What do We Know about the Newark Family?

[JoelTurner]

[A guy like NJ Antonio Paternò, thus, may have had no deeper links to the mafia and fell in with them in the US simply due to his shared Sicilian ancestry, unless he was connected back in Sicily to Palermo or another area of traditional mafia activity.

That’s interesting. A line of thinking could be that later Gambino members from Catania could have had a connection to him especially if their network wasn’t well-developed

[Eld]

On the same day as Gaspare D'Amico was shot, Feb 22 1937, two Newark brothers was shot in a Newark tavern. John Licari (c 1911) died that day and Anthony (c 1908) died a few days later. Newspaper accounts says they were involved in the 'alcohol racket'. Andrew Licari had a brother named John, who was an Lucchese associate, but it's not him. Of course the D'Amico and Licari shooting could be completely unrelated, but the timeframe makes it interesting.

https://www.nytimes.com/1937/02/23/arch ... -lone.html

[B.]

Those Licari brothers were born in Camporeale. Andrew Licari's family also appears to be from there.

Could well be something to it. Do you know if the Licari hit happened earlier or later in the day than the D'Amico one?

[B.]

More info on Newark underboss Saverio Monaco:

- Father Francesco already in Newark by 1906 when Monaco came to the US. Uncles Lorenzo, Vito, and Benedetto Monaco also lived in NJ. Benedetto was stabbed to death in 1918.

- The Monacos lived next to their in-laws the Gruppusos, from Vita like them. An early Bonanno figure named Nicola Gruppuso from Vita was killed in 1935, the alleged killer being Michael Adamo, from Vita and a cousin of Settimo Accardi who would become a high-ranking Bonanno member killed in 1969.

- Monaco's business partner at the time of his murder was identified as "C. Mangiaracina", likely a reference to Calogero Mangiaracino (b. 1880) from Camporeale. Mangiaracino first lived in Brooklyn before settling in Newark.

Some interesting info previously shared by Chris Christie on very early Gambino Family interactions with Newark:

Lupo had contacts in New Jersey since at least 1902. After Lupo went to prison in 1910, a meeting was held for that Family with people from Jersey and was chaired by a "Don Sebastiano" (not DiGaetano). NOTE: The information is very ambiguous. It doesn't say where this "Don Sebastiano" lived- NY or NJ- or what his rank/significance was. Only that the men from Jersey were apparently well armed, on high alert and made the NY members uncomfortable. The issue of murdering Flynn out of retribution for 'our Dear Lupo' was discussed.

I got the names and addresses of Lupo's NJ contacts (as well as nationally). I don't know where they are. I want to say one name for Jersey City (1902) and two for Newark (1909). I'm quite certain there was nothing for the city of Elizabeth.

Note that Ignazio's brother John Lupo moved to New Jersey.

The description of NJ members being armed and making the NY members uncomfortable would suggest they were a different Family or at least political faction.

[JoelTurner]

On the same day as Gaspare D'Amico was shot, Feb 22 1937, two Newark brothers was shot in a Newark tavern. John Licari (c 1911) died that day and Anthony (c 1908) died a few days later. Newspaper accounts says they were involved in the 'alcohol racket'. Andrew Licari had a brother named John, who was an Lucchese associate, but it's not him. Of course the D'Amico and Licari shooting could be completely unrelated, but the timeframe makes it interesting.

https://www.nytimes.com/1937/02/23/arch ... -lone.html

Great find!

The D’Amico shooting took place at approximately 11:30 AM according to Garden State Gangland: The Rise of the Mob in New Jersey

[JoelTurner]

The Monacos lived next to their in-laws the Gruppusos, from Vita like them. An early Bonanno figure named Nicola Gruppuso from Vita was killed in 1935, the alleged killer being Michael Adamo, from Vita and a cousin of Settimo Accardi who would become a high-ranking Bonanno member killed in 1969.

Was there any relation that you could find between Nicola and the ones who lived next to the Monacos? BTW, his bio on Bill Feather’s site says: “Gruppuso’s relationship with the new Family leadership did not last, as he was killed in 1935.” Is it known what happened between him and the Bonanno leadership?

Lupo had contacts in New Jersey since at least 1902. After Lupo went to prison in 1910, a meeting was held for that Family with people from Jersey and was chaired by a "Don Sebastiano" (not DiGaetano). NOTE: The information is very ambiguous. It doesn't say where this "Don Sebastiano" lived- NY or NJ- or what his rank/significance was. Only that the men from Jersey were apparently well armed, on high alert and made the NY members uncomfortable. The issue of murdering Flynn out of retribution for 'our Dear Lupo' was discussed.

I got the names and addresses of Lupo's NJ contacts (as well as nationally). I don't know where they are. I want to say one name for Jersey City (1902) and two for Newark (1909). I'm quite certain there was nothing for the city of Elizabeth.

The description of NJ members being armed and making the NY members uncomfortable would suggest they were a different Family or at least political faction.

- Lupo’s gang wants to kill a cop
- They meet with a group from NJ, either a faction or a separate family
- This group shows up armed and makes Lupo’s gang uncomfortable

Isn’t showing up armed a major violation of sit-down protocol?

I can get why some people, especially a group that wasn’t directly with Lupo, would feel strongly about a killing a cop in retaliation.

[JoelTurner]

Here’s a very interesting news article:

(https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89674840/daily-news/)

Vito Oddo, Salvatore Cannella, and John Misuraca arrested together in 1939. Oddo owned the place where Sam Monaco was killed in 1955, clearly more than just a restaurant owner.

The reference to a murder of 3 men in a candy store is about Troia; I wonder what made the police connect them with that.

The other arrestees: Michael Villanova-39, Michael Zanzonico-34, and Salvatore Di Meo-34, are worth checking out too.

[B.]

Yeah Oddo is the one from Paceco, Trapani. Badami was considered a shut-in who barely left his house when he was killed so don't know if Oddo was part of the set-up but someone likely lured him there.

Don't know why Gruppuso was killed or if he was directly related to the NJ ones. He lived in Manhattan then Elmira, NY before eventually moving to Brooklyn and was close to Joe Barbara, the two being arrested together in NYC near the end of the Castellammarese War. His alleged killer Mike Adamo was living with him at the time of his murder so Gruppuso was probably part of that Vita-Calatafimi clan.

Sam Monaco, brother Frank, uncle Vito, and their in-law Vito Gruppuso were all in the garment industry like Stefano Badami.

[JoelTurner]

(https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8535994 ... ve-badami/)

This news story is about an attempt on Badami’s life on February 24th 1955. Someone fired a shotgun at him as he was coming back home at 335 Academy St. but missed.

He’s said to be one of 4 partners at Camille Fashions Inc. . From the tone of the article, he doesn’t seem to be a shut-in. If anything, this murder attempt probably turned him into a recluse for the last month of his life.

Yeah Oddo is the one from Paceco, Trapani. Badami was considered a shut-in who barely left his house when he was killed so don't know if Oddo was part of the set-up but someone likely lured him there.

Oddo claimed that they were drinking coffee together, two men came in and forced him into a pantry and killed Badami. I don’t believe his story, he was probably in on the setup.

Frank Monaco was probably the killer. Stabbing a guy 40X shows a lot more anger than a drive by; if he believed that Badami tortured and killed his brother, I could see it.

I wonder what triggered this whole affair. Badami doesn’t appear to have been active in crime even prior to the shooting. This probably was bad blood from ‘31, but why now? What changed in early 1955?

[B.]

I don't have it on hand but in one FBI interview with Valachi they cite him as saying the Badami murder was LCN-related or ordered by LCN, something along those lines. I don't think Valachi was in a position to know the details of the murder and maybe they were just referring to the fact that it involved "LCN" figures.

We'll probably never know the motivation beyond that, with vendetta being a strong possibility. I just posted elsewhere about CDG boss Domingo wanting to kill people who he blamed for the murder of his uncle nearly four decades earlier so as cliche as it is there is a very real vendetta mentality with no expiration date.

The involvement of multiple people and the previous attempt on Badami tells us it wasn't just Frank Monaco striking out by himself in a moment of anger, so if vendetta was the motivation Monaco was able to recruit others and develop a plan. That Monaco himself survived until the 1980s also tells us the murder may have been sanctioned.

[JoelTurner]

The involvement of multiple people and the previous attempt on Badami tells us it wasn't just Frank Monaco striking out by himself in a moment of anger, so if vendetta was the motivation Monaco was able to recruit others and develop a plan. That Monaco himself survived until the 1980s also tells us the murder may have been sanctioned.

Louie Russo probably had some relatives, there’s a Michael Russo who was a member but that name is too common to really find anything. God knows who else Badami could have wronged.

For all you know, Oddo could have killed him and lied about the two assailants. The police found Monaco because someone phoned in an anonymous tip after all.

[JoelTurner]

Here’s some information on Anthony Riela:

————-

(https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2304447 ... ark-press/)

Riela and a Vincent Provenzano owned land together at 444 Ocean ave., Long Branch, NJ

————-
(https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2304479 ... rier-news/)

Riela is busted for running brothels. He owned the Suburban Motor Lodge with Michael Marino and the Airport Motel with Salvatore Mauro.

—————

Some new names to add to the mix

[B.]

Best candidate I've found for Luigi "Louis" Russo was from Maddaloni di Caserta, same hometown as the NJ-linked Aniello Santagata whose nickname was "O'Maddalonese". If so he wouldn't be related to the Sicilian Mike Russo. Would probably rule out a connection to Ralph, John, and Anthony Russo too since they were with Boiardo through the existence of the Newark Family.

That 1939 bust you linked with Oddo, Cannella, and Misuraca showed a couple mainlanders were working with them. If Luigi Russo was non-Sicilian it would tell us the Newark Family recruited from the massive supply of mainlanders in Newark.

Luigi Russo was said to specialize in extorting other racketeers, so he may have been in charge of imposing a "street tax" or otherwise shaking down criminals. That's all I know about his activities. He was also described as the "partner" of Monaco, who was said to be wealthy.

[JoelTurner]

Best candidate I've found for Luigi "Louis" Russo was from Maddaloni di Caserta, same hometown as the NJ-linked Aniello Santagata whose nickname was "O'Maddalonese". If so he wouldn't be related to the Sicilian Mike Russo.

I saw that, you shared his info. Was the Siclian Mike Russo the same one who was at the 1928 Cleveland Meeting?

That 1939 bust you linked with Oddo, Cannella, and Misuraca showed a couple mainlanders were working with them.

Did you find anything about those guys? How do you know they're mainlanders?

[JoelTurner]

What do ya'll think about Anthony Accardi?

He was born in 1907, so he was old enough to be a member. He was in the Frank Perrone crew in the Gambino family; a Campisi was also a part of that group. Going by his age, he was likely a part of Antonio Paterno's crew before Perrone broke off.

Here's some more information on him:

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(https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... lPageId=36)

He was hanging out at the Essex County Hunting and Fishing club with Carmine Battaglia

This club, based off newspaper reports, may have actually been called the West End Club

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(https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... elPageId=6)

He attended Anthony Dolasco's daughter's wedding along

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There's no definite proof that he was a member. However, he seems to have had interactions with these ex-Newark members, putting him in that circle.