Gambino family captain Domenico Acquista

[Tonyd621]

If I'm not mistaken John Gambino passed, Cali is gone and Cefalu I guess he's still around. That leaves Mannino and Grillo. This Acquista character, your just throwing him in there b/c johnnys did a write up about him. If he didn't you wouldn't of included him. You have Camuso, Campos, Fillippeli making money in construction, not to mention Martino, and they are basically out of jail. Without them... idk what else there is. But I don't totally disagree with you SB. Just not 100%

[Tonyd621]

Mannino, Grillo and Cali aren’t/weren’t zips. This isn’t to say the zips aren’t in charge but just because Ernie Grillo went to Sicily to meet people it doesn’t make him a zip.

How would you define a zip? You have to be born there?

Ernie can't be a zip...What kind of zip would let gotti sleep with his wife or sister or whatever the hell he allowed gotti to do lol

[SonnyBlackstein]

If I'm not mistaken John Gambino passed, Cali is gone and Cefalu I guess he's still around. That leaves Mannino and Grillo. This Acquista character, your just throwing him in there b/c johnnys did a write up about him. If he didn't you wouldn't of included him. You have Camuso, Campos, Fillippeli making money in construction, not to mention Martino, and they are basically out of jail. Without them... idk what else there is. But I don't totally disagree with you SB. Just not 100%

Yes, Gambino and Cali are deceased, but they were up until recently in the mix at the highest levels. That 'leaves': Mannino, Cefalu (the two highest levels), Grillo, Acquista and Big Dom Cef all in leadership positions.

I guess it all depends on how you define Zip. My understanding was someone who had close ties with Italy. Spoke the language, relatives, connections etc. A foot in both countries so to speak. But if you define Zip as strictly someone born in Italy, that changes things. Id be interested from the board on what the 'literal/practised' usage/meaning is.

[Little_Al1991]

John Pennisi said that Cali was the boss back in his time, he didn’t say that it was Dom Cefalu.
Maybe the guy really did retire or just stepped back but John made it clear that Cali was seen as the boss on the street

[Tonyd621]

I thought a zip was someone who was born in Sicily and their allegiance is towards people who were born in his region. Idk who that would be in that group or even if that's how you define it

[SonnyBlackstein]

I thought a zip was someone who was born in Sicily and their allegiance is towards people who were born in his region. Idk who that would be in that group or even if that's how you define it

I don't think Sicily has anything specific to do with the term.

[johnny_scootch]

I guess it all depends on how you define Zip.

I don’t get to define the word the streets do. A zip is someone who was born and raised in Italy. Not people who came here as infants and toddlers but someone who’s formative years were spent on the other side.

[SonnyBlackstein]

I guess it all depends on how you define Zip.

I don’t get to define the word the streets do. A zip is someone who was born and raised in Italy. Not people who came here as infants and toddlers but someone who’s formative years were spent on the other side.

Happy to stand corrected.

Would be a fascinating exercise to do an Italian born (+ formative ie came over 15yrs old+) count of all members of the families (Looks at CC....).

[johnny_scootch]

Take a guy like Sal Montagna he was born on this side but grew up in Sicily. He wasn’t considered a zip but he was closer to one than Ernie Grillo will ever be.

[CabriniGreen]

It's clear the Zips are firmly in charge.
Grillo and Acquista both strong homeland connections and skippers.

Firmly in charge? I mean they might be in some leadership positions, but firmly in charge, idk about that

Actually... this is how I pegged Mannino as the next boss. If they WERNT firmly in charge, then you wouldn't see Mannino, as the next guy up. I didnt do any rocket science or mafia alchemy. I didnt stare at ANY charts at all. Bosses or factions who consolidate power,, usually maneuver one of their guys into the slot.. When I looked at the Inzerillo- Gambino clan, Mannino was clearly, to ME, the next guy up. If Campos were the guy, he'd have HIS guy assume a position..... and IF Mannino wasn't the guy, then we would KNOW the Zips were out of power.

Chin did it, everyone of consequence in Gotti's crew got a shot at it. Too many examples to list.


The real question to me is, what makes a guy Sicilian Mafia. To me thats what " Zip" is really shorthand for. A Sicilian Mafia member in the states. To me, you have to be with a family in Sicily to be SICILIAN MAFIA.

Otherwise.... what does it mean, exactly? To me, it's no different than assuming a Calabrian mobster in Canada is automatically ndrangheta.

[Southshore88]

It's clear the Zips are firmly in charge.
Grillo and Acquista both strong homeland connections and skippers.

Firmly in charge? I mean they might be in some leadership positions, but firmly in charge, idk about that

Actually... this is how I pegged Mannino as the next boss. If they WERNT firmly in charge, then you wouldn't see Mannino, as the next guy up. I didnt do any rocket science or mafia alchemy. I didnt stare at ANY charts at all. Bosses or factions who consolidate power,, usually maneuver one of their guys into the slot.. When I looked at the Inzerillo- Gambino clan, Mannino was clearly, to ME, the next guy up. If Campos were the guy, he'd have HIS guy assume a position..... and IF Mannino wasn't the guy, then we would KNOW the Zips were out of power.

Chin did it, everyone of consequence in Gotti's crew got a shot at it. Too many examples to list.


The real question to me is, what makes a guy Sicilian Mafia. To me thats what " Zip" is really shorthand for. A Sicilian Mafia member in the states. To me, you have to be with a family in Sicily to be SICILIAN MAFIA.

Otherwise.... what does it mean, exactly? To me, it's no different than assuming a Calabrian mobster in Canada is automatically ndrangheta.

You bring up an interesting point about Chin doing it - obviously he was Official Boss and unquestionably was “firmly
In charge”. At the beginning, his Greenwich Crew had a number of their guys in the admin (Benny Eggs, Quiet Dom, Manna, Mario Gigante, etc.) but interesting to note that once Barney was bumped to AB, the 116th crew started dominating the admin/panel/acting admin (depends on the time period). I know that Eboli has written much about the dynamics that occurred starting with Barney’s promotion to Acting Boss.

Also, regarding the Gambinos, I do think your point is valid with the next man up philosophy. Would be interesting to compare to the other NY families too.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Zips are only from Sicily??

Since when?

[Extortion]

The main reason they used Zips in the first place was to traffic in Heroin since they could go over to Italy and back and because the official myth/rule is that American soldiers cannot deal in drugs which is why they use the Inzerillo/Gambinos in Sicily to smuggle. Mannino/Cali/Grillo are liaisons to those guys since technically they are not officially with the American Gambinos. You cannot be made twice to two families.

[CabriniGreen]

I actually made a thread to explore all this stuff recently
A perfect example is how these Italians describe Davi....

Johnny's Aquista post got me thinking about the article again....I get kinda exhausted with this topic... but it still sticks in my mind.....



Palermo

Mafia, the emissaries of the US clans in Sicily looking for new business. "A pact with New York"
by Salvo Palazzolo

On the left, the emissary of the Gambino clan (ansa)
Two ambassadors from the overseas godfathers surprised by the investigations. Some credit cards are investigated
JULY 14, 2021
PUBLISHED OVER A YEAR AGO
2 MINUTES OF READING

A river of dirty money travels between New York and Palermo. Inside credit cards. "I gave it to the little ones", said a mafioso who had just landed at the Falcone and Borsellino airport on a flight from the States. At the checks he had shown only the American Express, the other cards were well hidden in the backpack of his children. "What do they have to understand", the boss laughed while he talked to his father who had come to get him. What was the money for?


The latest investigation by the Carabinieri of the Investigative team coordinated by the Palermo prosecutor's office, which yesterday led to 10 arrests in Torretta, confirms the strong link between the American and Sicilian Cosa Nostra. "The picture of a single organization emerges", says General Arturo Guarino, the provincial commander of the Arma. The investigation confirms above all that overseas bosses are looking for investment channels in Sicily. Where now they are back strong. Torretta, which is part of the district of Passo di Rigano, that of the Inzerillo , is no longer the "losers" clan. After the death of Totò Riina , the boss of the bosses, Cosa Nostra has returned to the old masters of the past.

In Palermo an emissary of American Cosa Nostra, 10 arrests. In the town of Torretta the junction of the Messina Denaro pizzini
by Salvo Palazzolo
July 14, 2021

On 27 September three years ago, a member of the Gambino clan arrived at Falcone e Borsellino. This is Ernest Grillo , he is 65 years old. He was welcomed with full honors by Natale Puglisi , an entrepreneur considered organic to the Torretta clan, and was arrested last night. Grillo was accompanied to the beautiful villa of Fondo Anfossi, in Mondello, which had been rented for him. Villa with swimming pool. In the bedroom, he found a gift: 5 grams of cocaine. But this wasn't a pleasure trip, there had to be new business at stake. On 2 October, Puglisi accompanied Grillo to Baucina, probably to meet Enzo Varisco, a drug kingpin that Judge Falcone had already investigated in the 1980s, was convicted in the United States, today he runs a restaurant. The next day, Ernest Grillo went to Torretta to meet Raffaele Di Maggio , considered the new head of the family. The police investigation also brought two of his close collaborators to prison: Ignazio Antonino Mannino and Calogero Badalamenti . On October 4th, Ernest Gallo returned to the States.
A few months later, in April 2019, another Gambino family emissary flew to Sicily, to Favara. We know this from another investigation, conducted by the Ros. He was looking for a large company in crisis. To fill with money. And then make it fail, "a fraudulent thing", he explained to the Sicilians. In order to make millions of euros disappear. A maxi recycling operation. "The money comes from Singapore", said the agrigentini mafia who discussed the proposal after the meeting. "They leave us 20 percent." More business in Sicily. From New York to Palermo they moved as if they were a single clan, this emerges from the investigation coordinated by the deputy prosecutor Salvo De Luca , by the substitutes Amelia Luise and Giovanni Antoci .


The return to Palermo of the boss Micalizzi, the "keeper" of Riccobono's treasure
by Salvo Palazzolo
January 27, 2021

The Puglisi brothers spoke of a mysterious man who was to be punished in the USA. There it was not possible. The ceremony was held in Torretta. Here is another emblematic story: the day he was killed in New York Frank Cali, the head of the Gambino family - it was March 13, 2019 - investigators recorded a lot of fibrillation live in Sicily. "This picciutteddu went crazy for the Torrettesi", said the bosses. Once, he was also intercepted on the phone with the Sicilian mafia. Only after a few hours, the godparents calmed down: there was no traitor in the family, Frankie Boy, as he was nicknamed, had been killed by a fool. The confirmation came from a trip to America made by Natale Puglisi's son, Baldassare. On his return, he reported to his father the interview he had with Ernest Grillo, and did not suspect that the car was intercepted: "he said:" Tell your father that everything is fine "". The successor of Frank Calì was already there: the young man named Silvester Davì, officially only the owner of an ice cream shop in New York. "Silvestro has climbed the step ... he is in charge now ... he tells us all what they must do and what they must not do".


This transatlantic clan thing. Someone explain how Davi is Calis successor. I believe he's head of " Sicilian ops in NY", not of the actual Gambino family. Many disagree. Make it make sense.....

[scagghiuni]

so Silvester Davi replaced Cali as intermediator between sicilian and american Cosa nostra