Originally Posted by NYMafia
Originally Posted by Havana
Yes but we discussed on this board before a report that while Maranzano was a big ,man in Sicily,when he got here he was told by Capone (probably acting on Masseria's berhalf) to not stick his nose in their business here in America. That out of respect for Matanzano's stastus,they would send him a couple thousand a month(maybe per week).
Of course Maranzano defied the warning and went about not only forming his own Castellamarese Clan in NYC but suceeded in uniting Castallamarese Clans in other cities to join his cause in the Castallamarese war
So it seems like Masseria was "The Man" in NYC and America and the minute Maranzano hit the city of New York, Masseria decided to nip things in the bud.
Do historiand really know that Masseria(with his Young sometimes non Sicilian Turks) would not have beaten the Castellamarese had he not been betrayed by the likes of Luciano and Genovese and probably Capone?


First of all, I don't totally believe that statement that "Capone" would say that to Maranzano, or even have an occasion to say that to Maranzano since one was in NYC and the other in Chicago. Nor would he have even had the status at that point in time.

Secondly, it was NOT Maranzano making demands upon crews at that time, but rather Joe Masseria trying to bend guys to his will, demanding 'tribute' payments. (thats half the reason why the Castellammarese War was even fought in the first place, because Maranzano & company bucked Masseria's demands.)

Thirdly, how could anyone 'know' what the final outcome would have been if 'this' happened or 'that' happened. Know what I mean? Nobody has a crystal ball. But suffice it to say that the "anti-Masseria" forces, led by Maranzano, were strong enough that Luciano, Genovese and the others felt they had to give up Masseria to end the conflict. Obviously, Maranzano and his collective Castellammarese faction were very formidable.



As for predicting what the winner would have been in the Castellamarese War,had not Masseria been betrayed,you are right that nobody can know that The question maybe is who was actually winning -who had even a slight lead?

The way I understood the story was not that Maranzano came to town making demands ,but rather that Capone's message indicated that the Masseria group,or Masseria himself anticipated that Maranzano would do just what he ended up doing-taking over and uniting Castellamarese in NYC and everywhere and that that would be a constant threat to Masseria unless Masseria acted early.

My guess is that Masseria put Capone up to sending a message,just to show Maranzano that he too had people behind him from other cities

The article I read by a well known columnist was writing about what he had from FBI records. Can't remember his name.But at one time the article was on thios forum somewhere