Check out my new YouTube trailer: "Who was at Apalachin?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX28O7G7_mA

The 72 attendees are based on my research of the New York State Police reports and Commission of Investigation records stored at the New York State Archives in Albany, NY.

My new book The Mob and the City: The Hidden History of How the Mafia Captured New York (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2014), is the first to use these internal records to recreate the events at Joe Barbara's estate. The book's release date is Tuesday, May 6, 2014.

Surprised by anyone in the video? Nominations for anyone else?

Your trailer says Joe Bonanno was there. In his autobiography, "A Man of Honor" [sic], Bonanno claims he wasn't there because he didn't approve of the meeting. He sent two of his top underlings, Johnny Morales and Gaspar DiGregorio. DiGregorio happened to be carrying Bonanno's driver's license because Bonanno had given it to someone else to have it renewed, and that person gave it to DiGregorio. That's how, according to Bonanno, he was incorrectly identified as a participant in Apalachin..

Good point, I go into Bonanno's version in the book.

Here's the evidence for why I think Bonanno was there, and why his story falls apart. You can decide for yourself:

The New York State Archives at Albany, NY have in storage all of the individual police reports filed on November 14, 1957.

The police reports go beyond just Bonanno's NY driver's license. They record Joe Bonanno's Social Security card (which matches the Social Security Death Index file for Bonanno), and record his exact new Arizona address (NOT his New York address on his license).

Moreover, there are some huge holes in Bonanno's story. Bonanno claims: "While Stefano and I were talking in Endicott, Gaspar DiGregorio and my Uncle John Bonventre had gone hunting. They drove back on a side road that curved across the border of Barbara's property. Police had one of their roadblocks there, and assuming Gaspar and Uncle John were guests at Barbara's farm, they stopped and examined the two." Joe Bonanno, Man of Honor, p. 216.

First, the New York State Police officer who caught them states in his report that he caught John Bonventre and Joe Bonanno ("Gaspar DiGregorio") NOT at a roadblock, but rather on foot in the cornfield.

Second, the state police searched all the automobiles and trunks and found no guns, hunting or otherwise-- a major hole considering how hard they were looking for guns.

Overall, I think the evidence is stronger for him being caught running in the cornfield, than his "official" story. The Mafia is a tough area to debate because we have limited evidence. So, I just lay out the evidence, and let you decide.

Alexhortis5,

Welcome to the boards! Thank you for the great info.

This is the most comprehensive list I have been able to find so far, I'm sure some of the more experienced poster can help you as well.

The Apalachin Meeting was a historic summit of the American mafia held on November 14, 1957 at the home of mobster Joseph "Joe the Barber" Barbara in Apalachin, New York.


It was attended by roughly 100 mafia crime bosses from the United States, Canada and Italy. Expensive cars with license plates from around the country aroused the curiosity of the local and state law enforcement, who raided the meeting, causing mafiosi to flee into the woods and the surrounding area of the Apalachin estate. Over 60 underworld bosses were detained and indicted due to the disastrous meeting.



Joseph "The Barber" Barbara - Northeastern Barbara Family Boss and Summit host, Apalachin, N.Y.
Rosario "Russell" Bufalino - Northeastern Family Underboss and Summit organizer (Kingston, Pennsylvania, future Northeastern Boss)
Dominick Alaimo - Northeastern Barbara Family Caporegime (Pittston, Pennsylvania)
Angelo J. Sciandra - Northeastern Barbara Family Caporegime (Pittston, Pennsylvania)
Ignatius Cannone - Northeastern Barbara Family Caporegime (Endwell, N.Y.)
Anthony "The Gov" Guarnieri - Northeastern Barbara Family Soldier (Johnston City, N.Y., future Caporegime)
James "Dave" Ostico - Northeastern Barbara Family Caporegime (Pittston, Pennsylvania, future Underboss)
Pasquale "Patsy" Turrigiano - Northeastern Barbara Family Caporegime (Endicott, N.Y.)
Emanuel "Manny" Zicari - Northeastern Barbara Family Caporegime (Endicott, N.Y., Barbara's bottling plant manager)
Salvatore "Sam" Monachino - Northeastern Barbera Family Soldier (Auburn, N.Y.)
Pasquale "Patsy" Monachino - Northeastern Barbara Family Soldier (Auburn, N.Y.)
Pasquale "Patsy" Sciortino - Northeastern Barbara Family Soldier (Auburn, N.Y.)
Bartolo "Bart" Guccia - Northeastern Barbara Family Associate (Endicott, N.Y., Barbara estate overseer and handyman)
Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno - N.Y. Bonanno Family Boss (Long Island, N.Y., present Commission chairman, 1951-64)
Giovanni "John" Bonventre - N.Y. Bonanno Family Caporegime (Brooklyn, N.Y., former Underboss, semi-retired in Sicily) (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Anthony "Tony" Riela - N.Y. Bonanno Family Caporegime (West Orange, N.J., faction leader)
Natale "Joe Diamonds" Evola - N.Y. Bonanno Family Caporegime (Brooklyn, N.Y., future Boss)
Vito "Don Vito" Genovese - N.Y. Genovese Family Boss (Atlantic Highlands, N.J.)
Gerardo "Jerry" Catena - N.Y. Genovese Family Underboss (Orange, N.J., faction leader)
Michele "Big Mike" Miranda - N.Y. Genovese Family Consigliere (Forest Hills, N.Y.)
Salvatore "Charles" Chiri - N.Y. Genovese Family Caporegime (Bergen, N.J., faction leader)
Carlo "Don Carlo" Gambino - N.Y. Gambino Family Boss (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Joseph "Staten Island Joe" Riccobono - N.Y. Gambino Family Consigliere (Staten Island, N.Y.)
Paul "Big Paul" Castellano - N.Y. Gambino Family Caporegime (Brooklyn, N.Y., future Boss)
Carmine "The Doctor" Lombardozzi - N.Y. Gambino Family Caporegime (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Armand "Tommy" Rava - N.Y. Gambino Family Caporegime (Brooklyn, N.Y., Anastasia loyalist, killed soon after Apalachin)
Vincent "Nunzio" Rao - N.Y. Lucchese Family Consigliere (Yonkers, N.Y.)
Giovanni "Big John" Ormento - N.Y. Lucchese Family Caporegime (Lido Beach, N.Y.)
Joseph "Joe Palisades" Rosato - N.Y. Lucchese Family Caporegime (Jackson Heights, N.Y.)
Joseph "Don Peppino" Profaci - N.Y. Profaci Family Boss (Long Island, N.Y.)
Joseph "Fat Joe/Joe Malyak" Magliocco - N.Y. Profaci Family Underboss (East Islip, N.Y., successor to Profaci)
Salvatore "Sam" Tornabe - N.Y. Profaci Family Caporegime (New York, N.Y., died December 30, 1957)
Frank Majuri - N.J. DeCavalcante Family Underboss (Elizabeth, N.J., Amari regime Underboss, stepped down May 1957, then Underboss in DeCavalcante regime)
Louis "Fat Lou" LaRasso - N.J. DeCavalcante Family Underboss (Linden, N.J., Delmore regime Underboss as of May, 1957)
John C. Montana - Buffalo Magaddino Family Underboss (Olean, N.Y., He was the #2 man in the crime family during Magaddino's regime. Montana was put on the shelf by Magaddino around 1958, Magaddino felt betrayed by Montana who wanted to step down after all the publicity from Apalachin)
Antonino "Nino" Magaddino - Buffalo Magaddino Family Caporegime (Niagara Falls, N.Y., future Consigliere)
Rosario "Roy" Carlisi - Buffalo Magaddino Family Caporegime (Buffalo, N.Y., brother of future Chicago Outfit Boss Sam "Wings" Carlisi)
James "Jimmy" LaDuca - Buffalo Magaddino Family Caporegime (Lewiston, N.Y., Magaddino son in law)
Samuel "Sam" Lagattuta - Buffalo Magaddino Family Caporegime (Buffalo, N.Y.)
Dominick D'Agostino - Buffalo Magaddino Family Caporegime (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)
Frank Valenti - Rochester Valenti Family Underboss (Rochester, N.Y., Pittsburgh Family Soldier)
Constenze "Stanley" Valenti - Rochester Valenti Family Boss (Rochester, N.Y., Pittsburgh Family Soldier)
Joseph Falcone - Buffalo or Rochester Family Capo (Utica, N.Y., faction leader)
Salvatore Falcone - Buffalo or Rochester Family Soldier (Utica, N.Y., Joseph's brother)
Rosario "Roy" Mancuso - Buffalo or Rochester Family Soldier (Utica, N.Y.)
Michael "Mike" Genovese - Pittsburgh LaRocca Family Caporegime (Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, future Boss)
Gabriel "Kelly" Mannarino - Pittsburgh LaRocca Family Caporegime (New Kensington, Pennsylvania, future Underboss)
Joseph "Joe" Ida - Philadelphia Bruno Family Boss (Highland Park, N.J., fled to Sicily in 1957 after Apalachin, leaving Antonio "Mr. Miggs" Polina as Acting Boss. Stepped down as Boss in 1959 due to publicity, retired to Sicily leaving Angelo Bruno as his successor)
Dominick Olivetto - Philadelphia Bruno Family Underboss (Camden, N.J., faction leader, stepped down 1959 for new regime)
John Scalish - Cleveland Scalish Family Boss (Cleveland, Ohio)
John DeMarco - Cleveland Scalish Family Consigliere (Shaker Heights, Ohio)
Frank "The Cheeseman" Cucchiara - New England Patriarca Family Consigliere (Boston, Massachusetts, representative of Raymond Patriarca Sr., Charlie "Lucky" Luciano and Frank "The Prime Minister" Costello at Summit)
Frank Zito - Springfield, Illinois Zito Family Boss (Chicago Outfit Caporegime)
Louis Santo Trafficante Jr. - Tampa Trafficante Family Boss (moved to Havana in 1946, Cuban operations overseer for the families, including casino and narcotics operations. Most powerful boss in Cuba)
Joseph "Joe" Civello - Dallas Civello Family Boss (New Orleans Family caporegime, representative of New Orleans Boss Carlos "Little Man" Marcello. Dallas, Texas)
John Francis Colletti - Dallas Civello Family member (Dallas, Texas)
James "Black Jim" Colletti - Colorado Colletti Family Boss (Pueblo, Colorado)
Frank DeSimone - Los Angeles Dragna Family Boss (Los Angeles, California, also lawyer and house council for Family members)
Simone Scozzari Los Angeles Dragna Family Underboss (San Gabriel, California, came under law enforcement scrutiny after Apalachin. Deported to Italy in 1963)

Mafiosi suspected of attending Apalachin Summit 14 November 1957
Carmine "Lilo" Galante - Bonanno Family Underboss
Carmine Galante was one of the most important attendees at the Palermo, Sicily, Hotel des Palmes Summit the past October 14-October 17 and would be important to the Apalachin Summit being that he was the U.S. La Cosa Nostra's Montreal "representation" for all narcotics operations being directed through the port city. Identified as a guest staying at the estate by Joe Barbara's housekeeper. Galante had also been stopped and arrested by Pennsylvania police on October 17, 1956, allegedly coming from a meeting at Barbara's estate.
Frank "Frank Carrol" Garofalo - Former Bonanno Family Underboss
Frank Garofalo was semi-retired in Sicily as of 1956 and came back specifically for the Apalachin Summit, having been one of the attendees at the Palermo, Sicily-Hotel des Palmes Summit the past October 14-October 17 and would most certainly brief the Bosses on the outcome of the Palermo Summit. Garofalo was registered at a local motel.
Gaspar "Gasparino" DiGregorio - Bonanno Family Caporegime
Brother-in-law of Buffalo Family Boss Stefano Magaddino, registered at local motel.
Joseph "Joe Bandy" Biondo - Gambino Family Underboss
Former Albert Anastasia Consigliere, conspired to kill Anastasia with Carlo Gambino and Joseph Riccobono. Expected to explain the reasons for the Anastasia hit and the current situation between the new Anastasia/Gambino Family hierarchy and the faction still loyal to Anastasia.
Gaetano "Tommy Brown" Lucchese and Stefano "Steve" LaSalle- Lucchese Family Boss and Underboss
1st and 2nd in command, Lucchese and his allies supported Carlo Gambino and his assassination of Albert Anastasia and ascension to Boss of the Family.
Aniello "Niel" Migliore - Lucchese's top aide and was in a car accident driving through Binghamton the next day, November 15. He was most likely on his way to pick up Lucchese and LaSalle.
Stefano "The Undertaker" Magaddino - Buffalo Magaddino Family Boss
Commission member who helped Vito Genovese arrange the Summit at Barbara's house, his clothes contained his name in them when they were found in a car in Joseph Barbara's barn.
Salvatore "Momo" Giancana and Frank "Strongy" Ferraro - Chicago Outfit Boss and Underboss
1st and 2nd in command, Sam Giancana was a Commission member and had just recently been promoted to Boss of the Outfit by former Boss and new Consigliere, Anthony "Joe Batters" Accardo. Giancana would take this opportunity to meet with all the other Family Bosses and introduce his new Underboss, Ferraro. Giancana was overheard just days after the Summit on an FBI wire talking to Stefano "The Undertaker" Magaddino about "our guys being caught" and "that it wouldn't have happened in Chicago, we have a whole county locked up tight". Magaddino cowardly replied "you bet it wouldn't have Sam".
Joseph "Joe Z." Zerilli and Anthony "Tony Jack" Giacalone - Detroit Partnership Boss and Lt./Capo.
Joe Zerilli was not yet at the Barbara estate, he was late. he most likely noticed the roadblock on the way to the meeting or was still at the motel and heard what happened on the radio. He used his driver’s license to rent a car in the Binghamton area and used it to get home on November 14, 1957.
Nicholas "Nick" Civella and Joseph Filardo - Kansas City Civella Family Boss and Capo
They were identified by a local business owner as the two men who used his phone to call a taxi.
James "Jimmy the Hat" Lanza- San Francisco Abati/Lanza Underboss
2nd in command to Boss Michael Abati who at the time was fighting a deportation order, Lanza was registered at a local motel with San Jose Family Underboss, Joseph Cerrito. Mike Abati was deported on July 8, 1961. Lanza becomes his successor and the Family's most famous Boss.
John Sebastian "John LaRock" LaRocca - Pittsburgh LaRocca Family Boss
Registered at the local Arlington Motel with his 2 Capos, Michael Genovese and Gabriel "Kelly" Mannarino, their bills charged to Barbara's Canada Dry Bottling Company.
Joseph "Joe" Cerrito- San Jose Cerrito Family Underboss
2nd in command to Boss Onofrio Sciortino who was ill, Cerrito was registered at a local motel with San Francisco Boss, James Lanza. Joe Cerrito becomes Boss of the Family after Sciortino's death in 1959.
Frank "Frankie Bal" Balistrieri - Milwaukee Balistrieri Underboss
2nd in command, registered at a local motel. Family Boss, John Aloito was grooming his son in law Frank Balistrieri as his successor, Balistrieri uses the Apalachin Summit to introduce himself to all the Bosses from across the United States. In 1961 Aloito retires so Balistrieri can assume the top position. Frank "Frankie Bal" Balistrieri becomes Milwaukee's most famous underworld Boss.
Joseph Zammuto - Rockford, Illinois Musso/Zammuto Family Underboss
2nd in command to Boss Antonio Musso who was ill, Zammuto was registered at a local motel. Tony Musso dies 1958 and Joe Zammuto becomes Boss of the Family. It is now called the Zammuto Family. The Rockford Family has always been a Chicago Outfit faction.
Charles "Curly" Montana - Cleveland Scalish Family Caporegime
Curly Montana is registered at a local motel with Boss John Scalish.
Joseph "Joe" Campisi - Dallas Civello Family Underboss
2nd in command, Joe Campisi is registered at a local motel with Boss Joe Civello, who was detained at Barbara's estate. Joe Campisi became the Family Boss after Joe Civello retires to Florida in 1968. Civello dies in 1970.
Vincenzo "Vince" Colletti - Denver Colletti Family Underboss
2nd in command, Vincenzo is James "Black Jim" Colletti's brother. Vincenzo is registered with James at a local motel, he escapes the police at Barbara's estate, but his brother James is picked up walking down a road near the estate.
Alfred "Al" Angelicola - New Jersey area La Cosa Nostra member
Al Angelicola is registered at a local motel with other known mafiosi, his Family affiliation is unknown.
Luigi "Louis" Greco and Giuseppe "Pep" Cotroni - Montreal Cotroni Family Underboss and Caporegime
Louis Greco was a Montreal Sicilian who was 2nd in command to Calabrian Boss Vic "The Egg" Cotroni. In 1953 Greco and his top aide Frank Petrula go to Sicily to arrange heroin shipments with Charlie "Lucky" Luciano. Giuseppe "Pep" Cotroni was the brother of Boss Vic Cotroni and the Lt. in charge of narcotics operations for the Family. The Montreal Family was considered the Bonanno Family Canadian Faction. Joe Bonanno had just returned from the U.S.-Sicilian La Cosa Nostra Summit in Palermo, Sicily at the Hotel des Palmes on October 14-October 17, 1957. One of the topics to be discussed at Apalachin was about the Sicilians taking control of the importation of narcotics while the U.S. La Cosa Nostra would handle wholesale distribution . Montreal is the North American transit way for narcotics shipments into the U.S., that's why Montreal had representatives at the Apalachin Summit.
Giuseppe "Don Giuseppe" Settacase - Agrigento, Sicily Capo-familglia and future Capo-provincia (provincial Boss) in Sicilian Cupola (Commission).
Don Giuseppe Settacase was sent over as a representative of the Sicilian La Cosa Nostra Clans wishing to export narcotics to the United States. He was present at the Palermo, Sicily Summit on 14 October-17, 1957 and was highly respected as a mediator. Don Giuseppe Settacase mentor to the most powerful and wealthy Sicilian Clans in the Agrigento province and Sicilian La Cosa Nostra, the Siculiana-Caruana-[BadWord] Family and the Cattolica Eraclea-Rizzuto Family, who would become superpowers in the global narcotics and money laundering trade and rule mafia empires. After the Apalachin Summit, both the Canadian and Sicilian La Cosa Nostra were heard talking on R.C.M.P. and FBI wiretaps about how embarrassed the American La Cosa Nostra looked to their peers for the screw up at Apalachin

http://www.greaterowego.com/apalachin/guests.html

I think you're probably right. Autobiographies by definition are self-serving. And, Bonanno was a pathological liar. To hear him tell it in his autobio, he never so much as jaywalked after Prohibition was repealed. He'd also have us believe that his trip to Italy in '57 was a "vacation," and that he was against drugs.

That may be the understatement of the year. Mob guys aren't the types to bequeath their letters and papers to college and university libraries, so people like us can peruse them. Every time I try to do scholarship on organized crime, I find that some completely unsubstantiated, but sensationalized, "fact" is repeated over and over by every author, without checking or attribution.

Amen to all that Turnbull.

Bonanno was a master storyteller, who painted a very popular portrait of "Men of Honor." His autobiography was a bestseller that's still in print 30 years later. To do that, he shaded the truth, glossed over the ugliness, and outright fibbed at times.

Turnbull, keep plugging away in doing reliable research and writing. There are people out there that think the truth is more fascinating than Bonanno's mythology.

"A Man of Honor" was particularly popular with Rudy Giuliani when he was US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He found in Bonanno's description of the Commission a perfect example of a Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization, and launched the Commission case, which put three Dons away for 100+ years. Bonanno must have had the last laugh on the Commission, which earlier stripped him of his Donship.

Right? It's beyond ironic: Bonanno called himself a "Man of Honor" while writing a book exposing secrets of the Commission. His ego just couldn't be restrained.

New version of the Apalachin trailer (with additional photos): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A6Q3a_boBc

Lol!!!!!! I just ran into this surfing the web.


I absolutely love it! That info is all mine. I wrote that list for Wikipedia years ago as a section of "The Apalachin Meeting" article that I wtote for the website. I can't believe they are still using my article, which has been edited somewhat, but not much at all. That's expected over the years. They are still even using the way the commission was devided into factions in the 1950s, the conservatives (Bonanno, Profaci, Gagliano, Magaddino n Mangano until 1951) n the liberals (Costello n Acardo, then starting after the Mangano hit 1951n Gagliano retirement by 1953 it was Costello, Accardo, Lucchese, Anastasia, by the meeting Costello was replaced by Genovese, Accardo by Giancana n Anastasia by Gambino). Alot of the NY mafia intrigue of the 1950s n most of the 1960s, right up to the end of the Bananas War centered around or directly involved the two commission factions n their supporters. The Apalachin meeting was a culmination of the NY mafia intrigues, politics n various conflicts that involved the two opposing factions n their supporyers not only in NY, but throughout the U.S., Canada n Italy....from the hits on bosses n leadership take-overs, to Havana, narcotics n the internal crime family conflicts n wars the 5 Families faced from various leaders n factions. The Commission was truly the center of power in the golden years. All the big plays came back on the commission leaders n the rivalry between the conservative n liberal factions, one way or another in the 1950s n 60s. You had the conservative vs the liberals from the beginning of the commission, but the internal liberal faction rivalry between the Costello-Moretti-Anastasia faction vs the Genovese-Lucchese-Gambino faction n all that happened with them in the 1950s played a major role in calling for the Apalachin meeting by the Genovese-Lucchese-Gambino faction in order to settle that faction's two main issues...the new leaderships of the Luciano/Costello n Mangano/Anastasia families. Those issues were key to all the other important issues from drugs to you name it. They were the new mafia powrrhouses in NY, which basically meant the whole east-coast mafia world, while the Outfit leaders still held sway over the mid-west. Anyway, it was what it was. Alot of Machevellian type intrigue.

But I love the fact that the list of attendees is still word for word as I wrote it, including who, what crime family they represented, the evidence left by some attendees n who may have been there n why.

The idea for that whole article at the time years ago came from finding that old Apalachin meeting website that gave the basics about the 1957 meeting n showed pics of the house n grounds, along with a list of most of the attendees. I used that as a refetence n went from there with my research.

I love it that it is still the top list n info on the web used.
Lol, you what else is funny...my 1929 Atlantic City Meeting article n it's attendees list is still basically what I also wrote years ago. Yep, I did that one also. Lol.
I am glad that people still have faith in the credibility of that list. I worked hard on it. Lol.

I don't think I seen a list with a 29 meeting. Can you post it for us?