B. wrote: ↑Thu Nov 09, 2023 10:26 am
Wiseguy is correct. Beatings are still common, some of them vicious, while murders are of course extremely rare.
I've said before that in today's world these beatings are probably more effective given we live in a much softer world, far less fighting among young guys, so the idea of getting beaten has a different meaning today and the legal repercussions aren't as bad.
If we are talking strictly United States then yes. In Canada, where there is La Cosa Nostra (Hamilton/Montreal), Cosa Nostra (Sicilian faction) (Toronto/Montreal), the murders are very very common. This will continue for a very long time.
Yeah, we are talking about New York / New Jersey.
Murder is obviously very common in Canada and alleged members of the Bonanno, Buffalo, and Los Angeles Families have been killed there.
B. wrote: ↑Thu Nov 09, 2023 10:26 am
Wiseguy is correct. Beatings are still common, some of them vicious, while murders are of course extremely rare.
I've said before that in today's world these beatings are probably more effective given we live in a much softer world, far less fighting among young guys, so the idea of getting beaten has a different meaning today and the legal repercussions aren't as bad.
If we are talking strictly United States then yes. In Canada, where there is La Cosa Nostra (Hamilton/Montreal), Cosa Nostra (Sicilian faction) (Toronto/Montreal), the murders are very very common. This will continue for a very long time.
Yeah, we are talking about New York / New Jersey.
Murder is obviously very common in Canada and alleged members of the Bonanno, Buffalo, and Los Angeles Families have been killed there.
Right.
As far as living in a "softer" world, i think were headed into a more violent era in general with the increase of political instability and all the wars going on. It influences every subset of human sub consciously.
I think were still in store for murders in NY and New Jersey in the future. Albeit not directly inter family murder related, the recent murders of Zottola and the connected loan shark (forget his name) can fall under the sphere of mafia influence.
A Sicilian Mafia member but also an associate? I wonder what’s going on with that? He’s a member over in Italy but he’s an associate here? Is he trying to become a made guy with the Gambino’s? I know the Gambino’s have Sicilian ties but I haven’t heard of something like this before
Little_Al1991 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 09, 2023 11:34 am
A Sicilian Mafia member but also an associate? I wonder what’s going on with that? He’s a member over in Italy but he’s an associate here? Is he trying to become a made guy with the Gambino’s? I know the Gambino’s have Sicilian ties but I haven’t heard of something like this before
Post from earlier in the thread:
B. wrote: ↑Wed Nov 08, 2023 10:22 pm
Notice how the indictment says Vito Rappa (son of Borgetto boss) is a Sicilian mafia member and Gambino associate. If a guy doesn't transfer, he is still a made guy with his Sicilian Family but is on record with an American Family. He is respected and maybe even recognized as a made member but he still belongs to the Sicilian Family and has to be represented by the local Family he is "with".
Sal Lombardo is a good example. He was a made member of the Montelepre Family who lived in NYC where he was a Gambino associate then it was arranged for his boss in Montelepre to write a traditional letter of transfer so he could formally join the Gambinos, same way it was done over 100 years ago.
Some guys transfer and many guys don't but they are all represented by a local Family. Based on that text message it sounds like Rappa was encouraging the Gambinos to make certain people so he was definitely seen as a peer by the members.
Sicilian mafia members are supposed to be on record with an American Family unless they transfer, which requires the approval of both bosses, at which point they're officially a member of the American Family.
Sicilian members are still respected as members but need an American Family to represent them. Example is Roberto Settineri who belongs to Santa Maria di Gesu and had a dispute in Florida with the Colombo Family so Gaetano Napoli had to fly down and represent him as Settineri was a Sicilian mafioso associated with the Gambinos.
When they say someone is a Sicilian member and a Gambino associate, they don't mean he's a common associate or flunky, they mean he is formally associated with the Gambino Family while also being a member of the Sicilian mafia. That's who represents him as even though he's a full-fledged Cosa Nostra member they have to respect the American mafia's jurisdiction.
The arrest of Francesco Rappa says he turned 81 in September which matches heroin trafficker Francesco Rappa who lived in Queens and associated with the Gambinos in the 1970s/80s, as he was also born in September of 1942. An Italian article also says it is the same guy. I wasn't sure before but this confirms it.
Rappa was listed as a Gambino soldier in that 1980s NJ Senate Hearing report but there are other member identification errors and it looks like Francesco was a Borgetto member affiliated with the Gambinos when he lived here, much like his son.
Last edited by B. on Thu Nov 09, 2023 12:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
CabriniGreen wrote: ↑Thu Nov 09, 2023 9:49 amGood point. But one has to ask about the viability of that type of extortion in 2023.
I mean hell, they might be better off doing it anonymous like the Black Hand if they are just going to run into the Feds. For FOUR grand...
Keep in mind that that extortion of $4k is just an example of that which made it into the indictment. When these guys are engaging in their bread and butter rackets, which include extortion in the construction, demolition and trucking industries, not every extortion (or the money involved) is going to end up in an eventual indictment. We also have to remember that, if they wanted to do business on the up and up and not resort to thuggish tactics when necessary, they probably wouldn't be in the mob to begin with.
B. wrote: ↑Thu Nov 09, 2023 12:20 pm
The arrest of Francesco Rappa says he turned 81 in September which matches heroin trafficker Francesco Rappa who lived in Queens and associated with the Gambinos in the 1970s/80s, as he was also born in September of 1942. An Italian article also says it is the same guy. I wasn't sure before but this confirms it.
Rappa was listed as a Gambino soldier in that 1980s NJ Senate Hearing report but there are other member identification errors and it looks like Francesco was a Borgetto member affiliated with the Gambinos when he lived here, much like his son.
Adding to this, Vito Rappa runs pizzerias including one in NJ much as his father did when he lived here. His pizzerias are called Francesco Pizzeria.
Here is Vito Rappa in 2011:
A lot more photos of him on the pizzeria's website, including one with Steve Van Zandt:
Very involved in the community. Raised 40,000 to help a neighborhood fruit vendor who was having supply problems. Referred to as the "mayor" of his neighborhood.
Seems he's spent much of his life in the US going back to when he was a young kid. Wonder if he lived back in Sicily for a period or basically just went back there to get made.
Little_Al1991 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 09, 2023 11:34 am
A Sicilian Mafia member but also an associate? I wonder what’s going on with that? He’s a member over in Italy but he’s an associate here? Is he trying to become a made guy with the Gambino’s? I know the Gambino’s have Sicilian ties but I haven’t heard of something like this before
Post from earlier in the thread:
B. wrote: ↑Wed Nov 08, 2023 10:22 pm
Notice how the indictment says Vito Rappa (son of Borgetto boss) is a Sicilian mafia member and Gambino associate. If a guy doesn't transfer, he is still a made guy with his Sicilian Family but is on record with an American Family. He is respected and maybe even recognized as a made member but he still belongs to the Sicilian Family and has to be represented by the local Family he is "with".
Sal Lombardo is a good example. He was a made member of the Montelepre Family who lived in NYC where he was a Gambino associate then it was arranged for his boss in Montelepre to write a traditional letter of transfer so he could formally join the Gambinos, same way it was done over 100 years ago.
Some guys transfer and many guys don't but they are all represented by a local Family. Based on that text message it sounds like Rappa was encouraging the Gambinos to make certain people so he was definitely seen as a peer by the members.
Sicilian mafia members are supposed to be on record with an American Family unless they transfer, which requires the approval of both bosses, at which point they're officially a member of the American Family.
Sicilian members are still respected as members but need an American Family to represent them. Example is Roberto Settineri who belongs to Santa Maria di Gesu and had a dispute in Florida with the Colombo Family so Gaetano Napoli had to fly down and represent him as Settineri was a Sicilian mafioso associated with the Gambinos.
When they say someone is a Sicilian member and a Gambino associate, they don't mean he's a common associate or flunky, they mean he is formally associated with the Gambino Family while also being a member of the Sicilian mafia. That's who represents him as even though he's a full-fledged Cosa Nostra member they have to respect the American mafia's jurisdiction.
B. wrote: ↑Thu Nov 09, 2023 12:20 pm
The arrest of Francesco Rappa says he turned 81 in September which matches heroin trafficker Francesco Rappa who lived in Queens and associated with the Gambinos in the 1970s/80s, as he was also born in September of 1942. An Italian article also says it is the same guy. I wasn't sure before but this confirms it.
Rappa was listed as a Gambino soldier in that 1980s NJ Senate Hearing report but there are other member identification errors and it looks like Francesco was a Borgetto member affiliated with the Gambinos when he lived here, much like his son.
Adding to this, Vito Rappa runs pizzerias including one in NJ much as his father did when he lived here. His pizzerias are called Francesco Pizzeria.
Here is Vito Rappa in 2011:
A lot more photos of him on the pizzeria's website, including one with Steve Van Zandt:
Very involved in the community. Raised 40,000 to help a neighborhood fruit vendor who was having supply problems. Referred to as the "mayor" of his neighborhood.
Seems he's spent much of his life in the US going back to when he was a young kid. Wonder if he lived back in Sicily for a period or basically just went back there to get made.
