The Genovese & Eastern Palermo Province

[B.]

Thanks guys. Great additions.

Another I forgot about was Carmine Battaglia who came from Enna. Can't remember if it was the town of Castrogiovanni/Enna but he's another either way.

[JoelTurner]

Most of the above East Palermo people lived on the Lower East Side. The Lanza brothers lived there, so they may have originally been part of the Lower East Side crews. Michael Russo probably lived there originally.

Russo used to live at 29 Catherine St, NYC, NY this was right near the Lower East Side.

At his 1928 Cleveland meeting arrest, he was living in Iselin, NJ. In his 1932 John Bazzano murder arrest, he was in Pittsburgh, PA. By 1940, he was back in Iselin at 105 Ridgeley Ave, Iselin, NJ

[quadtree]

Thanks guys. Great additions.

Another I forgot about was Carmine Battaglia who came from Enna. Can't remember if it was the town of Castrogiovanni/Enna but he's another either way.

Battaglia is interesting and mysterious. Apparently, he was a member of the Genovese family, but was not loved, as if he were a stranger in this family. Pietro Campisi sponsored Battaglia in the LCN. Campisi may have been a member of the Newark family, thus Battaglia may have been a member of that family. But it has not yet been proven that there were other members of the Newark family from Caltanisetta/Enna. This family included a native of Corleone, Stefano Badami, so there could also have been natives of Caltanisetta. There is no evidence that Michael Russo was a member of Newark.

It is an interesting coincidence that Michael Russo was present at the murder of John Bazzano, and the killers were Casandros Bonasera and John Oddo, both from Caltanisetta/Enna. Why were they chosen? It is interesting what two natives of that region are doing in to the Palermitan Profaci family.

[quadtree]

Also present at the murder scene were Buffalo members Paul Palmieri and Sam DiCarlo. Bonasera, he was very close to Buffalo boss Giuseppe DiCarlo, and even married his daughter. It is alleged that Giuseppe DiCarlo was friends with Bonasera's father back in Sicily. So why did Bonasera join the DiBella/Profaci family and not Buffalo, Masseria or Reina?

Interestingly, Cassandros Bonasera originally lived in Manhattan, on Elizabeth Street, a familiar stronghold of the East Palermo/Caltanisetta natives. There are claims that Oddo and Bonasera worked for Yale, this may be a false report since according to the police and newspapers everyone worked for Yale in the 1920s. But if this is true, they could have started with the Masseria family, which is plausible given their origins, and after the murder of Yale, for some reason they transferred to the DiBella family.

It is also interesting that Oddo and Bonasera supposedly killed Carmelo Peraino on the orders of Manfredi Mineo. Why did they kill the son of an influential member of the Colombo family on the orders of the boss of the Gambino family? Despite the fact that at least part of the family (Giuseppe Profaci) was neutral or even opposed to Masseria-Mineo. Could this indicate that they were by then working for the Masseria faction? Or were they even members of this family? Could their origin have influenced this? Everything about Mineo is a complete mystery.

Giuseppe Peraino, Carmelo's father, was allegedly killed on Anastasia's orders. It is alleged that Anastasia ordered Anthony Peraino, Giuseppe's son, to leave New York. Peraino returned to New York only after Anastasia's murder. Why would the Calabrians of the Gambino family kill a member of a supposedly neutral family? Anastasia was also an ally of Masseria. If Anastasia acted on Mineo's orders, Mineo had a grudge against Peraino. Anyone have any thoughts on this mysterious conflict in Brooklyn?

[JoelTurner]

Battaglia is interesting and mysterious. Apparently, he was a member of the Genovese family, but was not loved, as if he were a stranger in this family. Pietro Campisi sponsored Battaglia in the LCN. Campisi may have been a member of the Newark family, thus Battaglia may have been a member of that family. But it has not yet been proven that there were other members of the Newark family from Caltanisetta/Enna. This family included a native of Corleone, Stefano Badami, so there could also have been natives of Caltanisetta. There is no evidence that Michael Russo was a member of Newark.

In Jun 1936, Battaglia jointly sponsored flags with Ralph Belvedere. I previously theorized that his connection to Belvedere was how he landed with Genovese after the Newark Family broke up.

Aside from being the only ex-Newark member to land with the Genovese (as far as I can tell), Battaglia's pretty interesting. He had close ties to the Philadelphia family but they seem to have been with top mainland members like Joe Bruno or Anthony Caponigro.

Another Newark Family member from Battaglia's hometown of Gagliano Castelferrato was future Lucchese capo Anthony "Ham" Dolasco. He grew up one house away (196 Bruce St, Newark, NJ) from Battaglia's maternal uncle Matteo Parisi (200 Bruce St, Newark, NJ)

[JoelTurner]

NJ member Emilio Lazzara's father was from Petralia Sottana and his mother was from Butera, Caltanissetta

[B.]

Tony found a strong cadidate for Salvatore DeMarco that points to the Genovese Family DeMarcos coming from Cefalu and Collesano. If that's them, Collesano shows up yet again this time with a slightly older guy than the ones mentioned in this thread. Cefalu is of course part of this geography as well. The DeMarcos associated with Cacciatore and the Dolces who had heritage in Lercara Friddi.

Random note, but seems pretty clear Frank Sinatra was on record with the Genovese Family and his heritage was in Lercara Friddi. It must be a coincidence but interesting he went with a group that included his paesans and their ancestral neighbors, especially given the NJ faction included elements from this area as this thread highlights.

[JoelTurner]

Vincent Pollina (Sep 7 1917 - Feb 23 1990) fits this:

His father Benny was from Baucina, Palermo, Sicily and his mother Josephine Zafarana was from Polizzi Generosa, Palermo, Sicily

He grew up in NYC but was a Connecticut-based member, likely in John “Buster” Ardito’s crew

[B.]

Another good addition.

Speaking of Baucina, interesting that Vinnie Mauro ended up with the Lapi crew later on alongside other guys mentioned in this thread.