Gangland3/31/16

[B.]

Here is what we know:

- Mancuso was the second highest ranking member on the street behind Basciano after the family's meltdown in the mid-2000s.
- When Basciano went away and much of his contact with the outside world was severed, Mancuso becoming the highest ranking member.
- Basciano and Mancuso were at odds with one another, but much of Basciano's support base went away when his crew had its own meltdown and Basciano was sent to supermax.
- Mancuso crew member Sal Montagna becomes acting boss when Mancuso goes away and runs the family for several years until he is deported. It's not clear if he was getting directives from Mancuso, but it's possible. No reported incidents of anyone challenging this arrangement.
- In 2009 a Mancuso crew member Seccafico is murdered due to disrespect he had shown toward his superiors.
- We've just learned that the same year Montagna was deported and Seccafico killed, Mancuso's young nephew Aiello is inducted and is used to communicate directives from Mancuso, who unlike Basciano can still communicate from prison.
- In the meantime, the family is run by a variety of admin members and ruling panels from different areas.
- John Palazzolo is named as the street boss and a Mancuso loyalist. (side note, but is he actually a "Bronx guy"? I've been familiar with him for years before this and I don't recall him ever being associated with the Bronx... maybe someone knows better than I do)
- Recently we've also learned that Mancuso's "nephew" (might not be officially related) Salerno has been made and has been used to communicate messages from Mancuso.
- John Cammarano is now the acting boss and is making his presence known within the family.

My take:
There is said to be some amount of tension between different factions in the family, especially when Palazzolo was helping run things. But tension is normal for these organizations and its members are competitive by nature. If you look at the history of every family, especially in NY, you will see few periods if any where there wasn't somebody who was unhappy with the boss or trying to gain more power. Very rarely is every single crew going to be 100% loyal to the boss. Seems like Mancuso has people who are loyal to him and they have at least been able to maintain the status quo for him since he went to prison (even if he wasn't the official boss then). Maybe things are changing and Cammarano will push to officially take over. Asaro was recorded referring to DiFiore as the "new boss", but all other info has had him as the acting boss until he got arrested. We're still debating who the official boss was for the Genovese family in the 1970s and 80s and up until a decade ago many of us believed Carmine Galante had been the official boss in the 1970s. Let's wait and see what else comes out.