Ciro Terranova questions

[Dwalin2014]

By the way, another question about Ciro: he was alleged to have whacked Frankie Yale and Frankie Marlow (Gandolfo Curto). For Yale, it was a false lead, he was whacked by Capone. But Marlow, was he whacked by Terranova or somebody else? I read a robber named Daniel Grosso, executed for a robbery murder in 1931 and somebody named Nicholas McDermott, were alleged to be the triggermen on the Marlow hit, but were carrying out the contract for Masseria, not Terranova. Who was responsible after all in your opinion?

[Antiliar]

I think it's likely that Masseria ordered Marlow's death for reasons unknown to us. Masseria could have used someone from Marlow's own crew, Terranova's crew, a combination of the two, or neither. We just don't know.

[Dwalin2014]

But Ciro Terranova was always a capo under somebody, he never went beyong the limits of being in charge of one crew? I mean, he wasn't boss not even during the mafia-camorra war in 1916?

[antimafia]

Can anyone explain his artichoke racket to me? I've read First Family but I can't say I understand this part. Any idea how long it went on? From what I remember from the book it seemed once he got the racket going he was pushed out.

https://books.google.com/books?id=OSqBs ... et&f=false

‪”In 1930s New York, the Mayor Took on the Mafia by Banning Artichokes”

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/s ... histories‬

[Antiliar]

But Ciro Terranova was always a capo under somebody, he never went beyong the limits of being in charge of one crew? I mean, he wasn't boss not even during the mafia-camorra war in 1916?

Totally forgot about this thread. No, Ciro Terranova never rose about a captain.

[B.]

Would be great to have more concrete info on "Frankie Marlow" Curto. He was from Palermo province and lived on the Lower East Side, citing employment from a Joseph Badalamenti (a common enough name, but I wondered if it connected to the Profaci figure Joseph Badalementi -- there's a Profaci connection to the "Yale crowd", particularly through Giuseppe Peraino, who was connected to the Carini element that would come to include the Profaci Badalamentis).

Investigators believed that Girolamo "Bobby Doyle" Santuccio was associated with Curto prior to Curto's death in 1929. Though he would end up in the Bronx and Connecticut, Santuccio started out on the Lower East side. If he was involved with Curto, this stands out because Santuccio would not become affiliated with the Genovese family until 1931. Another potential angle I haven't been able to confirm is that Curto may have had maternal relatives in Connecticut.

Curto doesn't get mentioned much if at all by reliable mafia sources (that I know of) and we have to rely on LE and media reports of the era, which focus more on the "gang leader", "Yale lieutenant", and his public persona, all of which are hard to trust. He does appear to have been neck deep with Masseria figures.

[Brovelli]

The Artichoke King's residence in 1930 as it appears today

Looks like this house is about to go up for sale. 989 peace street, Pelham. Looks a bit beaten up