Early NY questions without answers.

[Angelo Santino]

Just another shooting the shit post, I'm curious what questions others have.

1) Capo Dei Capi... As far as I know, there was no equivalent of this role in Sicily in the 1890's. Instead you had a Capo Supremo, a sorta City-wide boss of bosses with political restrictions but no island ruler. I wonder when this title first appeared in the American Mafia. I would hasten to guess, if it existed prior to 1890, then he was in New Orleans, after that NY. The first we have is Nick Taranto in the 1890's, followed by a gap from 1895 until 1897-1902 when Morello was first identified as a boss and later on Boss of Bosses.

2) Sciaccatani... The first Family was the Gambino Family, established no later than 1870's, mostly of Palermitans' (due to external immigration factors). Presumably if a member from Sciacca arrived in NYC when there was only a single family he'd have to get "transferred" in order to operate in the city long term. I don't know when they first began arriving but by the end of 1910 they were a thriving faction. My question is why didn't they split off into their own faction, as opposed to two Palermitan-dominated groups which is what happened. This question possibly points to the answer why Lupo's Palermitan Family was split into two overlapping segments.

3) Who was Boss of the Gambinos from 1895 to 1902? Tarato was incarcerated and cited as the "head of the Mafia in this country" and the next identified Palermitan boss is Lupo in 1902. There were guys during that time which show continuity but as to who the boss was is a missing tooth.

4) Was Antonino Governale the founding Bonanno boss or was he just a padrone responsible for bringing over Bonanno's premier members.

5) Did Philadelphia begin as one single group or were several groups around and later merged by the end of 1920?

6) Just who in fuck is Che Gusae? - This question brings out my inner Dan.

7) Is the fact that the Colombos kept it to Brooklyn and Long Island until the 60's a simple coincidence or an earlier arrangement made with D'Aquila to presumably end the 1913 war?

8) What was the 1913 war about? The two murders and one attempt were all D'Aquila members, no one else from any other Family until Lo Monte was killed 6 months later.

9) Who was Frank Yale's earliest direct connections? He was referred by one informant as a "direct lieutenant of Lupo" (who at that point has spent the previous 11 years in Atlanta federal prison. Yale was constantly around Masseria, Dyke, Morello and the Terranovas by 1922. D'Aquila member Salvatore Mangiapane aka Armone (not sure if there's a connection) had to keep his business with Yale on the downlow due to the Genovese-Gambino war of 1921-1923.

10) Just how deep and significant was the Castellammarese War at the local level? We've already discerned that it was strategic hits and not weekly St Valentines Day Massacres. When the Bonannos and Luccheses struck, they didn't announce it, it took time for everyone to understand what was going on. Drawing back to both the Second and First Mafia wars, there's the Yale-Mangiapane relationship in 21 and Clemente with lower East Side Gambinos in 1913, they weren't drawn into the think of it like those close to the admin or the recruits of 1930 for the war. I could imagine there were inter-family neutralists in pockets of Manhattan, especially in East Village with mafiosi of different affiliations had they all shot each other would have ended like Reservoir Dogs on E 13th.

11) By 1920 was every NY Family on par with each other in regards to structure? I could see a smaller family like the Colombos not having captains or maybe another family had no consig. I could definitely see crews/regimes being different based on Family with the Gens having large crews with semi-autonomous captains whereas the Bonannos maybe had smaller crews with members more closely affiliated/relying upon the Boss. It's complete speculation.

12) Why did the last sanctioned Family Split in NY occur in 1912? Given that the mafia in Sicily was organized locally, it was based rather on personal affiliation rather than where someone was from, which explains why NYC started with clusters of affiliated paesani- Palermitan', Corleonesi and Castellammaresi all allied with their own prior to recruiting locally. Given the mafia at that time had a proclivity for exclusivity they tended to remain in smaller groups and would divide upon growing too big as they did in Palermo circa 1910. It was never intended to be a heavy top-down organizations which is exactly what the 5 Families became. I place the reasons unknown at the feet of D'Aquila who overseen 1912-1928. Greed over having the largest family, indifference leaving each family to its own destiny, a visionary for Ceasar's Legions, we'll never know. Had they split each group to 20-40 members there might have been a East Harlem Family, East Village Family, Elizabeth Street Family etc which would be much more on par with what you see in Palermo. It's not but in many respects it still is. 20+ or just 5 Families, Mafiosi in Palermo and New York all tend to move around and like to be among each other and not limit it to their same affiliation.

[Lupara]

I'm confused here. It's been a while since I read that piece but didn't the Luchesses split from the Genoveses after 1912?

[Angelo Santino]

I'm confused here. It's been a while since I read that piece but didn't the Luchesses split from the Genoveses after 1912?

1921-1923ish.

[Pogo The Clown]

How a group that started in the early 20s with Masseria, Morello, Terranova and a few other renegades on the outs grew to be the second largest family in NY and the most powerful family in the country by the end of the decade. They must have went on a massive recruiting drive. They likely also absorbed some smaller operations/crews (official LCN or not) into their ranks to grow so fast. Makes you wonder why the other families (D'Aquila in particular) allowed them to make so many new members in such a short period of time. We know that the passing a list practice was in effect during this era so why did they allow it?


Pogo

[Antiliar]

According to our sources it wasn't a matter of D'Aquila knowing about and allowing it. They were "sneaked in," which apparently meant that they were made into the Masseria Family without the approval or knowledge of the other borgatas. Gentile basically tells us that Morello and Masseria were "read out" of the Mafia around 1922-1923, so they continued secretly. Once D'Aquila was out of the way the Masseria Family could be out in the open (within the Mafia, not to the general public).

[Angelo Santino]

According to our sources it wasn't a matter of D'Aquila knowing about and allowing it. They were "sneaked in," which apparently meant that they were made into the Masseria Family without the approval or knowledge of the other borgatas. Gentile basically tells us that Morello and Masseria were "read out" of the Mafia around 1922-1923, so they continued secretly. Once D'Aquila was out of the way the Masseria Family could be out in the open (within the Mafia, not to the general public).

But didn't everything get squared up in 1924? We don't really have anything pointing to a 1922-1928 war, cold or otherwise, among the Gam and Gen. All Gentile said was that 'eventually Masseria was able to have D'Aquila killed.' And if Masseria pulled the whole Al Capone-Chicago stuff, Lombardo was killed about 2 months before D'Aquila in NYC, so perhaps D'Aquila was fading by the end of the 20's just like Schiro was. Both men were bosses for 16 and 18 years.

[Pogo The Clown]

Thanks for the reply. Strange how they were able to recruit so many so fast and spread their tentacles across the city without D'Aquila and the other Bosses not picking up on what Masseria-Morello were up to.


I also wonder why the other families recognized all the new members Masseria brought in on the sneak (many not even Sicilian back when that mattered) when they did find out. Or why the national organization put in Masseria in as BOB despite all his infractions (backing the renegade Morello, making a bunch of members on the sneak, killing the BOB, etc).


Pogo

[Pogo The Clown]

Another question is why D'Aquila and the other Bosses even let Masseria and Morello start their own family to begin with considering they were on the outs and marked for death not long before.


Pogo

[Antiliar]

According to our sources it wasn't a matter of D'Aquila knowing about and allowing it. They were "sneaked in," which apparently meant that they were made into the Masseria Family without the approval or knowledge of the other borgatas. Gentile basically tells us that Morello and Masseria were "read out" of the Mafia around 1922-1923, so they continued secretly. Once D'Aquila was out of the way the Masseria Family could be out in the open (within the Mafia, not to the general public).

But didn't everything get squared up in 1924? We don't really have anything pointing to a 1922-1928 war, cold or otherwise, among the Gam and Gen. All Gentile said was that 'eventually Masseria was able to have D'Aquila killed.' And if Masseria pulled the whole Al Capone-Chicago stuff, Lombardo was killed about 2 months before D'Aquila in NYC, so perhaps D'Aquila was fading by the end of the 20's just like Schiro was. Both men were bosses for 16 and 18 years.

My theory is that there wasn't a hot war or cold war between 1923 and 1928, but there was plotting behind the scenes. Masseria plotted with Mineo and probably some D'Aquila men. Who knows how long that took to plan? It could have taken years. To me it's a short theory that best explains what we know with the limited evidence we have. You could be right that D'Aquila was fading from power and losing support by the time he was killed. We know from Gentile that Joe Lonardo of Cleveland was a big D'Aquila supporter, and he was killed in 1927. There might have been other allies who died during the 1923-28 period and were replaced by either Masseria supporters or neutral parties. If D'Aquila was dictatorial, other leaders could have looked for a replacement, any replacement.

Another question is why D'Aquila and the other Bosses even let Masseria and Morello start their own family to begin with considering they were on the outs and marked for death not long before.


Pogo

Have no idea. It was an oversight that D'Aquila paid for with his life. Maybe Masseria and Morello were just really good and being secretive.

[Angelo Santino]

Well, consider that Morello re-took control of half of his former family (the other half going with Reina who were in good political standing.) This included Harlem (Terranovas etc) and the Lower East Side (Masseria-Luciano). They were already part of one network. It's Frank Yale and other non-Sicilian affiliates, who came into the organization with their own affiliations separate from the Sicilian world. Neighborhoods are not homogenous but there's some that are more one thing than other areas. Yale brought in Brooklyn (not a traditional Gen stronghold although there were members) and Masseria had his own contacts.

D'Aquila had a hit on Morello and everyone around him, the 1921-23ish war began one sided with Morello loyalists being murdered, some disappearing as far as Los Angeles. But they- the Gen- were able to establish themselves as a force. And typically the mafia doesn't wish to engage in longstanding war so in 1924 everything was settled. Morello never became boss again, instead it was Masseria, so maybe that was part of the deal when everyone was at the table.

Morello and Reina actually went into a business together in 1924 so it doesn't seem like there was bad blood on the surface.

[Antiliar]

Morello and Reina actually went into a business together in 1924 so it doesn't seem like there was bad blood on the surface.

A lot can happen in six years.

[Angelo Santino]

Morello and Reina actually went into a business together in 1924 so it doesn't seem like there was bad blood on the surface.

A lot can happen in six years.

Indeed it can. Which is why it's worth mentioning that we don't know if Reina's murder in 1930 is in any way retribution for the 1921 debacle. I would argue the evidence points to no simply for the business Morello/Reina entered into together; that he wasn't murdered sooner after D'Aquila's Oct 28 murder; and that there was no attempt on the part of the Gen's reabsorb their former Bronx chapter.

There's always a level of plotting and treachery, perhaps more pronounced between the Gam/Gen in the 1920's but "the sitdown" is a sacred thing, real or imagined. It allowed for D'Aquila to have complete deniability for the LoMonte murder just 6 months after two of his own (presumable) top guys were murdered.

D'Aquila circa 1913 and 1923 may have been two different people in terms of how he handled matters. By all accounts when Morello and Lupo were released they were given a banquet attended by people all across NYC, doesn't seem like they had problems with D'Aquila until after Loiacano was murdered. We really don't know the full details as statements are ambiguous: "they tried to return to power," this means Morello was trying to retake his old position but which one, Boss of the Corleonesi or Boss of Bosses? We don't know. We could theorize either way: that Morello wanted to retake control over the group he founded (and who apparently had the support of the majority of their East Harlem and Lower Manhattan members) so he asked Loiacano to step down and when he refused he was killed. Or the more Machiavellian Shakespearian take would be Morello wanted both positions back and the first task was becoming head of a family again, which if anything happened to the current BOB he would be a candidate with seniority. Either way, D'Aquila didn't take too well to someone else making executive changes in another Family, which is somewhat dictatorial.

It's somewhat ironic that Loiacano was a Little Italy guy since the 1890's and following his murder, the only ones who opted not to follow his murderers were in the Bronx. Every other Gen in lower NY fell in with Morello/Masseria/Yale etc. That's why I dislike the Genovese described as a "new" Family when its foundations date back 25 years. The same could be said for the Luccheses, many of whom went to the Bronx for the same reason people began going to Brooklyn: improved financial status, ability to buy property and no longer pay the miserable rent that Itals so very much detested, this goes back to the 1900's. So the Luccheses didn't appear out of nowhere either. They maintained very close ties to their East Harlem roots and many are related. East Harlem was shared between them and up unto the 1970's the FBI was having a difficult time identifying who was with who, it wouldn't surprise me if there's more than a few so-called Gen or Lucchese members whose memberships were actually vice versa.

[Antiliar]

Morello and Reina actually went into a business together in 1924 so it doesn't seem like there was bad blood on the surface.

A lot can happen in six years.

Indeed it can. Which is why it's worth mentioning that we don't know if Reina's murder in 1930 is in any way retribution for the 1921 debacle. I would argue the evidence points to no simply for the business Morello/Reina entered into together; that he wasn't murdered sooner after D'Aquila's Oct 28 murder; and that there was no attempt on the part of the Gen's reabsorb their former Bronx chapter.

I agree that the Reina murder probably has nothing to do with the 1921-23 issue with D'Aquila. My theory is that Masseria, Morello, Mineo and some D'Aquila guys plotted to kill and replace D'Aquila during the 1923-1928 interim. We don't know if Reina was involved or not. Schiro, we're told, was a neutral party. It's interesting that Bonaventura Pinzolo was probably a D'Aquila guy before he replaced Reina. My guess is that he was rewarded for something, and it's very possible that he was one of the plotters to get rid of D'Aquila. Once Masseria was in power he tried to replace other bosses with his allies.

[Angelo Santino]

Morello and Reina actually went into a business together in 1924 so it doesn't seem like there was bad blood on the surface.

A lot can happen in six years.

Indeed it can. Which is why it's worth mentioning that we don't know if Reina's murder in 1930 is in any way retribution for the 1921 debacle. I would argue the evidence points to no simply for the business Morello/Reina entered into together; that he wasn't murdered sooner after D'Aquila's Oct 28 murder; and that there was no attempt on the part of the Gen's reabsorb their former Bronx chapter.

I agree that the Reina murder probably has nothing to do with the 1921-23 issue with D'Aquila. My theory is that Masseria, Morello, Mineo and some D'Aquila guys plotted to kill and replace D'Aquila during the 1923-1928 interim. We don't know if Reina was involved or not. Schiro, we're told, was a neutral party. It's interesting that Bonaventura Pinzolo was probably a D'Aquila guy before he replaced Reina. My guess is that he was rewarded for something, and it's very possible that he was one of the plotters to get rid of D'Aquila. Once Masseria was in power he tried to replace other bosses with his allies.

Oh it might have, I'm just saying there's no proof before someone else may interpret it as another Traina as "chief lieut" situation. I never had an opinion on Pinzolo's former affiliation but I've come across things that put him operating in areas around the Gambinos, specifically the Virzi-Scalici-Riccobono East Village crew. However, he wasn't directly linked to them in his arrest so all I can say is these guys on East 11 to E13 up between 1st and 3rd all knew each other.

Mineo is less confusing in his alliances but affiliation causes a migraine, he arrived and was immediately a Lo Monte-Terranova ally, he's a boss in 1913 of his own family, falls off the radar for 17 years until his 1930 murder as D'Aquila's Family leader.

It's interesting how the Boss of Bosses' functions changed depending on the era and leader.

1 Taranto - There's next to nothing that describes it. And the rest below is the same, so little is known that the few details we do have may be misleading
2 Morello - Kept in contact with other cities via letters and several visits involving presumably important matters, in one of his confiscated letters he gave approval to New Orleans to reorganize, in another he refused to acknowledge someone's socalled membership in the organization despite being from Corleone because no one in the NY Corleonesi network knew him and Morello left the decision to that Family.
3 Di Gaetano - Had the ability to order members of other families to do certain organizational tasks with the approval of the Family rep. Overseen the Palermitan breakup and then retired shortly after and Schiro was selected as his replacement.
4 D'Aquila - Secretly had Lo Monte murdered. (Loiacano replaced him and D'Aquila took issue with Morello following his murder, whether this implies a relationship between these men or D'Aquila took to his murder like Chin took to Castelanos is unknown); he apparently had conduits into other families such as San Francisco and most likely Cleveland and Buffalo; the few times Gentile speaks of him at assembly meetings he's usually giving his vote to kill someone be it Morello or La Scaglia. He sat at the throne for 16 years so arguably America's most successful Boss of Bosses.
5 Masseria - Tried to exert his influence in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese families by installing allies. D'Aquila may or may not have done the same thing nationally but if he did, it was over the course of 16 years rather than Joe's 2. His 'dictatorial' leadership lead to two families forming a merger, his allies being killed and his power being clipped months before his death.
6 Messina - Selected by the general assembly as the "Interim" after Masseria was disposed. Presided over general assembly meetings involving the C-War peace talks. Selected commission members and assigned them to tasks. Not alot of further info given.
7 Maranzano - Had influence on who became boss in NYC 1931, accepted a ton of tribute money and was said to have plotted a second string of member murder, didn't last very long. Savoir flair aside, his downfall was being too much like his predecessor, by attempting the same things he used as a rally cry against Masseria for doing one year prior.

[Pogo The Clown]

7 Maranzano - Had influence on who became boss in NYC 1931, accepted a ton of tribute money and was said to have plotted a second string of member murder, didn't last very long. Savoir flair aside, his downfall was being too much like his predecessor, by attempting the same things he used as a rally cry against Masseria for doing one year prior.

Was it ever determined if those murders Maranzano was plotting was in retaliation of a plot to kill/overthrow him by those members or was it just a power grab on his part and they got to him first? If I recall correctly Valachi claims it was a power grab while Bonanno claims he wasn't privy to any such plan by Maranzano but accepted what the other Bosses told him. What did Gentile say about it?


Pogo