1963 Five Families Capos

Pat conte the herion kingpin/supermarket chains from the gambinos is still alive according to a capeci article i read yesterday at 94. Hes probaly one of the last on the street. Didnt say what his health is like but hes alive.

Bonanno
Joseph Notaro, Thomas D'Angelo, John Aquaro, Vito DeFilippo, Frank LaBruzzo, Matteo Valvo, Gaspare DiGregorio, Natale Evola, Vincent Cotroni, Luigi Creco, Angelo Caruso, Salvatore Bonanno, Paul Sciacca, Joseph Asaro, Vincent DePasquale, Joseph DiFilippo, Vincent Tarantola, Frank Tartamella

Colombo
John Franzese, Salvatore Mussachio, Vincent Aloi, John Oddo, Nicoline Sorrentino Sr, John Misuraca, Simone Andolino, Frank Profaci, Harry Fontana, James Clemenza, Salvatore Badalamenti, Leonardo Carlino, Ambrogio Magliocco, Vincent Randazzo, Joseph Tipa Sr, Joseph Colombo Sr.

Gambino
Carmine Fattico, Aniello Dellacroce, Vincent Corrao, Anthony Sedotto, Arthur Leo, Frank Piccolo, Peter Ferrara, Paul Castellano, Paolo Gambino, Charles Dongarro, Frank Perrone, Olympio Garafalo, Anthony Anastasio, Joseph Colozzo, Ettore Zappi, Joseph Paterno, Domenico Arcuri, Joseph Traina, Joseph Gennaro, Luigi Morici, John Riccobono, Joseph Silesi, Rocco Mazzie, Pasquale Conte, Alfred Eppolito, Carmine Lombardozzi

Lucchese
Paul Vario Sr, Anthony Castaldi, Benjamin Pizzolato, Ciro Giampaolo, Carmine Tramunti, Salvatore Santoro, Joseph LaRatro, Joseph Abate, Ettore Coco, Antonio Corallo, John DiCarlo, John Dioguardi, Joseph Lucchese, Joseph Rosato, Joseph DiPalermo

Genovese
Michael Coppola- Phil Lombardo was acting for Coppola, Thomas Eboli- Pasquale Eboli was acting for his brother, Frank Celano, Frank Tieri, Peter DeFeo, Vincent Alo, James Angellino, Rosario Mogavero, Nick Ratenni, Richard Boiardo, Angelo DeCarlo, Eugene Catena, Vincenzo Genoroso, Thomas Greco, Cosmo Fresca, Salvatore Cufari, Girolamo Santuccio.

The Worcester crew was put under control of Girolamo Santuccio of Connecticut after Frank Iacone died in 1956, with Angelo Iacone acting capo in the area. Raymond Patriarca Sr, made Salvatore Cufari and five other members then transferred them to the Genovese crime family as a favor to Vito Genovese, thus Worcester than reported to Springfield Massachusetts.

1) At the time Genovese crime family was the richest with the Gambinos creeping up on them.
2) the most dangerous family to be in was the Colombos. The most dangerous family to go up against were the Genovese crime family. I'll you why, when Costello and Genovese were housed at the same facility, they compared notes and realized that Tony Bender was playing both of them. When Strollo disappeared in 1962, there was finally peace and stability with the family acting as one overall when 1963 came around.
3) Lucchese crime family
4) Colombo crime family. The Bonanno family did not start running into problems until 1964 and by 1965 they started to come unhinged.
5) This is a tough one to answer. They were all mysterious to the public at the time. I would have to say Bonanno and Lucchese were contenders at the time, but Gambino crime family was a lot more mysterious and unknown to the public and LE. Take a look at those charts and you can see people were placed in the wrong family, Valachi, other informants and bugs helped LE to piece the families more accurately, but still thay got members wrong here and there.

The Asaros had a long running grudge with Bonanno and they sided with DiGregorio.
Evola, Zicarelli, Marangello and Sabella I believe were all initially loyal with Bonanno but tried to remain on sidelines and neutral (I'm not sure if any switched sides). Actually most crews tried not to get involved in the conflict, no matter which side they were on. Zicarelli also wanted to switch to DeCavalcantes in the chaos that ensued.

what was the long standing issue between the Asaros and Bonanno?

Vinny's grandfather Vincenzo (an old timer mafioso from Castellmare) was a capo and was demoted by Bonanno. His son Jerome (Vinny's father) was at one point also shelved by Bonanno.

Bonanno was stingy and bled his family members dry with high tributes (DiGregorio included). His traditionalist methods originating from the old county were out of place in the new era, the nepotism associated with his son being promoted was just the trigger for all the thing to come. Also the rebellion was stirred by other families, his relative Maggadino included (he fell out with him apparently due to moving in on rackets on his territory). Well, DiGregorio also wasn't the best choice for a leader.

Joe Bonanno did selved Vincenzo and Girolamo Asaro, and placed Giuseppe Grimaldi, Vito Grimaldi father as Capo, Grimaldi stayed on the sidelines. As far as reason, it is said Asaro and John Morale had a dispute over something and Bonanno sided with Morale, who was family to the Bonannos through the Bonventre family, Bonanno or Morale told Asaro to drop it and he did not. Morale and Alfano is also said to have a dispute, with Bonanno ruling in Morale favor.

Bonanno was able to settle his beef with Gambino.
Keep his legitimate businesses outside Ny.
Still act as a liason to Montreal and Sicily
secure peace for his loyalist who moved to Arizona and some of those who remained in Ny.
establish a quasi-Family in Arizona and California, unbothered.

He lost control of his family but evaded the RICO sentence and thus rotting in jail for the last 20 yrs of his life like other bosses. Had he been less close-fisted he would have been untouchable.

I agree, if Bonanno lasted past 1970, he would've ended up in jail on Rico or taking Galante's bullets as well.

Galante was loyal to Joe its my opinion he would never have turned on him. He wanted to take back family for what happened to Bonanno while he was away.

What did wiseguys such as Lefty Guns, Frank Coppa, Curly Lino, etc. think of Joe Bananas after he was shelved to Arizona?

I am curious what Lefty guns thought of Bonanno and where he was during the Bananas war? Wasn't he with Joe Notaro?
I wouldn't be suprised if their was no love lost, seeing as to he didn't get a button for his outstanding debts

Genovese
Michael Coppola- Phil Lombardo was acting for Coppola, Thomas Eboli- Pasquale Eboli was acting for his brother, Frank Celano, Frank Tieri, Peter DeFeo, Vincent Alo, James Angellino, Rosario Mogavero, Nick Ratenni, Richard Boiardo, Angelo DeCarlo, Eugene Catena, Vincenzo Genoroso, Thomas Greco, Cosmo Fresca, Salvatore Cufari, Girolamo Santuccio.

The Worcester crew was put under control of Girolamo Santuccio of Connecticut after Frank Iacone died in 1956, with Angelo Iacone acting capo in the area. Raymond Patriarca Sr, made Salvatore Cufari and five other members then transferred them to the Genovese crime family as a favor to Vito Genovese, thus Worcester than reported to Springfield Massachusetts.

Alfano base was in New Jersey during the time and most members outside New York stayed on the sidelines, the exceptions were California and Arizona members that were not retired at the time. Alfano was in fact the defecto boss of New Jersey Bonanno faction since Carmine Galante was locked up. Galante had one of the biggest crews before his arrest, as by 1960 it split unknown who became capo of the new crew as two years later it would reemerge back into Galante crew, then again in 1965 which Joe Notaro was official capo then demoted for remaining loyal to Bonanno, Mike Sabella became official capo, but decided to remain on the sidelines which caused him to be demoted. The crew was then split into four crews with Michael Consolo, Amando Pollastrino, and Michael Zaffarano were named capos for the opposition against Bonanno, Joseph Ziccarelli became capo over the New Jersey members of the crew remained on the sidelines, while some soldiers went with Joe Notaro into supporting Bonanno, and a couple went with Sabella under the Lucchese crime family protection on the condition that dont touch a gun during the conflict.

Paul Sciacca was a good earner for the family in the Garment business, unions had his own bank or two in New Jersey, and had put in some work for the family. His business in the garment industry attracted Bonanno to promote him to capo. This is important cause he was such an earner there that Lucchese liked him over the year after they met that a friendship began, and through that he was introduced to Carlo Gambino. When Gaspare stepped down, Lucchese picked Paul Sciacca to lead and the other commission members backed the pick up. He was bumped up to acting boss and made his old mentor Pietro Crociata Capo over his old crew. Crociate was able to get old members in the family to their side. Sciacca was still struggling trying to get the family together during and after the war. During the war he bumped up Mari and Adamo to capos, then bumped Mari to his underboss.

Why Adamo and Mari tried to takeout Sciacca? Greed. Who supported them? Some members in the Bonanno crime family, and members in other families. Mari was feuding with Michele Miranda, and Frank Celano in the Genovese crime family. My theory is that the Genovese were setting them up. Whatever happened, Adamo and Mari were sure they could pull it off. The members who are said to have tipped off Sciacca about the plot are Nicholas Marangello and Frank Tartamella. After Mari and Adamo disappeared, Mike Sabella came back into the folds thanks to his good friend Marangello, and Tartamella was promoted to capo.

By 1960s many of Bonanno friends and allies in those families were dead, locked up, or retired For Buffalo top spot it would have been Peter Magaddino Sr or Salvatore Pieri Sr, Bonanno would have counted on Rochester, Hamilton, and Youngstown to take the rackets away from Magaddino. Salvatore Pieri Sr would eventually become boss.

Gambino, best bet would Joseph Colozzo, Peter Ferrara, or Carmine Fattico.
Lucchese, this is the hardest one to pin down cause that family was loyal to Lucchese. Paul Vario, and Ciro
Giampaolo are the only ones I can think of Bonanno trying to approach.

Paul Castellano was being used a messenger .

Murder Inc was a myth. It was a loose affiliation of Jewish gangs that was misinterpreted (based on a pre-Valachi understanding of LCN) to be an enforcement wing for the Commission, and this idea has been repeated to the point where it is accepted as truth. The killings attributed to 'Murder Inc' were carried out by those Jewish gangs, sometimes with the approval of Albert Anastasia (to ensure they weren't killing anyone they shouldn't). Executions ordered by Anastasia are generally also attributed to 'Murder Inc', but the idea of Murder Inc as a clearly defined entity carrying out contracts nationwide for LCN is a myth.

Murder inc. a myth? I’m sorry but t that’s gotta be an attempt at humor. No way it can be a serious comment

On the heels of this, the revelations of Abe (Kid Twist) Reles kept public attention focused on organized crime. Reles, a Buchalter crony, belonged to a band of Brooklyn mobsters popularly called Murder Incorporated, which had strong ties with several Cosa Nostra figures, most notably Anastasia. Information from Reles led to convictions in a half dozen previously unsolved gangland slayings. Murder Incorporated has since been portrayed as a sort of specialty house which handled contracts to kill for the entire U.S. underworld. This, according to Valachi, was not so at least as far as official Cosa Nostra executions were concerned. In such matters, he says, it has always relied on its own membership.

This week we set the record straight about a  subject that has been raised by several Gang Land readers in the last few weeks: Murder Incorporated.

Murder Incorporated, the legendary gang of so-called hired killers from the Brownsville section of Brooklyn that supposedly served as an enforcement arm of La Cosa Nostra during the 1930's and 40's, is a myth.

There was never a stable of salaried killers who sat around waiting for murder assignments. The myth began in the 1940's, was reinforced by a 1951 best seller, "MURDER INC," by Burton Turkus and Sid Feder. The myth still  survives to this day for several interrelated reasons:

1. The general lack of knowledge about La Cosa Nostra half a century ago.
2. Certain law enforcement officials with political ambitions who wanted to appear as cutthroat gangsters.
3. Good old-fashioned media sensationalism.

Many murders were committed by a motley group of mainly Jewish gangsters based in Brownsville, but most had to do with battles over garment industry rackets in Manhattan and had nothing to do with La Cosa Nostra. Lepke Buchalter became a major target of the law, he lost his cool, and like many mob bosses of the 1980's and 1990's, began rubbing out anyone who he thought might testify against him.

The Cosa Nostra connection to some of these so-called MURDER INC. hoods  came from their close associations with Albert Anastasia, then-underboss of the crime family known today as the Gambino family. If Jewish hoods wanted to whack someone, they would check with Anastasia and make sure the murder wouldn't screw up any of his schemes. It was a smart political move because of  the power Anastasia wielded.

MURDER INC. was co-authored by Turkus, an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn who prosecuted many of the killers. There were no turncoat mobsters then and Turkus simply got some things wrong. He knew there was some kind of national syndicate but he overestimated its organizational structure. Turkus tried to paint a picture of a well-organized nationwide  company with clearly defined roles, goals, and job descriptions.

There is an excellent analysis of MURDER INC. in "East Side-West Side," a book by Alan Block, a Penn State University professor. A key player in Block's research was Abe Reles, a well known informer who helped Turkus win many convictions.

Reles was part of a gang battling for control of rackets in Brownsville that killed off their main rivals to consolidate their control. Reles was associated with Louis Capone, who was in the Anastasia orbit. When the gang wanted  to knock off someone interfering in their rackets, they would, as a courtesy, tell Anastasia. They did not want to inadvertently kill someone who was a friend or associate of a powerful Cosa Nostra leader. They were not hired killers. No one paid them to wipe out their rivals.
Reles, through Capone, sometimes did some favors for Anastasia as a way to curry favor, probably a handful of hits. But there was no payment; Reles was not a hired killer.
He, like all all racketeers, was out to make money through scams and schemes. Murder was simply a means of getting things done.

The affairs of the notorious Buchalter also played a big role in the legend of Murder Inc. He was a big man in the garment district and used muscle to get what he wanted. After prosecutor Thomas Dewey's main target, Dutch Schultz, was wiped out, Dewey turned his sights on Buchalter. As legal pressure mounted, Buchalter went into hiding and tried to cover his tracks by killing anyone he thought might become an informer. Many of these killings have been attributed to Murder Inc., but were really the unraveling of the Buchalter organization.

The prosecutors, the police, and the newspapers at that time, had no idea of the true nature and structure of La Cosa Nostra. The media lumped the disparate group of murders into one major conspiracy and labeled it Murder Inc. In the 1960's, when Joe Valachi broke his vow of omerta and opened a window on mob doings, he put the lie to Murder Inc. But Hollywood and the mob groupies refused to let go of the myth they helped create.

The American public loves a boogie man - be it the Communist threat exaggerated by Senator Joe McCarthy in the 1950's or Saddem Hussein in the 1990's. For a time, Murder Inc. was the great American boogie man. It's time to lay this lame myth to rest.

1) At the time Genovese crime family was the richest with the Gambinos creeping up on them.
2) the most dangerous family to be in was the Colombos. The most dangerous family to go up against were the Genovese crime family. I'll you why, when Costello and Genovese were housed at the same facility, they compared notes and realized that Tony Bender was playing both of them. When Strollo disappeared in 1962, there was finally peace and stability with the family acting as one overall when 1963 came around.
3) Lucchese crime family
4) Colombo crime family. The Bonanno family did not start running into problems until 1964 and by 1965 they started to come unhinged.
5) This is a tough one to answer. They were all mysterious to the public at the time. I would have to say Bonanno and Lucchese were contenders at the time, but Gambino crime family was a lot more mysterious and unknown to the public and LE. Take a look at those charts and you can see people were placed in the wrong family, Valachi, other informants and bugs helped LE to piece the families more accurately, but still thay got members wrong here and there.