Was Al D'Arco being overly paranoid ....

Knowing Gas & Vic were not happy with him, he attended a meeting in Staten Island where he was demoted

Then on a subsequent meeting in a hotel, he convinced himself he was about to get whacked & done a runner..

Not that I blame him, he knew full well how blood thirsty the bosses were however the fact that he survived the first meeting indicates to me anyway, that he was in no imminent danger..

Put simply if Gas wanted you dead, he wanted it done yesterday! Then the 2nd meet was at a public hotel, again, if they wanted him dead surely it wasn't hard to summon Al to somewhere private late at night without witnesses around

He was then informed by the Feds his life was in danger, no shit.. He done a runner from a meet. But just because they informed him, it doesn't mean his life was in danger prior

They were gonna whack him as sure as it's gonna rain in England this week (and that's not sarcasm about your location, just an expression).

What's the difference if the threat was imminent? His getting spooked probably saved Sal Avellino's life, too. They envied that guy's money so much that they surely would have hit hit if they didn't get pinched when they did. Just for fucking spite. That's what you were dealing with back then.

And I'm not excusing D'Arco for being a rat. I read that book and it was okay. But there was plenty of bullshit in it, especially about the Bronx and Harlem factions of the family, who Al barely knew.

But he was a dead man walking. A real man of honor would have went out in a blaze of glory, and he ran to the Feds like a pussy. But make no mistake. It wasn't paranoia. They were gonna whack him sooner rather than later.

He was in trouble & no doubt would have got whacked just like anybody else who fuked up with gas & vic but I just don't think it was in that moment in time.

Like I said, if they wanted him dead he would have been dead at the first meet. Plus the bosses were already on the lam, he was used to meeting them in isolated & secretive locations. They could have easily got him the first time. & I think he's been watching way too many Godfather movies about the "gun in the toilet"

Not saying it doesn't happen, but the killers under Gas were real cowboys. If they were going to pop him, he would have got it at the first meet. Or walking to his car outside his home etc. Gas was known to send a hit team across the country just to get Tom Mix's nephew... Doesn't make sense they would need to set up several meets just to lure Al into a trap. Maybe the chin would do that since he's a crafty old fuk

But not gas.

In the middle of his book right now. Not bad.

I don't think he was over paranoid. When your dealing with Vic and gas I guess there is no over paranoia.

You're dead wrong if you think you had to fuck up with those two scumbags to end up dead. They killed more guys out of envy than anything else. Then the rat lies came out to try to bullshit the skippers. But they all knew. Especially the Bronx and Harlem guys.

They killed Mikey Salerno, an old man and stand up guy to his very core, because they wanted the dump in Pennsylvania. The guy probably would have given it to them. That's how he was. He was no threat but they killed him out of pure jealousy and spite. Then they had the audacity to call him a rat after he was gone. Fuck Anthony Casso. He was no criminal genius. He was a serial killer who was lucky to survive the '80s.


Life imitates art. Especially in that life. Can you imagine if Youtube was around back then with those moronic videos voiced over by guys who sound like Prince Harry doing a Tony Soprano impression?


Again, he was a dead man walking, so what's the difference when he ran to the Feds? And again, he's a pussy for going that route. But he was dead either way, so I don't see why getting spooked at the hotel was any different than if he waited a week.

It's funny you mention Vince, though. If Casso survived a little longer on the street, Chin would have whacked him, knocked down Amuso, and then backed the Bronx/Harlem faction of that family. You can take that to the bank

You have to understand that in the Bronx and Harlem back then, the Luccheses and Genovese families worked so closely together that they may as well have been the same family.

And it's still like that here in the Bronx. If the Brooklyn loyalists who just got out were crazy enough to take on the Bronx Luccheses, they'd be taking on the the Westside as well. You have no idea how much money they make together, particularly in construction.

I thought I read in his book that Al said he met with Crea and they we're considering taking out Vic n Gas and Crea had td juice to do it.

I wonder how things would have turned out if that had happen.

It's crazy to think that Crea was really powerful back in the late 80s .... He must be LOADED...

I don't know crap but I would guess Wealthy status like future family generations are good like the Gigantes...

He was worth millions BEFORE he got his button, and he didn't buy it either. And it's true that he's very "white collar" today. But if anyone thinks he was just a business savvy street guy who specialized in building and construction, and fell ass backwards into power, sure as shit didn't know him thirty years ago. He was tough as fucking nails. He's pushing seventy now, and he still is.

Edit: Just saw Homers' post… but none-the-less:

@PB

Little Al mentions that he briefly considered marshaling other unhappy members and power struggled against Vic and Gas.

Believe me, I KNOW how much fear those guys struck into that family... but they were on the lam. Could Al have formed a coalition of more respected skippers to take out Vic and Gas? Not saying he'd win, but would that have been a completely stupid proposition considering his options? Or was it completely unfeasable?

That is crazy...

It's wild how some of these guys are so loaded while others are so broke...

Gotta be kind of nerve racking when your making that much money ... Gotta make sure you guys are happy and eat too or they will be more likely to roll on you...

A guy with a nice nest egg for his family is a lot more likely to stand tall then a guy barly getting by thats for sure

It could have worked. The Lucchese power was in Harlem forever up until that point. And the Bronx faction was loaded for bear with shooters back then, too. Not to mention the crew that they had in Mount Vernon. And those Lucchese crews were all under the Harlem flag. But most people don't even know that the Luccheses had a crew in Mount Vernon (which, by the way, was one of the most violent bunch of guys I can ever recall).

That being said, Bowat was the wildcard, and a traitor to his own neighborhood, so that would have made things difficult. But look at Stevie today, and look at Bowat.

For that matter, people can believe the Capeci story that Vic is still in power. It doesn't even irritate me anymore. Who would you rather be?

Vic, Gas, and the people who lined up with them all got exactly what they deserved.

These 2 guys are extremely fascinating.The funny thing about it was Casso was a pycho but he came up and was nutered by powerful gangsters and Vic was a Gallo crew member so he was probably much more hardened and experianced on the street.

The thing i want to know is in vic and gas mind they started killing the succesfull guys in their family eventually the only guys that would of been left would of been killers and knock around guys just like when they wanted to whack the entire jersey crew they went into hiding and they lost all their rackets.So basicly they would of turned it into a street gang.Did they not see this.Also how crazy is it that 2 former Gallo crew members became bosses during the same era.Amuso and Persico

That's true tiger. Makes you think what would of happened with crazy joe if he didn't get his at umbertos

Not excusing Vic and Gas behaviour coz they were totally crazy , but a lot of the guys they killed or planned to kill while they were on the run had a lot to do with backbiting by guys trying to get rivals killed , I bet Vic and Gas were fed a lot of bullshit while on the run

They would have shot him a week later at Vincent's instead .

How do you think it would of gone down.Would chin have gotten in the ear of some of the Bronx Luchese Skippers and backed them or do you think he would of sent out his own guys so he could have total control of a situation like that and leave no room for error because its such a big thing?Also do you think it would of been a public hit like castelano or more of a sitdown and then gaspipe disapears and noone knows what happend to him.Its interesting that you think Vic wouldnt of gotten whacked too because ive always thought Vic was just as much of a pychopath monster as much as gaspipe was.It also would of created problems with the Brooklyn faction because they were suppoters of vic and gas and now they would of had to follow the bronx factions after having free reighn during vic and gases blood spurge

Lol

Personally I dont know why D'Arco never pursued Crea's offer to take them out.

There was obviously little love for the two in the bronx and Barratta wouldnt have been a problem.

With the Westside standing behind them I wouldve thought it Al's obvious next move.


But who knows, maybe he was just tired of the life.

I would say the reason he didn't pursue Creas offer is because he knew he would probably be next, its not like their was any love for D'arco in the Harlem faction

I dont think there's any basis to assume Crea wouldve hit D'Arco.


As we can see its more Crea's style to shelve than make disappear (IF he had a beef with Al which there is no eveidence to support he did).


Though thats only speculation as Vic's really in charge

I can tell you none of those guys liked Al, Al would have had to be ok with going back to Brooklyn and being a captain there with no influence over the rest of the family, and the whole shelve thing is a more modern answer back then many people disappeared

Can I ask where you get this from?

Its common knowledge, and also common sense why would any of the Harlem faction like anyone responsible with killing their leader then taking over the family they have been running forever

What?

Who said D'Arco wouldve taken over?

Youre speculating on nothing so there's no point arguing.

That's exactly right. First of all, Stevie has never been in on a coup like that. He's too fucking honorable. But he was like a fucking son to Mikey Salerno, and would have taken pleasure in taking out Casso. And if anything, he would have been grateful to D'Arco.

Re shelving them: Spot on again: Leaving those Brooklyn guys alive and broke is a much worse punishment than killing them. They're home a year now. I'm still waiting for the bloodbath that the Brooklyn fanboys were predicting.

The power is where it is. And it ain't going anywhere because everybody's eating. And never, EVER underestimate the bond between the current Westside and Lucchese administrations.

Yeah, six guys from Brooklyn are gonna take them on. Thelma and Louise would have a better shot.

So what would have been in it for AL helping over throw them to get shelved, and i don't know if i even believe Crea would have approached him about it because like i said there was zero love between them and you don't go into a plot like that with someone you don't trust who came up on the enemy side

I never said Al would have gotten shelved. I said if anything Stevie would have been grateful.

But Sonny made another fair point. He may have just grown tired of the life.

or he was just a sleezebag out for only himself, and i know for a fact there was alot of hatred from the Bronx guys towards him maybe not Stevie , but the rest of them definitely did, to them he was the same as casso and amuso

And you edited your post, so I'm replying again.

Stevie was like a fucking son to Mikey Salerno. D'Arco was just following orders. And so was the guy from Mount Vernon (who was fucking brokenhearted by that whole thing by the way, forget that nonsense that Capeci wrote in the book).

That kind of resentment makes strange bedfellows. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

At the end of the day he was a rat. And I'm not defending his decision. But please don't tell me about the hatred that the Bronx crew had for Casso and Amuso. I've written about that hatred ad nauseam here over the years. Because of Buddy Longo, Mikey Salerno, et al. Those guys were all in it together. Fuck Amuso and Casso.

Sick pricks ! Good thread Tony. Glad to see you posting PB .....

Thanks, Serp.

I know you know what you are talking about, i just have heard from plenty of people they conssidered Al to be just as big of part as Amuso and Casso so the hatred ran deep for him too, alot of the Harlem guys were very upset about not just Loungo but also his right ahnd man who was killed no need to bring his name up im sure you know who he was but he was very close to every member in that bronx faction and was killed only bc of the fear they had for him after Luango went

and it wasnt just the Harlem, Bronx and Mount vernon crews it was also the crew in the garmet district had close ties to the bronx faction also through the Avellinos and a soldier in that crew

I understand all that. And there was even more resentment in the garment district because of what they did to that guy after a lifetime of service to them. He didn't deserve that.

All you have to do is go through my posts on this subject over the years and you'll find that I agree with you in spirit about most of this stuff.

In the long run it was never going to work with Brooklyn running the show way to much history of the Harlem/ Bronx guys being in charge and like you said PB, not many people back then could have went head to head with some of these guys in that bronx or mount vernon crew they were some tough guys, and thats not even bringing up the Jersey crew who also had beef with Brooklyn, and had deep Harlem routes from Michael and Marty

Exactly. And we've chatted a bit in the past. Unfortunately I had to disable my pm for ahwile because there are a few stalkers and nuts here, but I'll let you know when I turn it back on.

Anyway, like I said, and as I'm sure you well know, Mount Vernon hardly got any press over the years, so a lot of the "mob watchers" on the boards aren't even aware of them. But I'm old enough to remember Peanuts, and I remember the day he got killed like it was yesterday.

Anyway, the guy who took over for him (who went by initials intead of a name ), ran a crew as crazy and fucking dangerous as any I've ever seen. And I've lived with these assholes all my life. And I'm not pretending to be anything I'm not with that statement. But when you're around people for 55 years, you tend to hear a few things. That's all.

PB, how on earth did the Brooklyn faction take over if Bronx/Harlem was so powerful? And check your PM mate.

I very rarely go on this site bc most of what i know isnt from all the typical "mob watchers" like you i grew up/ lived in the Bronx forever and have met/known plenty of these guys, like you i dont pretend to be anything but from the Morris park area, with parents from Harlem

Ducks let it happen. Worked out well, didn't it?

I have to enable my pm again first. I had to turn it off again because of a certain poster. But I don't want to get scolded so I won't mention him ever again.

I'll be in touch.

It can't be stressed enough that the "inside" information guys like you and PB provide are what keeps most of us coming back here! All of this info on the Luccheses is so much more interesting than the usual Gotti/Gravano docs they keep rehashing.

Baldo don't forget Bronx he's a very knowledgeable poster with a lot of great info. Probably the best on this forum. just IMHO.

yes, Bronx is a very informative poster, and he's also a fine gentleman, always has time to answer someones question.

great guy.

Didn't mean to leave anybody out...and yes, Bronx is great! Keep up the great work.

Where does a man like Frank Lastorino stand with these guys today 2015

he doesn't stand nowhere , he is lucky to be alive , crea shelved him

I've heard a few stories that he's shelved and that he's active as a soldier. I said it before if Lastorino or Bowat wanted back in they have to accept soldier status.

Why though, he was a Harlem guy? Surely he should have had Vic and Gas hit.

Well what would you do if you were Ducks... I mean who knew, Casso was a hell of an earner, ambitious, driven, ready to kill, what more could you want?

My point is that you never know how somebody will become when he's in power.

boy. is that ever true. and that goes for everything, especially the mob. look at gotti bringing his family down, look at scarfo bringing his down, and casso, and messina bringing their families down.

who knew they were going to be like that. it seems as though everytime there is a new boss, it's a crapshoot.

If the power lay with the Bornx/Harlem faction then that's where it should have stayed, he should have supported one of his own faction for the top spots.

It ended up back where it belongs. That's what matters. But it would have prevented so many needless deaths.

His first choice was a Harlem guy, however i agreed he should have had the foresight to see the problems his next choice would create

I heard Frank Lastorino was a captain, I don't know much about Brooklyn and have no idea if it's true or not becouse allot of people say he is shelved and I definitely could see that, regardless the Bronx/Westchester crews are the power now

seems like vic and gas put al in on all those hits. like did they use any of the other 100 guys minus the 20 from Brooklyn to do dirty work. yaeh the Bronx guy snuck his capo salerno he would have died if not.als son pulling off the hit in cali must have made vic and gas very happy, the fat pete hit pissed. but they kept putting al in a lot of shit. id be paranoid. theres never been proof that guy Bruno was snitching it came out in the mafia cop trial he was bullying the fat cops friend and was asked to stop more then once so he put a bug in casso ear. shit al should have violated parole. and he tries to come off as easy but he wanted that capo position, and to take on paul vario crew of killers must have had people scratching there head he was made like 5 yrs before never a hitter.

PB and vnicks just spot on, wow , impressive stuff guys

That garment crew was a Harlem crew and he was taken out because he was a multi millionaire on an annual basis . That family had the garment district for for the luchese for like 40 + years and go back to importing tons of smack with Vito

As PB said a shame what happened to him but he stood his ground , real CN style

The Commission case tuned his mind into silly puddy.

That's a strong and personal opinion. But I believe it to be true.

Bronx is my partner in crime. Pun intended. Or maybe not .

I can't get him to cross the fucking state to see me, though. But it's all moot because I'm in NY this week. Fucking brutal up here. I could never go back to full winters up here anymore. No way in Hell.

Watching you and bronx talk is quite annoying, nobody else knows what you're talking about

Best posters on here though, where's skinny at these days?

To put it into British parlance, he's concentrating on University down south and working his ass off. Which is a good thing.

Wasnt al seen as completly pathetic by everyone thats why casso kept giving him promotions so he can have puppet who could run to noone when shit got bad also Casso in his book for some reason really liked Al Vic didnt give a fuck about Al either way.I dont think he would of ever been whacked because all he did was follow orders and other than Casso he had no power.It probably would of been good for the westside to have Al as the official boss because imagine how much they could of controlled this guy and take what ever they wanted when ever they wanted from this guy

Good for him, drop me a message when you can mate.

I think Vince would have given Al a pass but knocked him down and backed a Bronx/Harlem guy for boss. I made that point in an earlier post (I've probably made it elsewhere over the years, too). Because I know I'm a repetitive pain in the ass, but I can NOT stress enough how closely the Luccheses and the Westside worked together back then. Especially in the Bronx, especially in construction. It remains that way today. Point is, Vince would have wanted a Bronx/Harlem guy in there. And he still would have been the de facto boss.

Like I said, I read the book. And Al's claim about being close to Little Jimmy is absurd. He mentioned that Jimmy ate at La Mela every day. Big deal. The whole world knew that. Jimmy didn't trust his own nose, let alone a weasel (and puppet) like Little Al. That said, Al may have gotten that pass.

It's all moot anyway. Casso and Little Al are both rats who got the fates they deserved.

Who do you think the Westside would have backed back then PB, DiNapoli?

It's all speculative because it depends on the timing. If they took Casso out before he hit Mikey Salerno they may have backed Mikey. Salerno was heavier than Joey Dee at that time. There's no way of knowing, except to say that it probably would have been a Bronx/Harlem guy.

PB spot on always but also don't forget Tic was in Ducks ear as much as possible about getting BK guys on top , and all that crew knew how to do was kill and sell drugs with zero mangt or developing new biz skills , quite possibly the worst admin in history and that's saying something .

You huge lucrative rackets that the Feds had limited interest in but guys that run millionaire dollar businesses for 20,30,40 years taken out over greed and to the detriment of the family , I know things got harder during those times but no doubt the take went down as they killed their most experienced and basically legit biz's . They took out a lot of saviness and in all honesty , the guys whacked knew how to maximize profits . All Casso and Asmuso knew how to do was abuse their power ( over the interest of the family ) and whack very experienced and specialized earners that were mostly dreaming legit tho one guy they whacked had a huge shy book . Put it this way how much control does the Ls have in the garment district now which was a huge multi million dollar business , it gone now and the guy running it was as quiet one can be,quiet even in that world .Sure some and maybe a lot would be gone today but their trucking interests would be much bigger today ( it actually might be big that I don't know but they took out the guy that knew that biz in and out and was groomed for decades )

I'm not even sure how much the other fams cared , PB or Bronx might know , at the time with all the LE issues but it's like that thing with Hitler , the allies could have whacked him but leaving him in charge insured a better chance of victory . But that PA dump and garment were all Harlem and huge earners . It's actually quiet shocking they didn't whaxk those 2 but that Harlem / Bronx faction was CN to the core . For the most part most knew they had a death but took it like men .

I wonder if sal a. Was even a thought for boss. As call in the early 80tys he was closest to all top 3 guys. They thought so much of him they talked about everything in his car. Im sure the jag bug didn't help his cause some speculate he could get whacked for the jag bug. He.was on the street 2 years after all flipped plenty of time for Vic n gas whackem. There was a cool old capeci article about the luchese class of 1991 this is after all flipped I wish I could read it again . its about the 6 inductes and how fucked up shit happens to all them

Migliore would've been the best choice, he didn't want an admin position in the 70's though so he sure as hell wouldn't take it in the 80's with RICO. Vic tried to hit him but no way he was ratting, CN to the grave. Wonder what he's upto now, probably semi-retired living off his millions, one of the biggest earners the family has ever seen.

Of course, DB. Furnari goes witout saying. But he was about to get a hundred years at the time anyway, sooooo.....

Re Furnari: I'm shocked that a BK fanboy hasn't posted that he's secretly the boss now, even though he can't keep his fucking diaper dry. Rapist scumbag.

Retired and enjoying life (and his millions). Just like Avellino.

Mig spends a lot of time with his birds, and with his nephew at the track (but strictly in a social and leisurely way).

I've seen his website with his pigeons good for him. You seen his house? It's a fucking palace.

Sal Avellino looks great for his age, going off the pic of him last year at his brother Carmine's sentencing.

Remember that guy about 6 months back on here that kept saying when the BK faction got out they will go to war and take over the family

You don't know these guys . . . .

I do know even though its been 20 years to the bronx guys it might as well have been yesterday, especially when it comes to Bowat there is still some serious hatred, at least they others backed their own Bowat was a traitor. the one question i always did have was where was Tom mix in on all this, but i guess he had the commission case to worry about

Exactly. He had bigger problems. But he knew what Casso was all about, and his heart was with the Bronx and Harlem until the day he died.

City Island was his pride and joy. He helped rebuild St. Mary Star of the Sea (not that that excuses his life, just making a point about his loyalty to the area). His family still has extensive property holdings on City Island Avenue.

Where do the Long Island guys fit in with the Lucchese's today? Migliore was a LI guy wasn't he? Along with Queens and Manhattan. How much power do they hold Who are the skippers out there, only two I can think of are Caridi and Carmine Avellino.

Found it:

http://www.ipsn.org/characters/patriarca/Lucchese%20Class%20of%20%2791.htm

May 4, 1998
Lucchese Class of '91
By Jerry Capeci

Beaming with pride and looking as dapper as John Gotti, 13 mobsters joined hands in October 1991 and celebrated the induction of five new members into the Lucchese crime family.

There had been a formal Mafia blood oath, administered by consigliere Frank Lastorino, then these words spoken in unison: "We are brothers now, one family, one borghata."

Their boss was in federal prison, their underboss was on the run, but the five Class of 1991 grads were all smiles as they entered a life they thought was full of promise, glory and ill-gotten riches.

Within six years, however, each would wind up behind bars -- where one would die and another would become a prosecution witness.

The fall of the Class of '91 is symbolic of the mob's malaise today, its ranks infiltrated by mob turncoats and wiretaps, and its numbers shrunk by aggressive prosecutions.

Since 1990, the top three mobsters in four crime families have been convicted and sent to prison -- including Gotti, the boss of the Gambino family, and his Disheveled Don counterpart, Genovese boss Vincent (Chin) Gigante.

But the mob's downfall is about more than high-profile cases; it is about the scores of capos, soldiers and associates from all five clans who have been put behind bars, many for life.

Here's the lowdown on the rise and fall of the Class of '91 and their Lucchese comrades -- according to a review of court documents and interviews with numerous sources on both sides of the law.

Coronation night began with the soon-to-be mobsters -- Frank Gioia Jr., 24; Thomas (Fat Tommy) D'Ambrosia, 47; Joseph (Torty Jr.) Tortorello, 32; Gregory (Whitey) Cappello, 33, and Jody Calabrese, 36 -- waiting in a living room of a large home in Howard Beach, Queens.

In a finished basement, eight Lucchese mobsters sat around a table, where a knife and a picture of a saint rested.

Anthony BarattaLastorino headed the table, seconded by capos Salvatore Avellino, Anthony (Bowat) Baratta (left) and George (Georgie Goggles) Conte. Acting capos Richard (The Anthony TortorelloToupe) Pagliarulo and Anthony (Torty) Tortorello, (right) and mobsters Frank (Bones) Papagni and Thomas (Tommy Red) Anzellotto filled the other seats.

For the record, Baratta was D'Ambrosia's sponsor; Anthony Tortorello had recommended his son Richard PagliaruloJoseph; Pagliarulo (left) had proposed Cappello and Calabrese, and Conte was filling in for Gioia's sponsor, George (Georgie Neck) Zapolla, a fugitive at the time.

Joseph Tortorello was the first to be summoned downstairs. Replying to questions from Lastorino, he promised to love and honor the Lucchese family above his own.

One by one, the others followed, repeating the ritual.

Their trigger fingers pricked, all promised loyalty to the family and watched Lastorino burn tissue paper in their hands and say: "May you burn in hell like this if you betray us."

They didn't know their fates were already sealed.

Little Al D'ArcoA month earlier, Lucchese acting boss Alfonse (Little Al) D'Arco (left) began cooperating with the FBI, telling mob secrets about murders and racketeering schemes. The feds in Manhattan and Brooklyn had already empanelled grand juries, preparing for wide-ranging indictments. Finally, wired-up operatives for the Manhattan District Attorney's office were taping them in drug deals.

Inducted as a group, the Class of '91 celebrated at different restaurants with their sponsors later that night, and went their separate ways.

Tortorello ran a drug operation in lower Manhattan. D'Ambrosia ran a heroin ring in East Harlem and The Bronx. Cappello became a street thug. Calabrese did strong-arm work in the private carting industry. Gioia did double duty as a hitman and drug dealer.

As a whole, they earned hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Lucchese family, bringing riches on borrowed time.

By 1993, three had been arrested and ultimately sentenced to prison. By 1997, all had been arrested -- with one dying behind bars.

Thomas D'AmbrosiaJoseph TortorelloThe pitfalls varied; Tortorello (right) and D'Ambrosia (left) went down together after a four-year undercover drug probe by the Manhattan District Attorney.

Calabrese was nabbed for trying to kill a cohort in a dispute over garbage stops. He is awaiting trial.

Gioia, a hefty martial arts enthusiast, was arrested twice -- first in June, 1992, on a gun charge in Brooklyn, and then in 1993 on federal drug charges in Boston in a joint investigation with the Manhattan District Attorney for running a heroin pipeline from Manhattan to Boston.

But the strangest arrest arose from a quirk of circumstances that brought down Cappello on the Fourth of July in 1994.

Cappello, who was being sought by an FBI-NYPD task force on an extortion charge, came out of hiding to celebrate. He would later tell authorities that he assumed that any lawmen who knew him would be off for the holiday.

But because of crowd-control concerns near Coney Island, NYPD Detective John Kenna, a task force member, was pressed into uniform. He happened to spot a dead ringer for Cappello, then noticed the man had a crack pipe protruding from his back pocket.

Kenna collared the man, who turned out to be Cappello's younger brother, said FBI spokesman Jim Margolin.

Suddenly, Gregory Cappello, eyes wild with anger, ran up.

"What the hell are you doing with my brother?" he screamed at Kenna -- and was arrested himself.

As FBI agents took him into custody, Cappello moaned, "I lay low for months and come out for a few laughs on the Fourth of July 'cause I know you federal guys are off, and I get popped by a cop doing crowd control."

Cappello died last December in prison.

Today, the only living member of the Class of '91 not behind bars is D'Ambrosia, who was released in October after three years in prison.

George ZapollaGioia became the informer. In late 1994, he called the feds and offered his services. Sources said he learned from a jailhouse visitor that the Lucchese mobster who had driven him to his induction, Frank Papagni, was plotting to kill Gioia's father in a money dispute.

The feds moved quickly. On Jan. 3, 1995, FBI agents nabbed Zapolla, (right) Gioia's fugitive sponsor, at a public phone in Manhattan after a series of monitored calls and beeper messages from Gioia's father.

As for the rest of the attendees at the induction ceremony, all of them -- including the eight mobsters who welcomed the class into the family -- are in prison.

"Theres gonna be blood in the streets"

Remember that one guy, every post was 'Bodies will be dropped'

Not exactly sure TB But but best guess big still in garbage and more on recycling side .and prolly big in construction and your typical gambling

I bet Long Island provides the most betting volume in NHL which is a big deal given end of foots and mlb starts so those 3 months whoever has that NHL book is very important as islanders love their hockey n produce volume

Plus probably bars and restaurants . With the huge success the fams had in NJ shore bar biz I can't see how these guess not having pieces of legit Island island bars and construction ATMs book and with it

Like WS get a lot of success in NJ that made them a $ powerhouse , Ls get a pat on back for getting in LI warmup and entranshed . First with garbage and expanding from there to gambling , vendors . ATMs , big construction , titty bars etc. brilliant move IMO and would be hand to get em our

I left shaking off as I hear lot of these guys do this legally from pay day loans . In fact I heard traditional shy drying up many hitting the pay day huge interest rate . Evolved

In fact I believe castelino used a legit loan biz getting $ at the 7-8% And generating huge funds without using your own $, they had a loan officer working. With them , it just what I heard so cld be wrong

Oh, haha, you're right -- it was Bodies will be dropped. Or maybe bodies in the street?

Back to the link I posted, about the Lucchese class of 91 -- does anyone know anything about those guys? One of them was made at 24!

I'm half way through the book. Very well written, as Capeci and Robbins are veteran reporters (everybody knows that).

A lot of info on all the families from that era, concentrated in Little Italy. D'arco was boss of the Canarsie crew after Varios death but spent most of his time on Cleveland Place and Spring Street in Little Italy. Thought that was strange as Vario was headquarted at the Walnut Bar on Flatlands Avenue. How could D'arco run the Canarsie crew on a day to day basis if he wasn't around?

D'arco also claims to have kicked Vic Orena out of his restaurant (la Donna Rosa)after Orena went to the Ravenite earlier in the day to see Gotti. "What are you going to see that bum for? Why you bringing heat to my restaurant?!"

I thought that was pretty funny (if true).

I don't think fear of Gaspipe is paranoia. More like common sense!

I beg to differ somewhat about Vic not caring about al. I know al helped Vic out in jail when they were both pretty much nobody's. From what al says in his book it seems like him and Vic were pretty cool. More then al and Gaspipe.
But I'm sure Vic was prolly still down talking him to Casso though.

Yea flushing I'm about three quarters of the way done the book. About to start reading now but I like it a lot.

You do have to consider the source you cant believe everything an egotistical, sleezebag like Al says

Figured i put this here since were talking about D'Arco and the Lucchese's.


Paul "Paulie" Vario


It must of been the Hawaiin shirt that did it for Karen.
I wonder how many necks those colossal hands were around.

Good Photo njcapo.

Those are some big mits. The claw. Als book is good. Capeci points out inconstancies between his time in jail and what big sales from the Colombo's says which is always good for a writer to do. I like all didn't true to rip vario and spoke highly of a lot of the capos in his family. Really only rips gas Vic and that guy bowat. So I read tony ducks was the first to plant flags all over long island. From the early 50tys. They must still have a big presence out there. I'm not a new yorker but long island is like the suburbs of Brooklyn n queens I guess. Howard stern said hempsted was the ghetto thou. Sonny franses was out there to. Never heard about the westside out there but I'm sure some there.

Al gets auto to all.its cold outside

Great photo of Vario thanks for posting this photo

Lol, nice pic... is he at the Copa?

I wonder what would have happened if Casso was whacked or arrested and Amuso remained on the street. I still remember those guys on the topmobs blog that swore Vic wasn't nearly as violent, which I have a hard time to believe since he appointed such a psycho as underboss. But still, with no Casso around to push him to whack everybody, how would Amuso have behaved if left to himself?

Lol pizzaboy thinks really highly of Anthony Casso and Dominick Cicale lol.But this is how fucked up Anrthony Casso is on his 60 minutes interview the reporter asks him if he feels bad about all the people he killed and Casso said no.Instead of him lying like all the other rats do and say he feels bad and wish it never happend he straight out showed his true pysiopathic personiality.He did seem like he had a bit of a personality not like gravano who seemed like a creep

Gravano sounds pretty genuine in his interview, you can tell he's not lying about most of the things. Sure, there's stuff he's just bullshitting, like dealing drugs an some of the people he whacked but he gave you this real, genuine vibe that you'd almost believe if he didn't get caught dealing drugs a few years later. His answers are direct, concise and to the point.. he doesn't make excuses about his life and basically tells it how it is.
I dunno maybe it's just me, but back when I didn't know he was caught dealing I found him to be semi-likable as far as those guys go.

Then again I thought pretty much the same thing about Gotti Jr's interview, but with him you could tell his lies by his nervous tick and blinking, lol.. like Alite said in his book his trashy sister used to call him "blinkie."

By the way whats the story about Sammy refusing to testify against Casso? Is it bullshit? How the hall can Sammy refuse his overlords, the feds like that. Was he THAT scared of Gas?

Well, Anthony Casso ordered the murder of Mikey Salerno, a local, likeable, and avuncular type of guy---who I knew all my life (and I was already about thirty when he got killed).

You pick the life and you get killed, hey, that's on you. But Casso hung a rat label on him to justify it, and it was all so he could get his greedy hands on the dump in Pennsylvania. And Mikey was no rat. That move was despicable.

And Dominick Cicale has more bodies on him than the man he put away. At least the two guys that Vinny was convicted of murdering were both bottom feeding lowlifes themselves. Public service homicides. If it was up to the NYPD, they probably wouldn't have even investigated. But once the Feds grabbed it, and Cicale showed his true colors (is c*unt a color?), that was all she wrote.

And I don't sugarcoat the lives of mobsters. I've posted the expression "you play you pay" more times than anyone on this site. And life is full of gray areas. But not where these two guys are concerned.

Casso is a serial killer who was as dangerous as Charles Manson. Cicale a career petty criminal and white trash lowlife who couldn't make himself better than he was born. Look no further than his drug dealing rat father if you need proof of that.

I get what ya mean PB. Not only they have you whacked for doing nothing wrong, but they even shit on your reputation and label you a rat. In that life, that is much, much worse. Like putting salt on the wound, even that is an understatement.

Speaking of Sammy Gravano, is it true he refused to rat on Louis Vollario?

Speaking as a Long Islander, very few bars and clubs out here fall under mob control, or affiliation. To this day anyways. The Hells Angels is more into that these days as far as Long Island goes. The clubs are pretty much run by legit people, and very few of them happen to be Italian.

Oh not implying gas & vic won't whack u if u did nothing wrong, but I was merely pointing out that yes, D'arco was in trouble BUT I don't think he was getting popped just yet

Maybe they still needed him onboard seeing they were on the lam & again I'm in no illusions as to the fact he was marked for death

However just pointing out (IMO) he wasn't going to get popped at the first or second meet. Gas would not have to set up multiple meets just to lure Al in. If gas wanted u dead, forgetabout it! He wouldn't play these come meet me today, I'll see u next week, tell Al's driver to do a runner after he drops him off, tells a guy who wasn't supposed to be at the meet to suddenly turn up & go into a toilet, come out missing a bulge.

That is not Gas's style. And if anyone believes Al was going to get whacked at this meet, then why were they smart enough to tell Al's driver to dissapear yet have NO backup team in place.

When gas got up and literally ran, why didn't anyone chase him? There were other hits ordered by Gas where the victim sensed he was getting it, and tried to make off but was chased and dragged back inside

Nobody chased him because they were just as startled as he was as to why he decided to do the running man

Now, if he gave them the slip, surely a team of guys can keep a close eye on an intended target. Put simply he wasn't even a target on that given day.

Wasn't D'Arco allies with Crea and other guys from the (Bronx)? And didn't he despise Baratta on a personal and business level (Harlem)?

Just my personal opinion without getting through all the other posts on the thread yet but I think The Kimberly Hotel assassination attempt was all in D'Arco's head. It's a ridiculous place to whack someone and his theory about why guys were fidgety and going on regular toilet breaks sounded like total paranoia.

I don't think he was a stand up guy. I think he was a coward and a bully.

They tried to recruit Daidone too but guys like Daidone & Argentina weren't insubordinate to Amuso & Casso and he stayed loyal. And lo and behold, Louie Bagels is now doing a life sentence without ratting like De Fede & D'Arco.

Guy certainly looks like he can take a punch. Real boxers chin on him.

Where did I imply anything different, Moe?

I said a real man would have gone out in a blaze of glory, and I called him a pussy. And I realize that we share the English language, but sometimes the idioms are a bit different here. But in the street over here, a pussy is even less than a coward.

And Jimmy Ida wouldn't have even recongnized Al as the acting. That whole downtown crew kept him at arm's length. Matty sent word from Texas that the Luccheses were a house of cards with Ducks away and the Brooklyn/Bronx thing going on. It's just a shame that Chin didn't find Casso before the Feds did.

Was Chin looking for Casso?

so I re read the hotel chapter. and capeci and tom are great writters. lay out all the details likr you can picture in your head. ok where to start. they were not going to whack al there and leave his deadlier kid out on the street on drugs looking for revenge. the kid killed dilappi put 10 in fat pete. if they were they call both in. and why a hotel there would be evidence everywere blood noise people in n out ect like the worst place ever. these are the guy in charge of the family. casso would have just had one of al crew do him in a car. I think al knew with fat pete talking his time was up. why let sal Avellino leave the hotel alive. they whack him tell al we had to make it look good. al says Avellino wanted the carters dead but casso told them find your own killlers. why long island guys use that Bronx guy frank pearl. and is Frankie pearl out? think hes late 80tys and should be wrapping up soon. that's a slap in the face is he walks out alive.

From what I read Al had a his own right to be suspicious. None of his associates talked to him, people kept ignoring him, at least thats what he said. Then you have the guys getting whacked for being labeled rats. After a while it was clear that this was ridicilous. There was a clear pattern of these guys getting whacked.

And everybody else in that hotelroom was acting suspicious, acting different, but if they did want to hit him in the hotel then why did they wait so long. Why didn't the killer enter and do the job, instead of someone planting the gun when everyone was already there?

They were going to kill him. Period. And it doesn't justify his snitching. You take the oath, you go down guns blazing if need be. But my point was that the hotel paranoia was irrelevant to what would have eventually happened. They were going to pop him. No ifs, ands or buts.

Avellino lucked out, too. Casso was so fucking jealous of that man's business savvy and wealth that he would have eventually ordered him murdered. No doubt in my mind. But look at them both now.

Fuck Anthony Casso. A serial killer in an Italian suit is still a serial killer. And that piece of shit (and rat, by the way) is still in prison. And Sal Avellino is still a ten handicap .

Wasn't Al D'Arco warned by the FBI? If he was, then he shouldn't have gone to any meeting in the first place. Maybe he went to the meeting to see if the agents were right. When he saw the strange behaviors around him, he made up his mind to believe the FBI. But could he possibly be that slow witted? I think so.

Pizza, folk like Casso make me think that certain people should be locked up before they kill. He just comes across as a completely unstable lunatic in his interviews. The only thing that could probably calm him down is medical/nutritional care.

And about the 'guns blazing' concept. It seems to me like the gangsters with the greatest longevity in Cosa Nostra are the ones with the formidable reputation of being too difficult to whack. You don't even want to call them in because they might switch it up on you and do you in instead. It just seems that way. I don't know. Maybe guys like Sonny Franzese were getting called in left and right and constantly tested. But I doubt it.

Unfortunately, the more liberal states here in America don't go in for that kind of thing. But I couldn't agree more .

All kidding aside, great post all the way around .

No, I think Al said he was warned after the hotel incident, which in his mind justified why he turned

The Rat's National Anthem: They were gonna kill me. I testified out of revenge, so I'm not really a rat.

PB what do you think of Chiodo ratting? Why protect 2 psychopaths who tried to kill your sister?

Beat me too it Nicky.

Some of these rats have a point.

Edit: Its worth pointing out that D'Arco was almost certainly going to be hit.
The only dispute is by posters who 'dont believe it', based on... I have no idea.

Sincere thanks for the Kudos, and I'm relieved you didn't take the post the wrong way....there are some very sensitive people around here . I'm a Sagittarius, so I tend to be blunt.

Different story. There have certainly been instances where they created their own rats. Greg DePalma did it to Willie Marshall. Not as well known an instance, but a very good example in my book.

I'm not an ogre, Alfa. And I sincerely apologize if I ever came across that way. This past year has been rough. My Dad's 85 and having a rough go of it lately, just suffered another setback, and eldercare is just about the most stressful thing for an impatient, middle-aged guy, who's used to being in charge, to have to endure. I honestly like to think I'm a pretty nice guy.

Sorry for going off topic. Back in NY with Dad for tests, heading back to Florida over the weekend, and can't sleep a wink.

So back on point: I've never seen Casso face-to-face. I'm a Bronx guy and he has almost twenty years on me. And who the fuck am I anyway but a mope who grew up around a bunch of guys like the ones discussed on this board? But I do remember a couple of his Bronx victims, hence my intense dislike for the man.

And you're right. That "60 Minutes" interview reminded me of a poorly acted episode of "Criminal Minds," which means it wasn't an act at all. Your theory about the proactive and preemptive jailing of reprobates and sociopaths like Casso has a lot of merit. It will never happen. But it works for me.

It's like these kids who are caught torturing animals at 15 years old. They're diagnosed as sociopaths and their parents are told that there's no cure for the sociopath. And what happens?

I'm not sure if a study has ever been done, but I'd be willing to bet that more than half of them end up incarcerated as violent felons. And the ones who don't just didn't get caught.

Now before anyone reminds me that I'm half crazy myself, I just want to point out that I honestly believe that there are more "good" people in this world than "bad." But in the extreme cases of that "bad" minority, getting proactive would save lives.

It's like the old and tired debate about killing Baby Hitler if you could go back in time. I'd smother the little bastard to Bruckner's Seventh Symphony (hey, I'm a history buff who appreciates irony).

Pizza, you made me sad and happy in the same post. That's some gift you have.

With your gift I am certain that you can lift your father up. And I'm sure you already do.

Oh and I wasn't referring to you at all in alluding to the sensitive folk. I sort of offended a couple of great posters on another thread by being a little too blunt. But that's a common trait in Sagittarians, from what I've read.

Sorry about your father PB

I share your same thoughts on Casso and Amuso , even on a personal level

Those are 2 men I hope have been living out a truly miserable life and I believe they are

That family was stealthy strong , monster earners , real CN and they destroyed it for a time and killed people for no reason other than greed . Just terrible terrible human beings that deserve hell for destroying many people's lives . Outside of Anastasia , I'm not sure of any other admin that whacked regular civilians so easily shame .

Anyway hope things get better with the old man , by the way you describe him , he sounds like a good old school tough guy

All of the above.

Crazy old bastard wanted to go back to Florida today instead of tomorrow. But I put my foot down and told him that I needed a day to decompress. He asked me what the fuck decompress was supposed to mean, called me a Mary, then agreed to leave tomorrow morning. But he's still only grunting instead of talking. My biggest fear right now is reminding him that he can't have meat today because of Lent. If it's not too bitter out tonight I'll take him over to City Island for some scungilli.

And thanks, Kiddo. Much appreciated .

Sorry about your dad PB. Sending some positive thoughts and prayers your way.

Al D'Arco claims agents came to his house and warned him that an attempt would be made on his life. But prior to that, he says he already had the card of an FBI agent that he'd ran into on the street. The fact he kept the card implies that he already had an intention to flip.

He says in the book that he knew he and Sal Avellino were going to be hit that night at the hotel. Yet Avellino stayed and was unharmed after D'Arco hightailed it out of there. And remained a large part of the Lucchese hierarchy the years following that supposed hit attempt.

I don't think D'Arco was going to get whacked. I think he was mad that he got bummped down from acting boss and was put on that panel. So he turned informant.

That's true. But I stand by my assertion that had Casso never been arrested he would have hit Sal, who I know for an absolute fact he resented like crazy for his business savvy and especially his money. Then he would have hit Carmine just to be safe.

Now I don't give two shits for D'Arco. But there was a lot of resentment geared towards Avellino. Same exact situation as Mikey Salerno. They hit him because they wanted the fucking dump. No other reason. Then they tried to brand him a rat after the fact to justify it. And Mikey Salerno was no fucking rat. They would have used the same line of bullshit if they had hit Sal. Casso resented intelligence as much as he resented his underlings having more money than him.

I'm glad the Feds fucked him over. By rights, he ratted and he should be out. But fuck him. That's one guy that shouldn't even be given a fucking aspirin if he develops stage four cancer.

Fuck Sal Avellino, it's a pity he avoided the general purge by that nut Casso. He ordered the Kubecka/Barstow murders who weren't even members of the underworld: one of the relatively few cases in USA when the mafia killed innocents (not even accidentally catching them in the crossfire, but with premeditation). And he never did enough prison time for it. 10 years is a joke for such a crime, and I'm not sure if he did them all.

Lol a Harlem man for sure which is where my old man and gramps hailed from

I know you do R/E with the old man and ironically me and my old man just got our first one in Dec.

Your pops might be different but smart yet stubborn Harlem Italians can be quite difficult to deal with lol

Look, Dwalin. I like you a lot. You know that. And what I'm about to say is not to be taken as an insult, okay? Because I actually respect your consistency a great deal. But you are, by far, the biggest moralist I've ever encountered on any of these boards.

This was the Mafia during the '80s. The guys we're talking about were ALL killers, and the Kubecka/Barstow thing was heinous. I worked for Local 813 for 25 years and believe me, those murders scared the shit out of some people who were very scary in their own right. They shouldn't have happened. But a) you can't place the entire blame on Avellino, and b) you can't seriously mention him in the same breath as Anthony Casso.

Like I said, I respect your consistency. And I try to lead a moral life myself. But I'm not a moralist. Because unless you work in Government, or within the legal system, I honestly believe that's God's job. But the moralist in you won't allow you to differentiate a serial killer who easily killed over twenty people to a run of the mill mob guy. And I'll just never understand that kind of logic.

As far as his prison term, the government agreed to it. It was a plea bargain. We don't have Gulags in America .

Pizzaboy, I respect you too and I am not questioning your point of view. But still, wasn't it Avellino's idea to whack Kubecka and Barstow while Casso gave the ok? Casso is a serial killer, but apart from Chiodo's sister and the wrong Nicky Guido, he killed other mobsters. That doesn't justify him in any way, he is also a coward who turned informant immediately after getting caught, but I thought that in the specific case of Kubecka/Barstow the one who is mostly to blame is the one who suggested to do it, meaning Avellino.

As for plea bargains, I personally think (without imposing my point of view to anybody) that THIS SPECIFIC case didn't warrant it. The ones involved should have got the maximum possible, imho.

The Government couldn't have been too confident in their case, or they would have never made the deal. We're talking about the murder of innocents by the Mafia. They wanted to bury everyone involved UNDER the jail and leave them there.

have a great dinner, tough getting old.best of luck

Thanks, Bronx. He'll be okay. Just a bump in the road. He'll be 86 in the Fall, I'll be 56. His fucking vitals are better than mine lol. Just some unforeseen complications right now.

You want a pick four for the weekend? We're on flight number 1415 tomorrow, LaGuardia Delta to West Palm. Should be home in Delray in time for dinner.

thanks for the tip..i will play tonight.have a great flight

Al wasn't paranoid. The writing was on the wall. He botched a few assignments. Also the fact that he was skimming proceeds off the top didn't help his cause. The stealing didn't sign his death certificate but the greed did. Casso demanded receipts because he knew the math was off!

Agree but those doush bags were using him and were weak, he had to do what he did or man up and sign off with balls.

Signing off with balls would have meant making deals with caps who would deal and shed the outrageously greedy unbalanced despotic bastardized bosses who could have been voted down.

Maybe al was gonna get hit but i just dont think it was going down in that hotel. To much blood how are you gonna move the body .