Frank Mari Article

[thekiduknow]

Hi all, I found this article written by Nicolas Pileggi in 1970 about Bonanno member Frank Mari. Not a lot of new information, but its written in the "Wiseguy" style where he describes the neighborhoods and lives of wiseguys real well. Speaking of "Wiseguy", Pileggi quotes a source who tells a story about how a group of wiseguys threw a guy off a roof for brining a knife into their neighborhood, and if I recall correctly he talks about a similar story in his book. There's also the quote about how "Being a mob boss is better than being President of the United States".

Just thought I'd share, I've been researching the Bonanno War lately and liked this little slice of life piece about Mari.

[thekiduknow]

The first batch didn't post in the correct order, it goes(from top to bottom), 2,3,1.

[thekiduknow]

And the one above is page 5, and then 4 below it.

[InCamelot]

Hi all, I found this article written by Nicolas Pileggi in 1970 about Bonanno member Frank Mari. Not a lot of new information, but its written in the "Wiseguy" style where he describes the neighborhoods and lives of wiseguys real well. Speaking of "Wiseguy", Pileggi quotes a source who tells a story about how a group of wiseguys threw a guy off a roof for brining a knife into their neighborhood, and if I recall correctly he talks about a similar story in his book. There's also the quote about how "Being a mob boss is better than being President of the United States".

Just thought I'd share, I've been researching the Bonanno War lately and liked this little slice of life piece about Mari.

Enjoyed the article, thanks for posting it.

How goes the research on the Banana Split?

[Hired_Goonz]

Wow so his one source saw a guy getting thrown off of a building but then years later Henry Hill told him about seeing a different guy get thrown off a building in a different neighbourhood for the same reason. I'd say that's a crazy coincidence but the people Pileggi writes about just seem to have crazy things happening to them all the time. Like how the prosecuting attorney who got Hill to flip witnessed his first mob hit when he was a kid from his classroom window and then a couple days later was the one to discover a dead body from yet another mob hit on a basketball court. Or how Jimmy Burke's foster parents were killed in a car wreck when the father took his hands of the wheel to turn around and berate Jimmy, and then later Jimmy "did hits for mob bosses" in prison. I get the feeling sometimes that some of these legendary mob authors and journalists are determined to not let the truth get in the way of a good story.

[motorfab]

Thanks for the share thekiduknow

[thekiduknow]

Wow so his one source saw a guy getting thrown off of a building but then years later Henry Hill told him about seeing a different guy get thrown off a building in a different neighbourhood for the same reason. I'd say that's a crazy coincidence but the people Pileggi writes about just seem to have crazy things happening to them all the time. Like how the prosecuting attorney who got Hill to flip witnessed his first mob hit when he was a kid from his classroom window and then a couple days later was the one to discover a dead body from yet another mob hit on a basketball court. Or how Jimmy Burke's foster parents were killed in a car wreck when the father took his hands of the wheel to turn around and berate Jimmy, and then later Jimmy "did hits for mob bosses" in prison. I get the feeling sometimes that some of these legendary mob authors and journalists are determined to not let the truth get in the way of a good story.

It had been awhile since I read Wiseguy when I posted this, and even longer now, was that story one Pileggi said Hill told him? If so that's really odd to lie about, he could have just as easily written it in is without Hill having "told" him it.

[thekiduknow]

Hi all, I found this article written by Nicolas Pileggi in 1970 about Bonanno member Frank Mari. Not a lot of new information, but its written in the "Wiseguy" style where he describes the neighborhoods and lives of wiseguys real well. Speaking of "Wiseguy", Pileggi quotes a source who tells a story about how a group of wiseguys threw a guy off a roof for brining a knife into their neighborhood, and if I recall correctly he talks about a similar story in his book. There's also the quote about how "Being a mob boss is better than being President of the United States".

Just thought I'd share, I've been researching the Bonanno War lately and liked this little slice of life piece about Mari.

Enjoyed the article, thanks for posting it.

How goes the research on the Banana Split?

I've read through all the FBI docs from Mary Ferrell that I could find, along with the Bonanno books that cover it. I've been filing some FOIA requests for the Family/individual members covering the time frame of the war, and gotten a few back but with this lockdown they've been slower than normal in responding to requests.

I recently posted what I believe who the two main factions consisted of here

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=6346

[Hired_Goonz]

Wow so his one source saw a guy getting thrown off of a building but then years later Henry Hill told him about seeing a different guy get thrown off a building in a different neighbourhood for the same reason. I'd say that's a crazy coincidence but the people Pileggi writes about just seem to have crazy things happening to them all the time. Like how the prosecuting attorney who got Hill to flip witnessed his first mob hit when he was a kid from his classroom window and then a couple days later was the one to discover a dead body from yet another mob hit on a basketball court. Or how Jimmy Burke's foster parents were killed in a car wreck when the father took his hands of the wheel to turn around and berate Jimmy, and then later Jimmy "did hits for mob bosses" in prison. I get the feeling sometimes that some of these legendary mob authors and journalists are determined to not let the truth get in the way of a good story.

It had been awhile since I read Wiseguy when I posted this, and even longer now, was that story one Pileggi said Hill told him? If so that's really odd to lie about, he could have just as easily written it in is without Hill having "told" him it.

Yes the story was actually told as an entire narration from Hill from the moment the black kid was spotted on the street up until they follow him into an apartment building and throw him off the roof. You're right he totally could have just inserted the old anecdote in the book as an example of wiseguys protecting their neighbourhood or whatever but I guess he just couldn't resist weaving it into Henry's story. I guess back before the internet you could get away with shenanigans like this LOL. Who the heck was gonna remember that line from an article 10 years earlier? I wonder if there really is any truth to the initial story about a guy getting chucked off a building like that.