It's unlikely to me that the DeCavs split off from D'Aquila in 1928. We do have the non-member informant saying that mafia activity in Elizabeth started with Phil Amari moving to town in the 1920s and bringing other Riberesi with him but Amari joined other mafia-linked Riberesi in Elizabeth who had been there for 20 years by the time he moved there so there is no reason to think he brought the first wave of mafiosi to town. Amari's arrival in Elizabeth may have signified the headquarters and/or leadership shifting there from NYC. The Ribera Club was founded in the early 1920s, so if Ribera as important as we believe it was in the creation of the DeCav family, we can be fairly assured the mafia had a presence in Elizabeth pre-Amari and was its own formal family by the early 1920s at the latest.

Whether they split off from the Gambinos or were always their own entity, they managed to scoop up almost all of the Riberesi members. Then there is someone like Jimmy Sarullo, Gambino soldier with Ribera heritage. There are DeCav and Ribera family members who connect to the surname Sarullo, and Jimmy Sarullo was close to DeCavalcante members on Staten Island, where he lived and the DeCavs had a presence. He was one of the first people who learned about the John D'Amato homosexual rumors before it was brought to the DeCavalcante administration. Yet he was made with the Gambino family. With the old Traina crew who knows how many members were "artifacts" of earlier trends. For example, maybe the Traina crew had an element of Riberesi soldiers early on and over time Sarullo was the last remnant.

I wonder if D'Arco meant only the Lucchese NJ crew when he said the Lucchese family split off from the Jersey family. The entire controversy could have been a misquote/misinterpretation on the co-authors' part, or D'Arco could have worded it poorly and the co-authors didn't press him enough to clarify or correct it. If he meant that the Lucchese NJ crew was descended from a Jersey family, that wouldn't have raised too many eyebrows and appears to be true.

The Birmingham Riberesi were Amaris and Caterinicchias (which is a spelling used on some old records by Salvatore Caterinicchio of NJ DeCavs) and they were related to Giacobbes. Giacomo Spinelli was related to the Amari-Caterinicchia clan and lived in the same small farm community outside of Birmingham. Spinelli would later move to Elizabeth where his daughter married DeCav soldier Giuseppe Cocchiaro. I'd consider Spinelli a candidate for both the Birmingham and early DeCav families and shows that the two cities had links behind just hometown and familiar surnames.

[Frank]

Could it be the Birmingham connection as to them claiming they are the oldest Family? Was there a Riberesi connection to New Orleans?

[Angelo Santino]

Carini may have fallen under the Mineo/Profaci family. They had a small faction of Carinesi but nearly every guy was a high-ranking member. There were some other guys from Carini associated with Giuseppe Peraino, which opens up the possibility that they were early Mineo/Profaci members.

It's unlikely to me that the DeCavs split off from D'Aquila in 1928. We do have the non-member informant saying that mafia activity in Elizabeth started with Phil Amari moving to town in the 1920s and bringing other Riberesi with him but Amari joined other mafia-linked Riberesi in Elizabeth who had been there for 20 years by the time he moved there so there is no reason to think he brought the first wave of mafiosi to town. Amari's arrival in Elizabeth may have signified the headquarters and/or leadership shifting there from NYC. The Ribera Club was founded in the early 1920s, so if Ribera as important as we believe it was in the creation of the DeCav family, we can be fairly assured the mafia had a presence in Elizabeth pre-Amari and was its own formal family by the early 1920s at the latest.

Whether they split off from the Gambinos or were always their own entity, they managed to scoop up almost all of the Riberesi members. Then there is someone like Jimmy Sarullo, Gambino soldier with Ribera heritage. There are DeCav and Ribera family members who connect to the surname Sarullo, and Jimmy Sarullo was close to DeCavalcante members on Staten Island, where he lived and the DeCavs had a presence. He was one of the first people who learned about the John D'Amato homosexual rumors before it was brought to the DeCavalcante administration. Yet he was made with the Gambino family. With the old Traina crew who knows how many members were "artifacts" of earlier trends. For example, maybe the Traina crew had an element of Riberesi soldiers early on and over time Sarullo was the last remnant.

I wonder if D'Arco meant only the Lucchese NJ crew when he said the Lucchese family split off from the Jersey family. The entire controversy could have been a misquote/misinterpretation on the co-authors' part, or D'Arco could have worded it poorly and the co-authors didn't press him enough to clarify or correct it. If he meant that the Lucchese NJ crew was descended from a Jersey family, that wouldn't have raised too many eyebrows and appears to be true.

The Birmingham Riberesi were Amaris and Caterinicchias (which is a spelling used on some old records by Salvatore Caterinicchio of NJ DeCavs) and they were related to Giacobbes. Giacomo Spinelli was related to the Amari-Caterinicchia clan and lived in the same small farm community outside of Birmingham. Spinelli would later move to Elizabeth where his daughter married DeCav soldier Giuseppe Cocchiaro. I'd consider Spinelli a candidate for both the Birmingham and early DeCav families and shows that the two cities had links behind just hometown and familiar surnames.

That's true but the Gambino's and Colombos have a shared lineage in Palermo-Villabate so it wouldn't be surprising if Carini fell into that as well. But members tend to go with who they know and Joe Lonardo being boss in Cleveland might have attracted Licatese mafiosi who otherwise may not have considered Cleveland.

I'm looking up information on people from about Oak Street, Mineo had his HQ there after 1912 and there were Carini criminals arrested for various things that I can't identify as mafiosi but they certainly fit the profile, made or not they are linked to Palermitan in NY who were related to the Romanos.

I suggested Gambino as an origin because you're linking early Colombo ties that are interesting, although to be fair, I don't think the Colombos at any point amounted to more than 1/3 of the Gambino's size, which leads me to doubt that if they came from a NY affiliation that it would be Colombo. There's been a long connection between Elizabeth and what appears to be the D'Aquila crew up until recent by way of Jackie D'Amico who despite being a Gambino skipper was floated on every site in the early 2000's to have become the new DeCavalcante Boss because "Gotti pushed for it." As untrue as it is it shows a link much like Trainas and Philly.

But I should note that the Mafia was less capitalistic back then, they didn't rely on other members for their income. Paulie Walnuts scolding Chris for coming up short and being taxed never would have happened back in those days. So members leaving wasn't seen as a loss of income, meaning your Colombo theory could very well be true, I wasn't spitting water on it.

However, am I mistaken when it seems like it got busy in the late 1920's? That's when our suspects began to arrive. And similar to Lonardo in Cleveland, a paesan representative attracts similar members. This goes back to the mafia being less capitalisic on their membership and instead functioning as political representatives. The position came with prestige and it attracted people from the same background to want to be around you. With the Riberesi, given the fall of the Chicago Mafia to Al Capone, Elizabeth would probably be very enticing. Any members from Birmingham looking to still be in the game would probably see the opportunities in coming to Elizabeth. And with D'Aquila's murder and Mineo going from bossing one to two groups possibly, the Riberesi might have been granted to 'look after their own interests.'

The last permanent split in the NY Family occured in 1923. However with Jersey it seems there were significant changes undergoing in the late 1920's and early 30's. And take this for what it's worth but for some reason Bill Bonanno referred to D'Aquila as a Masseria ally who was a Jersey boss in The Last Testament. The info is muddled but we already know D'Aquila had a Agrigento faction 'Sciaccatani' which would have included Ribera.

D'Aquila's murder might have brought on significant changes further than we've been able to pin down. D'Aquila and Mineo started as bosses of separate entities, we don't hear about Mineo for another 18 years when he's killed. Colombo informants from the 30's recall Mineo giving orders in the late 20's. The Gambinos/Colombos and all their subfactions- Sciaccatani, Brooklyn mainlanders included, are a tangled mess. So it makes sense the Riberesi would be as well.
https://mafiacharts.wordpress.com/2017/ ... 1920-2016/

[Pogo The Clown]

There's been a long connection between Elizabeth and what appears to be the D'Aquila crew up until recent by way of Jackie D'Amico who despite being a Gambino skipper was floated on every site in the early 2000's to have become the new DeCavalcante Boss because "Gotti pushed for it."

Pretty sure those sites were just confusing John D'Amico with DeCavalcante Acting Boss John D'Amato. Both with very similar names and both friends of Gotti.


Pogo

[eboli]

Yeah, I too think they mixed the names up. Not to mention D'Amato was involved in a conspiracy with the Gambinos to kill Decavalcante members if he wasn't offered the top spot. Gotti was really pushing for it and around the time Jersey did a few murders for the Gambinos. In a way the whole swinger/gay story was a very good excuse for them to get rid of him without angering his New York pals too much.

[Angelo Santino]

There's been a long connection between Elizabeth and what appears to be the D'Aquila crew up until recent by way of Jackie D'Amico who despite being a Gambino skipper was floated on every site in the early 2000's to have become the new DeCavalcante Boss because "Gotti pushed for it."

Pretty sure those sites were just confusing John D'Amico with DeCavalcante Acting Boss John D'Amato. Both with very similar names and both friends of Gotti.


Pogo

I think that as well as the Gotti reordering the DeCavs to undergo new ceremonies. But haven't the DeCav's typically been allied with the Gambinos like Philly has been? Granted it's not the only family they're connected to but aren't those links the most significant? I wasn't raising the possibility that Jackie Nose went from Gambino capo to New Jersey Boss, just using that misconception as a possible guilt by association.

Typically, all roads lead back to the Gambinos as NY's first family. As NY's single group it would have accepted members arriving from every city just like other cities do. It's very possible that the early Corleonesi began as Gambinos before forming their own groups between 1892 and 1902. Giuseppe Morello's affiliation might have went from Corleone, Gambino, Texas, Gambino and then boss of his own group which would have been agreed upon.

[Antiliar]

Could it be the Birmingham connection as to them claiming they are the oldest Family? Was there a Riberesi connection to New Orleans?

Birmingham wasn't the oldest Family based on inferences of activity based on what I found. Might have been active for 25 years or so in total. Haven't found any Riberesi connection to New Orleans. The early NO members were from Contessa Entellina, Palermo, and Corleone, primarily. Just don't see any evidence for any part of the Elizabeth Family being anywhere near the first Family in the U.S. In the Mary Ferrell collection there's a document of a meeting hosted by Joe Colombo mentioning that New Orleans was the first one, and this is supported by evidence.

[Pogo The Clown]

Yeah, I too think they mixed the names up. Not to mention D'Amato was involved in a conspiracy with the Gambinos to kill Decavalcante members if he wasn't offered the top spot. Gotti was really pushing for it and around the time Jersey did a few murders for the Gambinos. In a way the whole swinger/gay story was a very good excuse for them to get rid of him without angering his New York pals too much.

I think that as well as the Gotti reordering the DeCavs to undergo new ceremonies.

I remember now. It started with George Freselone's book. In it he mistakenly said John D'Amico when he was talking about John D'Amato. Probably because like was said their names were very similar and they were both friends of Gotti. One of the early mob sites got it from that and didn't catch the mistake and it spread from there.


Pogo

[B.]

One of the issues with the DeCavalcante family is we can't identify when the family had its peak, if it had one. Did they ever max out their cap of 75 members? It doesn't seem to have happened anytime from the 1950s through 1990s, the periods we have the most info on. We have a count of between 30 and 40 members, most said to be old and inactive, in the early 1960s, then we have a count of ~50 members in 1999. There is no indication they had 75 members at any time during the 30+ year interim, so if they ever met their cap number it must have been earlier in their history.

I wonder if the importance of Ribera has been overblown in the formation of the family. There is no denying the presence and influence and we have informants, witnesses, and most sources in general pointing out the endless connections to Ribera. In the years where we have confirmed information on the hierarchy, though, Riberesi heritage was not a major factor in selecting family leaders. Nick Delmore was from Enna province and his NJ underbosses were of Corleone and Monreale heritage, with a second underboss in CT from the mainland. This continued under Sam DeCavalcante for a good chunk of time, with none of the confirmed admin members being Riberese. That said, many of the captains and members were from Ribera and men connected to that town continued to be a major source of recruitment. By the 1970s you see Vitabile from Ribera take over as consigliere and by the time John Riggi is official boss his whole administration is Riberesi and so are most of the NJ captains. A number of acting family leaders after Riggi went to jail and possibly the administration now have had Ribera heritage.

Even though there is a constant theme of Ribera in the make-up of the family and this has survived into modern times, the fact that they had two successive bosses and a number of administration members from other villages is an argument in favor of Badami/Monaco being with the DeCavalcantes. It means early bosses and other family leaders could have been from other villages, too, and a situation developed along the lines of what you've uncovered about the Bonannos. I never would have questioned the idea that the Bonannos were anything except a purely Castellammarese family in origin. Joe Bonanno says it himself along with other sources and the Bonanno family we are familiar with was dominated by Castellammaresi for most of its history, so all of the pieces are there. But now it looks like their roots came from elsewhere, which means the Castellammarese started as one faction that gained influence and was able to dominate the family. Maybe the DeCavalcante family did something similar and the Riberesi swarmed a family that another group had started. You said something to me a while back about how there were probably more Castellammarese mafia members in the Bonanno family than in the entire mafia of CDG and that's probably true of the historic DeCavalcante family and the mafia in Ribera as well.

[Angelo Santino]

One of the issues with the DeCavalcante family is we can't identify when the family had its peak, if it had one. Did they ever max out their cap of 75 members? It doesn't seem to have happened anytime from the 1950s through 1990s, the periods we have the most info on. We have a count of between 30 and 40 members, most said to be old and inactive, in the early 1960s, then we have a count of ~50 members in 1999. There is no indication they had 75 members at any time during the 30+ year interim, so if they ever met their cap number it must have been earlier in their history.

I wonder if the importance of Ribera has been overblown in the formation of the family. There is no denying the presence and influence and we have informants, witnesses, and most sources in general pointing out the endless connections to Ribera. In the years where we have confirmed information on the hierarchy, though, Riberesi heritage was not a major factor in selecting family leaders. Nick Delmore was from Enna province and his NJ underbosses were of Corleone and Monreale heritage, with a second underboss in CT from the mainland. This continued under Sam DeCavalcante for a good chunk of time, with none of the confirmed admin members being Riberese. That said, many of the captains and members were from Ribera and men connected to that town continued to be a major source of recruitment. By the 1970s you see Vitabile from Ribera take over as consigliere and by the time John Riggi is official boss his whole administration is Riberesi and so are most of the NJ captains. A number of acting family leaders after Riggi went to jail and possibly the administration now have had Ribera heritage.

Even though there is a constant theme of Ribera in the make-up of the family and this has survived into modern times, the fact that they had two successive bosses and a number of administration members from other villages is an argument in favor of Badami/Monaco being with the DeCavalcantes. It means early bosses and other family leaders could have been from other villages, too, and a situation developed along the lines of what you've uncovered about the Bonannos. I never would have questioned the idea that the Bonannos were anything except a purely Castellammarese family in origin. Joe Bonanno says it himself along with other sources and the Bonanno family we are familiar with was dominated by Castellammaresi for most of its history, so all of the pieces are there. But now it looks like their roots came from elsewhere, which means the Castellammarese started as one faction that gained influence and was able to dominate the family. Maybe the DeCavalcante family did something similar and the Riberesi swarmed a family that another group had started. You said something to me a while back about how there were probably more Castellammarese mafia members in the Bonanno family than in the entire mafia of CDG and that's probably true of the historic DeCavalcante family and the mafia in Ribera as well.

Is Riberesi heritage important in the formation? Yes and No. Yes in that compaesanismo played a significant role in the group's formation but no in that they don't restrict membership to being Riberesi. Genovese, Gambino, Bonanno, Detroit, Cleveland as we see clusters of people from the same towns. But within these very same groups are members from outside the cluster who held leadership posts. Giovanni Pecoraro of Piana dei Greci was a high ranking Morello member (under or consig?) from the 1900's until he was murdered in the 20's; Giovanni Zarcone, Giuseppe Traina came from Bagheria and Belmonte Mezzagno, Cola Schiro, Benny Gallo, Angelo Caruso were from Roccamena, Santa Ninfa and I believe Palermo. There's never been a rule that dictated where someone had to be from. It's how the Gambinos can be the most Palermitan family with direct ties to Sicily all the while at various times having bosses of Calabrian and Neapolitan descent; or the Americanized Genoveses with almost no remaining ties with Sicily having Barney Bellomo who was born there.

As it would relate to the formation of Elizabeth, I would suggest something very similar in what I described which is why we have a Sam DeCavalcante and a Vinny Ocean in a sea of Riberese/Corleonese.

But again, I'm drawn back to the larger Sciaccatani faction and why, just why they didn't become their own Family or why the other other groups didn't push for it. Instead we have a minor (in numbers) Ribera element that was able to form and coexist alongside the superfamilies of NYC. Leads me to speculate if Bacino/Amari had political the political clout to request their own group and have it granted.

"Your guy, the fat Napolitan fuck, got Chicago, our guys Ribera are feeling homeless and they gotta be taken care of. "
Joe Masseria: "So why not have them come to New York?"
"Your guy Al's (Mineo) got both groups and pretty much all of Brooklyn and those guys fall under them and I don't know, with all the upheaval..."
*Joe Masseria, interested for the first time, lowers his fork with the baseball sized meatball back into the large bowl of pasta and says: "Yeah, so?" It was more a statement than a question.
"So maybe, in the interest of harmony, let the Ribera guys do their own thing. They go way back in our society in America, Phila Bacino's arriving and Phil thinks maybe it's a good idea."
Joe Masseria: "Phil thinks?" Masseria then looked up Clutch Hand Morello who yawned and nodded and then to Manfredi Mineo alongside of him who placed his hand under his chin and flung it forward.
"When Phil arrives have him meet with Sam (Pollaccia) and Sal (DiBella), they'll iron out the details."
"The Riberese give their praise, Masseria."
Masseria snapped his fingers and on command Catania leaned over while Joe whispered in his ear and then obediently went over to the waitress and requested white bean ragu for Joe The Boss.