I agree about nick Serp, he was a rules guy but did def rock the boat & knew that the end result would benefit him & he had Phil Testas ear & gave some direction as to how things will turn (i.e.) told Phil what 2 do after bruno was hit..

Don't think Scarfo had any involvement (as others have said) but he definitely had troubles with Bruno. From Phil's book, he mentions when Bruno sent down the big Irish guy from Northeast Philly looking for Nicky and Nicky said he would cut him up and send him back in garbage bags. I mean for soldier to say that to a boss with no retribution he must have known Bruno was losing his power.

Scarfo definetly had a lot of balls or he was just crazy. He also basically told Joe Rugnetta that his daughter was ugly after Rugnetta offered to arrange a courtship between them. Rugnetta wanted him dead but somehow Bruno saved his ass and banished him to AC which ended up working out well for scarfo

I always felt that the "big irish guy" was Frank Sheeran..he & bruno had some ties (buffalino).

Agreed, Hoodlum. Frank Sheeran attended Phil Testa's funeral so definitely a connection there.

See,the thing is Baldo,if FranIf Frank Sheeran so much as knocked on Nicky's door,that whole compound was full of gunmen,ie:larry merlino,vince falcone,bobby lumio,as well as crazy phil were there on guard...I dont know if Frank would have made it out of the city alive ,plus u had Nick the blade in that crew in that certain time period..Frank was only on a mission from Bruno..unless he had a bunch of henchmen w/ him..I kinda like(d) Frank & his book,although i'm not a fan either...but the guy was good @ what he did..dude was a 1 man army..

I never understood how Tony Bananas actually thought he would get away with this.
Caponigro was actually listed on the 1963 Valachi Charts as a Genovese soldier, (so it's possible that Caponigro believed they would really back him) His ties with the jersey Genoves's went back awhile but he had territory beefs with Tieri.
you'd think a guy so close to NY and being a Consiglieri, would have a better handle on mob politics.
He got no assurance from any other family.
He made no strong allies in the family (Scarfo, Testa were not involved)
and had the audacity to pull the trigger himself
Caponigro deserved his fate imo

In his book, George Fresolone wrote that Frank Sindone and John Simone were not involved in the plot to kill Bruno but were instead murdered because they were Bruno loyalists and thus posed a threat to the new Testa-Casella-Scarfo administration. Fresolone stated that Sindone was the popular choice to take over the family and Frank Friel added that Simone was trying to get Sindone installed as boss.
The frustration with Bruno among his family seems to have stemmed from:
1. His falling out with Phil Testa over their differing approaches to LCN
2. Appearing to give the New York families too large a share of Atlantic City rackets
3. Refusing to allow his family to enter the drug trade in a more organised fashion
4. His reluctance to induct new members

What rackets did Bruno have?
How powerful was Testa under Bruno? why didn't Caponigro either include or kill him?

Testa was a very powerful captain under Bruno in the 1960s and, it could be argued, he was functioning more as a de facto underboss. Then, when he finally got the number 2 spot officially, he fell out with Bruno over their differing views on LCN (Testa was more prone to violence, he was involved in heroin, etc). From the late-1970s on, Testa was the head of his own faction in the family that was against Bruno.
Caponigro likely didn't kill Testa because, in his mind, he had only received permission to kill Bruno. They weren't on the same side and there did appear to be a struggle in the aftermath (with both going to seperate meetings with the New York families) so that's likely why he wasn't included eituer. And, as we all know, Testa won out in the end.

Joe Bonanno in his autobiography called Angelo Bruno a "novice" (when it came to being a boss) and that he pretty much needed guidance from Gambino on running a family.
I'd say that's a pretty novice move to make two drug dealers apart of my administration when i am opposed to against my members being involved.
It seems the Philly mob was never really unified.

Why was Tony Caponigro made Consiglieri?

Seems like Bananas had more balls than brains. Not stupid mind you, but maybe shouldn't have been so ballsy. If he was afraid to make a move he would have lived to fight another day.

3 and 4 sounds exactly how John Scalish did things in
Cleveland.
Only differece is Scalish never had enemies within the family.
Did Bruno give the NYC families shares of AC thinking
They would protect him from a potential uprising ?

Theory is he gave them a piece of AC because he knew he couldn't keep them out if he wanted to

Historically, there was something of a divide in the family between the Sicilians and the Calabrians. When Joe Rugnetta was consigliere he didn't just function as a mediator but as the head of the Calabrians in the family (in the late 1960s, Rugnetta and other figures refused to go to New Jersey for a making ceremony because none of the proposed members were Calabrians).
Caponigro was the choice of the Calabrian faction to replace Rugnetta, hence why he got the position

True ... and that rift ran deep.

what Tony Bananas did (allegedly do the hit himself, with a shotgun in front of the guys house, a boss mind you. who for intents and purposes didn't deserve to go out like that.) was flat-out disrespectful and he deserved what he got in the end.

So were does Natz Denaro fall into the equation? what was his relationship with Bruno? and what caused the transition from Denaro to Testa?

Now that it's a zillion yrs. later ...can u tell us where exactly where did Bruno have a house on the island??..& Anastasia lived part time in Ducktown???

Bruno sealed his fate once the Cherry Gambino's were encroaching on his territory with drugs without any retaliation.

That was it for Bruno..

Ujust gave away ur age..pmac.I always thought w/ ur knowledge u were older..my hats off 2 u ur a good dude even though u claim ur drunk half a the time..lol..I love u & ur posts.

Denaro was Sicilian (like Bruno and Testa) and he was a captain under Joe Ida. It was Denaro who warned Bruno about Pollina, which factored into him becoming underboss in the new regime. After Bruno became boss Denaro had a problem with him at one point and tried to go behind his back to New York. Bruno found out about this and admonished him for it, so it seems the relationship deteriorated pretty soon into Bruno's reign, coinciding with Testa's rise to the de facto no. 2 position. There was also talk at one point about a contract being put on Denaro over concerns that he wouldn't be able to do time behind bars, but that obviously never panned out.
Another thing that could factor into Bruno and Testa's relationship was the fact that they had been involved in a hit together in 1950. Joseph Sadia was killed for spreading rumours that Salvatore Sabella (the former boss) had been sleeping with Frank Nicoletti's wife. Nicoletti was the driver in the hit, while Bruno and Testa were the shooters.
When Harry Riccobene was a confidential informant for the FBI, he told them that Nicoletti had possibly been a soldier in Denaro's crew by 1952.
Bruno was also caught on a bug once saying he had suggested to Pollina that he make Testa a captain, which Pollina did (Pollina promoted Testa, John Cappello and John Simone to capos during his brief run as head of the family).

The Cherry Hill Gambinos definitely didn't enroach on Bruno's territory in Pa and NJ without his permission. He allowed them to operate there and made money, directly or otherwise, from their presence. Members of Bruno's family were buying heroin from the Sicilians and selling it on to non-mob distributors. Bruno didn't allow his brugad to enter the drug trade in an organised fashion but he didn't prohibit his underlings from working with the Cherry Hill Gambinos - he would actually lend these heroin traffickers money. It very well may have been the straw that broke the camel's back for Caponigro (who knew he could be making two or three times as much in heroin without Bruno's restrictions), but the Zips definitely weren't ENROACHING in Bruno's territory and there was nothing to retaliate for.

@Chin_Gigante

Your'e right.

you are very knowledgeable, my friend 😄
How did Harry the Hunchback get so much leeway with Bruno? What was his role in the landscape during the transition from Ida/Pollina to Bruno?
Lastly, what was Riccobene's relationship with Testa?

How in God's Name do u know these assumptoins...when I was a little boy(circa 1973}..my old man had Angie over 2 our house during the holidays & they talked about union shit..I had no idea what was going on till I got older...Daddy used 2 bring home free coupons 4 the Thunderbird Motel in Wildwood 4 free & I later that all my dads vacations were "takin care of"...on behalf of the bakers union that he was in & MORE @ Keebler Co..back then, it was @ G & Hunting Park..& he was a dock foreman...Mr. Bruno 4 all that is said & done..what little I can remember..was a nice man.

Yeah, he really poked a stick into a hornet's nest.

Definitely blunt disrespect on Caponigro's end. To be honest; I've read he didn't want to be boss either; Just wanted Bruno removed from the top of the family.

I believe it was his bro in law Alfred Salerno who pulled the trigger..