New LCNBios: Santini and Prisco (2004)

[newera_212]

Has there ever been a list of (NYC) Purple Gang members?
It would interesting to see who was a member, and how many
later were made w/ a Family.

here is my best shot at it

Charles Miciele
Frank Chierco
Ralph Amatto
Frank Viserto Jr.
Patty Prisco
Luois Inglese
John Campopiano
Carmine Tramunti
Arhur "Little Arthur" Fiore
Giacomo Spada 3
George Toutoian,stabbed
Angelo Prisco
Daniel Leo
Joseph Meldisch
Michael Meldish

Awesome! Thanks. Was MAtty MAdonna with them back in the Frank Lucas days?

I always thought Madonna was Nicky Barnes' main connection and didnt have anything to do with Lucas. Who knows what the deal with Lucas was; as great as the movie was, hes a known bullshit artist. It says on Wikipedia the inspiration for the mobster in the movie was Carmine Tramunti...which I dont believe or cant see at all.

Was Madonna a born & raised East Harlem guy? or was he from Westchester / Rockland? if you wanna get technical you can almost say he's from NYS prison. the poor bastard spent more time inside than out

Cheech: damn straight. its no wonder some of these guys get jammed up talking on the phone or jammed up talking in a centralized location. driving around all over the damn TriState just to go speak a couple words to someone. gotta get tiring

[Cheech]

Has there ever been a list of (NYC) Purple Gang members?
It would interesting to see who was a member, and how many
later were made w/ a Family.

here is my best shot at it

Charles Miciele
Frank Chierco
Ralph Amatto
Frank Viserto Jr.
Patty Prisco
Luois Inglese
John Campopiano
Carmine Tramunti
Arhur "Little Arthur" Fiore
Giacomo Spada 3
George Toutoian,stabbed
Angelo Prisco
Daniel Leo
Joseph Meldisch
Michael Meldish

Awesome! Thanks. Was MAtty MAdonna with them back in the Frank Lucas days?

to my knowledge he was not purple

[SonnyBlackstein]

He was yella!



Ahem. Sorry.

[JIGGS]

Has there ever been a list of (NYC) Purple Gang members?
It would interesting to see who was a member, and how many
later were made w/ a Family.

here is my best shot at it

Charles Miciele
Frank Chierco
Ralph Amatto
Frank Viserto Jr.
Patty Prisco
Luois Inglese
John Campopiano
Carmine Tramunti
Arhur "Little Arthur" Fiore
Giacomo Spada 3
George Toutoian,stabbed
Angelo Prisco
Daniel Leo
Joseph Meldisch
Michael Meldish

No offense guys. But there was no such thing as a Purple Gang. Government bullshit spun off media hype. Angelo's brother Rudy would not be in a "gang" that included Joe Meldisch. Nobody would.

The very fact that there's a guessing game going on and people like Gribbs and Gigi are being cited as possible members says it all. Madonna... Basciano... Meldisch... None of them were working together in some organized group pushing dope in the '70s. The newspapers, Capeci and any LE still name dropping the PGN are over-sensationalizing the drug trade during the era.

JIGGS

[johnny_scootch]

No offense guys. But there was no such thing as a Purple Gang. Government bullshit spun off media hype. Angelo's brother Rudy would not be in a "gang" that included Joe Meldisch. Nobody would.

The very fact that there's a guessing game going on and people like Gribbs and Gigi are being cited as possible members says it all. Madonna... Basciano... Meldisch... None of them were working together in some organized group pushing dope in the '70s. The newspapers, Capeci and any LE still name dropping the PGN are over-sensationalizing the drug trade during the era.

JIGGS

Strongly agree.

[JIGGS]

Strongly agree.

Me too...

JIGGS

[Cheech]

you would know more than me

[JIGGS]

5. Interesting Leo and Prisco were Purple and by all accounts got along. now he comes home and hes on the outs.

Because they weren't Purple.

I just listened to them tapes on that blog and found it ironic. Everybody knew who the Priscos were. When he says they (Gambinos) ruined the life because of their ego and implying the flashiness, it the pot calling the kettle black. Angelo was the "Johnny Boy" ( Gotti Sr) of his domain during the period the DEA says there was a "Purple Gang."

Everybody knew who the Priscos were.

I lived in East Harlem my entire life until only recently, the fucks. You know when I first heard the name Daniel Leo? When Capeci introduced him as new acting boss all them years ago in the Sun. Before that? Never.

Leo was invisible. Everybody knew the Priscos.

Angelo was in and out of prison. Like he said in them tapes. Since he was a kid. From what Jerry wrote about him Leo was barely on the local cops radar much less the Feds before he got outed as the acting. Dollars to donuts, Leo steered clear of Angelo Prisco. Who was every bit as "loud" as John Gotti was back in the day. I'm not the least bit surprised that the powers that be "distanced" Angelo from his crew. I also wouldn't be surprised if it came from Cirillo, who acted on the Chin's say. Angelo was "hot." Especially after that pardon by the finook governor of the state.

That wikipedia entry for Purple Gang is a joke. Whoever wrote it is really dumb and drawing straws. The only Italian American gang in E. Harlem were the Red Wings. How come nobody writes about them? That was the real farm team for the Harlem Lucchese-Genovese generation. Purple Gang is make believe like the Westies.

JIGGS

[AlexfromSouth]

5. Interesting Leo and Prisco were Purple and by all accounts got along. now he comes home and hes on the outs.

Because they weren't Purple.

I just listened to them tapes on that blog and found it ironic. Everybody knew who the Priscos were. When he says they (Gambinos) ruined the life because of their ego and implying the flashiness, it the pot calling the kettle black. Angelo was the "Johnny Boy" ( Gotti Sr) of his domain during the period the DEA says there was a "Purple Gang."

Everybody knew who the Priscos were.

I lived in East Harlem my entire life until only recently, the fucks. You know when I first heard the name Daniel Leo? When Capeci introduced him as new acting boss all them years ago in the Sun. Before that? Never.

Leo was invisible. Everybody knew the Priscos.

Angelo was in and out of prison. Like he said in them tapes. Since he was a kid. From what Jerry wrote about him Leo was barely on the local cops radar much less the Feds before he got outed as the acting. Dollars to donuts, Leo steered clear of Angelo Prisco. Who was every bit as "loud" as John Gotti was back in the day. I'm not the least bit surprised that the powers that be "distanced" Angelo from his crew. I also wouldn't be surprised if it came from Cirillo, who acted on the Chin's say. Angelo was "hot." Especially after that pardon by the finook governor of the state.

That wikipedia entry for Purple Gang is a joke. Whoever wrote it is really dumb and drawing straws. The only Italian American gang in E. Harlem were the Red Wings. How come nobody writes about them? That was the real farm team for the Harlem Lucchese-Genovese generation. Purple Gang is make believe like the Westies.

JIGGS

Hey Jiggs, who was in the red wings? Any more info on them?

[SonnyBlackstein]

5. Interesting Leo and Prisco were Purple and by all accounts got along. now he comes home and hes on the outs.

Because they weren't Purple.

I just listened to them tapes on that blog and found it ironic. Everybody knew who the Priscos were. When he says they (Gambinos) ruined the life because of their ego and implying the flashiness, it the pot calling the kettle black. Angelo was the "Johnny Boy" ( Gotti Sr) of his domain during the period the DEA says there was a "Purple Gang."

Everybody knew who the Priscos were.

I lived in East Harlem my entire life until only recently, the fucks. You know when I first heard the name Daniel Leo? When Capeci introduced him as new acting boss all them years ago in the Sun. Before that? Never.

Leo was invisible. Everybody knew the Priscos.

Angelo was in and out of prison. Like he said in them tapes. Since he was a kid. From what Jerry wrote about him Leo was barely on the local cops radar much less the Feds before he got outed as the acting. Dollars to donuts, Leo steered clear of Angelo Prisco. Who was every bit as "loud" as John Gotti was back in the day. I'm not the least bit surprised that the powers that be "distanced" Angelo from his crew. I also wouldn't be surprised if it came from Cirillo, who acted on the Chin's say. Angelo was "hot." Especially after that pardon by the finook governor of the state.

That wikipedia entry for Purple Gang is a joke. Whoever wrote it is really dumb and drawing straws. The only Italian American gang in E. Harlem were the Red Wings. How come nobody writes about them? That was the real farm team for the Harlem Lucchese-Genovese generation. Purple Gang is make believe like the Westies.

JIGGS

Hey Jiggs, who was in the red wings? Any more info on them?

Nyquist, Howard, Zetterberg, Larkin, Zadina, Mantha....

[Benandjosh]

We’re the redwings the last Italian street gang in Harlem. They must have been like the last of the mohicans as most of the Italians left the area. Who were the notable members of this gang.

[JIGGS]

Hey Jiggs, who was in the red wings? Any more info on them?

The Priscos. They come out of that. Although moreso in the tail end than when Red Wings were really at their peak. The Golden era. '47-'54. This guy. The consigliere. Quiet Dom was said to be a young Red Wing. The rest, I don't think anybody here would recognize them. There was a guy named Frankie Dapolitto but to this day I don't know if its the same one who rose up the ranks under Big Paul and later with the John Gotti. That's a common name so it probably ain't him. The more locally notorious was a kid named "Butchie" or "Butch" Acquilino. He was one of the guys that killed a s%$c who ventured into Jefferson Park, and everybody knew it. But when the bulls came asking around "have you seen Butchie? Was Butchie here the other night?" Everyone clammed up. About 15 or 16 guys got rounded up, questioned, got their asses kicked, were threatened with the pinch and they still wouldn't rat. They'd all rather go to juvie together as a group than lay down. And that's exactly what happened. Wagner wanted heads to roll so any Redwing was gonna do. That was real 'Omerta' up against real police corruption, ya see? And that's why the big boys and the Jews plucked them from 114th Street. Because they was already halfway there. They were mostly 'capable' and weren't afraid of going to jail. All they lacked was the smarts. The finesse. How to operate a book. But don't get me wrong. This was no "farm team" for anyone. They weren't "associates" and kicking up to the big boys. They weren't doing any organized scams on any consistent basis. What I'm referring to were individual guys. A kid collecting for somebody. Getting hired to scare the bagel babies who would go to the Village to party with the Moolinyan at a s%$c bar and break a window or bust up a joint. The boys would send someone to offer protection and prevent it from happening again. And that's how some of these kids were used. They weren't the mob. But a square citizen didn't know the difference. I wouldn't compare the Redwings to the Tanglewood boys. TB was "all in" about wanting to be in the life. A Redwing was about being a Redwing. Their main concern was beating the PR's for the most sewers to their name at stickball. The "life" (cosa nostra) for a Redwing was lunch money. Or for kicks. After school job, as if you were working at the safeway market. But you came back to Jefferson not caring about being "noticed." Because it was fuck the mob. If you were a Red Wing. They thought they were tougher than all the Al Capones there was. At one time that was the biggest italian youth club in Manhattan. The Bronx Fordham baldy's were the biggest ginzo club in New York.

JIGGS

[JIGGS]

We’re the redwings the last Italian street gang in Harlem. They must have been like the last of the mohicans as most of the Italians left the area. Who were the notable members of this gang.

Nope. There were many clubs in those days. And they weren't the first either. But they were the biggest. Redwings were like any other youth back then. They played pool, stickball, skellies, dice (4,5,6), stoop ball, basketball (21), once in a while the pigskin got tossed around. Red light parties. But when it came time to rumble, they were hard core. NOBODY fucked with them.

You know not for nothing but from my perspective it wasn't so much that people left. The White flight was real but what I remembered most of all was just people dying out. The old guard but also the young farts. Quite frankly, a lot of the kids, and in particular the ones who ran with clubs like the Redwings, were all hooked on "H." This idea that an all Italian American neighborhood where Cosa Nostra had a presence is among the safer neighborhoods anywhere is a myth. From my vantage point the biggest victims of the drug trade in E. Harlem was the Italian second generation. A whole community disappeared. There had always been non-Italians over there. And nobody left. So it wasn't that anybody was getting pushed out. It was the level of crime that just got out of hand that forced people to leave, or get swallowed up. A lot of people were casualties of the Drug Wars. If you survived the '60s & '70s and were still living on the east side of lower Harlem, those people are all gone by now. Bunch of yuppies have taken their place. Fuck that.

That's how come when I seen that post that read about some guys on a corner of 117, I did a double take. I know that block like the back of my hand. To my knowledge, all the buildings on that street are residential. I can't think of anyplace where someone would open a door from the inside in a non-residential building. Except for the mall east of Pleasant. Where those stores are at. All Pleasant Avenue is residential. Then and still.

JIGGS

[JIGGS]

Hey Jiggs, who was in the red wings? Any more info on them?

Nyquist, Howard, Zetterberg, Larkin, Zadina, Mantha....

You got nothing to do, right? Is that what it is?

Enjoy the 21st century while it lasts...

JIGGS

[AlexfromSouth]

Hey Jiggs, who was in the red wings? Any more info on them?

Nyquist, Howard, Zetterberg, Larkin, Zadina, Mantha....

You got nothing to do, right? Is that what it is?

Enjoy the 21st century while it lasts...

JIGGS

Thanks for the info Jiggs, I know that the South Brooklyn boys were as just as tough, all the gangs by the docks. How do you think they compare?