Is Grand Ave a Full Fuctioning Crew in 2013?

The answer is no. There have been a couple fanboys lately who have come on here to try and convince knowledgeable people that the Grand Ave Crew is still Grand.

The once prestigious Grand Ave Crew under Outfit Boss Joey Lombardo is not a functioning organization anymore. Joey Lombardo, one of the Two Top Bosses in the Outfit along with his partner John DiFronzo, (Boss of Elmwood Park Crew) retreated from the street rackets many years ago. That's why when Jimmy Marcello temporarily got out of prison several years ago, the Feds said that Jimmy Marcello (Boss of Cicero)
was the Top Boss of the Outfit.

The Feds also stated that DiFronzo and Lombardo were Marcello's Senior Advisors which would make logical sense. The real scenario was that DiFronzo and Lombardo, who were both very close, had made the choice a few years prior that they were out of the Street rackets for good.
Their men slowly phased themselves out of it because DiFronzo and Lombardo could not afford to be around it in anymore.

There are many ways to earn in Chicago besides Bookmaking, Poker Machines and Loan Sharking. LOL.
Nobody starved. There were ways to earn that were much more legitimate with maybe some White Collar attached to it.

DiFronzo is literally worth millions. (You know how I hate exaggerations) and Lombardo owns a lot of Property and other legitimate things.

Lombardo's plan was working until the Family Secrets Trial came up. DiFronzo tried to help Lombardo but there wasn't much that could be done when the Feds had some DNA evidence to tie Lombardo into a 1974 murder. Lombardo was convicted.

There are only a very small handful of made Grand Ave men left along with a few higher level Associates and they are either connected legitimately to Elmwood Park or are available if needed for some other reason.

There really is no Grand Ave Functioning crew with a Boss, made men and Soldier/Associates like in the old days.

In the old days there were 6 crews:
Cicero
Elmwood Park
26Th St.
Grand Ave.
North Side/ Rush St.
Chicago Heights

Presently there are really only 3:
Elmwood Park (retreated) includes a couple Grand Ave men
Cicero
26Th St.

grand ave is definitely the smallest of the crews today. But they're definitely not extinct. Still have some feared guys around today. And I would put the heights as a sub crew of 26th street.

Nicky, I agree about a few guys still around, but there really under Elmwood Park's control.

In other words, Albie Vena is not a Boss with a crew of made men like Cicero or 26th st.
He is a made guy who really answers to Elmwood Park. See what I'm saying?
Same with Chicago Heights. There are a couple of made guys down there but they answer to Cicero or 26th St depending upon their Function.

All I know is that in 2011 the FBI said the Outfit had "two or three crews." Of the remaining 4 previously mentioned in 2007, Grand Avenue seems to be the most likely one to have gone by the wayside. Forget any so called sub-crews. Elmwood Park in the north and Cicero and 26th Street in the south seem to be the most likely.

Ok, I was thought you meant there is no activity with the grand ave guys. I agree probably not much organization with them but definitely activity. Would you put the heights and grand on the same level today? Grand probably has more influence.

Their is very little information on The Rockford, IL Crew but I for one know they are still very much alive and kicking money up. I'm interested in knowing which Crew or to whom they kick up to in Chicago.

I agree logo, if I had to guess which crew Rockford kicks up to I would think it's Cicero.

There was a bookmaking bust involving them back in 2006. That's about it as far as recent events go.

What's the role of Jimmy Inendino today? Is he a grand ave guy? He has been around forever, is a very tough and feared guy.

Cicero, cbronx

Jimmy Inendino could very well be called the boss of the entire Chicago Outfit, although, as Chicago has pointed out, the Outfit is controlled by a "panel", or duo, rather than one individual.

And yes, Jimmy I is a very feared, very tough capo, with an extremely illustrious past: he was a member of the Wild Bunch, along with Harry Aleman, Butchie Petrocelli, and others, without a doubt the most feared, violent crew of their particular era. They were Taylor Street kids, some of the last real gangsters to come from that area.

Nevertheless, Jimmy I is a very charismatic, friendly man in public, slightly reserved, who treats his men well & keeps things under tight wraps.

Nicky Eyes, There's some activity with Grand, But it is more legit than anyone operating in Chicago Heights area because like I said, any Grand Ave guys left over answer to Elmwood Park in one way or another.

1) A couple left over made guys from the North Side Rush St. crew ended up under Elmwood Park

2) A couple left over made guys from Chicago Heights ended up under Cicero or 26th St depending upon their function.

3) A couple left over made guys from Grand Ave ended up under Elmwood Park.

Bottom line, the F.B.I. Report from 2011 seems to be accurate.
The reason why they said 2 or 3 Crews is because the line between Cicero and 26th street sometimes get blurred.

I went to school with alot of the Rockford guys kids. Played Bocci with a majority of them

Ok, lets do a little math here, if the outfit is being ran by a panel and elmwood park is basically retired, that leaves 2 crews ciscero and 26th, my question is who does the panel consist of besides the bosses of the 2 most active crews???

My guesses are these..Jimmy Inendino ( chairman)..Salvatore DeLaurentis ( top advisor)..Salvatore Cataudella ( Cicero ), Toots Caruso (26th Street)

Should the main question be can the Outfit last 30 more years?

I think it will be around in some capacity in 30 years. I think Ivy League is right when he stated in another thread that Cicero and 26th Street will be consolidated into one crew. There's too much vice and too many ways to make money for them to disappear completely but I expect their power to continue to erode.

12thStreet,
Do u think all 3 crews will be consoildated into 1 crew?

I think they're already down to 2 frankly. There are some guys left from EP and Grand Avenue but for the most part I think they have retreated like Chicago says. An example of an EP guy who hasn't taken to the white collar stuff to well would be Rudy Fratto. From Grand Avenue, Albert Vena is a feared guy.t

What I would like to know more about is the understanding that must have taken place between DiFronzo/Lombardo and Monteleone/Marcello back in the 90's when this split/retreat took place. Were some of the street guys in Elmwood Park/Grand Avenue given the choice to go with 26th Street/Cicero if they chose? It's said Marco D'Amico was given that choice when he got out of the joint but he is a high level guy. CHICAGO? Where are you? Lol ..:)

Here's a question: You guys think they'll ever knock anyone down again?

They probally already did, we will find out about it in 5 years maybe

I doubt it. The vast majority of people who get killed are other mobsters, most of whom are known to law enforement and thus the press.

They still kill people lol they just don't blow people away in broad daylight with shotguns anymore. People just disappear now. Anthony Zizzo is an example of that. A drug dealer named Anthony Catalano disappeared in similar fashion 4 years ago and that has Outfit hit written all over it as well. Michael DeFillipis another drug dealer killed a few years back though he didn't disappear-he was bludgeoned and stabbed to death in his condo near Grand and Harlem. Catalano and DeFillippis weren't Outfit guys-but they were indeed connected guys. Chiaramonti and Jarrett were the last guys left in the street publicly

This was another Outfit murder...this time a guy known as "Georgeous Georgie"
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-...rebral-injuries

George was a major gambler and bookmaker. If it doesn't flat-out say "Outfit murder" or if the FBI doesn't release a statement, then it doesn't count.

The last three known outfit murders of made men or soldiers are unsolved. Jarrett, The Hatch and Zizzo.

Would the outfit think they have a good chance getting caught if they commit another murder? That's the ultimate question.

I know this is incredibly vague, but wasn't there a question about a fire at a local restaurant that killed its owner? Story was he was connected, but I can't remember his name or the name of the restaurant.

Whether or not they've knocked anyone down lately...I find it interesting that people think we'd know about all of them.

This is really interesting, good stuff.

Here are a few additional Grand Avenue Crew spots:

This was Christy & Albert's Bar a few years ago that got written up in Chicago Magazine and quoted Christy:
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/April-2008/Drink-Local/
lol Alex Dana...everyone should listen to Fosco's podcast today for some good stories about that guy. Now the bar operates as Aberdeen Tap and Christy and Albie regularly hold court here: http://www.theaberdeentap.com/

This is Cozzo's pool hall about a block away from Aberdeen:
http://www.sportunion.us/company-city-pool-hall-food-spirits-in-chicago-il-22316

Phil's sister ran this while he was locked up. There was a nice party here a few weeks ago because Phil recently came home.

They also own a piece of the Burger Baron:
http://www.burgerbaron.net/

Robert Cooper was convicted of murdering Chiarmonti, and there is virtually no doubt Anthony Calabrese, who is essentially in prison for life for other stuff, is also guilty.

Regarding DePhilippis and Catalano... so what is it, they are making guys 'disappear' or they are bludgeoning guys to death?

Catalano disappeared DeFilippis was stabbed and bludgeoned.

I know. But everybody says "no no no, the Outfit is just way smarter these days.... they make people DISAPPEAR and you never hear about it!"

Then one day after going to all this effort to make everyone disappear to not draw any heat they say "fuck it" and decide to beat someone to death with a bat?

They still kill..that's my point..as weak as they are they would have NO juice on the street if they didn't have the capacity to hurt and kill. Do fewer ppl get killed nowadays? Of course. Have they become pacifists who abhor violence? Lol hell no

I'll believe it when I see it... I feel the same way about it as I do people saying they are still running this vast empire of street rackets.

They might have got smarter and the feds and local cops may not care as much as they used to, but they would still get caught once in a while.

I mean, hell, when was the last time an Outfit related bookie was arrested, a card game was broken up, a chop shop was shut down, a juice loan guy was prosected? (For recent stuff, I mean... even most the Sarno stuff was like early-mid 2000s.)

On one hand I agree with you to a point. Albeit few and far between murders still have occurred. How would they exist at all even in a diminished capacity if they weren't able or willing to kill? I'm no Outfit fanboy I hate the fucking Outfit and a person I mentioned is a relative of mine. As weak as they are compared to 30 years ago just don't think they stopped killing people

It is a perplexing question. I don't really see how they exist without the threat of violence, either.

But that leads me more to the opinion that they probably don't exist to the point people still think they do.

Although I guess you could look at it from this point of view: Their reputation would probably be sufficient to keep the majority of people in line.

But, yeah, it is an interesting question: Why would someone who decides their gonna be a bookie in Chicago land kick up without the threat of violence?

One word "al capone" the man been dead for 66yrs and the outfit is still living off of his reputation

TOTALLY agree with the perception that they don't exist to the level that most think they do..When people think of "Cicero" they still think of Capone or Aiuppa or people getting shotgunned in the street. No, it's not like that anymore. They no longer have the power to operate with impunity as they did up until the late 80's. Today's Outfit capitalizes on its past reputation to a huge extent but they still have muscle when need be even though they are a castrated version of what they once were. I remember in Sarno's trial, a blowhard from Berwyn named Vinny Dublino testified he called Sarno fatass to his face and threw some of Sarno's thugs out of his bar on 16th Street. LOL I HIGHLY DOUBT Dublino said ANY OF THAT to Sarno personally but if this were 1985 he'd have been a marked man from the moment he got off the witness stand. Such an act though would have brought down alot of heat though as Dublino was a Federal Witness. High risk, NO reward. When it comes down to killing someone over money there IS a reward they are just much more selective about it I guess.

That's funny about Sarno. I didn't hear that one. Yeah, I would be shocked if anyone said that to Sarno, although I guess there are some crazy people out there.

I went to that trial at lunch one day and saw a thief testifying. It was pretty interesting. I forget his name now.

Sarno really is a huge guy.

Dude, I'm so Italian I ooze garlic lol I LOVE MY CULTURE !!!..;) In Italian we have a word for a guy like Dublino - SPACONE lol. A walking cliche of Jersey Shore type shit that gives the rest of us bad names just as badly as the Mafia does lol. Sarno is a scary guy, the thought of anyone - let alone that guy talking like that to him is a friggin joke. 30 years ago Sarno would've never been anything other than an enforcer. I've had debates out here with Ivy and Chicago about him and the terms "Front Boss", "Street Boss", "Acting Boss" etc but the fact that he had the power he did in today's Outfit is proof as to how much the Outfit has fallen.

I am not Italian but I love Italian culture. They have the best clothes, food, wine and cars. What the hell?!

I've read other people say that about Sarno, that he is basically a big doofus who would have never risen so high in the mob of the past.

Well, he did basically go down for nothing--burglary and a pipe bomb!

Not really like Aiuppa getting nabbed for the skim.

Sarno isn't quite a doofus, he's a smart guy but a shadow of what guys with his authority would've been in the past. He just was greedy and ambitious enough to put himself out there on the spot while guys like Jimmy I and Solly D sat back in the shadows. The Ferriola/Infelise Crew from which he came was a ROUGH and scary bunch of guys. His mentor was a guy named Bobby Salerno whose son is now a high profile criminal attorney whose most famous clients are the Cicero guys.

The feds seem to make some kind of indictment on the Outfit every few years. Wonder if/when the next one's cooking.

Kind of weird, really. They know who the gangsters are, with technology these days they could get into their phones, computers, tax returns, track their cars, track their very movements, their bank accounts...

I remember John Kass a few years ago after Family Secrets talked about a coming "tsunami" of indictments.

Never happened.

I think Kass just threw that in as a favor to the cops, or reprinted what they told him, to scare the hell out of everyone and see what shook out.

What other big indictment could they come down with? The major Outfit murders of the 70s and 80s are now solved. Unless they solve the murders of Hatch, Jarrett or Zizzo, there isn't much less to indict absent small time video poker in the West burbs. How active are 26th St. and Cicero even? You never hear anything about them in the papers at all.

Posting Pictures of a couple bars from facebook means nothing and proves nothing.

I will never post any pictures of my father or family on this board. I am not 16 years old.

I never answered the question about Rocky and Joey's brother because it WAS IRRELLEVANT.
However, if anyone is interested including the poster ChiTown who posted pictures like a 16 year old kid to try and prove something, the Lombardo Family had many siblings:
Joey Lombardo
Rocky Lombardo
Andrew Lombardo, Nucci
Theresa
Nancy
Rose Marie
Mary Anna
etc.
So what??

Grand Ave is not a full functioning Organization in the Street rackets and has not been for several years.

I will take the word of Rocky Lombardo, Willie Messino deceased (Elmwood Park) and the F.B.I. over a Fanboy posting pictures of Bars any day of the week and 3 times on Sunday.