What do We Know about the Newark Family?

[JoelTurner]

(https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/135-f-supp-470-597757190)

Here’s Nick Delmore’s immigration case. It confirms some stuff mentioned.

- Claimed he was born in San Francisco on December 25, 1888.

- Claimed his parents moved to Italy when he was a baby and moved back to the US when he was 14

- Actually born in Nicosia,Italy on December 23, 1891

- Son of Luigi Amoruso and Providenzia Amoruso

[JoelTurner]

Original name was apparently Amoruso.

Other Amorusos in Chicago have the same grandparents as Delmore in their family trees.

Is there any substance to the claim that Delmore was Sam DeCavalcante's "uncle"? Even if Delmore's mother was indeed named Rizzo, it doesn't seem likely that there was any connection to the Rizzo De Cavalcantes. Maybe this was just a typical fictive kinship, call an older friend of the family "ziu" kind of thing?

You were able to find unknown cousins of his in Chicago but couldn’t find a family connection to the Rizzo DeCavalcants? I’d take that as they probably weren’t actually related biologically.

I think referring to people that he was close to as his relatives may have been Sam’s way of speaking as you suggested.

He called Sam Accardi his cousin and there’s no biological connection there either. These were off the cuff remarks, he never would have dreamed that people would be researching this decades later.

[B.]

- Sam's brother was interviewed by the FBI and he said he knew of no relation to Nick Delmore. It didn't seem like he was trying to hide anything as he was pretty open about what he knew.

- Sam consistently calls Delmore "uncle" though and a source said it was Nick Delmore who brought Sam up to the Ribera Club and helped him get close to the Elizabeth guys in the 1950s. Sam was already made and they all would have known his father so I'd guess it had more to do with grooming Sam for a leadership position.

- Delmore's mother being a Rizzo always stood out to me because of the alleged relation to the Rizzo DeCavalcantes, whose true name was Rizzo. I know of no connections between the DeCavalcantes and Enna / Caltanissetta but they were wealthy people and that class tended to travel/move for business and other reasons. Sam's maternal grandfather Simone Occhipinti was a doctor from Palermo (and according to Sam's brother descended from mainland royalty) who lived on the Italian mainland before the US. When Sam's mother died Frank DeCavalcante married one of her sisters, making Occhipinti his father-in-law x2.

- If that's accurate that Delmore's mother was from Agrigento maybe he had deeper ties to AG than we know that helped lead him to Elizabeth. An informant told the FBI Sam DeCavalcante's father and the Lolordos knew each other back in Sicily but maybe it was just an assumption or relationships already existed in Sicily between DeCavalcante-connected families from different towns (sort of like what we see with Tampa's ties between Santo Stefano, Belmonte Mezzagno, and Villabate).

- One of Sam's brothers told the FBI that Sam joined the mafia because he felt obligated to follow the tradition. If Frank's father Gaetano Rizzo was a mafioso in or around Palermo that would open up the connections in Sicily even further.

- Would love it if someone could confirm once and for all if the DeCavalcantes were from Monreale vs. somewhere else in Palermo. Tampa had guys from Monreale early on so there's at least one other example of Monreale and that part of Agrigento sharing affiliation. We know now thanks to Joel that the Notos were from Monreale and were in the DeCavalcante circle.

Don't know if it was mentioned in this thread but here was the discussion of a document that mentions a Tony LNU as Boss of the Newark family.


viewtopic.php?f=29&t=6825&p=172012&hilit=Newark#p172012

Thanks -- very interesting. I'm guessing it's from the same transcript where Bruno says one of the groups that split off from the Newark Family was "Tony from Jersey City" -- maybe the same reference? If that summary's accurate it could mean there was an interrim boss after D'Amico before the split.

[JoelTurner]

Don't know if it was mentioned in this thread but here was the discussion of a document that mentions a Tony LNU as Boss of the Newark family.
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=6825&p=172012&hilit=Newark#p172012

This is really interesting. I’d seen a transcript of the 2nd part of his statement about the breakup which was linked:

I think there could have been an acting boss briefly(didn’t Antonio Conte act as boss between Anastasia and Gambino?) but the language used: “headed by” doesn’t sound like it.

Tony is as common a name as it gets; here are the ones who were involved with the family:

Likely members:

Anthony Riela - 41

Antonio Paterno - 44

Anthony Dolasco - 30

Anthony Scavuzzo - 46

—...—...—...—

Possible Members:

Antonio Sunseri

Anthony Accardi - 30

Anthony Scoma - 32

—————————

Contextually, my guess is that this Tony LNU was the “Tony who used to live in Jersey City”.

Ange doesn’t name Profaci or Bonanno, but I think that Profaci was “The Old Guy”. He would have been 13 years older vs. Bonanno who was 5 years older. Plus, his cancer and Gallo problems probably aged him too.

This would point to Riela, but I couldn’t find anything showing him ever being in Jersey City. Maybe he lived there under a false name.

[JoelTurner]

Does anyone know who’s Tommy Fenton?

(https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... lPageId=11)

On April 2 1962, Anthony Dolasco had to check in with his boss in New York, a Tommy Fenton (PH).

—————-

A Tommy in NY who was Dolasco’s boss makes me think it was Tommy Brown.

[Pogo The Clown]

An interesting what if. What if the Newark family was never disbanded in the 1930s? How would the LCN landscape look today? Philly for one would look very different since they wouldn't have a North Jersey Crew so there would be no Tony Caponigro killing Bruno and all the turmoil that came after.


Today the Taccettas would be Boss and UnderBoss with Joe Licata as Consigliere. The real 6th family.


Pogo

[JoelTurner]

An interesting what if. What if the Newark family was never disbanded in the 1930s? How would the LCN landscape look today? Philly for one would look very different since they wouldn't have a North Jersey Crew so there would be no Tony Caponigro killing Bruno and all the turmoil that came after.


Today the Taccettas would be Boss and UnderBoss with Joe Licata as Consigliere. The real 6th family.

Pogo

The Sopranos would have been based on them instead

[JoelTurner]

(https://www.newspapers.com/image/525834229/)

Ralph Belvedere and Carmine Battaglia paid for flags at church on June 5th 1936. This was before the breakup

Belvedere was later listed by several sources as a Genovese soldier in New Jersey.

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(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... cc=2649169)

Belvedere was from Barrafranca, Italy. His wife was from New Haven, CT and they got married there in November 1933

(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... 1-JD66?i=8)

In the 1940 census, they were back in New Haven but said that they had lived in New Jersey in 1935.

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I don't think that he was ever a part of the Newark Family, but he could have been the reason that Battaglia and his associates joined the Genovese.

[B.]

First evidence I've seen of Boiardo making peace with Cosa Nostra is 1939 when he was arrested with ex-Newark Joseph Accardi, who was probably with the Lucchese Family by that time.



- It would be another 5+ years before Boiardo was inducted into Cosa Nostra but it appears he fell in line after his release from prison (many of his associates were absorbed by the Genovese Family while he was away).

- Jerry Catena on the other hand may have been on record with Cosa Nostra much earlier as he had a close relationship to the Sicilians. When Nick Delmore was arrested for murdering an INS agent in the early 1930s Jerry Catena was one of the men who provided bail money and there's other evidence of Catena being friendly with that crowd. Not sure if Catena was on record with the Newark Family or Willie Moretti, but Newark and Moretti were allies against the Boiardo group.

- Catena, Boiardo, and Delmore were inducted in the same ceremony in the mid-1940s which seems odd, but from other examples the NJ groups seem to have been fine with members of different Families participating in the same ceremony together (i.e. DeCarlo and Rega were inducted by Philly boss Joe Bruno Dovi).

- As far as I can tell, the DeCarlo and Boiardo crews had no known members previously affiliated with the Newark Family. They were independents who were recruited directly to the Genovese Family. Catena's crew on the other hand had some of the older Sicilians like Dr. Noto and Lapadura which might not be a coincidence given Catena associated with Cosa Nostra much earlier.

- Belvedere was also with the Catena crew, another Sicilian who as Joel pointed out associated with Battaglia before Newark broke up. Battaglia and the Campisis' crew assignment hasn't been confirmed from what I've seen but Battaglia was an outcast to the DeCarlo and Boiardo crews and the Campisis as we've heard were semi-autonomous. I'd guess they were under Catena but have no idea.

[PolackTony]

Belvedere was from Barrafranca, Italy. His wife was from New Haven, CT and they got married there in November 1933

Another NJ guy from Enna/Caltanissetta. Good find.

[JoelTurner]

- It would be another 5+ years before Boiardo was inducted into Cosa Nostra but it appears he fell in line after his release from prison (many of his associates were absorbed by the Genovese Family while he was away).

Do you know the dates when Boiardo was in prison?

When Nick Delmore was arrested for murdering an INS agent in the early 1930s Jerry Catena was one of the men who provided bail money. Not sure if Catena was on record with the Newark Family or Willie Moretti, but Newark and Moretti were allies against the Boiardo group.

Didn't Catena go to prison for bribing a juror on the Nick Delmore case?

My view is that Catena was on the record with Newark until the broke up and then was on the record with Moretti till he was made in '44. Catena, along with Carmine San Giacomo and Vincent DeLava, would all have been associates of Newark then Moretti.

- As far as I can tell, the DeCarlo and Boiardo crews had no known members previously affiliated with the Newark Family. They were independents who were recruited directly to the Genovese Family. Catena's crew on the other hand had some of the older Sicilians like Dr. Noto and Lapadura which might not be a coincidence given Catena associated with Cosa Nostra much earlier.

- Belvedere was also with the Catena crew, another Sicilian who as Joel pointed out associated with Battaglia before Newark broke up. Battaglia and the Campisis' crew assignment hasn't been confirmed from what I've seen but Battaglia was an outcast to the DeCarlo and Boiardo crews and the Campisis as we've heard were semi-autonomous. I'd guess they were under Catena but have no idea.

My assumption is that all the NJ Genovese(outside of members who were part of a crew not based in NJ) were under Moretti. After Moretti's death, this big NJ crew passes to Jerry Catena. Later, Boiardo and DeCarlo break off with their groups and become captains. Catena had the former Newark members because he inherited the Moretti crew.

Everyone who wasn't in either Boiardo or DeCarlo's crews would have been under Catena.

Carmine Battaglia told NY 3586-C-TE that he could always be contacted at Sorrento's which was Boiardo's restaurant. I don't think this means that he was necessarily in Boiardo's crew.

[JoelTurner]

Belvedere was from Barrafranca, Italy. His wife was from New Haven, CT and they got married there in November 1933

Another NJ guy from Enna/Caltanissetta. Good find.

He piqued my curiosity because he was interacting with Battaglia before the breakup.

[JoelTurner]

Does anyone know anything about Joseph "Joe Polo" Parlavecchio?

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(https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... lPageId=12)

Bill Feather's site lists him as a Genovese member but NK-T3 said he was a member of the Philadelphia family. NK-T3 also listed Thomas Campisi and Carmine Battaglia as Philadelphia members.

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(https://obits.nj.com/us/obituaries/star ... id=9917425)

- He was from Basico, Sicily.
- He worked as a Newark Board of Education employee which is a fairly random job for a mobster
- He was a member of the East Ward Democratic Club and a district leader in the Ironbound
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(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... AQP7C-NLVH)

According to his naturalization, he was born in April 1907 and moved to the US in May 1921.

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(https://www.mercuryllc.com/famous-peopl ... d-drivers/)

An online blog's article on NJ people who started out as drivers says: "Joe Parlavecchio- The Newark East Ward Democratic Party power player got his start as the driver of Newark City Council President Louis Turco."

I’m not casting aspersions on Turco but I’m going to research him.

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A Newark Sicilian with confusing affiliations who worked at a civilian job. He certainly fits within the paradigm

[B.]

If he's from Basico that puts in a similar place as Antonio Paterno from Catania, where his hometown isn't going to connect him to a mafia paesani group but he was old enough to have associated with the Newark Family through local connections.

Multiple DeCavalcante members worked for the Elizabeth Board of Education in later decades. This is the first NJ member I've seen who worked for the Newark one.

[JoelTurner]

Multiple DeCavalcante members worked for the Elizabeth Board of Education in later decades. This is the first NJ member I've seen who worked for the Newark one.

I would never have guessed. Were they working a 9-to-5?

————————-

(https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... lPageId=16)

NK-T7 also lists Battaglia, Thomas Campisi and Joe Polo as Philadelphia members.

However, it doesn’t mention NK-T3 despite being published about a month later. Either there was a confusion somewhere or I’m missing something. Were there 2 separate sources listing these three as Philly members?