General Mob Questions

[MichaelGiovanni]

Chin pretty much covered it but here is what I have from my succession list for this time period.


Cologero “Charlie the Sidge” LoCicero (1931-19??) Stepped Down.
Giuseppe/Joseph “Peppino” Buffa (19??-1959) Died.
-Vacant (1959-1964)
-Cologero “Charlie the Sidge” LoCicero (1959-1962) Demoted.
-Salvatore “Sam” Badalamenti (1962) (LoCicero in Italy) Stepped Down.
-Salvatore “Sally the Sheik” Mussachio (1962-1963) Demoted.
Benedetto D’Alessandro (1964-1969) Stepped Down.


Pogo

Thanks Pogo. Was Buffa’s first name Giuseppe/Joseph? I’ve always seen it as Antonio.

[Pogo The Clown]

No idea. Chin said JD has it as Joseph so that is probably it.


Pogo

[bert]

Was Capone ever connected to any Camorra members? I'm rereading the Valachi Papers, and it says that while in Sing Sing in the early 20s, Valachi was "schooled" by Camorra boss Alessandro Vollero about the Neapolitans vs Sicilians. He says at one point "I will send you to a Neapolitan. His name is Capone.He's from Brooklyn, but he's in Chicago now."(Pg 50). Was Capone ever tied to the Camorra? I know that he was made into Masseria's family as a capo, so it would be interesting if he started out in the Camorra, and then transferred to the Mafia.

A lot of what Valachi said has to be taken with a grain of salt, he made claims of knowing everyone and everything. Even bosses don't know as much as he claims to have known or been part of

[ChicagoOutfit]

What is the etymology of the phrase "Cosa Nostra?"

As in, who started using it? The Americans? ...and then the Sicilians started to use the phrase after? Or was the phrase brought over to the states by the Sicilians? If it was the Sicilians that started using the phrase and brought it over to the US, which clan/family was the first to use it? If the phrase was started in US, when did the Sicilians start to use it in Sicily?

TIA

[thekiduknow]

What is the etymology of the phrase "Cosa Nostra?"

As in, who started using it? The Americans? ...and then the Sicilians started to use the phrase after? Or was the phrase brought over to the states by the Sicilians? If it was the Sicilians that started using the phrase and brought it over to the US, which clan/family was the first to use it? If the phrase was started in US, when did the Sicilians start to use it in Sicily?

TIA

I don’t have the answer to your specific question, but if you haven’t already you should read this article about how the term “Cosa Nostra” was heard and used by the FBI in the wake of Apalachin.

http://mafiahistory.us/rattrap/mafialacosanostra.html

[Super]

Hey guys any one help me with who was in punchy and blasts crew once they was co capos for the west side

[SonnyBlackstein]

Psych question:

If a thread is continually researched, can it it ever truly die?

[bert]

Psych question:

If a thread is continually researched, can it it ever truly die?

No, it's like Freddy Kruger, Jason, and the guy from Halloween.

[Amershire_Ed]

This is probably the most basic of basic questions, but what typically defines a “crew”? For some reason I was under the impression that a crew typically was a group of made guys and associates under the supervision of a captain. But that doesnt work with the DeMeo Crew for example. Nino Gaggi was a captain, and Roy DeMeo was just an associate for much of his time on the street. But Gaggi is often lumped in as part of the DeMeo Crew even though he had a higher rank than anyone in the DeMeo Crew. What am I misunderstanding here?

[bert]

This is probably the most basic of basic questions, but what typically defines a “crew”? For some reason I was under the impression that a crew typically was a group of made guys and associates under the supervision of a captain. But that doesnt work with the DeMeo Crew for example. Nino Gaggi was a captain, and Roy DeMeo was just an associate for much of his time on the street. But Gaggi is often lumped in as part of the DeMeo Crew even though he had a higher rank than anyone in the DeMeo Crew. What am I misunderstanding here?

It's people using the term crew loosely. People refer to old friends as their old crew for example. A Mafia crew is a captain and soldiers, that's it. Associates are with a crew, but not really part of it. There have been a few associates who were as close to being part of a crew as can be, Joe Watts is an example. If DeMeo was not a captain, and the people with him were not made at the time, they were not a crew in the Mafia sense of the word.

[Amershire_Ed]

This is probably the most basic of basic questions, but what typically defines a “crew”? For some reason I was under the impression that a crew typically was a group of made guys and associates under the supervision of a captain. But that doesnt work with the DeMeo Crew for example. Nino Gaggi was a captain, and Roy DeMeo was just an associate for much of his time on the street. But Gaggi is often lumped in as part of the DeMeo Crew even though he had a higher rank than anyone in the DeMeo Crew. What am I misunderstanding here?

It's people using the term crew loosely. People refer to old friends as their old crew for example. A Mafia crew is a captain and soldiers, that's it. Associates are with a crew, but not really part of it. There have been a few associates who were as close to being part of a crew as can be, Joe Watts is an example. If DeMeo was not a captain, and the people with him were not made at the time, they were not a crew in the Mafia sense of the word.

So in the mafia sense, the DeMeo Crew was actually the Gaggi Crew? It just seems like a lotta mob guys refer to it as the DeMeo Crew. I’ve never heard anyone call them the Gaggi Crew. That’s why I was a little confused.

[bert]

This is probably the most basic of basic questions, but what typically defines a “crew”? For some reason I was under the impression that a crew typically was a group of made guys and associates under the supervision of a captain. But that doesnt work with the DeMeo Crew for example. Nino Gaggi was a captain, and Roy DeMeo was just an associate for much of his time on the street. But Gaggi is often lumped in as part of the DeMeo Crew even though he had a higher rank than anyone in the DeMeo Crew. What am I misunderstanding here?

It's people using the term crew loosely. People refer to old friends as their old crew for example. A Mafia crew is a captain and soldiers, that's it. Associates are with a crew, but not really part of it. There have been a few associates who were as close to being part of a crew as can be, Joe Watts is an example. If DeMeo was not a captain, and the people with him were not made at the time, they were not a crew in the Mafia sense of the word.

So in the mafia sense, the DeMeo Crew was actually the Gaggi Crew? It just seems like a lotta mob guys refer to it as the DeMeo Crew. I’ve never heard anyone call them the Gaggi Crew. That’s why I was a little confused.

If we go by a mafia definition, Gaggi had a crew, with soldiers. DEMeo being in it made him part of the crew, but the guys who were associates were not
technically in the crew. It would be Gaggi and his soldiers for the crew, and that would be it.
Anyone who was on record with DeMeo or any other soldiers were associates of the crew.

[bert]

Now I'm curious, who were the other soldiers besides DeMeo who were part of Gaggi's crew?

[Amershire_Ed]

This is probably the most basic of basic questions, but what typically defines a “crew”? For some reason I was under the impression that a crew typically was a group of made guys and associates under the supervision of a captain. But that doesnt work with the DeMeo Crew for example. Nino Gaggi was a captain, and Roy DeMeo was just an associate for much of his time on the street. But Gaggi is often lumped in as part of the DeMeo Crew even though he had a higher rank than anyone in the DeMeo Crew. What am I misunderstanding here?

It's people using the term crew loosely. People refer to old friends as their old crew for example. A Mafia crew is a captain and soldiers, that's it. Associates are with a crew, but not really part of it. There have been a few associates who were as close to being part of a crew as can be, Joe Watts is an example. If DeMeo was not a captain, and the people with him were not made at the time, they were not a crew in the Mafia sense of the word.

So in the mafia sense, the DeMeo Crew was actually the Gaggi Crew? It just seems like a lotta mob guys refer to it as the DeMeo Crew. I’ve never heard anyone call them the Gaggi Crew. That’s why I was a little confused.

If we go by a mafia definition, Gaggi had a crew, with soldiers. DEMeo being in it made him part of the crew, but the guys who were associates were not
technically in the crew. It would be Gaggi and his soldiers for the crew, and that would be it.
Anyone who was on record with DeMeo or any other soldiers were associates of the crew.

Gotcha.

[gohnjotti]

Soldiers can have associates that are “on record” with them, forming a de facto crew of associates that answer to the soldier. Multiple cooperating witnesses have testified to this, the most recent example I have looked at being Joe Campanella.