What do We Know about the Newark Family?

[JoelTurner]

Moretti was the powerhouse in Bergen county while the Newark family seemed to be in Essex county (and south Jersey). I think that LaPadura and other Bergen/Passiac county Sicilians like Belvedere and Dr. Noto were all a part of the Moretti group.

We largely don't know when these people were made, but Valachi probably didn't either. Peter LaPlaca was close enough to Moretti to be listed on his WW2 draft card but was only made in 1946. Plus, there were guys like Anthony Saita who hadn't been mentioned until recently.

As for their jurisdiction, they seem to have been primarily in Essex county or just outside it in cities like Kearny or Union. Personally, I don't think that they had anyone in NYC, but we can't rule it out. They had a large presence in south Jersey but I don't know if any of their people were made

[B.]

If they were with Moretti rather than Newark, it still leaves those areas open pre-Moretti when these guys were coming of age around the mafia.

[JoelTurner]

That’s true, it’s possible that they associated with the nearest mafia group until Moretti showed up.

On the topic, here’s something interesting, Angelo LaPadura was Willie Moretti’s next door neighbor in 1930:



(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X48H-WLP)

[B.]

Good discovery. LaPadura likely had ties to Buffalo based on his heritage / associates and Moretti was "with" the Buffalo Family in the 1920s, with Paul Palmeri following Moretti to Passaic County much later. I'd guess the strong Caltanissetta/Enna community in that area had other connections to Buffalo be it familial or social.

[JoelTurner]

I had wondered how Moretti was basically able to show up in 1930 and join that Bergen/Passaic group so quickly. Maybe LaPadura, who was an already established figure, hooked him up. I really don't think that he took over an existing Masseria Family crew, I feel like he built up their Jersey presence himself.

I don't know much about Buffalo, but weren't they Castellammarese?

[B.]

More from Caltanissetta and Agrigento than Castellammare. However what we know of Moretti's relationships is that he was closest to the Castellammaresi:

- Worked with the Palmeris and Magaddinos in Niagara Falls.
- Sent by Magaddino to pick up Joe Bonanno when he arrived in the US.
- One of the Magaddino brothers taught him how to speak Italian (maybe dialect).
- Along with Palmeri joining him in NJ, a report before his death carries Antonino Magaddino as one of his associates.

Wouldn't be a surprise if he was made in Buffalo before NJ but nothing confirming it.

[Antiliar]

Some other names of interest:

Dominick Tetta (or Teta) of 270 Van Buren Street in Newark, was shot to death on Dec 22, 1930. He apparently was from New York and recently told friends he was "lining up some business across the river." He was an associate of Richard Boiardo and was found shot to death in the back of 79 Thompson Street in New York. In the NY Daily News it said he was 35 years old, which would make him born around 1895, but the NY Times said he had a police record going back to 1896 and his prison record began when he was 8 years old. The Asbury Park Press reported he was 46 (born in 1884) when he was killed and agrees with the NY Times article. He had a cousin named Patrick Tetta in Manhattan. He was also known as Thomas Tato and police believed his slaying was linked to that of Dominick "the Ape" Pacelli's. According to his death record he was 41 years old (born 1889) and born in the U.S. to Anthony Teto and Rose Maraullo. His wife was Josephine.

Samuel Guarino was the brother-in-law of Joe Masseria and lived with the Masserias in 1920. In 1930 he lived in Bergen County, NJ, with his wife Helen and three children. Salvatore Samuel Guarino was the son of James Guarino and was born on Nov 1, 1897. He married Helen Marino on July 2, 1921 or 1922 in Lodi. They separated in 1946 and divorced in 1959. Guarino was a construction foreman.

[JoelTurner]

Really interesting!

I was never able to find any records for Thomas Tato, if he was really Dominick Tetta it would explain why. After the famous peace banquet, Richie Boiardo identified him to the press as "Tom Tato, Al Capone's cousin". [In the Godfather Garden - P.70] I can see reporters picking up Dom Tetta as Tom Tato.

Timeline:

October 5-7 1930- Boiardo / Zwillman peace banquet

October 14 1930- Louis Figura, a Legs Diamond lieutenant rumored to have organized the peace banquet, is killed in Harrison

November 2 1930- Dominick "The Ape" Pacelli is shot and taken to a hospital by Benjamin Mangiaracina (43 Honiss St, Belleville)

November 3 1930- Dominick "The Ape" Pacelli is killed in the hospital

November 26 1930- Boiardo is shot

December 5 1930- Boiardo recovers and leaves the hospital

December 22 1930- Dominick Tetta/Thomas Tato, supposedly Al Capone's cousin, is killed; Boiardo is held in custody

February 4 1931~ The Maranzano family sends men (Valachi & co.) to help the Newark Family fight Boiardo

---------

It's important to remember that this mess was happening at the same time as the Castellammarese War. Capone would have been a captain in the Masseria family at the time.

Boiardo was in direct conflict with the Newark family, the Maranzano family, and Longy Zwillman's mob while likely having a poor relationship with the Masseria family. He somehow managed to antagonize both sides.

I don't know if the Pacelli thing was related to either Boiardo or the Newark family. It looks like it got a lot of publicity because of how sensational it was.

[JoelTurner]

Gaspare D’Amico was shot by his brother John D’Amico in August 1929.
(https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/525631851/)

They couldn’t have been that close if they were shooting each other. Maybe this explains why John was able to stay in Newark seemingly in good standing with the Profaci Family while Gaspare had move to Puerto Rico.

[B.]

Whoa. D'Amico seems to have upset a lot of people between 1929-1937.

[JoelTurner]

Yup, he seems to have had a bevy of problems in a short period.

- Shot by his brother.

- Killed Vincenzo Troia and Co. If the Vita group was with him, this was a large faction to have a beef with.

- Refused to carry out hits for Joe Profaci leading to his people doing it anyway and his own assassination attempt.

It isn’t know if he was involved in the Monaco/Russo murders or Steve Badami stepping down, but he seems to have gained the top spot after that affair.

[PolackTony]

Dominick Tetta (or Teta) of 270 Van Buren Street in Newark, was shot to death on Dec 22, 1930. He apparently was from New York and recently told friends he was "lining up some business across the river." He was an associate of Richard Boiardo and was found shot to death in the back of 79 Thompson Street in New York. In the NY Daily News it said he was 35 years old, which would make him born around 1895, but the NY Times said he had a police record going back to 1896 and his prison record began when he was 8 years old. The Asbury Park Press reported he was 46 (born in 1884) when he was killed and agrees with the NY Times article. He had a cousin named Patrick Tetta in Manhattan. He was also known as Thomas Tato and police believed his slaying was linked to that of Dominick "the Ape" Pacelli's. According to his death record he was 41 years old (born 1889) and born in the U.S. to Anthony Teto and Rose Maraullo. His wife was Josephine.

I had looked into “Tato” before and was unable to 100% confirm where his family was from, due to uncertainty over the original spelling of the surname (Tetto, Teto, Tetta, Teta, Tato, Titta, etc). My best guess was, that if it was actually Tetta, they were from the area around Aqualonia, Avellino. If so, interesting to note that the Fischettis were also Avellines’ and asserted to have been Capone’s “cousins” as well.

“Maraullo” is equally problematic (Marullo, Meraullo, Mauriello, etc). Interesting to note that “Marullo” is commonly a surname in Agrigento.

[JoelTurner]

I think this is the guys death record
(https://search.ancestry.ca/cgi-bin/sse. ... Q3LjcuMC4w)

If I have the right person, Dominick Tetta was from Potenza, Italy .
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W57C-L2T2)

[JoelTurner]

Here are some new names to throw into the the mix. Antonio Paterno was involved in killing a William Egan.




- There were only 2 people with that name in the area in the 1920 census: the future Gambino member matches
(https://www.familysearch.org/search/rec ... e.exact=on)

———————

The other guys involved were:

- Aflie/ Alfred / Alfio Carallo - other sources say he was 17
- Giuseppe Granetti
- Leonard Tartagba
- Anthony Scina

This was Anthony Scina’s draft card. I can’t tell what city he’s from, it looks like Paltono.
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... 3AKZJX-9VN)

I haven’t been able to find the others yet.

[B.]

Does look like Paltono but could be a mistranscription of Paterno, which is Antonio Paterno's hometown.