General Mob Questions

[bert]

Was Goodfellas a real term used by LCN or was it created by the movie? I know there was that wiretap of Sal Profaci using the term but that was after Goodfellas was a huge hit. I don't remember If any used the term before that.


Pogo

It was a street term used by, for lack of a better word "Underworld" types as far back as the early 1900's, and adopted by the Mafia as a way to describe someone with them or in a family. In a book written around 1910, a fairly small time thief who was Chinese _American and a pickpocket used the term goodfella in his bio.

Wasn't the term actually Wiseguy which is also the book title for Goodfellas??

Yes, I think most would say wiseguy, but I think the most common and maybe the only real one to use was "Our friend" or "friend of ours" to describe a made guy. Goodfella became sort of slang over the years it seems, but it was used to describe made guy, or guy involved in things not necessarily with them. Maybe different crew and different cities used their own terms?

[JeremyTheJew]

Was Goodfellas a real term used by LCN or was it created by the movie? I know there was that wiretap of Sal Profaci using the term but that was after Goodfellas was a huge hit. I don't remember If any used the term before that.

All ways felt Donnie brasco movie did a good job with the street talk refferenced. Like lefty all ways said Wiseguy as well as the friend of mine friend of ours discroption.

Pogo

It was a street term used by, for lack of a better word "Underworld" types as far back as the early 1900's, and adopted by the Mafia as a way to describe someone with them or in a family. In a book written around 1910, a fairly small time thief who was Chinese _American and a pickpocket used the term goodfella in his bio.

Wasn't the term actually Wiseguy which is also the book title for Goodfellas??

Yes, I think most would say wiseguy, but I think the most common and maybe the only real one to use was "Our friend" or "friend of ours" to describe a made guy. Goodfella became sort of slang over the years it seems, but it was used to describe made guy, or guy involved in things not necessarily with them. Maybe different crew and different cities used their own terms?

[Hired_Goonz]

Re: the use of the term "goodfella", I seem to remember that Gotti was caught on a Bergin tape using it as well. He was boasting to someone about how many guys came up to him at a wedding and he said something like "every skipper, every goodfella, every non-goodfella came up to me. My brother Pete says he clocked a hundred guys who came up to me, I says to him I think you undersold me".

[Lefty_Ruggiero]

Joey Massino said during his testimony that goodfella is used to describe a member along with button man and wiseguy. So they do use the word. Who knows if it was made more popular after the movie came out.

[Rigger]

Hello folks, nice site ya got here.

During Vietnam, the ARMY base at Fort Leonard Wood grew very quickly in the middle-of-nowhere Missouri.
My understanding is during those years, the Kansas City "mob" (I don't know who that would have been then) fought out a bloody turf war for prostitution rights for the base with the Chicago "mob". (again, I dont know which family-outfit that would be)

There were apparently several murders, disappearances and kidnappings involved.
There are clearly some great researchers and knowledgeable posters here and if any of you have any information or suggestions, input, anything to offer on this topic, I would greatly appreciate it.

[UTC]

I didn't know which thread to put this in but it's a question about the Chicago mob. Maybe I'm giving away too much information but I live near Chicago Heights. Years ago there used to be a ton of outstanding Italian restaurants. Now, it's mostly Mexican. However, there's one restaurant called Carlo's (as in Lorenzetti's) and there's also a pizza place/restaurant nearby owned by the same as well as another Lorenzetti's in another suburb, I think.

Carlo's has been around forever. However, it's DEAD in there. Except for the bar which offers a lunch buffet, there's never anyone in the main restaurant even on a Saturday night. I went in there one Saturday at dinner time, I thought it was closed. It was nearly empty. The food was great as usual, but I'm wondering how it stays open. Is it connected? Anybody know? Just curious.

The place that you described could be to generate loses for the purpose of income tax write offs. Especially if who or whatever entity owns it has other assets or properties and offsets this one against the others for tax purposes. Some entities exist for the sole purpose of generating a loss for taxes or for a tax offset. Just think if you go there enough times and they always practically empty every time you go, then you could become their best customer real quick.

That makes a lot of sense. Thank you!

This type of tax avoidance strategy has been almost entirely eliminated by the IRS.

[richy67]

This ones more for the new york team.

Just wondering what the mobs like on the ground these days, where im from its a case of dont fuck wi him hes with so and so etc

They still have that power on a street level of aye thats him or hes with such and such and still feared and hold sway on people?

Cheers

[bert]

We left out the term they use themselves for a guy who is made. "Straightened out" was always the common term they used themselves.

[ChicagoOutfit]

Who made Chin? Was he made by Costello? Rank of soldier under Vito at the time?

[Pogo The Clown]

Who made Chin? Was he made by Costello? Rank of soldier under Vito at the time?

He would have been made while Costello was the Boss. Don't if he himself performed the ceremony though.


Pogo

[ChicagoOutfit]

Who made Chin? Was he made by Costello? Rank of soldier under Vito at the time?

He would have been made while Costello was the Boss. Don't if he himself performed the ceremony though.


Pogo

Thanks...I was thinking Chin was for sure made while Costello was boss, I was just curious who presided over the ceremony/who performed it. Was it Vito? My knowledge of this time period is more hazy, I was wondering if Costello was already semi-retired, mostly legit by this point and didn't want to concern himself with making ceremonies and if maybe Vito was initiating the guys?

Reason I asked is b/c I had to assume that Vito made Chin...for Chin to be that loyal to Vito in making a move on a boss

Thanks again and thanks to anyone else that can add some insight.

[Targenmantarian]

3. What are the differences in the duties/functions/operations between an underboss and consigliere?

4. Would a captain keep running their crew day-to-day if they were promoted to underboss/consigliere?

Historically, the underboss and consigliere positions arguably carried equal weight, with different responsibilities, in the family, but now the consigliere role has more transitioned to a de facto number three position. While an underboss was appointed by the boss to act as a general buffer, street boss and second-in-command lined up to take over, at least in the immediate sense, should something happen to the boss, the consigliere was elected, like the boss, as a neutral arbitrator to settle family disputes and advise the boss. In Philadelphia when the consigliere Frank Monte was given the responsibility to handle the contract on Harry Riccobene, Riccobene had Monte killed in retaliation because he viewed Monte's involvement in organising murders as a violation of his role as consigliere.

Though not the case all the time, both positions have been known to have crews of soldiers reporting directly to them. Philadelphia is more my area of expertise, I remember reading that in the New York families at times the consigliere was allowed to have one soldier reporting direct to them. In Philadelphia the boss and underboss historically had soldiers reporting direct to them and when Antonio Caponigro became consigliere the soldiers in the family from Newark were officially assigned to him. When Philip Leonetti was promoted from capo to underboss his crew continued to report directly to him, so capos retaining their crews has happened but generally rarer than simply promoting a new capo to run the crew or having its members split up among other crews.

Who pays the Consigliere?

Clearly it's a lucrative position if it's number three. But with no soldiers under them it would seem that they'd need to get broken off some other way.

[Wiseguy]

Who pays the Consigliere?

Clearly it's a lucrative position if it's number three. But with no soldiers under them it would seem that they'd need to get broken off some other way.

I believe the entire administration gets a cut from the captains below them. Not just the boss.

[Pogo The Clown]

In addition to that some Consigliere's usually have their separate operations going as well.


Pogo

[Targenmantarian]

In addition to that some Consigliere's usually have their separate operations going as well.


Pogo

I guess they'd probably get to keep a good amount of their rackets and kick something up to the boss alone.

Or do they kick up to the underboss? Hard to say I guess.

Some Consiglieres are huge earners like Tony Pal or Christy Tick and some are sidelined old guys like Turchi.