As we've spoken about before, in the 1910's there seemed enough activity there for there to be a Family. There and San Jose. The Marottas are new to me, both this one and the 1999 one. Never head of the man before.B. wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 1:29 pm On Lennert's list of early Rochester figures, I looked up one early mafia / black hand figure and he had listed a cousin as a Gaetano Marotta. Doesn't seem coincidental given how tight-knit the Rochester group's roots are turning out to be. If there's a relation, then even Tommy Marotta's background could go back to the early Sicilian mafia "black hand" colony in Rochester. The heritage of the Rochester group is closely linked to the heritage of Buffalo/NF, which is interesting, too, as Utica doesn't share that heritage despite being another tight-knit Sicilian group that would join the larger Buffalo family.
All new info to me and all very good points. I wonder if this was during prohibition when this arrangement took place.B. wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 1:29 pm An important detail that went along with Magaddino's comments about building his family to 125 is that he said the family had 22 members when he took over. This makes it possible that not only was Utica its own family originally, but so was Rochester, though the heritage of Rochester is much more deeply entwined with Buffalo/NF so who knows. There was clearly active and "viable" Sicilian mafia-style activity in Rochester and Utica long before Magaddino became boss and it seems unlikely that the early Buffalo family would have 22 members spread between Buffalo/NF, Ontario, Rochester, Utica, Erie, etc. The more likely explanation is that these were separate families that were brought under one banner, which would explain the jump from 22 to 125.
Almost every family has a hometown foundation. It's something we could probably chart using a US/NYC map and a Sicily map.B. wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 1:29 pm My biggest takeaway from this entire topic is that the Buffalo family was or is much more like the DeCavalcantes than realized. A lot of the core membership going back to the beginning come from the same villages in Caltanissetta and nearby villages in Agrigento, and much of their influence was centered around one particular union. I mean, this really describes most US families, being that most families were based around men from certain villages who found a certain industry or activity that they could center themselves around. But Buffalo is unique in that it was the largest and arguably most important non-NYC Cosa Nostra family at its peak.
Elegantly put.B. wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 1:29 pm If you look through mafia history past to present, it is basically a catalog of "coincidences". I don't believe these are coincidences, but the result of a very tight-knit network and structure that inevitably creates patterns we can follow. The members themselves might not even be aware of these patterns, but because they are using the same networks and structure they will become part of the pattern. With this in mind, it's pretty interesting that we have Domenico Violi's father Paolo, Canadian acting captain for a US family, meeting with the Sicilian mafioso Cuffaro from Montallegro in Canada, who is responsible for informing Violi about Sicilian mafia activities in the province of Agrigento; then 40 years later Dom Violi becomes the Canadian underboss to a US boss of Montallegro heritage who himself visited Montallegro in the last 20 or 30 years. It might not mean there was some orchestrated plan, but the mafia is filled to the brim with these kinds of "coincidences" and they often have some kind of meaning, even if that meaning is simply that the same networks are still in some degree of use.
Agreed.B. wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 1:29 pm There is a Buffalo family with a boss, underboss, and membership of some kind, as there was a century ago. Beyond that, I take an agnostic approach to what they've been up to in the past couple of decades. I'm not going to say they've been active, dormant, they pulled a resurgence, or anything. What does seem to be true, though, is the Buffalo family is still participating in the network of Cosa Nostra, which recognizes them as a family, and this network is the true currency of the mafia spanning countries, generations, and pretty much any other variable you want to throw into the mix. As long as an organization is using these networks, however big or small they are, I consider them to be part of the ongoing Cosa Nostra phenomenon.
Chicago boss Antonio D'Andrea was an informant in 1904 and it involved Chicago and Buffalo. We don't have anything more specific than that but it points its existence before 1910. If memory serves, D'Aquila was even arrested in Buffalo at some point, I'm not sure pre or post 1910. Antiliar would know.
Clemente was arrested in Rochester in the 1910's by local police. He was to meet with John Vaccaro who fled NYC city and spent the 1910's moving around small towns between NJ and NY doing his counterfeiting business like Leonardo DiCaprio playing Frank Abagnale. Always wondered if this Vaccaro was linked to future ones.
The name Vincenzo Guarnieri, Rochester ring any bells?