Some DeCavalcante Family Info (1980s-1990s)

[HairyKnuckles]

Antiliar, here´s my guess:

Salvatore Cammarata - Profaci
John Misuraca - Profaci
Arthur Misuraca - Profaci
Andrew Lombardino - Profaci

Antonio Paterno - Mangano

Sam Accardi - Gagliano
Joe Abate - Gagliano
Benny Pizzolato - Gagliano
Lenny Pizzolato - Gagliano

I think most of them went with Luciano, but it´s neraly impossible to say who because Willy Moretti already had a crew in NJ.

Tony Riela apparently was a nephew of Vincenzo Troia, the guy who was murdered in 1935.

[Pogo The Clown]

I believe Emanuele Riggi (John's father) and Francesco DeCavalcante (Sam's father) were also members of this family before they ended up with the Elizabeth family. Were Nick Delmore and Phil Amari with Newark before they ended up with Elizabeth?


Pogo

[HairyKnuckles]

Were Nick Delmore and Phil Amari with Newark before they ended up with Elizabeth?

That´s a good question. Antiliar or B may know.

Do we have an accurate succession line of bosses for these two Families?

[Pogo The Clown]

Here is a list of the known and possible members of the Newark family that was posted on the old forum. Unfortunately I forgot who originally posted it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Members:
Joseph Accardo - ?
Settimo "Big Sam" Accardo - ?
Carmine Battaglia - ?
Stefano Bedami - Boss - Forced down In 1931.
Emmanuale Cammarata - Placed with the Profaci family in the late 1930s.
Pietro Campisi - ?
Gaspare "Mustache Pete" D'Amico - Boss - Retired or forced to step down.
Michael Lascari - ?
Andrew Lombardino - Placed with the Profaci family.
Salvatore Lombardino - Placed with the Profaci family.
John Misuraca - ?
Salvatore "Sam" Monaco - Killed in 1931 - Possibly the UnderBoss or a Capo.
Luis “Louie” Russo - Killed in 1931 with Monaco - Possibly an UnderBoss or Capo.
Michael Russo - ?
Aniello Santagata - ?
Angelo Speciale - ? - A Profaci Soldier based in Jersey. Could have been with the Newark family.
Vincenzo “Vince” Troia - Killed in 1935. Possibly Consiglieri.
Peter Lombardino - ?
Salvatore Cammarata (1884-1972) - ?
Stefano Badami - Boss - Demoted 1931-32.
Gaspare D'Amico - Boss - Retired 1937 [ survived shooting ].
Sam Monaco - U/Boss - Killed 1931.
Filippo Amari - Capo [Elizabeth].
Vincenzo Troia - Capo - Killed 1935.
Sam Accardi - Capo.
Peter Giallombardo - Capo / Sol.
Louis Russo - Capo / Sol. - Killed 1931.
Joseph Accardi - Sol.
Carmine Battaglia - Sol.
Emanuele Cammarata - Sol.
Pietro Campisi - Sol.
Francesco DeCavalcante - Sol.
Nicolo Delmore - Sol.
Andrew Lombardino - Sol.
Salvatore Lombardino - Sol.
Francesco Longo - Sol. - Killed 1935.
Benjamin Pizzolato - Sol.
Anthony Riela - Sol.
Emanuele Riggi - Sol.
Michael Russo - Sol.
Aniello Santagata - Sol.

[Rocco]

The guy opening the trunk has way too much hair to be Abramo. Abramo was bald.


Pogo

Your right. But defiantly doesn't look like Jimmy Gallo. Jimmy was from Redhook. But he was a very well known guy even to guys in the Lucheses, Gambino, Genovese and Licatas crew in the Belleville Newark area. He was known as fuckin crazy really...maybe that is why he got along with Casso so well. THey were both fuckin nutts. ! lol

[felice]

About Frank Polizzi:

His mother is definitely born San Giuseppe Jato and she had surname Brusca. I would be surprised if she's not related to those Brusca's. I never managed to find out where his father Salvatore is from. Probably it is also Jato but I cannot confirm it. His sister is married to a Badalamenti and I highly suspect he is nephew of Don Tanu.

Some people said Riela was his uncle. There were some Riela's in the Mafia of San Giuseppe Jato in 1920s but I still couldn't find any Polizzi references there. It could be Riela was a cousin of one of the Parents or maybe even further related.

yes polizzi and giovanni brusca were cousins. brusca came in the usa in th 80s for a vacation and polizzi took care of him introducing him to several mobsters in new jersey and florida. brusca said he was impressed to see that most of the usa members were from agrigento province, indeed both decavalcante and trafficante families are mainly made of guys from agrigento area

[toto]

About Frank Polizzi:

His mother is definitely born San Giuseppe Jato and she had surname Brusca. I would be surprised if she's not related to those Brusca's. I never managed to find out where his father Salvatore is from. Probably it is also Jato but I cannot confirm it. His sister is married to a Badalamenti and I highly suspect he is nephew of Don Tanu.

Some people said Riela was his uncle. There were some Riela's in the Mafia of San Giuseppe Jato in 1920s but I still couldn't find any Polizzi references there. It could be Riela was a cousin of one of the Parents or maybe even further related.

yes polizzi and giovanni brusca were cousins. brusca came in the usa in th 80s for a vacation and polizzi took care of him introducing him to several mobsters in new jersey and florida. brusca said he was impressed to see that most of the usa members were from agrigento province, indeed both decavalcante and trafficante families are mainly made of guys from agrigento area

I guess his mother was older sister of Bernardo. I remember Brusca mentioned shock at how openly they talked in America even in front of girls.

[B.]

I've never seen anything to indicate Frank DeCavalcante, Emanuele Riggi, or any other future DeCavalcante members were part of the Newark family. DeCavalcante lived in North Jersey, then moved his family to Trenton, where Sam hooked up with John Simone and got proposed by Joe Bruno for the Philly family. Frank DeCavalcante knocked it down and proposed Sam into the Elizabeth family, with all of this taking place in the 1940's. Emanuele Riggi was involved in getting Local 394 set up in Elizabeth and was very low-key, possibly legitimate except for union corruption. If not for their sons, we might not even know about either of them.

Like I mentioned, the informant in Peterstown claimed that Phil Amari moved to Elizabeth from NYC in the 1920's and other Riberesi followed him there, leading to the formation of the family. The Ribera club was formed in Elizabeth in 1923, which is a sign to me that the family already existed there at that time. They were completely unknown to LE until the 1950's, and even then little was known until the DeCavalcante tapes gave a bit more context. They seem to have always kept their membership small, with relatively few associates. They were involved in loansharking, gambling, bootlegging, and some other typical activities, but they never set their sights on anything too big, preferring to focus on their unions.

There is no doubt that Amari was instrumental in getting things going in Elizabeth, but I don't think he was necessarily the first boss or founder of the family. Rotondo didn't pull Bacino's name out of a hat, but if Bacino was an early boss, there are really only two possibilites:
1) Bacino was the boss as a very young man during his brief stay on the east coast before he moved to Illinois.
2) Bacino ran the family remotely from Illinois.

Number two is more likely to me. This family has always been closeknit even by mob standards and geography doesn't seem to have played a big role. People who buy into the "Real Sopranos" hype have talked about the "NY faction" of the family, but it's been clear that members from both places have been part of the core since the beginning. Even the CT faction was right in the thick of things, with Joe LaSelva often visiting Jersey and being a respected and well-known figure among the membership of both their family and even other families operating in NJ.

We know that the family didn't have any real lines drawn between members in NJ, NY, CT, and apparently even Ribera, so it isn't insane to me to think that the same would apply to Illinois. I've learned that Bacino's descendants in Illinois are still in contact with some well-known surnames in Elizabeth, so it's possible to me that Bacino visited the east coast regularly and visited the Elizabeth group. We know he visited Ribera (where his brother Luciano was a local made member) and met with DeCavalcante members there, including Phil Amari. Geography seems to have meant very little to Ribera mafiosi and though we've heard of some little flare-ups, there wasn't a lot of in-fighting. I believe most of these families, including the Bacinos, go back many generations together and there was a degree of loyalty among them that would have put even the Bonanno family to shame in their Castellammarese heyday.

Some have said that Stefano Badami was the boss of the family and that Amari took it over from him, but I can't imagine where that comes from. I believe Jerry Capeci said it in his "Mafia for Dummies" book, but Jerry Capeci is hardly a reputable source on the history of the DeCavalcante family. I know of no connections between Badami and the Elizabeth group.

My opinion, and this is a complete guess obviously, is that the family began as an extension of the Ribera family and they eventually set up their own hierarchy in the US as they became more solidified. There were of course non-Ribersi members and maybe even non-Sicilians as it went but you just can't escape the Ribera core of this group. Maybe LoLordo was the leader of it beforre Bacino. It's all a mystery really, just trying to get it together piece by elusive piece.

[Antiliar]

Joe Valachi talked about Stefano Badami, or "Don Steve" as he called him, but I forgot if he said he was Elizabeth or Newark. I think most conclude he was the Elizabeth boss since Gaspare D'Amico was the Newark boss at the time.

[HairyKnuckles]

Joe Valachi talked about Stefano Badami, or "Don Steve" as he called him, but I forgot if he said he was Elizabeth or Newark. I think most conclude he was the Elizabeth boss since Gaspare D'Amico was the Newark boss at the time.

So, where does Vincenzo Troia fit in? He must have been the boss of the Newark Family? According to Gentile, during the Castellammarese war, Troia was considered for the boss of bosses position after Masseria showed that he was willling to step down. Maranzano of course undermined Troia and accused him of some wrongdoing. My point is, Troia must have been a boss to even be considered for that position.

[B.]

Joe Valachi talked about Stefano Badami, or "Don Steve" as he called him, but I forgot if he said he was Elizabeth or Newark. I think most conclude he was the Elizabeth boss since Gaspare D'Amico was the Newark boss at the time.

Wasn't that when Maranzano sent him over there to fight Boiardo in 1930?

I don't really know the Newark family history, only that Russo, Monaco, Troia, and D'Amico all held positions at various times, but I thought Badami was affiliated with them. According to Limey, Badami was killed by Sam Monaco's brother in 1955, which if true, is a possible Newark connection.

Does Valachi specifically say Badami was a boss? The title Don might not mean he was the boss, though I do wonder if he was the Newark boss before the others. He came to the US in 1927, so it wouldn't give him that long of a run. He had been born in 1888 but I don't know where in Sicily. Any ideas?

[Antiliar]

Some guys became bosses as soon as they came over (or very nearly), like Manfredi Mineo, so he could be one them. Judging by immigration records it looks like he came from Corleone. It also looks like he lived in Newark, not Elizabeth. Valachi said that Badami was the boss of the Newark Family and that Sam Monica (Monaco) was the UB. Badami's closest associates were Joseph and Sam Accardi as well as Monaco. It's on pages 235-236 of Organized Crime and Illicit Traffic in Narcotics (The McClellan Senate Hearings, AKA the Valachi Hearings).

[Antiliar]

Joe Valachi talked about Stefano Badami, or "Don Steve" as he called him, but I forgot if he said he was Elizabeth or Newark. I think most conclude he was the Elizabeth boss since Gaspare D'Amico was the Newark boss at the time.

So, where does Vincenzo Troia fit in? He must have been the boss of the Newark Family? According to Gentile, during the Castellammarese war, Troia was considered for the boss of bosses position after Masseria showed that he was willling to step down. Maranzano of course undermined Troia and accused him of some wrongdoing. My point is, Troia must have been a boss to even be considered for that position.

I'm not sure how accurate Gentile was there since it doesn't fit with what we know. Troia was undoubtedly a powerful guy and a respected guy, but there's no evidence that he was ever an actual boss in Rockford or Newark. He may have tried to take over Newark before he was killed in 1935, but obviously that's several years after the C-War. We know that Masseria did step aside and was replaced by Gaspare Messina of Boston.

[Angelo Santino]

Joe Valachi talked about Stefano Badami, or "Don Steve" as he called him, but I forgot if he said he was Elizabeth or Newark. I think most conclude he was the Elizabeth boss since Gaspare D'Amico was the Newark boss at the time.

So, where does Vincenzo Troia fit in? He must have been the boss of the Newark Family? According to Gentile, during the Castellammarese war, Troia was considered for the boss of bosses position after Masseria showed that he was willling to step down. Maranzano of course undermined Troia and accused him of some wrongdoing. My point is, Troia must have been a boss to even be considered for that position.

I'm not sure how accurate Gentile was there since it doesn't fit with what we know. Troia was undoubtedly a powerful guy and a respected guy, but there's no evidence that he was ever an actual boss in Rockford or Newark. He may have tried to take over Newark before he was killed in 1935, but obviously that's several years after the C-War. We know that Masseria did step aside and was replaced by Gaspare Messina of Boston.

.
That is true regarding Troia but the suggestion that he form a commission after Masseria's murder does raise the possibility. But at the same token, Gentile who was never a boss for very long did sit on some commission groups at various points on the general assembly. And I believe Troia was well known and traveled in Palermo, he was mentioned by Allegra was he not? Did we ever verify if the Vincenzo Troia's were the same man?

Masseria is said to have taken Mafia politics by storm following D'Aquila's murder: he was trying to influence Chicago, the Bonannos, Gambinos, Lucchese and arguably Detroit. For Masseria to have been stripped of his Boss of Bosses title and allowing/being powerless to do anything gives a window as to where things stood in Dec of 1930. This was after Morello, Mineo, Ferrigno were all murdered. Messina was set up to be Provisional until the war was settled. But after it was settled, everyone had to have known, it was blatantly obvious that Maranzano wanted to be BOB, so why Troia's name was thrown out there is just one of those mysteries we'll never solve.

[Pogo The Clown]

Masseria is said to have taken Mafia politics by storm following D'Aquila's murder: he was trying to influence Chicago, the Bonannos, Gambinos, Lucchese and arguably Detroit.

Masseria's the Boss of all Bosses. I respect him.


Pogo