MAFIA

[Stroccos]

Nice looking site fellows

[maxiestern11]

Nice looking site fellows

Thanks Stroccos

[DPG]

Please post when you have any major update or new content. I enjoy the pictures and captions.

[maxiestern11]

Please post when you have any major update or new content. I enjoy the pictures and captions.

We will... Promise! An hour ago we did highlight Joe Bonanno’s bio and Vincey Rao to the main page. You may enjoy reading those. I’ve inserted some info most are not familiar with ok?
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We plan a rotation to keep things fresh. There’s over 300+ bios there now and counting.... plus a ton of others stories and articles, graphs, etc. so we thought it important to rotate so every one doesn’t have to dig out things you know. Makes it easy for our visitors

Another one I personally enjoyed doing was Charlie the Blade Tourine. Very interesting guy

[JIGGS]

You spelled the word "unrealistically" wrong in the sixth paragraph.

Thats the way it is.

JIGGS

Correct Jiggs. I spelled it right the first time. Just checked it as far as I can tell. Unrealistically

Never seen that Spanish Raymond pic before. Nice. That's gotta be 1970s.

JIGGS

Yes,
60-70’s era..... he made a ton with the policy

Never getting charged for 'H' is what made him last so long. The boys downtown and 1st avenue uptown trusted him.

JIGGS

Yes, they respected him because he was respectful and knew his place. He’s started out under Vito as a kid I think. And Fat Tony liked him..... but he had his own large crew also. Spanish Raymond was no fool that’s for sure

The way it was explained to me was that his old man worked for an old porto rican mustache named Marshall florez during the mad dog coll days and who laid off bets with the joe stretch/rao crowd. Florez got pinched and snitched on dixie davis who then snitched on jimmy hines and went back to P.R. after all was said and done. Spanish rays old man took the rains and managed his own caper with his brothers who he named his sons after. Florez was involved in the spanish vaudeville theater circuit as his cover and the old man followed suit apart from owning a supermarket named after him. Thats how ray started. As a talent booker for the spanish theaters which there was a shit load of in them days. But it was all a staging area. He actually got mixed up in drugs first. Got arrested for manslaughter and when he came out he inherited his father's piece of the daily. Between him, his brothers, cousins and eventually nephews, he had to have one of the biggest games going. This was when the west side was all cuban. But Ray being a porto rican had it all locked down. I dont think he or his old man ever met vito genovese. But they knew or his old man knew the 111 st. boys since day one. There was also some political shit that tied them all. Marcoantonio, the Democratic social clubs, the re-elect laguardia club was all Spanish. Scottogornio was challenging don vito marcantonio for the district. When scottogornio got whacked and one of the witnesses who said it was'nt trigger mike or frank livorsi was a big shot p.r. in one of them clubs. He was an associate of florez and old man marquez.

JIGGS

[maxiestern11]

You spelled the word "unrealistically" wrong in the sixth paragraph.

Thats the way it is.

JIGGS

Correct Jiggs. I spelled it right the first time. Just checked it as far as I can tell. Unrealistically

Never seen that Spanish Raymond pic before. Nice. That's gotta be 1970s.

JIGGS

Yes,
60-70’s era..... he made a ton with the policy

Never getting charged for 'H' is what made him last so long. The boys downtown and 1st avenue uptown trusted him.

JIGGS

Yes, they respected him because he was respectful and knew his place. He’s started out under Vito as a kid I think. And Fat Tony liked him..... but he had his own large crew also. Spanish Raymond was no fool that’s for sure

The way it was explained to me was that his old man worked for an old porto rican mustache named Marshall florez during the mad dog coll days and who laid off bets with the joe stretch/rao crowd. Florez got pinched and snitched on dixie davis who then snitched on jimmy hines and went back to P.R. after all was said and done. Spanish rays old man took the rains and managed his own caper with his brothers who he named his sons after. Florez was involved in the spanish vaudeville theater circuit as his cover and the old man followed suit apart from owning a supermarket named after him. Thats how ray started. As a talent booker for the spanish theaters which there was a shit load of in them days. But it was all a staging area. He actually got mixed up in drugs first. Got arrested for manslaughter and when he came out he inherited his father's piece of the daily. Between him, his brothers, cousins and eventually nephews, he had to have one of the biggest games going. This was when the west side was all cuban. But Ray being a porto rican had it all locked down. I dont think he or his old man ever met vito genovese. But they knew or his old man knew the 111 st. boys since day one. There was also some political shit that tied them all. Marcoantonio, the Democratic social clubs, the re-elect laguardia club was all Spanish. Scottogornio was challenging don vito marcantonio for the district. When scottogornio got whacked and one of the witnesses who said it was'nt trigger mike or frank livorsi was a big shot p.r. in one of them clubs. He was an associate of florez and old man marquez.

JIGGS

That’s very interesting.. I do know that much later, by the late 50’s into the 60’s he had a huge business all on the west side pretty much. Respected the 2 block rule. He Understood the lay of the land. Some Say he kicked up. Some say no, either way Fat Tony and that crew got along with him. So there must have been some agreement. His crew moved babania and coke too.... they were somewhat diversified. But of course he was known primarily for the numbers biz.
-
I do know one thing. He made a ton! Had a beautiful crib out in Great Neck. And owned several large motels on LI. The Commack Motor Inn was his you know. One of THE most popular places around. He left a lot of wood!

[JIGGS]

You spelled the word "unrealistically" wrong in the sixth paragraph.

Thats the way it is.

JIGGS

Correct Jiggs. I spelled it right the first time. Just checked it as far as I can tell. Unrealistically

Never seen that Spanish Raymond pic before. Nice. That's gotta be 1970s.

JIGGS

Yes,
60-70’s era..... he made a ton with the policy

Never getting charged for 'H' is what made him last so long. The boys downtown and 1st avenue uptown trusted him.

JIGGS

Yes, they respected him because he was respectful and knew his place. He’s started out under Vito as a kid I think. And Fat Tony liked him..... but he had his own large crew also. Spanish Raymond was no fool that’s for sure

The way it was explained to me was that his old man worked for an old porto rican mustache named Marshall florez during the mad dog coll days and who laid off bets with the joe stretch/rao crowd. Florez got pinched and snitched on dixie davis who then snitched on jimmy hines and went back to P.R. after all was said and done. Spanish rays old man took the rains and managed his own caper with his brothers who he named his sons after. Florez was involved in the spanish vaudeville theater circuit as his cover and the old man followed suit apart from owning a supermarket named after him. Thats how ray started. As a talent booker for the spanish theaters which there was a shit load of in them days. But it was all a staging area. He actually got mixed up in drugs first. Got arrested for manslaughter and when he came out he inherited his father's piece of the daily. Between him, his brothers, cousins and eventually nephews, he had to have one of the biggest games going. This was when the west side was all cuban. But Ray being a porto rican had it all locked down. I dont think he or his old man ever met vito genovese. But they knew or his old man knew the 111 st. boys since day one. There was also some political shit that tied them all. Marcoantonio, the Democratic social clubs, the re-elect laguardia club was all Spanish. Scottogornio was challenging don vito marcantonio for the district. When scottogornio got whacked and one of the witnesses who said it was'nt trigger mike or frank livorsi was a big shot p.r. in one of them clubs. He was an associate of florez and old man marquez.

JIGGS

That’s very interesting.. I do know that much later, by the late 50’s into the 60’s he had a huge business all on the west side pretty much. Respected the 2 block rule. He Understood the lay of the land. Some Say he kicked up. Some say no, either way Fat Tony and that crew got along with him. So there must have been some agreement. His crew moved babania and coke too.... they were somewhat diversified. But of course he was known primarily for the numbers biz.
-
I do know one thing. He made a ton! Had a beautiful crib out in Great Neck. And owned several large motels on LI. The Commack Motor Inn was his you know. One of THE most popular places around. He left a lot of wood!

From what I understand he did'nt kick up at first. He was bouncing in and out of prison doing small bids for gambling pinches or other shit like weapons possession, expired license, shit like that. When he emerged from prison in '74 around there he met with the west side during the Funzi tieri era and pretty much was officially on record with them. Even though he already had a relationship with them, tony bender, tommy brown, from before. He stated himself in an interview that he was going to retire and go straight but that the policy game was so brazen and open at the time (knapp commission era) that he could'nt resist getting back in. As soon as he got in real good with them thats when hes seen meeting with judges and politicians and the poverty pimpers (father luis giganti, ray velez, roy innis) and it makes the papers. He seem to be friendly with old man toddo (brooklyn). Both him and toddo showed up to roseland ballroom one night to see tito puentes take on carlos santana in a battle a the bands and they greeted each other like they was war buddy's. If I remember correctly he went back inside in the early 80s. He came back out in 84 or so to find the cubans lighting up his controllers. When the smoke settled he was'nt kicking up to nobody. The old guard had disappeared and chin was already under seige by the feds. I doubt very much barney was gonna look for him for the same reason chin never did. The raids in '94 showed he was still active. After that he retired but his brother Fred paid him a "consulting" fee while freddy's kids ran their own caper and they all got busted. He did a year sued the city and claimed second hand smoke gave him cancer and he's been quietly living in florida ever since. Unless he passed and it didnt make the papers? If hes still breathing he gotta be up there in his 90s. Dont be surprised when he croaks that his memoirs get published.

[maxiestern11]

You spelled the word "unrealistically" wrong in the sixth paragraph.

Thats the way it is.

JIGGS

Correct Jiggs. I spelled it right the first time. Just checked it as far as I can tell. Unrealistically

Never seen that Spanish Raymond pic before. Nice. That's gotta be 1970s.

JIGGS

Yes,
60-70’s era..... he made a ton with the policy

Never getting charged for 'H' is what made him last so long. The boys downtown and 1st avenue uptown trusted him.

JIGGS

Yes, they respected him because he was respectful and knew his place. He’s started out under Vito as a kid I think. And Fat Tony liked him..... but he had his own large crew also. Spanish Raymond was no fool that’s for sure

The way it was explained to me was that his old man worked for an old porto rican mustache named Marshall florez during the mad dog coll days and who laid off bets with the joe stretch/rao crowd. Florez got pinched and snitched on dixie davis who then snitched on jimmy hines and went back to P.R. after all was said and done. Spanish rays old man took the rains and managed his own caper with his brothers who he named his sons after. Florez was involved in the spanish vaudeville theater circuit as his cover and the old man followed suit apart from owning a supermarket named after him. Thats how ray started. As a talent booker for the spanish theaters which there was a shit load of in them days. But it was all a staging area. He actually got mixed up in drugs first. Got arrested for manslaughter and when he came out he inherited his father's piece of the daily. Between him, his brothers, cousins and eventually nephews, he had to have one of the biggest games going. This was when the west side was all cuban. But Ray being a porto rican had it all locked down. I dont think he or his old man ever met vito genovese. But they knew or his old man knew the 111 st. boys since day one. There was also some political shit that tied them all. Marcoantonio, the Democratic social clubs, the re-elect laguardia club was all Spanish. Scottogornio was challenging don vito marcantonio for the district. When scottogornio got whacked and one of the witnesses who said it was'nt trigger mike or frank livorsi was a big shot p.r. in one of them clubs. He was an associate of florez and old man marquez.

JIGGS

That’s very interesting.. I do know that much later, by the late 50’s into the 60’s he had a huge business all on the west side pretty much. Respected the 2 block rule. He Understood the lay of the land. Some Say he kicked up. Some say no, either way Fat Tony and that crew got along with him. So there must have been some agreement. His crew moved babania and coke too.... they were somewhat diversified. But of course he was known primarily for the numbers biz.
-
I do know one thing. He made a ton! Had a beautiful crib out in Great Neck. And owned several large motels on LI. The Commack Motor Inn was his you know. One of THE most popular places around. He left a lot of wood!

From what I understand he did'nt kick up at first. He was bouncing in and out of prison doing small bids for gambling pinches or other shit like weapons possession, expired license, shit like that. When he emerged from prison in '74 around there he met with the west side during the Funzi tieri era and pretty much was officially on record with them. Even though he already had a relationship with them, tony bender, tommy brown, from before. He stated himself in an interview that he was going to retire and go straight but that the policy game was so brazen and open at the time (knapp commission era) that he could'nt resist getting back in. As soon as he got in real good with them thats when hes seen meeting with judges and politicians and the poverty pimpers (father luis giganti, ray velez, roy innis) and it makes the papers. He seem to be friendly with old man toddo (brooklyn). Both him and toddo showed up to roseland ballroom one night to see tito puentes take on carlos santana in a battle a the bands and they greeted each other like they was war buddy's. If I remember correctly he went back inside in the early 80s. He came back out in 84 or so to find the cubans lighting up his controllers. When the smoke settled he was'nt kicking up to nobody. The old guard had disappeared and chin was already under seige by the feds. I doubt very much barney was gonna look for him for the same reason chin never did. The raids in '94 showed he was still active. After that he retired but his brother Fred paid him a "consulting" fee while freddy's kids ran their own caper and they all got busted. He did a year sued the city and claimed second hand smoke gave him cancer and he's been quietly living in florida ever since. Unless he passed and it didnt make the papers? If hes still breathing he gotta be up there in his 90s. Dont be surprised when he croaks that his memoirs get published.

As I mentioned in his bio, I do believe he’s still alive. Almost 90! And legit now... his kids and grandkids have the $. Good for him. He set up his family name and established them for the future. He caught the numbers game at just the right time. And he was in the right place to make a ton. And he had the balls and brains to do it!
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Jiggs, you obviously know your shit about Harlem. And what you say sounds on point. I think you said you came out of there right? It’s nice to talk to somebody who is actually a NYC street guy and knows what’s what. Lol
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[maxiestern11]

We have decided to try and make Sunday’s our day to post up new content on Buttonguys! So by midday tomorrow, we should be highlighting 2 New Jersey wiseguy’s. AND if it’s completed in time, a nice expose on LCN in the food and liquor industry over the years.
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I hope all enjoy!..... please give us feedback ok?

[CabriniGreen]

Great site Maxie, Mafia.....

I love Jiggs post for the same reasons.....

[maxiestern11]

Great site Maxie, Mafia.....

I love Jiggs post for the same reasons.....

Thanks Cabrini

[maxiestern11]

.........OK, Happy Sunday guys!.......... As promised, we are focusing on NJ this Sunday. We just posted up Joseph (Bayonne Joe) Zicarelli and Gerardo Vito Catena biographies. Enjoy!

we're almost done with an extensive and very unique expose on "the boys" activities within the food and beverage industry through the years. It should be up later today. ......will keep you posted!

[Super]

read something recently about joe zic lot bigger than I originally thought tight with galante decalvacante issues with digiilio .And Gerry well his got money than god.....

[maxiestern11]

read something recently about joe zic lot bigger than I originally thought tight with galante decalvacante issues with digiilio .And Gerry well his got money than god.....

Yep. Read what I wrote.... it correlates

[mafiastudent]

In case anyone wanted direct links to the bios....here you go....and that other article Maxie talked about?? Massive and fascinating all at once! It's coming....


https://theblackhand.club/gerardo-vito-catena/

https://theblackhand.club/joseph-zicarelli/