axx wrote: ↑Tue Feb 04, 2020 12:24 am
maxiestern11 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 03, 2020 3:49 pm
axx wrote: ↑Mon Feb 03, 2020 10:49 am
Thanks, interesting read as always.
Bonanno built his family around his own compatriots, no doubt to ensure a sense of loyalty, but I guess one of difficulties when dealing with the renegade faction was that DiGregorio was himself - Castellmmaresi
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I agree. And to be truthful, I think Bonanno became a little too full of himself toward the end. And did not show proper respect to his capi and soldati. Allowing his idiot son to leapfrog over loyal (and capable) men who’d put in decades on the front lines. Imagine the nerve, and sheer stupidity, to try and elevate some asshole college kid who wasn’t even raised “on the streets” above seasoned and veteran mafiosi? .... to be consigliere no less! It’s comical!
And that was not all. He was a very, very, very cheap guy. Capo di decina who’d been with him for decades were scraping a living (not all, but many). And the rank and file? Worse! .... so we saw the result right?
The family must have been crumbling before the split, the other faction just waited for the right time. I mean you don't just lose half the family over night. Unlike some other bosses who despite their nepotism kept things in check Joe dropped his guard.
In truth, most “bosses” are stingy, even today. Especially those old greaseball zips. That’s why when you get a Tommy Lucchese or Frank Costello, they were so loved by their rank and file. Because they were well known to be very generous with the men... often times not even taking a cut or a small one at best. They were loved and respected!
The Bonanno’s were a very cohesive bunch. Believe it or not, more so than many others crews. And the soldiers, because of their dedication, just trudged along one foot in front of the other for decades....
It was Stefano Magaddino, who wanted to usurp Bonanno out of jealousy and a sense of having been disrespected himself that made him whisper in his brother-in-laws ear to not sit still for Bonanno’s tactics and insults. This, and using his influence on the Commission as it’s senior member, whispering to the likes of Gambino and Lucchese that also shifted the winds on Bonanno. After all, they were not in love with Bonanno either, and would of loved to shift the power on the Commission and weaken him.
Once they saw that Bonanno’s own cousin didn’t support him, they schemed to break up the strength of the “Castellammarese factions” which had been the most powerful force in their world for upwards of fifty years.... and they did!
Slowly working Gaspare DiGregorio and a few others (Gaspare was a very good man, but a bit weak upstairs) to revolt. And the results were what we saw with the 1960’s war. They NEVER recovered from that. It was very, very stupid on the part of the Castellammarese. But truthfully, Bonanno was at fault also. Very much!
Gaspare DID deserve the consigliere spot. And several others who had been held down in position and wealth DID deserve to “earn” better. As did many soldiers who had only eked out a living for years, living very modestly. These men had, did, and would risk their lives for Joe Bonanno and their Family. While Bonanno lived in splendor! ...He was a pompous, selfish man. After being at the helm for so long. He thought he was a “Re” or a king.
A perfect example were his own sons. Bill and Joe. You are a fucking multi-multi-multimillionaire. And you allow your loving sons, your own blood, to struggle along to the point that they get arrested for minor, innocuous, embarrassing crimes that tie them up in the courts and send them each to prison for years in Arizona and California, while you sit on your pompous ass watching their destruction without lifting a finger? He was a jerkoff! A masterful powerful jerkoff, but a jerkoff none the less! counting his money and lording it over his children.
And I personally know, were and am dear, dear friends with many of his soldati and men through the years. Men who if I mentioned their names you would know well and imagine them to be millionaires or at least well to do, having been in “the life” for so long...... most of them were broke, or at best earning a living.
.... THAT is the real reason why these Bonanno conflicts happened. And the true reasons why he fell from power.
And Magaddino was no prized package either.... he was another cheap, jealous fuck. (He was instrumental in killing beloved relatives of mine)..... so there you have it. In a nutshell!
