General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground

[PolackTony]

There is a court case with Tore Gagliano and one Sam Cantrambone where they were extorting Local 711 the truckdrivers union and billing them through two fake companies. None of this shit ever gets written about in Chicago but this is really no different than what the Outfit used to do. You can read more about this here:

https://books.google.com/books?id=OjwnK ... no&f=false

Happen to notice the other one involved, 777, is still headed by the Glimcos?

Yes 777 is heavily hispanic in terms of membership if I'm not mistaken. James Glimco is the head and his brother Greg Glimco I think is their Treasurer (grandsons of Joey Glimco). Chicago probably has more relatives of 50s/60s era mobsters in major union positions than any other mob family I can think of - Glimco, Coli, Giancana, Aiuppa, Senese, Cerone, Torello, Spano, Talarico, etc. all have namesake relatives in positions of influence at major unions either today or in recent years. None of it ever gets reported on beyond the union rags.

Reading the surnames of Chicago area union local officers never fails to please, lol.

One will notice how many of the officers today are Latino also. Possibly related, or just part of the general process of assimilation, is that when reviewing some of these genealogies and current familial networks, it’s not unusual to see some of these Italians from connected families intermarried with Hispanics. There are of course tons of multigenerational, highly assimilated Latinos in Chicago, and (despite a long history of inter ethnic suspicion and hostility) both groups share a Catholic faith and (general) “Latin” culture, so I would expect this trend to continue to grow more common. Interactions via the union locals could play a role here too. Also, the growing role of Hispanics in city and suburban politics and public services.

[Snakes]

A.J. and Blanca

[PolackTony]

A.J. and Blanca

Lol, of course — for Tony it was ok if she was “black” because she was PR. Anecdotally, I know a number of PR/Italian intermarried families in both NYC and Chicago. It’s not unusual for PRs themselves to have some Italian/Corsican ancestry and the ones who do are often quite proud of it.

[SolarSolano]

A.J. and Blanca

Lol, of course — for Tony it was ok if she was “black” because she was PR. Anecdotally, I know a number of PR/Italian intermarried families in both NYC and Chicago. It’s not unusual for PRs themselves to have some Italian/Corsican ancestry and the ones who do are often quite proud of it.

Polack is right - Paul Koruluk's wife is hispanic right? I believe Bobby's wife also may be or was - Venas and Bellavaias also has Hispanics in the family. A lot of it was just the way neighborhoods mixed and who you grew up with - lots of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in Melrose Park and I dated a few - obviously none were remotely close to Blanca

[PolackTony]

A.J. and Blanca

Lol, of course — for Tony it was ok if she was “black” because she was PR. Anecdotally, I know a number of PR/Italian intermarried families in both NYC and Chicago. It’s not unusual for PRs themselves to have some Italian/Corsican ancestry and the ones who do are often quite proud of it.

Polack is right - Paul Koruluk's wife is hispanic right? I believe Bobby's wife also may be or was - Venas and Bellavaias also has Hispanics in the family. A lot of it was just the way neighborhoods mixed and who you grew up with - lots of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in Melrose Park and I dated a few - obviously none were remotely close to Blanca

Absolutely. That’s how it was. There was a significant history of conflict between Italians and Hispanics in Chicago, mainly due to rapid ethnic transformations in the city. But when you’re kids growing up on the same block, you’ll band together to fight the kids from the next neighborhood. For this reason, the C-Notes began admitting PR recruits back in the 70s while they were at the same time engaged in intense battles with the surrounding PR gangs. The Ricans within their ranks were from their neighborhood and knew them, so it was different. Similar dynamics by Taylor St too, where I’ve heard accounts of both enmity and friendships between PRs and Mexicans and the Italians.

The Italians and Polish haven’t always gotten along either. But Catholicism and being shitted on by the Medigan (and the Irish lol) brought us together. Hence my Italian cousins.

[funkster]

Just saw someone on the FB group claiming Solly has terminal lung cancer, anyone confirm?

[Snakes]

Just saw someone on the FB group claiming Solly has terminal lung cancer, anyone confirm?

I don't know, but when you're 83, something is gonna get you sooner rather than later.

[Patrickgold]

Just saw someone on the FB group claiming Solly has terminal lung cancer, anyone confirm?

Saw his kid out partying the other week. He’s been all over. If his father is dying, I wouldn’t know by the couple of times I have seen him out having a good time

I did see Solly over the summer at Taverna in melrose park. He was smoking a big stogie so getting lung cancer is not surprising though

[SolarSolano]

I just read about this deal - only in Chicago will you see a major private equity firm buying an Outfit-controlled business. These guys beefed with Studio City and the Credidios and also had backing from their own Outfit juice.

Will be fun to see them compete with Studio City and the Credidios - Wall Street meets the mafia in Chicago.

Cinespace sold to buyout firm in deal reportedly worth $1 billion
Chicago Sun-Times
https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/2 ... o-lawndale

Cinespace, the studio that is home to Chicago-based film and TV productions including “Chicago Fire,” has been sold to the real estate arm of TPG, a buyout firm based in Texas and California, the two companies announced Friday.

The deal, valued at $1 billion according to Crain’s Chicago Business, means the Pissios family of Chicago will no longer control the studio space they founded in 2011 with the aid of millions of dollars in state grants. Terms of the deal, and the purchase price, were not mentioned in the release.

The deal also involves studio space owned by Cinespace in Toronto. TPG Real Estate has a portfolio of some $5 billion in properties under management, according to the company website.

A press release from TPG says former Netflix executive Eoin Egan will take over as a co-managing partner and COO. Keith Gee, of LifeStorage, will become another co-managing partner and CFO. The release does not mention any role for Cinespace President and CEO Alex Pissios, whose run as the head of Cinespace’s Chicago operation has seen the company expand into the city’s premier studio space and purportedly the largest film campus east of California.

The statement also includes praise from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“Chicago has a compelling, beautiful cityscape with so much potential for film productions of all mediums and sizes,” Lightfoot said. “I am thrilled to see this acquisition expand our capability for content creation and look forward to the jobs and production it will bring to our region.”

As a Cinespace executive, Pissios also wore a wire on former Teamsters boss John Coli Sr., who pleaded guilty to extorting more than $300,000 from the company to maintain labor peace at the studio. Pissios’ cooperation earned him a non-prosecution deal with federal prosecutors on fraud charges tied to his 2011 personal bankruptcy.

Cinespace announced in April plans to add 16 sound stages to its campus on the city’s Southwest Side, with Pissios at the time telling Crain’s that the studio had to turn away projects, and that the expansion would add some 1,200 jobs in the local film industry.

TPG is bullish on the Chicago film scene as well.

“Consumer appetite for original content is a growing secular tend that has accelerated through the pandemic, leading to a dramatic increase in the demand to produce new films and television, and in turn, a surge in the need for studio space,” TPG co-head of Real Estate Avi Banyasz said in the statement.

State grants heavily financed Cinespace’s expansion into Chicago under Pissios’ uncle, Nick Mirkopoulos, who founded Cinespace in Toronto in the 1980s. Mirkopoulos and Pissios, with help from Coli and Teamsters lobbyists, were able to secure millions in state funds to acquire the 60-acre site of the former Ryerson Steel and convert it into studio space.

During the waning days of Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration in 2016, Cinespace sought a $15 million state grant to buy real estate to expand its footprint, later reducing the request to $10 million.

Upon taking office, Quinn’s Republican successor Bruce Rauner, demanded Cinespace return the grant money following a Chicago Sun-Times investigation that showed that the parcels Cinespace had intended to buy were not for sale.

Despite his legal woes and the attention from Coli’s indictment, Pissios has remained a player in Chicago real estate. Last year, he secured $21 million in financing for the first phase of a $76 million project to develop property along Ogden Avenue with the CHA and other partners, a proposal Pissios filed while also negotiating his deal with federal prosecutors.

Contributing: Tim Novak

[SolarSolano]

For background:

Cinespace used the Belmont Bank & Trust to deposit four of the grants. Since 2011, Belmont’s given Cinespace nine loans worth $24 million. James Banks is the bank chairman and also Pissios’ zoning attorney. His uncle is former Alderman William Banks, 36th Ward.

In the case against James Coli, it was admitted in court that Cinnspace head Alex Pissios was introduced to Quinn, Rahm Emanuel, Richard M. Daley and other politicians through Coli Sr. and that Coli was a key player in bringing Cinespace to Chicago and getting the state funding. Coli was considered an ally and necessary teammate for getting the studio built.

Coli was the Secretary-Treasurer for Local 727, which is the main union for motion picture workers. He was also the president of the Teamsters Joint Council 25, which represents more than 100,000 workers and he's another in a long line of Outfit affiliated bigwigs.

In the old days, the Outfit crews had rules about which unions to prey upon - these days, it really seems like its a free for all. I have to assume money is going up to the powers that be - I just wonder how much that figure is these days, given they still have their claws into a lot.

[funkster]

For background:

Cinespace used the Belmont Bank & Trust to deposit four of the grants. Since 2011, Belmont’s given Cinespace nine loans worth $24 million. James Banks is the bank chairman and also Pissios’ zoning attorney. His uncle is former Alderman William Banks, 36th Ward.

In the case against James Coli, it was admitted in court that Cinnspace head Alex Pissios was introduced to Quinn, Rahm Emanuel, Richard M. Daley and other politicians through Coli Sr. and that Coli was a key player in bringing Cinespace to Chicago and getting the state funding. Coli was considered an ally and necessary teammate for getting the studio built.

Coli was the Secretary-Treasurer for Local 727, which is the main union for motion picture workers. He was also the president of the Teamsters Joint Council 25, which represents more than 100,000 workers and he's another in a long line of Outfit affiliated bigwigs.

In the old days, the Outfit crews had rules about which unions to prey upon - these days, it really seems like its a free for all. I have to assume money is going up to the powers that be - I just wonder how much that figure is these days, given they still have their claws into a lot.

And of course Pissios gambling and or juice loans owed to Pacella lol.

[SolarSolano]

Spot on Funk - Pacella and George Bonomo are guys I've been following for a while - just innocent businessmen from Bridgeport with Italian last names...oh and they also own race horses with Fred Bruno Barbara, tried to get a casino license in a company tied to the Salamones and have given the kids of major Outfit members jobs.

https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics ... met-river/

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/11/1/ ... on-witness

[funkster]

I remember that reader story, did not remember the Pacella connection though. Ill have to dig around, i believe i saved the photo of him and his dad with Johnny Apes somewhere.

[Tonyd621]

For background:

Cinespace used the Belmont Bank & Trust to deposit four of the grants. Since 2011, Belmont’s given Cinespace nine loans worth $24 million. James Banks is the bank chairman and also Pissios’ zoning attorney. His uncle is former Alderman William Banks, 36th Ward.

In the case against James Coli, it was admitted in court that Cinnspace head Alex Pissios was introduced to Quinn, Rahm Emanuel, Richard M. Daley and other politicians through Coli Sr. and that Coli was a key player in bringing Cinespace to Chicago and getting the state funding. Coli was considered an ally and necessary teammate for getting the studio built.

Coli was the Secretary-Treasurer for Local 727, which is the main union for motion picture workers. He was also the president of the Teamsters Joint Council 25, which represents more than 100,000 workers and he's another in a long line of Outfit affiliated bigwigs.

In the old days, the Outfit crews had rules about which unions to prey upon - these days, it really seems like its a free for all. I have to assume money is going up to the powers that be - I just wonder how much that figure is these days, given they still have their claws into a lot.

And of course Pissios gambling and or juice loans owed to Pacella lol.

How does a guy with all that money and opportunities to scale his business to make more legitmate money, rack up so much debt? I mean ever type of creditor available he owes-loan shark-bank loans-credit lines-probably collateral-mortgage etc etc #smh

[SolarSolano]

For background:

Cinespace used the Belmont Bank & Trust to deposit four of the grants. Since 2011, Belmont’s given Cinespace nine loans worth $24 million. James Banks is the bank chairman and also Pissios’ zoning attorney. His uncle is former Alderman William Banks, 36th Ward.

In the case against James Coli, it was admitted in court that Cinnspace head Alex Pissios was introduced to Quinn, Rahm Emanuel, Richard M. Daley and other politicians through Coli Sr. and that Coli was a key player in bringing Cinespace to Chicago and getting the state funding. Coli was considered an ally and necessary teammate for getting the studio built.

Coli was the Secretary-Treasurer for Local 727, which is the main union for motion picture workers. He was also the president of the Teamsters Joint Council 25, which represents more than 100,000 workers and he's another in a long line of Outfit affiliated bigwigs.

In the old days, the Outfit crews had rules about which unions to prey upon - these days, it really seems like its a free for all. I have to assume money is going up to the powers that be - I just wonder how much that figure is these days, given they still have their claws into a lot.

And of course Pissios gambling and or juice loans owed to Pacella lol.

How does a guy with all that money and opportunities to scale his business to make more legitmate money, rack up so much debt? I mean ever type of creditor available he owes-loan shark-bank loans-credit lines-probably collateral-mortgage etc etc #smh

Because he never really had all that money - it was all loans from the Teamsters and others to purchase everything and grow his business. Most of these mob-backed business guys leverage themselves to the hilt - he obviously made money from the sale however, but my view is that went to someone else, not Pissios.

Also when you are gambling with these mob guys, often they make you start on Juice or credit - this is their bread and butter its just amazing how they can still ensnare higher profile people.