What do We Know about the Newark Family?

[JoelTurner]

This was his father’s declaration card

[thekiduknow]

This is interesting, I hadn’t really heard of Caltagirone

Same here. I see he's listed on JD's charts, but I've never looked into him. Zicarelli seemed to have a lot of associates around him, I wonder if that might explain why he's listed as a captain in the early 1960s when we know he was a soldier. Even when he was a captain, I'm not sure who was in his crew.

Where in Agrigento was Caltagirone from?

I've only seen it listed as Girgenti, like the naturalization form Joel posted, so I'm not sure if he meant the city or the province in general.

[PolackTony]

This is interesting, I hadn’t really heard of Caltagirone

Same here. I see he's listed on JD's charts, but I've never looked into him. Zicarelli seemed to have a lot of associates around him, I wonder if that might explain why he's listed as a captain in the early 1960s when we know he was a soldier. Even when he was a captain, I'm not sure who was in his crew.

Where in Agrigento was Caltagirone from?

I've only seen it listed as Girgenti, like the naturalization form Joel posted, so I'm not sure if he meant the city or the province in general.

Vincenzo Caltagirone’s 1911 arrival manifest stated that he was born in Girgenti also, so it was most likely Agrigento comune. His last residence before immigrating, however, was San Cipirello, where his wife Pietra Volpe was from. This latter fact could be an interesting connection, given that Riela and Troia were from neighboring SGJ.

[B.]

His original Agrigento hometown might have been Casteltermini. Nicola Ciccone who JD identified as part of the early Manhattan-NJ Colletti crew was from there.

[PolackTony]

His original Agrigento hometown might have been Casteltermini. Nicola Ciccone who JD identified as part of the early Manhattan-NJ Colletti crew was from there.

Yeah, there was a Vincenzo Caltagirone about the same age from Casteltermini in NYC, but had a different birth month/year. Could well have been cousins.

Caltagirone is far more common in Casteltermini than in Agrigento comune, I do think it’s a good chance that the surname went back to Casteltermini.

[B.]

Can you trace Joe Taormina's heritage or is he too young? He is a more recent NJ Bonanno born in 1947 who died in 2002 but his surname heavily indicates Agrigento.

A lot of the Bonannos who lived in NJ over the years had AG heritage:

Nicolo Alfano - Racalmuto
Nicolo Buttafuoco - Cattolica Eraclea
Antonino Busciglio - Alessandria della Rocca
John Caltagirone - Casteltermini(?)
Joseph Colletti - Lucca Sicula
Giovanni Ligammari - Alessandria della Rocca
Angelo Salvo - Alessandria della Rocca

Other modern guys whose heritage I wonder about are Joe Bonanno (the one who flipped) and Joe Sammartino. Sammartino is found in various parts of Caltanissetta, no idea about Joe's background though. I'd be curious if Bonanno is Sicilian.

[PolackTony]

Can you trace Joe Taormina's heritage or is he too young? He is a more recent NJ Bonanno born in 1947 who died in 2002 but his surname heavily indicates Agrigento.

A lot of the Bonannos who lived in NJ over the years had AG heritage:

Nicolo Alfano - Racalmuto
Nicolo Buttafuoco - Cattolica Eraclea
Antonino Busciglio - Alessandria della Rocca
John Caltagirone - Casteltermini(?)
Joseph Colletti - Lucca Sicula
Giovanni Ligammari - Alessandria della Rocca
Angelo Salvo - Alessandria della Rocca

Other modern guys whose heritage I wonder about are Joe Bonanno (the one who flipped) and Joe Sammartino. Sammartino is found in various parts of Caltanissetta, no idea about Joe's background though. I'd be curious if Bonanno is Sicilian.

Joseph Albert Taormina was actually born in 1947 in Johnstown, PA. Not sure about his mother’s ancestry, but his dad was John Charles Taormina, born in 1921 in Johnstown to Giuseppe Taormina and Maria LoBue of Ciminna.

FWIW, the Taormina surname is actually way more common in various parts of Palermo province than in Agrigento.

[B.]

Great to know. JD said years ago he thought Taormina's family was from AG and I know there are a bunch of AG Taorminas in NJ, particularly in DeCavalcante circles. Ciminna is equally interesting.

[JoelTurner]

It’s interesting that the Bonanno family had such a small presence in Newark. They were involved in the Troia affair but they didn’t get more than a couple of guys after the breakup shortly after.

Riela is sometimes listed as a captain but I can’t think of anyone who would have been in his crew. He had joint investments with Bill and Joe Bonanno but other than that largely seemed to associate with NJ figures outside of the family.

Grippi seems to be a wild card. Ties to the old Newark Family but not much linking him to the Bonannos other than his relatives.

Everyone else that they had in NJ seemed to be part of NYC based crews.

[JoelTurner]

Here’s a possible member: Anthony LaManna



- He was an associate of Sam Accardi

- He was operating in the Atlantic City area for the “Italian group in Newark”

—————

He was active in south Jersey with arrests in Bargaintown, Abescon, and Tuckerton.

—————

This was his census information:
(https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-co ... 2478:62308)

He lived at 12 Webster St, Newark, NJ in 1950 and was born in 1900 in Italy

[JoelTurner]

Here's a possible member: Salvatore Musomecci

- He was a Black Hand leader and was arrested with Frank Pedone who was mentioned in the Bonanno thread.
(https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1158742 ... eph-frank/)

- He lived next door to Pietro Campisi on Bedford St. in 1915 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV9Q-4DMT)

- If I have the right guy, he was born in 1853 in Calatabiano, Italy (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XKMX-LM9)

[B.]

If he was involved that lends itself to Antonio Paterno starting with Newark since they were both from Catania.

Another possible Newark member was Mike Spinella. NJ arrest record dating back to 1914 and operated in Paterson. Likely ended up with the Catena Genovese crew like the other Sicilians in that area.

[JoelTurner]

I haven’t really looked at Spinella, but Paterson would be more Moretti’s crowd than the Newark guys. On the 1963 Genovese thread he’s listed as a part of Carillo’s crew, is there anything confirming this?

[B.]

LaPadura was an early guy in Paterson/Garfield area too and both were active before Moretti was in power. One of the big questions I've had for years is which guys were already under Moretti before Newark broke up. Valachi said he had an army of guys under him (didn't specify members) but most of the known names were likely made in the 1940s.

Also a question of what Newark's jurisdiction was. There's that FBI summary of Gentile where they call it a "New York-New Jersey Family" which could just refer to the general metropolitan area that Newark is a part of but I wouldn't rule out members in NYC or outside of Newark proper. JD said Gaspare D'Amico had close ties to South Brooklyn, obviously the Colombos, but does make me curious if there's more to it.

[sdeitche]

Can you trace Joe Taormina's heritage or is he too young? He is a more recent NJ Bonanno born in 1947 who died in 2002 but his surname heavily indicates Agrigento.

A lot of the Bonannos who lived in NJ over the years had AG heritage:

Nicolo Alfano - Racalmuto
Nicolo Buttafuoco - Cattolica Eraclea
Antonino Busciglio - Alessandria della Rocca
John Caltagirone - Casteltermini(?)
Joseph Colletti - Lucca Sicula
Giovanni Ligammari - Alessandria della Rocca
Angelo Salvo - Alessandria della Rocca

Other modern guys whose heritage I wonder about are Joe Bonanno (the one who flipped) and Joe Sammartino. Sammartino is found in various parts of Caltanissetta, no idea about Joe's background though. I'd be curious if Bonanno is Sicilian.

Ligamarri was close with Raffa, Trafficante and LoScalzo (who was born in ADR). LoScalzo attended Pietro Ligamarri's wedding.
Still a strange coincidence that the Ligamarris and Raffa ended their lives the same way.