Was Sal Catalano from Palermo or Castellamare Del Golfo? One of those National Geographic documentaries on YouTube tried claiming he was aligned with the Corleonesi, but that doesn't seem likely because he came over to NYC in the 70's before the Corleonesi were in power over the whole Sicilian Mafia, right? Or maybe he was aligned with the Corleonesi after they took over the island from the Palermo families (around 1981) and before he went to jail in the Pizza Connection trial (1985)?

Did the Corleonesi have any connections to gangsters in the US before taking complete control or only after when the US mafia had to respect their power (notably John Gambino)?

I assume Catalano was aligned with Amato and Bonaventure back in Sicily or at least that they were all part of the same family? Also, I remember hearing that he was nearly made boss of the Bonannos but that he didn't speak much English so he couldn't really communicate to his capos. If that was the case, why couldn't he have had an underboss or messenger (like a go-between) who was bilingual? Or maybe his dialect was still too thick for them to understand? Such an interesting time period.

He was born in Ciminna in the province of Palermo. He returned to the town recently. But he never severed his relations with the Gambinos.

Sal Catalano is def a interesting figure. He almost did become boss of the Bonanno's. I'm wondering was he accepted by all factions of the family? or did he have enough support from the zips to maneuver himself as Boss?

I read that Onofrio Catalano (must be Salvatore's relative), the boss of Ciminna on a certain point, was aligned with Gaetano Grado who was opposed to the Corleonesi and even killed a number of their allies in the late 80s.

I think they are brothers.

Sal in Ciminna.

Interesting stuff Hollander! I found this random website that says Onofrio Catalano was Sal's brother (as Dwalin mentioned) and also was a drug trafficker. He was killed in 1995 for attempting to kidnap one of Toto Riina's children! That took some balls, I mean, I know Toto was in prison in '95 but I'm sure he still had tons of power on the street.