"They all used to be under Mike. Vito made them caporegimes."

[B.]

Interesting, I need to check out the SS record. Curto's background was in Polizzi Generosa which is further east but still part of the eastern Palermo interior discussed earlier in the thread. The Stassis were from Montemaggiore and Tony Provenzano's family was from Collesano so those are others from that area who ended up with this Family.

Magaddino said he knew Frank Costello before Costello was made but doesn't give a clear timeline. I don't remember Costello being mentioned by any of the Castellammarese War sources as a significant player during the war aside from what Quad posted about him being on the post-war hit list. Bonanno does list him as one of Masseria's members when he introduces the Families that existed around the onset of the war.

[quadtree]

Correction: Mangano was not the boss at this point, he was a capodecina or member of the administration, and Scalici was the boss. Moretti has already been mentioned by Valachi as living in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Costello must already be an influential man at that time for Maranzano to consider him one of his main threats. I think that at the time of 1931 he was at least a soldier, at most a consigliere. Costello is mentioned at the same time as Moretti, so if both were captains, it is unlikely that Moretti would have replaced Costello in his crew.

Maranzano does not mention Pellegrino, DiDato, Generoso, Ricci and other supposed captains, but this does not mean that they did not exist. Valachi could have forgotten about them, or Maranzano targeted only the most dangerous ones; there is no point in destroying the entire leadership.

[quadtree]

There is also a mention of Giosue Aiello as a power in the 4th ward on the LES, Al D'Arco in his book states that David Petillo, Rosario DiMaggio, George Filippone, Frank Caruso and Phil Albanese worked for him, all of whom would become members in the future Genovese family. A mysterious figure, the gangsters under his command will subsequently end up in different crews. DiMaggio in the crew of Altomari, Petillo in the crew of Greco, Filippone, Albanese and Caruso in the crew of Pellegrino. Petillo is connected to everyone. He was allegedly made by Capone in Chicago, ran brothels for Lucania with Penacchio, was close to Miranda and Appierto, and there is even evidence that he personally reported to Miranda when he was consigliere. Then he transferred to the crew of Gaetano Greco.

Antonio Appierto could also be a capodecina, but this is pure speculation. Due to the Neapolitan origins of Pennacchio and Appierto, it can be assumed that one of them could be the predecessor of Generoso DelDuca. Pure speculation, no facts. Just my thoughts. Petillo may be a clue, if Petillo was made by Capone and DelDuca was associated with Capone afterwards, there is a possibility that DelDuca's crew has continuity from Capone's original crew.

The Neapolitans in the Genovese family tended to stick together. Capone, Doto and Carfano were Neapolitans, although they were on the Yale crew. Then we have the Neapolitans DelDuca, Miranda, Appierto, Pennacchio, Petillo, Celambrino (in his own words, was Capone's driver). There is a lot of confusion between the Miranda and DelDuca crews, perhaps the DelDuca crew comes from the Miranda crew, or maybe the members just moved back and forth. In any case, it is interesting that the alleged Capone crew members Celambrino and Petillo were under the command of Miranda, and the Capone-related DelDuca was the capodecina of his team, which is closely connected with the Carfano/Maiorana crew. Carfano inherited the team from Yale, again connected to Capone. There are so many connections, you can get confused. Add to this the fact that almost all of the above figures were Cammorists and were members of Combanesh, and you get a brain explosion.

[chin_gigante]

I also found this Reporter Dispatch article from December 1969 describing hearings by a New York State Investigation Committee looking into city contracts in Yonkers. One of the members of the Committee stated that the police believed that Nick Rattenni succeeded Jimmy Angelino as a captain after Angelino died in 1967.

IMG_3985.jpeg

[DonPeppino386]

Thanks for taking the time Chin. Amazing post!

[bn]

There is also a mention of Giosue Aiello as a power in the 4th ward on the LES, Al D'Arco in his book states that David Petillo, Rosario DiMaggio, George Filippone, Frank Caruso and Phil Albanese worked for him, all of whom would become members in the future Genovese family. A mysterious figure, the gangsters under his command will subsequently end up in different crews. DiMaggio in the crew of Altomari, Petillo in the crew of Greco, Filippone, Albanese and Caruso in the crew of Pellegrino. Petillo is connected to everyone. He was allegedly made by Capone in Chicago, ran brothels for Lucania with Penacchio, was close to Miranda and Appierto, and there is even evidence that he personally reported to Miranda when he was consigliere. Then he transferred to the crew of Gaetano Greco.

Antonio Appierto could also be a capodecina, but this is pure speculation. Due to the Neapolitan origins of Pennacchio and Appierto, it can be assumed that one of them could be the predecessor of Generoso DelDuca. Pure speculation, no facts. Just my thoughts. Petillo may be a clue, if Petillo was made by Capone and DelDuca was associated with Capone afterwards, there is a possibility that DelDuca's crew has continuity from Capone's original crew.

The Neapolitans in the Genovese family tended to stick together. Capone, Doto and Carfano were Neapolitans, although they were on the Yale crew. Then we have the Neapolitans DelDuca, Miranda, Appierto, Pennacchio, Petillo, Celambrino (in his own words, was Capone's driver). There is a lot of confusion between the Miranda and DelDuca crews, perhaps the DelDuca crew comes from the Miranda crew, or maybe the members just moved back and forth. In any case, it is interesting that the alleged Capone crew members Celambrino and Petillo were under the command of Miranda, and the Capone-related DelDuca was the capodecina of his team, which is closely connected with the Carfano/Maiorana crew. Carfano inherited the team from Yale, again connected to Capone. There are so many connections, you can get confused. Add to this the fact that almost all of the above figures were Cammorists and were members of Combanesh, and you get a brain explosion.

Definitely a possibility that Appierto was a captain. An informant described him as a 'big man' in the underworld who was 'very powerful' but 'presently retired' by the 1960s. He was so old by the 1960s he likely faded into obscurity.

Del Duca reportedly was close with Capone and served as a liaison between Capone and NYC. Definitely seems possible that he took over Capone's crew.

[Antiliar]

Nick Gentile said that around 1928 Capone was called to NYC by Joe Masseria and initiated then immediately made into a capodecina with the power to make ten men in Chicago. So Capone didn't have a crew in New York for anyone to take over. His crew was in Chicago and the members of his crew probably became leaders once Maranzano recognized him as rappresentante.

[B.]

Yeah it's unlikely there's any direct continuity between the Capone decina and future Genovese crews as Capone and likely most of the crew transferred to Chicago in 1931, though with one report that Petillo was made by Capone and returned to NYC it's possible a member or two stayed with the Genovese. Ricci was older and we have no idea when he was made but he's another possibility given he's said to have spent lengths of time in Chicago when Capone was captain before returning to Brooklyn.

Either way Capone's group had roots in the Yale crew and Brooklyn mainland circles that produced important Genovese crews so there are definitely relationships there, it's just not likely anyone officially "succeeded" Capone as captain of what was primarily a remote crew.

--

Re: Giosue Aiello.

I can't find any record for him but I re-read what the D'Arco book says and yeah, it says he was a "mob boss" in the 4th ward who had a bunch of future Genovese members in his "crew" and compares him to Jimmy Alto because he flew under the radar. He says after Aiello's death the crew was "merged into" the Genovese Family.

Since I can't find any records of an Aiello who fits and the book doesn't really establish a timeline it's hard to say when this happened but it should have been before the 1930s based on when some of these guys show up with the Genovese Family. I wouldn't rule out "Aiello" being an early Genovese member or captain and D'Arco just didn't know the full story. Tuminaro and DiMaggio were Sicilian and the name Aiello could go that way but if he was non-Sicilian it opens up other possibilities. Should note that Frankie "Yale" Ioele was transcribed as "Frank Aiello" in early SS reports -- not suggesting this guy was related to Yale, only that his name was mistranscribed as "Aiello" and the same could be true for this guy.

The name Giosue brings to mind "Gusae". Hadn't noticed the similarities to the name Giosue before, though "Chee Gusae" suggests it was a surname rather than a given name. I've considered too that the mysterious "Guilliermo Cecce" referenced by Agent Flynn as an important Morello member who visited him in prison has phonetic similarities to "Chee Gusae" though the order is reversed. There was a guy on the Real Deal who said his grandmother talked about a powerful mobster in her Manhattan neighborhood when she was young who was called "Shay Goots" (ph). I think this was probably in reference to Charles "Chalootz" Gagliodotto, though.

[B.]

Should mention that the D'Arco book doesn't actually say that Petillo started out with Giosue Aiello. It says that some of Petillo's close associates did.

Here is the provincial heritage of the names mentioned:

Rosario DiMaggio - Caltanissetta
Angelo Tuminaro - Caltanissetta
George Filippone - Palermo
Philip Albanese - Agrigento
Charles Gagliodotto - ?
Frank Caruso - ?

- Not sure where Frank Caruso was from but his wife's father was born in Cerda and her mother was born in Palermo. I'd guess Caruso's family was from this part of Palermo province like her but couldn't confirm.

- I can't find any records for Gagliodotto outside of his marriage record which lists his father as Paolo and mother as Rose Todisca. Couldn't find any variations of their surname that brought up results.

- Albanese was related to member Joe Agone who had heritage in Ciminna like the Lapaglia mentioned by Rick. Agone likely came up in Aiello's orbit as well as he was a lifelong associate of his brother-in-law Albanese and the others mentioned here.

- Many of these guys were listed as members under Saro Mogavero in a 1963 article. Mogavero was also Sicilian and his family may have been from Collesano, same as George Filippone who is listed as a Mogavero member. Tony Provenzano's family was also from Collesano as mentioned earlier.

- The Lapis who were members around this group were from Scillato and Gratteri which it on each side of Collesano and are near Cerda. Joe Lapi succeeded Mogavero as captain which is interesting as they were neighboring paesans.

Wish we could find records of Giosue Aiello, if that's his true name. Good probability he was Sicilian.

EDIT: I see Bill Feather thought he might be a "Geso Aiello" who was living on E 187th in the Bronx in 1920 but beyond the name I'm not sure. The 4th ward was near the very bottom of Lower Manhattan so nowhere near the Bronx. This guy is also listed as born in the mid-1890s and the description of him dying then his crew joining the Genovese Family would suggest he was older (assuming he died of natural causes) but who knows.

[quadtree]

It is possible that Filippone, Albanese and Caruso were under Altomari rather than Pellegrino. Lapi and Agone were in Altomari's crew (according to JD). D'Arco reports Altomari and "Giosue Aiello" as different persons. If Rosario Mogavero received Altomari's crew after his death, and Altomari's men were previously under the leadership of "Aiello", we can cautiously assume that Altomari himself started under the leadership of "Aiello", or perhaps "Aiello" was the capodecina of Altomari's crew.

On the other hand, De Carlo called "Patsy" the deceased capodecina who was succeeded by Mogavero. Did he mean Altomari, who died on January 20, 1964, or Patsy Del Duca, who died on April 12, 1964? Or was it a completely different person? It seems logical to me that it was Altomari, since Lapi and Agone were under his leadership, and then together with Filippone, Albanese and Caruso were in the crew of Mogavero. In addition, bn considers Ralph Ferraro to be DelDuca's successor.

Angelo Tuminaro joined the Lucchese family, which may suggest that "Aiello" may have been a capodecina/soldier (with associates under him) even before the Morello/Loiacano family split.

[quadtree]

The similarities between “Gusae” and “Giosue” also occurred to me. Someone under the username Meanstreets on gangsterbb claims that "Giuseppi Aiello" was shot and killed in 1929 during a robbery of a candy store/restaurant located at 133 melrose street in Bushwick, which was supposedly the home of Charles Gagliodotto, who was very close to Altomari and Petillo. Source: Standard Union newspaper, May 24, 1929. If you find this newspaper, you can confirm the information. If this is true, it is an interesting and thought-provoking coincidence.

Also discovered that Angelo Tuminaro may have been a member of the Genovese, and his brother Frank was killed by Charles Gagliodotto. After which Gagliodotto was killed, and then Angelo Tuminaro went missing. There is a version that Angelo killed Gagliadotto, and then was killed himself for unsanctioned murder. Whoever "Giosue Aiello" is, Gagliodotto appears next to him too often.

[JoelTurner]

1) Willie Moretti's crew may have split earlier than previously assumed:

On the DeCarlo tapes, they discuss an event when William "Billy Jinks" Cardinale was supposed to ask Willie Moretti to be transferred to Jerry Catena [from the Richie Boiardo crew]. He was dissuaded by a Mike LNU (Miranda ?) who threatened to kill him if he put in said request.

A few pages later, they bring up Boiardo asking Moretti for permission to hit Cardinale. It's then said that (other than Cardinale) his guys were Charles Tourine, Anthony & John Russo. It's clear that they were referring to membership in the mafia rather than in a gang because DeCarlo subsequently says that Victor Pisauro and other figures around him weren't "in the mob" at the time.

Both of these incidents had to have taken place prior to Jan 31 1951 which was when Cardinale was killed.

I think it's possible that Boiardo & Catena were captains by the late '40s and that Jerry absorbed Moretti's crew after his murder. A sit-down or official transfer request wouldn't have been necessary if they were just unofficial factions in the same crew. DeCarlo was probably made capo in the mid '50s; a bunch of members around him like Polverino, Santoli, and Percello are implied to have been made around that time.

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

2) Per Manhattan Mafia Guide Hits, Homes & Headquarters, Victor Tramaglino's first "boss" in the Genovese family was Thomas "Bullets" Licata. He was an East Village dope figure. His brother Eugene Tramaglino was a Bonanno member who was said to have lived with Gambino capo Steve Armone at some point of time. He was linked to Matthew DeLorenzo who's listed as a member of the Cosmo Frasca crew.

[B.]

Quad--

Yeah, Tuminaro was a Genovese member. He was misidentified early on as a Lucchese member and he was also very close to the Galante crew of the Bonannos as he was a maternal cousin of the Presenzanos whose heritage was also in Resuttano, Caltanissetta.

I checked out the article on the 1929 murder of Giuseppe Aiello. He was said to be 36 and lived in Bushwick right off Knickerbocker Ave. His alleged killer was Gandolfo Annullo of Little Italy.

Thanks to Tony I was able to find more background info on Charles Gagliodotto (true name Gagliardotto). He and his parents did live at the same address as the restaurant where Giuseppe Aiello was killed. They lived in one of the apartments above the restaurant. It's definitely interesting that Gagliodotto was said to be with the Giosue Aiello crew and a Giuseppe Aiello was killed in the same building Gagliodotto lived in. I'm not convinced it's the same guy, though.

Tony also found that the Gagliodottos were from Polizzi Generosa which is exactly the part of Palermo I suspected. Polizzi is right near Collesano and Resuttana, this part of the Palermo/Caltanissetta border producing the majority of the guys mentioned as "Aiello" associates. I don't know where in Caltanissetta Rosario DiMaggio came from but I wouldn't be surprised if it's in Resuttano or nearby.

Gagliodotto's ancestry in Polizzi Generosa is also significant because I mentioned earlier that Gandolfo "Frankie Marlow" Curto was from Polizzi Generosa. I'm now wondering if Al D'Arco was referring to Gandolfo Curto when he mentioned Giosue Aiello, though you'd think the name would have been said to him as "Frankie Marlow" in conversation and that he'd know that name. Marlow didn't fly under the radar by our standards but I'm not sure how he'd be perceived to someone like D'Arco in those days -- it's not like he was digging through old newspapers.

Curto did however have a less common "G" name as you don't see a ton of mafiosi named Giosue or Gandolfo (funny enough Giuseppe Aiello's killer was named Gandolfo), so worth entertaining the possibility that he confused his name. Curto operated on the Lower East Side too which would fit Aiello and his death would fit the vague timeline given by D'Arco. If nothing else I would guess these young LES guys who joined the Genovese Family knew Curto given he was a major mob figure and a paesan / neighboring paesan to them.

[quadtree]

Interesting coincidences. On the gangstersinc website, in the article about Carfano, there is a lot of information about Curto and his murder.

- Real name Almedo (according to his wife).

- Was a bodyguard for Arnold Rothstein, who allegedly also mentored Lucania and Frank Costello.

- Owned or was a co-owner of The Silver Slipper Club, The Rendezvous Club and the Cotton Club (along with Owney Madden).

- Close to Frankie Yale, but before the murder, Curto allegedly quarreled with him. Frankie Yale allegedly financed Curto's gambling activities, receiving 25% of the profits in return. Curto allegedly borrowed 40,000 from Yale, which was the alleged reason for his murder.

- On June 24, 1929, Curto arrived at a restaurant at 252 52nd Street, the restaurant was called La Tavernelle and was owned by Ignatius Coppa. I found an article in the New Yorker dated August 10, 1929, which states that Curto sat at the same table with people who were supposed to be his friends, these were Johnnie Wilson, Ignatius Coppa, Edward Lewis, Al Seigel, and a woman named Mary Seiden. Curto met there with his bookmaker named Dominic Piccora (nicknamed Danny Murray). A certain sports promoter from Brooklyn named Humber J. Fugazy was warned not to go to the restaurant because there might be a murder there, but Fugazy went to the restaurant anyway and saw Curto there that day, then Fugazy would tell the police about it. Curto answered the phone and told his friends that he had to go, he would go to Broadway, where he would be picked up by two men in a blue sedan. As the police would later find out, the car with Curto and two men would stop on the side of the road in front of the entrance to Flushing Cemetery in Queens, where Curto would be shot, then his body would be thrown out of the car on South 4th Street and Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn.

- Curto's murder case was investigated by New York Police Commissioner Grover Aloysius Whalen, who was reportedly bribed by the Mafia. The case was never solved, although suspects were sought even in Boston and Philadelphia.

- It is reported that at the time of his death, Curto was indeed in debt in excess of $250,000. Curto was reported to have been careless with his debts. It is also reported that an informant told police that Anthony Carfano took over control of Curto's Manhattan racket sometime in late 1928 when Curto found himself in financial trouble. On my own behalf, I will add that this may indicate that Curto lost his position as capodecina in 1928, or at least his authority in LCN.

- Carfano was interrogated about the Curto murder, but, of course, he was never able to present anything.

- This is interesting. "Johnny Wilson", with whom Curto last dined, was Carfano's partner in a slot machine business and a floating card game based at The Hotel Manger on West 50th Street, his real name being Giovanni Francesco Panica (b. March 23, 1893), born and raised in East Harlem, was a school friend of Frank Costello and was also a boxer whose manager was Curto. Panica would become world middleweight champion and even become an actor, starring in Michelangelo Antonioni's film Zabriskie Point. His nephew Victor Panica will become a soldier of the Lucchese family, and will be a major drug dealer, and Victor Panica's cousin will be the famous underboss of the Lucchese family Andimo Pappadio.

[chin_gigante]

1) Willie Moretti's crew may have split earlier than previously assumed:

On the DeCarlo tapes, they discuss an event when William "Billy Jinks" Cardinale was supposed to ask Willie Moretti to be transferred to Jerry Catena [from the Richie Boiardo crew]. He was dissuaded by a Mike LNU (Miranda ?) who threatened to kill him if he put in said request.

A few pages later, they bring up Boiardo asking Moretti for permission to hit Cardinale. It's then said that (other than Cardinale) his guys were Charles Tourine, Anthony & John Russo. It's clear that they were referring to membership in the mafia rather than in a gang because DeCarlo subsequently says that Victor Pisauro and other figures around him weren't "in the mob" at the time.

Both of these incidents had to have taken place prior to Jan 31 1951 which was when Cardinale was killed.

I think it's possible that Boiardo & Catena were captains by the late '40s and that Jerry absorbed Moretti's crew after his murder. A sit-down or official transfer request wouldn't have been necessary if they were just unofficial factions in the same crew. DeCarlo was probably made capo in the mid '50s; a bunch of members around him like Polverino, Santoli, and Percello are implied to have been made around that time.

To support that, I also found this file on Mary Ferrell where NK 2319-C* (referred to in the report as NK T-3), reported that Eugene Catena took over Moretti's regime.

IMG_4009.jpeg

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... 2willie%22

NK 2319-C* was the bug that picked up all of Catena's conversations, so it's likely this information came directly from him.

I also find it interesting that, on the 1963 chart, Valachi was able to identify leadership succession in certain regimes (Alo taking over from Adonis, Eboli succeeding DiQuarto, Coppola replacing Terranova) but he didn't list Boiardo as taking over from Moretti.