General Mob Questions

[HairyKnuckles]

I have always heard that Carlo Gambino had the Commission close the books roughly starting (to my knowledge) in 1957-1975. My question is this: how strict was that rule because Nino Gaggi, Christopher Furnari, and Gennaro Langella were all inducted during that "closed books" period?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The general information on these guys say they were made during a time when the books were closed. But that information is incorrect. Both Gaggi and Furnari were made when the books were open in the 1950s and Langella was made in or around 1977. When the books are closed, that means no one is getting in. However, the smaller Families were allowed to make new members if the Commission granted them to. The New Orleans Family for example, asked for permission during a Mafia meeting in connection to the famous La Stella incident, according to informant. Carmine Persico took advantage of a weak Commission in 1972 and made sure that his brother Allie Boy became a member of one of the smaller Families and arranged for his transfer to the Colombo Family. Not sure how the other bosses looked upon this move but apparently Allie Boy´s induction and transfer was regarded as valid.

The books were open again in January 1976 when the NY Families were allowed to make 10 new members. New inductions where then held after that and loads of new guys were made.

[ChicagoOutfit]

Hey guys, I've always wondered who determined or set the cap for the 5 families? Number of soldiers for each fam, was it Lucky? And when was it set?

Thanks

Any more information on this? Any excerpts from some books, or statements from those 'in the know?'

How did they decide on the the amount of members each family should have? Were the smaller families accepting of having a smaller amount of members? I read about this in the "5 Families" book and not much more was explained (at least as far as I've read) about how these caps were set and why they decided the Genevese & Gambino families were allowed to have larger #s than the others. Was it due to the relative powers of the bosses at the time the caps were set?

Thanks to anyone that can shed anymore light on this.

(1st post, not a troll. Only attempting to contribute in a positive manner)

[ChicagoOutfit]

Something I've never fully grasped. Is the "American Mafia" referred to by members as "Cosa Nostra" or "La Cosa Nostra?" I've read a couple things indicating that the US Government/Law Enforcement added the "La" to the front of Cosa Nostra.

Sources are Wikipedia so take that with a grain of salt.


"The FBI even added the article La to the term, calling it La Cosa Nostra (in Italy, the article la is not used when referring to the Sicilian Mafia)."

(Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valachi_hearings)


"The organization is often referred to by members as Cosa Nostra (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkɔsa ˈnɔstra], our thing) and by the government as La Cosa Nostra (LCN)"

(Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Mafia)

Because unless I'm mistaken "la" means "the," so saying "The 'Our Thing'" or "The 'This Thing of Ours'" does not make any sense.

I've never heard the turncoats/informants, etc. on interviews refer to 'Our Thing'/The Life as La Cosa Nostra. Usually they say just Cosa Nostra.

However, I've heard Michael Franzeze on TV refer to it as "La Cosa Nostra" instead of just Cosa Nostra. Is this life imitating art (or news coverage and the Feds saying LCN)? Or is it since he retired so maybe the Feds told to now refer to it as LCN? To my knowledge he's the only made guy that I've heard refer to Cosa Nostra as La Cosa Nostra. I could be mistaken though.

I appreciate if anyone is able to clear this up for me.

[gohnjotti]

Something I've never fully grasped. Is the "American Mafia" referred to by members as "Cosa Nostra" or "La Cosa Nostra?" I've read a couple things indicating that the US Government/Law Enforcement added the "La" to the front of Cosa Nostra.

Sources are Wikipedia so take that with a grain of salt.


"The FBI even added the article La to the term, calling it La Cosa Nostra (in Italy, the article la is not used when referring to the Sicilian Mafia)."

(Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valachi_hearings)


"The organization is often referred to by members as Cosa Nostra (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkɔsa ˈnɔstra], our thing) and by the government as La Cosa Nostra (LCN)"

(Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Mafia)

Because unless I'm mistaken "la" means "the," so saying "The 'Our Thing'" or "The 'This Thing of Ours'" does not make any sense.

I've never heard the turncoats/informants, etc. on interviews refer to 'Our Thing'/The Life as La Cosa Nostra. Usually they say just Cosa Nostra.

However, I've heard Michael Franzeze on TV refer to it as "La Cosa Nostra" instead of just Cosa Nostra. Is this life imitating art (or news coverage and the Feds saying LCN)? Or is it since he retired so maybe the Feds told to now refer to it as LCN? To my knowledge he's the only made guy that I've heard refer to Cosa Nostra as La Cosa Nostra. I could be mistaken though.

I appreciate if anyone is able to clear this up for me.

The FBI coined the term I think with Joe Valachi. It was originally because J. Edgar Hoover had denied the existence of the Mafia for years so when Joe Kennedy forced him to announce it, he sheepishly said there was a big criminal threat called "La Cosa Nostra" - he never mentioned the Mafia. However, I've heard multiple informants or mobsters on wiretaps call it La Cosa Nostra. They probably hear it being called that by the media and feds so much it gets ingrained in their heads. One wiretap comes to mind, famous one with John Gotti saying "it's La Cosa Nostra till I die" over and over.

[bronx]

gotti says ah cosa nostra , not la..listen closely

[johnny_scootch]

How did they decide on the the amount of members each family should have? Were the smaller families accepting of having a smaller amount of members?

When they decided to institute a cap the cap itself was set at whatever amount of members the families had at that time.

[Lupara]

gotti says ah cosa nostra , not la..listen closely

That's what I heard as well.

[ChicagoOutfit]

gotti says ah cosa nostra , not la..listen closely

You're correct...he clearly says 'a costa nostra til I die.'

[bronx]

gravano is out today..rumor has it

[Frank]

I guess the don't kill these rats now a days because it will bring more heat on them

[Confederate]

I guess the don't kill these rats now a days because it will bring more heat on them

In many cases, I don't think they have the power to kill anybody anymore and get away with it.
Take Chicago, They absolutely don't kill any informants anymore. From what I read, the last guy to disappear was in 2006.
Frank Calabrese's kid drives around the City and has book signings at book stores. LOL

[FriendofFamily]

Here is one that I ran across frequently in the Sicilian Club and the other Italian American Clubs:

Pissing all over a bunch of coins in the urinal. I know that at the Akron Sicilian Club in Ohio there was a mountain of Coins in the Urinal.

So is there anybody you know that took them out to pay for a drink?

Anybody have to Clean the Urinals out that you knew?

What is the History behind it? Like Coins in the Spittoon from the Saloons?

Did the Coins turn Color?

Weird things to remember at the Club....

[FriendofHenry]

Back in the day I had my bus-boys clean the restrooms after we closed every night. They asked me if it was ok for them to keep whatever coins they found in the urinals. Of course it was ok as long as they wore rubber gloves. They also found little plastic bags and square pieces of what appeared to be freezer paper. Maybe someone could tell me what they were used for

[Villain]

Back in the day I had my bus-boys clean the restrooms after we closed every night. They asked me if it was ok for them to keep whatever coins they found in the urinals. Of course it was ok as long as they wore rubber gloves. They also found little plastic bags and square pieces of what appeared to be freezer paper. Maybe someone could tell me what they were used for

Dope?

[FriendofHenry]

Back in the day I had my bus-boys clean the restrooms after we closed every night. They asked me if it was ok for them to keep whatever coins they found in the urinals. Of course it was ok as long as they wore rubber gloves. They also found little plastic bags and square pieces of what appeared to be freezer paper. Maybe someone could tell me what they were used for

Dope?

Ya think I got really lucky back in the day and went from the best place to eat into the best place party after 10pm.
We had to restrict entry on Wednesday and Friday nights because the crowds would far exceed our capacity
When we cleaned up after we closed we would find lots of snow-seals and different color little zip-locks. Ya Dope for sure