John Pennisi Sighting / Sit Down News

[PolackTony]

I haven't seen any pics of him around the internet. VERY low-key and quiet guy now. I wasn't sure if he was straightened out with the Lucchese's or the Gambino's until I heard Pennisi. He's mostly around Arthur/Belmont area, but I don't know who's crew he's in.

Bruno my uncle grew up in Morris Park in the 60's and he said everyone he knew was Westside or Luchese. He didn't know any Gambinos (let alone Bonanos). Were the Gambinos bigger in Belmont? And were the Bonanos a later precence in the Bronx?

Hello Philly,

Gambinos and Westside were the big crews in Belmont/Arthur for years, although that's where Steve Crea is from too, so there was always a very small Lucchese presence.
Gambino's also had Ct and some Westchester going back to 60's and 70's but my understanding is that waaay back the Genovese had a very large presence in Westchester, particularly White Plains going back to the 30's and 40's.
Bonanno's were prevalent over in Country Club and Throggs Neck for the most part.

Bonanno presence in CC/TN goes way back, or was relatively more recent (as in post ~1970s)? My impression was the latter, but I may very well be wrong.

[outfit guy]

A punk kid kills another kid; nothing to boast but instead, be ashamed! So spare me the rolling eyes. OK, he punched more than one person: now what?

[Bruno187]

I haven't seen any pics of him around the internet. VERY low-key and quiet guy now. I wasn't sure if he was straightened out with the Lucchese's or the Gambino's until I heard Pennisi. He's mostly around Arthur/Belmont area, but I don't know who's crew he's in.

Bruno my uncle grew up in Morris Park in the 60's and he said everyone he knew was Westside or Luchese. He didn't know any Gambinos (let alone Bonanos). Were the Gambinos bigger in Belmont? And were the Bonanos a later precence in the Bronx?

Hello Philly,

Gambinos and Westside were the big crews in Belmont/Arthur for years, although that's where Steve Crea is from too, so there was always a very small Lucchese presence.
Gambino's also had Ct and some Westchester going back to 60's and 70's but my understanding is that waaay back the Genovese had a very large presence in Westchester, particularly White Plains going back to the 30's and 40's.
Bonanno's were prevalent over in Country Club and Throggs Neck for the most part.

Bonanno presence in CC/TN goes way back, or was relatively more recent (as in post ~1970s)? My impression was the latter, but I may very well be wrong.

When I mentioned the Bonanno's in CC/TN I was only reflecting on more modern times.
I was actually thinking about what you wrote (I didn't see it until after I had begun to write myself) and you're probably right about the way those from Harlem "moved on up" and got out of the tenements to find their way to a better life in Pelham Bay/Country Club/Throggs Neck.
I had some good friends from Pelham Bay and Country Club and they'd always mention how their families had come from Harlem or Little Italy and settled up in the nicer areas of the Bronx, so it definitely makes sense.

[PolackTony]

I haven't seen any pics of him around the internet. VERY low-key and quiet guy now. I wasn't sure if he was straightened out with the Lucchese's or the Gambino's until I heard Pennisi. He's mostly around Arthur/Belmont area, but I don't know who's crew he's in.

Bruno my uncle grew up in Morris Park in the 60's and he said everyone he knew was Westside or Luchese. He didn't know any Gambinos (let alone Bonanos). Were the Gambinos bigger in Belmont? And were the Bonanos a later precence in the Bronx?

Hello Philly,

Gambinos and Westside were the big crews in Belmont/Arthur for years, although that's where Steve Crea is from too, so there was always a very small Lucchese presence.
Gambino's also had Ct and some Westchester going back to 60's and 70's but my understanding is that waaay back the Genovese had a very large presence in Westchester, particularly White Plains going back to the 30's and 40's.
Bonanno's were prevalent over in Country Club and Throggs Neck for the most part.

Bonanno presence in CC/TN goes way back, or was relatively more recent (as in post ~1970s)? My impression was the latter, but I may very well be wrong.

When I mentioned the Bonanno's in CC/TN I was only reflecting on more modern times.
I was actually thinking about what you wrote (I didn't see it until after I had begun to write myself) and you're probably right about the way those from Harlem "moved on up" and got out of the tenements to find their way to a better life in Pelham Bay/Country Club/Throggs Neck.
I had some good friends from Pelham Bay and Country Club and they'd always mention how their families had come from Harlem or Little Italy and settled up in the nicer areas of the Bronx, so it definitely makes sense.

Yeah, my impression from people who have been here in CC for a very long time is that there was continual movement up from Manhattan. So there were a bunch of people who came up in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and just from me filling in the blanks and some of their comments, my guess is that the older contingents had a lot of Genovese (a bunch of Napolitani guys from around 116, for example). And of course, there were then people still moving up from East Harlem in the 70s/80s, so I've wondered whether there was a significant contingent of Bonannos here before that, as the ones I know about at least seem to be later guys. I'd be very interested in knowing more about this, maybe the user "Bronx" will see this and chime in, as there must be people who know the details about these different eras. I also wonder whether different families had more of a presence in different neighborhoods/subneighborhoods, CC vs TN, PB vs Middletown, MP/PP, etc. Not just in terms of where they lived, but for social clubs and operations.

[B.]

Peter Felice was a Gambino member who started out in East Harlem and moved to the Bronx. He still hung around in East Harlem where he was killed in the 1930s. He was non-Sicilian and close to the Genovese and Lucchese Families so not sure what brought him into the Gambinos.

[PolackTony]

Peter Felice was a Gambino member who started out in East Harlem and moved to the Bronx. He still hung around in East Harlem where he was killed in the 1930s. He was non-Sicilian and close to the Genovese and Lucchese Families so not sure what brought him into the Gambinos.

Always interesting when these guys you’d assume would be with one family wind up with someone else. Do you know where he lived in the Bx?

[Bruno187]

Bryant Avenue between Bruckner and The Sheridan.

[PolackTony]

Bryant Avenue between Bruckner and The Sheridan.

You mean for Peter Felice? I believe at the time the area was mainly Jewish. Not that you don’t see wiseguys in the past moving to Jewish neighborhoods. Some of these guys maybe wanted to live somewhere where their home was somewhat buffered from the Life.

[Bruno187]

Who knows....I looked on the Ancestry.com site and found 3 Peter Felice's from the Bronx in there. One was the guy from Bryant Avenue, the other was born in 1917 and the other was actually "DeFelice". I figured it had to be the guy on Bryant Avenue. I guess we can comfirm that the guy was indeed Italian from his name and the census has him living at 2013 Bryant Avenue. The Bronx used to be pretty mixed (Italians, Jews, Irish, Germans) back around the depression. Probably more of a socioeconomic thing before culture later took hold and you had Italian neighborhoods and Irish neighborhoods etc. At least what I was led to believe from stories my parents told me about growing up during the Depression.
You still in CC Tony?

[B.]

Felices lived in Westchester Square at 2410 Maclay. The sons who joined the mafia still hung out in East Harlem, where Peter was killed. For whatever reason Peter was made into the Gambinos and Freddy was made with Philadelphia despite being very close to the Harlem Genoveses.

[Philly d]

I haven't seen any pics of him around the internet. VERY low-key and quiet guy now. I wasn't sure if he was straightened out with the Lucchese's or the Gambino's until I heard Pennisi. He's mostly around Arthur/Belmont area, but I don't know who's crew he's in.

Bruno my uncle grew up in Morris Park in the 60's and he said everyone he knew was Westside or Luchese. He didn't know any Gambinos (let alone Bonanos). Were the Gambinos bigger in Belmont? And were the Bonanos a later precence in the Bronx?

Hello Philly,

Gambinos and Westside were the big crews in Belmont/Arthur for years, although that's where Steve Crea is from too, so there was always a very small Lucchese presence.
Gambino's also had Ct and some Westchester going back to 60's and 70's but my understanding is that waaay back the Genovese had a very large presence in Westchester, particularly White Plains going back to the 30's and 40's.
Bonanno's were prevalent over in Country Club and Throggs Neck for the most part.

Thanks

[Philly d]

I haven't seen any pics of him around the internet. VERY low-key and quiet guy now. I wasn't sure if he was straightened out with the Lucchese's or the Gambino's until I heard Pennisi. He's mostly around Arthur/Belmont area, but I don't know who's crew he's in.

Bruno my uncle grew up in Morris Park in the 60's and he said everyone he knew was Westside or Luchese. He didn't know any Gambinos (let alone Bonanos). Were the Gambinos bigger in Belmont? And were the Bonanos a later precence in the Bronx?

My impression is that yes, the Gambinos were more prominent over by Belmont rather than the East Bx (though I’m sure there must’ve been a few around). You might be right about the Bonannos having a later presence. At least with the guys like Mancuso and Zottola living in CC/TN, my impression is that these were more recent transplants from East Harlem. From what older CC residents have told me, the earlier wave of settlement from East Harlem seems to have included a bunch of Genovese guys, I’d imagine Lucchese as well (though I’m not sure if they were more likely to settle in PB/Middletown and MP vs CC/TN). The Luccheses of course already had a presence in the East Bx, on Pelham Pkwy, back during the Castellammarese War.

Exactly - my thoughts too

[Philly d]

I haven't seen any pics of him around the internet. VERY low-key and quiet guy now. I wasn't sure if he was straightened out with the Lucchese's or the Gambino's until I heard Pennisi. He's mostly around Arthur/Belmont area, but I don't know who's crew he's in.

Bruno my uncle grew up in Morris Park in the 60's and he said everyone he knew was Westside or Luchese. He didn't know any Gambinos (let alone Bonanos). Were the Gambinos bigger in Belmont? And were the Bonanos a later precence in the Bronx?

Hello Philly,

Gambinos and Westside were the big crews in Belmont/Arthur for years, although that's where Steve Crea is from too, so there was always a very small Lucchese presence.
Gambino's also had Ct and some Westchester going back to 60's and 70's but my understanding is that waaay back the Genovese had a very large presence in Westchester, particularly White Plains going back to the 30's and 40's.
Bonanno's were prevalent over in Country Club and Throggs Neck for the most part.

Bonanno presence in CC/TN goes way back, or was relatively more recent (as in post ~1970s)? My impression was the latter, but I may very well be wrong.

Exactly my thought/question

[Bruno187]

Felices lived in Westchester Square at 2410 Maclay. The sons who joined the mafia still hung out in East Harlem, where Peter was killed. For whatever reason Peter was made into the Gambinos and Freddy was made with Philadelphia despite being very close to the Harlem Genoveses.

Not sure why they didn't show up in the Census data of the time. It's usually pretty accurate info.

[PolackTony]

Who knows....I looked on the Ancestry.com site and found 3 Peter Felice's from the Bronx in there. One was the guy from Bryant Avenue, the other was born in 1917 and the other was actually "DeFelice". I figured it had to be the guy on Bryant Avenue. I guess we can comfirm that the guy was indeed Italian from his name and the census has him living at 2013 Bryant Avenue. The Bronx used to be pretty mixed (Italians, Jews, Irish, Germans) back around the depression. Probably more of a socioeconomic thing before culture later took hold and you had Italian neighborhoods and Irish neighborhoods etc. At least what I was led to believe from stories my parents told me about growing up during the Depression.
You still in CC Tony?

Important for people to keep in mind that even the neighborhoods that we think of as “Italian neighborhoods” were generally far from homogenous. Even at its peak, East Harlem was about 20% non-Italian, for example, and Bensonhurst had a large Jewish population as well. People characterize TN/CC as “Italian”, and Italians have been the single largest ethnic group for many years, but there were always plenty of Irish and Germans here too.

Yeah, I live in CC which for me is about as close to paradise as one can find within the 5 boros. What about you?