Cicero Crew 1930s to 1970s

I welcome opinions, additions, subtractions:

Cicero/Berwyn Crew 1930s to 1970s:

Ralph Capone
Louis Campagna?
Frank Nitti?
Willie Heeney
Joseph Aiuppa
Sam Carlisi
Al Tornabene
Dominic Cortina (previously with Taylor Street)
(Black) Joe Amato (McHenry County and Lake County)
Lou Czarnocki (McHenry County)
Lester (Killer Kane) Kruse (Lake County)
Tom Griffin (Lake County)
George Rauff (Lake County)
Donald Angelini (previously with Taylor Street)
Vincent Inserro (previously with Taylor Street)
Robert Ansani (previously with Taylor Street)
Claude Maddox (previously Circus Café gang in North Side)
Joe Ferriola (previously with Taylor Street)
Ernest Rocky Infelise
Bucky Ortenzi
Harry Aleman
Sal Bastone
Carmen Bastone
Al Tornabene
Nick Circella?

Al Tornabene was a south side guy.

Yes, I accidentally placed him on the wrong list. Thanks for catching it.

Again, I would remove the Non-Italians and just stick to made guys.
Keep Aleman on there. Ferriola pushed his nephew through.

I would keep Tornabene on there. I don't believe he belonged to Chicago Heights or 26th ST. I think he did belong to Cicero.

Yes, Nitti belonged to Cicero. On that PM I told you what my father said about him. When Outfit men say someone 'BELONGS' to someone, that means he is in the same crew with the guy they're talking about at that moment. Nitti was Capone's cousin and he 'Belonged' to him.

Cicero was Al Capone's power base.

GREAT LIST !!!! I think I was taller than than Vinnie Inserro when I was 10 though..;) Little guy but powerful...I don't see Butchie Petrocelli there though. The LaPietra brothers-though born and raised in the 26th Street neighborhood of Bridgeport- belonged to Aiuppa in Cicero before he put them back into that 26th Street Crew at some point. As to when that was exactly I'm sure Chicago could help with that. It might have been in the late 70's when Turk Torello died am not sure. Ironically, Turk lived in Cicero and Jimmy LaPietra lived in Berwyn til he died in 93. It's weird how many of these guys overlap in terms of Crews, neighborhoods, etc... When I was a kid late 70's early 80's the corner of Austin & Roosevelt was where many of these guys congregated. The old Schullo's Italian Restaurant and a coffee shop on the corner called the Big Top. After the demise of Taylor Street, the corner of Austin & Roosevelt was the Ground Zero example of Outfit power in the Chicago area throughout the 70's and 80's. Anyone who thinks that the Outfit hasn't declined should just visit that neighborhood now and see how it has declined. Gangbangers, street hookers, open drug markets, etc..NEVER would have been allowed if the Outfit were still strong over there. Too much heat.

The LaPietra's were from Taylor Street, not Bridgeport. Wow the Big Top...that's way back. Wasn't Betty Maltese a waitress there way back when?

A lot of the government lists confused the crews or left out crews entirely. The Calabreses said that at the time they were involved that there were six crews. Most of the lists that I have seen have no more than five. I think Melrose is the extra crew.

Anyway, I decided to put up these lists and if any of you have more names to add please post them. Thanks.

Faithful, often people get confused with Melrose. Under Aiuppa, who was from Melrose Park, it was part of the Cicero Crew yet although an offshoot unto itself if that's not confusing enough lol. Two branches I guess you could say to the Cicero Crew - 1 in Cicero/Berwyn and the other in Melrose, Stone Park etc..

I don't know if the Melrose Park crew had its own capo, but the way the Calabreses talk about it, it seems like it was as much a crew as any other. If I recall they said that Dominic Palermo was one of the guys in this crew, but would have to double check to make sure.

I remember going to The Big Top Restaurant in Cicero as a kid. My grandparents lived a couple of blocks from that place. Good food and good memories! There used to be a cool dime store on the corner of 59th Ct. and West Roosevelt we always went to... and you NEVER NEVER went near 13th Street back in those days! Thanks for the memory joggers!

Faithful1, 12thSt is correct. By the way He is very good.

Anyway, Melrose Park is covered by Cicero. Even the Feds were smart enough to figure that out. They call it the Cicero/Melrose Park Crew.
Years earlier, Melrose Park was covered by Taylor St,
Sam Battaglia.

There was never any set rule written like it was one of the ten Commandments that there were 6 crews. The Outfit was always very flexible.

Thanks guys

Faithful1, Dominic Toots Palermo was a made guy in the Chicago Heights Crew.
(Far South Suburbs)
Melrose Park was covered by Cicero. Auippa, Carlisi, Marcello, Zizzo, Chiarimonti etc.

It was Joey o's dream to establish & head a concrete Melrose Park Crew. Mooney was made aware of this, laughed at the idea, and gave him Cicero, which was a shell of what it was 20 years prior. This infuriated aiuppa, but man did he make the best of it. Cicero is still #1 on the streets to this day thanks to him. His reign is extremely underrated.

Huron, Have to agree. Mooney underestimated Auippa.
Auippa's Cicero men had fat bellies (a lot of money).
He was also a good politician. I'll explain:

Auippa, more than Cerone, was able to persuade some of the remaining Taylor St. men to be loyal to him.

Examples:
Dominic Blasi
Turk Torello
Joey Lombardo
Angelo LaPietra
Frank Skids Caruso

These men were more impressed with Auippa than the Cerone. What Cerone had going for him was the loyalty of Accardo.

But wouldn't you say Lumbo became closer to Cerone because of the Patch/Elmwood Park connection?

Also, explain what the name of the crew operating out of Da Patch/Smith Park/Grand & Ogden neighborhood was called during the Taylor St. years.

That's a good question. I'm not sure who Lombardo was closer to: Auippa or Cerone. You would think Cerone because of the Grand Ave Connection? If I don't know something I'll tell you. I'm not really sure about that question? LOL.
I will tell you this: Lombardo was very close with DiFronzo.

Right, but Lombardo's relationship with the Difronzo family was forged when he moved to Da Patch. The DiFronzos were Patch kids, Race & Wolcott if I'm not mistaken, a stone's throw from the old II Jack's.

Joey & Jackie both adored Lumbo. Everyone did, either way. They don't make men like Joe Lombardo anymore. He was a true Outfit Guy. road his bicycle every morning, rain or shine, to his shit hole in the wall welding shop in the Fulton market district, simultaneously skimming casinos in Vegas & St. Bart's.

During the Taylor St years, guys operating around Grand & Ogden belonged to Elmwood Park. The Elmwood Park Crew really was the Old Grand Ave Crew. They moved the epicenter further West in the early 1950's into Elmwood Park.

Then, around 1969, Auippa/Cerone made Joey Lombardo a Boss and Partner with them. He wanted to stay in the old neighborheed and make that the epicenter of his power, so, the Grand Ave Crew came about again as a separate but allied Crew with Elmwood Park who was partnered with Cicero to run the whole fucking Outfit. Make sense? The History is interesting and you'll never read it in a Book. LOL

The Difronzo Bothers, Lombardo, Cerone, Gagliano, were all Grand Ave guys. They were born and raised in the Grand Ave neighborhood. I don't doubt that Lumpy hung around Taylor St(The Patch). After all, it wasn't really that far away.
I agree with you about one thing for sure:
They'll never be another Joey Lombardo. No question.

Yes I knew all of that, just wanted you to solidify it for everyone. Many will argue that the Grand Ave (Patch) crew was never truly deactivated.

The Patch is the grand Ave/Smith park area, not Taylor, but I'm sure that was a type o lol. That was Joe batters territory as well, and the spilotros & calabrese families as well, obviously.

The current GAC compound is the Cozzo estate connected to a bar called mahoneys off of Ogden. That crew has some very tough younger guys (30s/40s young).

Years ago they used to call the Taylor St area the Patch. So, when I hear the Patch I immediately think Taylor St. LOL

Are you saying that an area around Grand and Ogden is/was called the Patch?

To me, The Patch was always Taylor St. Mooney would even call it 'The Patch' talking to my father.

Hmm interesting. Yes, the Patch is historically known as the Smith park neighborhood stretching to halsted on grand. So Como Inn to western, Chicago to the north & grand to the south.

Lombardo and DiFronzo both went to the same high school (Wells I believe) and were one year apart. They've known each other for a long time.

Good god! What an education on the Outfit. Want to thank all of you who are keeping these Chitown threads going.

My Mom's family all from Taylor Street. They referred to it as The Patch also, Chicago so it's not just you...:)

+1... Great Windy City stuff! Where the heck have you guys been? You are a welcome addition to the BB.

"Storekeeper, Canfield's for everyone!"

That's a Chicago thing... if we have to explain it you wouldn't be interested!

We've all been eating arancini at Freddy's on 16th Street...;) lol

If anyone is interested in a great Asian-style buffet I have to recommend Royal Buffet in Hoffman Estates. Haven't been there for a while, but was worth drive last time I was in the Chicago area. The best pizza I tried there was the Pizzeria Uno on Ohio.

Pizzeria Uno is good but there's much better places to go in Chicago.

Faithful my man, Freddy's has that beaten too...:) lol In fact it very well may be the main overwhelming reason the Italians are still entrenched in Cicero lololol...:)

Next time I'm out there I'll make the trip to Freddy's. I looked on Yelp and it gets almost all five stars, except for a couple complaints about the long lines and other things that have nothing to do with the food. From the looks of it I might need to skip a few meals before going there to make room for the pizza, gnocchi and Italian ices. Nothing even close out here in Southern California without paying an arm and a leg.

Faithful the lines can be long at lunchtime but it's so worth it...The Italian Ice and gelato are out of this world as is the pizza but PLEASE make sure you try the arancini..One full block east of there at 1600 S Austin in Cicero is an old Capone hideout building. Supposedly there are tunnels that go under the streets that were built in case there were any police raids. Google it it's well known in the neighborhood but it has been on the History Channel too. It gives you an excuse to go gorge yourself all in the name of research lol...:) Another historical place over there is Sarno's Restaurant on Roosevelt just west of Central. Yes, it's owned by Fat Ass and his family but that's not why it's historic. It's historic as during Prohibition the place was a speakeasy/roadhouse and Capone's guys gunned down a State's Attorney named McSwiggin there...Lotsa history in that neighborhood...

Lol @ uno & due. For tourists only. For deep dish Pequod's & MyPie are extremely difficult to beat.

For beefs, Joe Boston's, in the southwest corner of Da Patch.

Didn't mean to be rude, but gotta stay away from the beaten path, & stay far away from the downtown/gold coast/old town areas.

Pretty sure Giancana gave nothing to Aiuppa who was very close to Joe Batters. Joey was established long before Giancana was a twinkle in Accardos eye. I'd be surprised if Momo was even included in board meetings with Accardo, Ricca, Aiuppa,LaPorte and other lower profile guys.Giancana was the face of the outfit but I don't believe he had any power. The only reason Aiuppa took over was all the other guys they put in either died or screwed up like Giancana. Aiuppa always had more power than Giancana.

paul ricca had the power as long as he was capable

accardo was his number 2

giancana was "top boss" aka the fall guy

giancana out ranked aiupppa at one point, then auippa had the power

I don't think Giancana was ever the "fall guy". It was widely known at the time that he had some type of power-share with Ricca and Accardo. Aiuppa didn't have more power than Giancana until he left the country and all his guys started dying and going to prison.

Typically, it's one extreme or the other with Giancana - people either think he had way more power than he actually did or way less. In reality, it was somewhere in between.

Th

This just simply isn't true. Aiuppa became the boss because he worked hard at it for years, rebuilding a viable power base in Cicero.

Also, the Outfit never had a fall guy. Everyone was largely on the same page. Sam giancana & Joey aiuppa were the same age. Aiuppa started his career as a crew boss in Cicero, which was a weak crew at that time compared to Taylor Street. So no, he didn't have more power than Giancana during that era.

Yeah, if Aiuppa was always the favored son then he wouldn't have been exiled to Cicero in the first place. Not to say that he was being punished but Cicero wasn't seen as a big moneymaking area when he took over there.

If you read the the FBI files on Aiuppa, a bunch of their informants basically told them he was low on the Outfit totem pole in the 50s. Funny to read considering where he would eventually end up twenty years later.

Was getting ready to say about the same thing. Aiuppa was probably the last of the Capone-era gangsters. "Working hard" and perseverance likely got Aiuppa to the top. His FBI file is extensive and interesting. Most OC writers / historians do not, did not, consider him all that capable. I suppose he proved them wrong.

From all I've read, it was after Giancana went to Mexico that Aiuppa evolved. There were several short-term bosses who either died or went to prison before Aiuppa came on board as boss. I think it is fair to say there was a lack of qualified prospects for the position of boss after Giancana. But Aiuppa did evolve and secured the position.

A couple more points. If membership is indicative of effectiveness, one only needs to look at the members of Taylor St. Scary bunch of guys. Also, from all indications, these guys did work together for the benefit of the Outfit. No street wars, etc., like during the Capone days.

Giancana was powerful, Accardo was powerful, Aiuppa was powerful. All these guys had power. And, for most of the time, they worked together, effectively. No need to revisit the
"Most powerful "discussion; at least for me.

Funny thing is, I think someone actually referred to him as a nobody in 1957ish.

If they hadn't passed, Phil Alderisio and/or Sam Battaglia would have been the big bosses of the Outfit for many years, and the Outfit today could have a very different look to it. It may have even sank much quicker than it did.

I think Turk would have been pretty high up there as well.

Ehh, maybe around the 90s. Who knows. But Battaglia & Alderisio actually were the top bosses in the Outfit. They just died before they could begin their reigns.

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