February 2000 Colombo Ceremony

[Pogo The Clown]

Most groups were amicable with each other.

Yeah I remember that picture of Albert Anastasia lying all amicable on the barbershop floor.

In case no one got it that was Tony Soprano to Uncle Junior.


Pogo

[SonnyBlackstein]

Chris Christie: Great stuff, very interesting.
Appreciated.

Question:
Palermo, Bagheria, CDG, Corleone all feature heavily as mafia strongholds yet we here little to nothing about the eastern pop centres of Syracuse (120k pop) and Catania (300k pop, which is almost half the size of Palermo).
Are there strong CN presences in the East or is the Sicilian Mafia more a central/western phenom?
Cheers

And I got it Pogo

[B.]

Chris Christie: Great stuff, very interesting.
Appreciated.

Question:
Palermo, Bagheria, CDG, Corleone all feature heavily as mafia strongholds yet we here little to nothing about the eastern pop centres of Syracuse (120k pop) and Catania (300k pop, which is almost half the size of Palermo).
Are there strong CN presences in the East or is the Sicilian Mafia more a central/western phenom?
Cheers

And I got it Pogo

You should check out Antonino Calderone's book. Has great info on Catania and surrounding areas. Nothing compares to western Sicily, but there is a significant presence out there.

[Angelo Santino]

It existed before 1900 in Palermo, CDG, Corleone, Bagheria, Tunis, New Orleans. It was already spread out across half the island, probably for quite some time.

It was mostly a western Sicilian phenomenon. We have reports of Mafia or mafia-like organizations existing as early as 1830 and one example in the late 1700's (I can't elaborate unless Antiliar wants to and he'll do a better job). We don't know when it first began. It starts coming into focus by the 1850's a little, before then it gets very very fuzzy. The mafia structure is the same as it is today, identified in 1870, the ranks were identified in 1885, the initiation ritual and the customs, etc, all the same. Groups identified in Palermo, Agrigento and Trapani all had the same modus operandi. This was known to Italian authorities but they weren't equipped to deal with it, and some were corrupt as were the politicians. In 1850 the Bourbons were overthrown and Italy became a Republic, but it was never in good financial bearings and government failed southern Italy in many ways (I would argue Calabria the most). So it wasn't like the mafia wasn't known, it was just too much like The Wire in covern wagon times.

Palermo was the hub: most of it's members were from there, it had the most Families situated in one close area (Palermo centro isn't very large but it had 3 families officially operating there out of 22 or some in and around Palermo within an hours drive of each other. Each family had around 30 members, if a group grew too large (with urban development, some groups grew quite large and broke up in 1910. Piana Dei Colli alone became San Lorenzo, Pallavicino, and 3 other groups. In other cities like Corleone, CDG, Favara etc, their numbers were also around the 30's, sometimes as low as 10. In it's own natural environment, mafia membership wanted to keep their groups small.

The government of the mafia in 1890 was identified in Palermo with a regional head or head province, were there equivalents in other provinces is not known. But by 1920 what is know is that Maranzano was the boss of CDG and province head of Trapani who moved to Palermo to be in the center of it all. Allegra stated many city bosses from other provinces did this. Remember, this was all before Luciano became boss in 1931 in NYC and is credited with creating a board of directors. It already existed in NY by 1909 according to Morello's letters and he was the boss of bosses at that time.

In 1910 various Palermo mafia families broke up amicably a few years before The Palermitan Family did in NYC in 1912. Both cases appear to have been amicably agreed upon. Each instance is when groups grew too large due to urbanization. Piana dei Colli went from farmland to small town which urbanized Pallavicino and San Lorenzo to the point where it warranted separate families. In NYC, it appears to have been the same case with Mineo in Lower Brooklyn. Immigration shot upward in 1905 and most Sicilian immigrants were from Palermo (and with that comes more Palermo mafia members) that Lupo's group rivaled the two other families in size. It seems that early on, it was still in their DNA to keep their groups small, not the gargantuan 300+ memberships that came into being in 2 decades. I don't think Lupo or Morello or Orlando could have envisioned such a reality in 1900. But in Feb of 1912, The Palermitan group split into the Gambinos and Colombos at the same time Sheepeshead, Gravesend over to Bath Beach became more urban with Italians moving out of Lower Manhattan and South Brooklyn to own property. But Lupo used to have a residence there and D'Aquila lived there at one point also. Those Palermo connections didn't just end when the family split, neither did with the Corleonesi ten years later.

But notice, in Palermo the groups were based each with their own territory. Members from various families moved around just like they do in NYC, however NYC unlike Palermo never had a Harlem Family or a South Brooklyn Family officially. You could argue certain families held more sway in one area than the other but that was due to chain migration. Beyond that, Palermo people in Brooklyn knew Palermo people in the City, the Bronx. Same with the other provincial groups. BUT... these regional affiliations were not sequestered from other Sicilians and Italians or even the Irish and Jews (nor was the general Italo population at large). Everyone mingled with everyone else, even with northern Italians. Being sponsored for Membership is another thing, that grew lax as time grew on. When it was small enough, it was one family in NYC (Gambinos), when it became too large and spread out, Harlem Corleone popped up with ties to Lower Manhattan and brooklyn (the original family). Same with the Bonnanos being connected to Lower Manhattan (the hub). They didn't divide by area but divided by compsaesani throughout the city: Palermitan, Corleonesi and Castellammaresi. Messina, Favara and Sciacca went with Palermo, Baucina and other cities went with Corleone, etc. In Sicily, the cities around each other would be closer affiliated so it makes sense that the Mafia divided itself into these factions as it was warranted.

The process of division ended under D'Aquila's reign (1912-1928), perhaps he seen the benefit in smaller number of families or wanted to beef up his own group and forced Mineo to agree to keep his interests in lower Brooklyn. We know in 1913 there was a squabble in NYC which pitted Lo Monte, Mineo and Schiro against D'Aquila, who was the BOB at that time. Mineos (Colombos) and Lo Montes (Genoveses) killed Fontana and Fanaro who were D'Aquilas (Gambinos). There was another attempt on Lupo carry over Saverio Virzi (most likely caporegime of the Riccobono-Scalici faction on E12). At some point this war was ended, because 6 months later when Lo Monte was killed, D'Aquila wasn't suspected by the other families. The truth came out in the 1920's with Umberto Valente who was part of the Sciaccatani network (under the Gambinos) from Little Italy to E 39 to E105th. D'Aquila as BOB maintained connected back to Palermo. During the Palermo agricultural war of the 1920's, D'Aquila sent money to aid Mineo's brother in law who was a Boss and also came to America with Mineo in 1911 a year after becoming boss of Resuttana I believe the family is. So D'Aquila and Mineo dealt with the same people in Palermo. And much of the citrus trade in Palermo as well as the wine and fruit trade in NYC was dominated by Mafiosi. Each side had a vested interest in other other side keeping business flowing. These were your war-mongering ignorant mustache Petes before Lucky Americanized them and by teaching business economics.

[B.]

The work you (and Rick, Dave, and others) have done is just fucking incredible. I had zero interest in anything pre-1930 when I first started reading about the mob because of the "pre-mafia Italian street gang" crap, but as soon as it became clear that there was very much the same organization in place with longstanding connections to the organization in Sicily and how those connections shaped what it was today as it spread through different US cities/neighborhoods, it made me addicted to learning more.

Now, stepping outside your role as a fact-based researcher and going off of gut, do you have any feeling about where it could have started? It would have had to have been somewhere in Palermo proper, right? What blows me away is how such a similar organization also existed in Naples and Calabria. There is a very real phenomena there and it's hard to wrap my brain around it.

Also, was Umberto Valente a captain? He is one of the most interesting guys I've read about from the 1920s. Seems to have been D'Aquila's pitbull.

[bronx]

anyone have a pic of valenti

[Angelo Santino]

anyone have a pic of valenti

lower left side.

[Angelo Santino]

The work you (and Rick, Dave, and others) have done is just fucking incredible. I had zero interest in anything pre-1930 when I first started reading about the mob because of the "pre-mafia Italian street gang" crap, but as soon as it became clear that there was very much the same organization in place with longstanding connections to the organization in Sicily and how those connections shaped what it was today as it spread through different US cities/neighborhoods, it made me addicted to learning more.

Now, stepping outside your role as a fact-based researcher and going off of gut, do you have any feeling about where it could have started? It would have had to have been somewhere in Palermo proper, right? What blows me away is how such a similar organization also existed in Naples and Calabria. There is a very real phenomena there and it's hard to wrap my brain around it.

Also, was Umberto Valente a captain? He is one of the most interesting guys I've read about from the 1920s. Seems to have been D'Aquila's pitbull.

It most likely started in and around Palermo... As for Valente, there's nothing given for his rank but he was a hitter in De Mino's Sciaccatani crew.

[Meatball]

That is a great graphic. Complimenti!

[johnny_scootch]

You should check out Antonino Calderone's book.

As my family comes from Calatabiano I would be very interested in reading said book. What is it called?

[bronx]

anyone have a pic of valenti

lower left side.

your good Chris ..thanks

[B.]

You should check out Antonino Calderone's book.

As my family comes from Calatabiano I would be very interested in reading said book. What is it called?

"Men of Dishonor"

[The Greek]

You should check out Antonino Calderone's book.

As my family comes from Calatabiano I would be very interested in reading said book. What is it called?

"Men of Dishonor"

One of my all time favorites. Highly recommend

[The Greek]

The work you (and Rick, Dave, and others) have done is just fucking incredible. I had zero interest in anything pre-1930 when I first started reading about the mob because of the "pre-mafia Italian street gang" crap, but as soon as it became clear that there was very much the same organization in place with longstanding connections to the organization in Sicily and how those connections shaped what it was today as it spread through different US cities/neighborhoods, it made me addicted to learning more.

Now, stepping outside your role as a fact-based researcher and going off of gut, do you have any feeling about where it could have started? It would have had to have been somewhere in Palermo proper, right? What blows me away is how such a similar organization also existed in Naples and Calabria. There is a very real phenomena there and it's hard to wrap my brain around it.

Also, was Umberto Valente a captain? He is one of the most interesting guys I've read about from the 1920s. Seems to have been D'Aquila's pitbull.

Agreed. Thanks to you guys I'm obsessed with the pre 1931 stuff. The Informer articles and Dave C's book are incredible

[SonnyBlackstein]

The work you (and Rick, Dave, and others) have done is just fucking incredible.

+1

I had zero interest in anything pre-1930 when I first started reading about the mob because of the "pre-mafia Italian street gang" crap, but as soon as it became clear that there was very much the same organization in place with longstanding connections to the organization in Sicily and how those connections shaped what it was today as it spread through different US cities/neighborhoods, it made me addicted to learning more.

+1


My thanks to B as well. I personally always enjoy and value your contributions as well.