Gangland:2/4/16

[SonnyBlackstein]

I withdraw the comment regards acting. Was not my intent to make that point.

I simply wanted to clarify the terms 'street/acting' and UB and their respective roles.
As according to my understanding DeChiara is fulfilling an UB role in that he's Bellamo's conduit not, as is stated, a 'street boss' role whereby he is making decisions.
As I take a SB or AB to make decisions on behalf of the official whilst an UB is simply his conduit.

But as Snake intelligently points out on GBB terms can often mean little and that what should be taken from the article is:
1. Bellamo
2. DeChiara.

[moneyman]

Pizzaboy/EastBronx had mentioned that Barney is 90% legitimate, and he became "more legitimate" after his wife died. It made sense to me because if the guy has so much legitimate income, why risk running a large criminal enterprise? So I'm wondering if this weeks GL is trying "stir the pot" or get people talking about Barney more in the hopes that they can get him on tape. But then again this is Cosa Nostra, it also makes perfect sense that Barney has been boss all along. I'm surprised DiChiara is still able to operate a social club Manhattan which is very expensive. This weeks column also made me wonder whether the ruling panel thing was just a decoy or misinformation deliberately put out by the Westside. It's only a matter of time before we find out.

[Pogo The Clown]

Pizzaboy/EastBronx had mentioned that Barney is 90% legitimate, and he became "more legitimate" after his wife died. It made sense to me because if the guy has so much legitimate income, why risk running a large criminal enterprise? So I'm wondering if this weeks GL is trying "stir the pot" or get people talking about Barney more in the hopes that they can get him on tape.

Or maybe it is as simple as fresh street talk on the forums being wrong yet again.


Pogo

[NickyEyes1]

Ha ha sonny , I feel the same . I love Jerry , it was like Christmas Day today when I saw the up to date picture of Bellomo

Can you post it?

[Hailbritain]

Peter (Petey Red) DiChiara

[Pogo The Clown]

Barney Bellomo

[Ivan]

more recent Bellomo

[SonnyBlackstein]

I see where DeChiara gets his Nickname.

Look at those cheeks!

[Ivan]

Pogo you beat me to posting the picture by a minute, but my version is bigger, so I'm calling this a tie.

[Lupara]

They will still get what they can because mob cases still get the headlines and get your name "out there" so to speak, but as many have mentioned already, as long as they lay off of the murders and the drugs they can probably operate this way until the talent pool dries up, which for NY is still decades away.

I don't think they'll ever lay off drugs because it's too lucrative. And if they don't do it other criminal gangs will, the feds know this too. I think the biggest problem the mob posed for the feds and authorities was their control over the unions. Those days are over now.

[HairyKnuckles]

Pizzaboy/EastBronx had mentioned that Barney is 90% legitimate, and he became "more legitimate" after his wife died. It made sense to me because if the guy has so much legitimate income, why risk running a large criminal enterprise? So I'm wondering if this weeks GL is trying "stir the pot" or get people talking about Barney more in the hopes that they can get him on tape.

Or maybe it is as simple as fresh street talk on the forums being wrong yet again.


Pogo

Whether Bellomo is 90% legitimate or not, I don´t know. But whatever that percentage actually may be, doesn´t really matter. Many bosses have had fully legitimate income. Just take a look at Profaci, Costello, Gambino, Bonanno etc and most recent bosses like Crea. In fact, I would say it´s more the norm for the more smarter bosses having a lot of fully legitimate income than them having none. Many of these guys do have a mind for business. (How they accumulated their money to invest in the first place and what they do to make the investment a successful one is an entire different story though.)

Capeci now writing about Bellomo being the boss should not be a sucha revelation. It´s no surprise to me.

Question: what's the difference between a 'street boss', in this case DiChiara, who apparently is the conduit between Bellamo and the Capos and an underboss?
Isn't that precisely the UB's position?
Or because it's the WESTSIDE do we have to give it another name now..

Sonny, I don´t understand the confusion here. Underboss is a rank within a LCN Family while "streetboss" is not. A captain, a consigliere, an underboss can be a "streetboss" depending on who the boss selects to be the guy in touch with the troops. A "streetboss" is not a decision maker, the boss is. In this case, Bellomo is using DiChiara to carry on orders to the captains. (If Capeci and his sources are correct that is.) We shouldn´t over analyze it. A "streetboss" is simply the guy who´s in touch with the troops.

[Wiseguy]

Whether its questioning the titles or thinking the feds are using Capeci to put out disinformation, I dont know why the knee-jerk reaction of some is to always ignore what Capeci has passed on and start trying to figure things out on their own. Is it an ego thing? Is the new info not exciting enough?

The feds dont just pull these ranks out of thin air. They use them because the mob uses them. Underboss, of course, is part of the traditional 3 man administration. It's a permanent position unless the guy dies or steps down. Acting boss or street boss are often used interchangeably. The circumstances vary, ie running things on the street for the official boss who is trying to insulate himself (appears to be the case here), running things on the street because the official boss is in prison, or running things because the last official boss died and he has not be officially replaced yet. Yes, some of the duties of an underboss and acting/street boss may overlap. It's not rocket science and we shouldn't try to make it more convoluted than it is.

Also, I don't know where the idea originated that Capeci allows himself to be used by the feds as a conduit for misinformation. Even thinking he does it unknowingly has no basis. The guy is a journalist and trades on his credibility. I think just about everyone would agree he's proven himself to be among the most credible guys covering the mob. If he thought that a source, even one from law enforcement, was intentionally feeding him BS just to "stir the pot," it stands to reason he'd distance himself from them pretty quickly since it's his job and reputation on the line. Some people on the forums need to quit with the conspiracy theories.

The last bit if news we did receive on Bellomo was that 2009 article that said he was part of a rotating panel of recently released leaders that included himself, Benny Mangano, Ernie Muscarella, and Larry Dentico. In 2011, it was reporeted Tino Fiumara had been on a 3 man panel running the family. And as recently as 2014, it was reported in a WSJ article the family was believed to still be using a panel. So this is obviously a significant change and perhaps is due to the health of some of those guys above. It should also be pointed out that DiChiara is from Bellomo's crew. Much like it has in recent decades, that crew seems to be the almost automatic, go-to leadership in the family.

[HairyKnuckles]

^^^ DiChiara actually comes from an entire different crew. He took over from Gangi. I think you are confusing him with DeLuca.

[B.]

Pizzaboy/EastBronx had mentioned that Barney is 90% legitimate, and he became "more legitimate" after his wife died. It made sense to me because if the guy has so much legitimate income, why risk running a large criminal enterprise? So I'm wondering if this weeks GL is trying "stir the pot" or get people talking about Barney more in the hopes that they can get him on tape. But then again this is Cosa Nostra, it also makes perfect sense that Barney has been boss all along. I'm surprised DiChiara is still able to operate a social club Manhattan which is very expensive. This weeks column also made me wonder whether the ruling panel thing was just a decoy or misinformation deliberately put out by the Westside. It's only a matter of time before we find out.

I for one am not going to question Capeci and law enforcement just because a self-professed legitimate guy on the internet claims to know the inside workings of the most powerful crime family in NYC. But that's just me and I don't want to go down that road.

Anyway, years ago I debated with Wiseguy* about whether the Genovese had a boss or not, with him saying they didn't because it hadn't been publicly announced by law enforcement, while I took an agnostic approach and said that we can't know for sure, but it would set a historical precedent for a family to go without an official boss for that many years. My assumption was that it would be Bellomo, so I'm not surprised, but it's really fucking cool that we're getting all of this info all of the sudden on two of the families.

* And that's not a dig on Wiseguy... he has a much different way of seeing some things than I do, but he will always, and I mean always, back up everything he says with a reasonable source even if I disagree with his conclusions.

[Lupara]

"Street boss" is a term generally used for the top guy on the streets if there is a boss who has stepped back, either partially or wholly. The underboss still serves the same function as does the consigliere, except they work directly with the street boss more than the boss. Same with the capos. "Acting boss" is used if a boss is indisposed, either from illness or imprisonment.

This is just how I understand it.

I think it's a retarded concept. Street boss should be the same as the underboss. Having a street boss along with an underboss renders the underboss completely useless. If the boss cannot oversee the day to day business for any reason then the underboss should step up because that is what an underboss is for in the first place. When the underboss steps up he becomes the acting boss. I think an acting boss along with an underboss can only be applied when the acting boss is given his position indefinitely until a final decision is made on whether he will be boss or someone else. In that case an underboss will also be in an acting role. Just my opinion.