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Little Al D'Arco Has Died #967976
03/28/19 10:23 AM
03/28/19 10:23 AM
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 69
PaulieSenter Offline OP
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PaulieSenter  Offline OP
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The Mafia big who was the first of his generation to spill the mob's most precious secrets about its extensive reach into legitimate businesses, labor unions and illegal rackets in New York has died.

Alfonso (Little Al) D'Arco, who went from heist artist on the post-war Brooklyn streets to acting boss of the Luchese crime family before turning government witness in 1991, was 86. He died earlier this month from complications due to kidney disease, from which he suffered in recent years.

D'Arco's decision to abandon his Mafia oath helped inspire other high-ranking turncoat mobsters including Salvatore (Sammy Bull) Gravano, right hand man to John Gotti, and a dozen others. All told, their collective testimony sent scores of mobsters to prison and helped dislodge New York's Cosa Nostra from some of its richest prizes. By the time D'Arco and other cooperators were done testifying, the powerful economic and criminal presence in the city known as the Five Families had been reduced to small groups of aging wiseguys assisted by young wannabes who displayed little talent for organized crime.The Mafia big who was the first of his generation to spill the mob’s most precious secrets about its extensive reach into legitimate businesses, labor unions and illegal rackets in New York has died.

Alfonso “Little Al” D’Arco, who went from heist artist on the postwar Brooklyn streets to acting boss of the Luchese crime family before turning government witness in 1991, was 86. He died in witness protection earlier this month from complications due to kidney disease.

D’Arco’s decision to abandon his Mafia oath helped inspire other high-ranking turncoat mobsters, including Salvatore “Sammy Bull” Gravano, right-hand man to John Gotti, and a dozen others. All told, their collective testimony sent scores of mobsters to prison and helped dislodge New York’s Cosa Nostra from some of its richest prizes.

By the time D’Arco and other cooperators were done testifying, the powerful economic and criminal presence in the city known as the Five Families had been reduced to small groups of aging wiseguys assisted by young wannabes who displayed little talent for organized crime.

Most of those subsequent defectors, including Gravano, were facing the likelihood of life in prison when they decided to cooperate. D’Arco, however, was not under indictment for anything. The feds didn’t even know much about him. But he had a more immediate reason to want out: At the time, Little Al believed that the murderous chieftains at the top of the Luchese family hierarchy — a duo of Vittorio “Vic” Amuso and Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso — had marked him for death, a threat that extended to his wife and children as well.

D’Arco had firsthand knowledge of how suddenly and viciously Amuso, the official boss of the family, and Casso, his underboss, could turn on their longtime partners in crime.

As their handpicked acting boss, D’Arco had been ordered by Amuso and Casso, both of whom were fugitives from racketeering charges at the time, to arrange the murders of a dozen men aligned with the Luchese family. All were alleged by the bosses to be potential informants.

In a three-year spasm of violence between 1988 and 1991, Luchese gunmen killed a total of 17 men, their bodies left sprawling in underground garages, dumped into landfills, jammed into car trunks or secretly cremated. At the bosses’ direction, a dead canary was stuffed into the mouth of one Luchese veteran after he was assassinated in Brooklyn.


First flipped mob boss' bloody beginnings
The bird was supposed to send the message that the victim had been an informant. But that was untrue. In fact, most of the death sentences ordered by Amuso and Casso, D’Arco came to realize, had little to do with Mafia disloyalty. Instead, most of the murders were an effort to eliminate potential rivals and seize their often lucrative crime operations.

His decision to switch sides was also spurred by outrage at what D’Arco, a firm mob traditionalist, viewed as violations of long-standing Mafia rule, including targeting family members of mobsters. Just a few weeks earlier, Luchese soldiers had been dispatched to threaten the lives of the elderly parents of a mobster the bosses feared was turning on them.

D’Arco soon became convinced that his number was up as well. While attending a business meeting of Luchese captains in a posh Midtown hotel, he spotted a mobster secretly stashing a pistol in the bathroom.

Believing he was being set up to be killed, D’Arco blurted goodbyes and bolted from the hotel room. The next morning, he sent his wife, two daughters and youngest son away, and fled with his older son, Joseph, who was also a crime-family member.

From a hiding place on Long Island, D’Arco reached out to the FBI. Agents soon scooped him up and began debriefing him.

Out poured a vast stream of mob knowledge. D’Arco detailed the loan-shark arrangements, the union locals and the mobsters who controlled them, the monthly payoffs from construction companies, the hierarchies of each crime family, even a list of more than two dozen factions in the Sicilian Mafia.

He stood just 5-foot-7, hence his nickname, and had an accent straight out of the Dead End Kids. He served two terms in prison, including a stretch in Sing Sing for stolen stock certificates in the early 1960s. That experience, along with a later federal conviction in the 1980s for heroin sales, served as a kind of graduate school for the aspiring gangster. Throughout, he had paid close attention to the business of the Mafia, and many of his stories shocked government officials.

He told how the mob had divided the proceeds from the scrap iron generated by the demolition of the old elevated West Side Highway; the mob had also profited from the construction of a huge nuclear power plant. Mob penetration of the construction industry remained so deep, he told them, that even a concrete contractor then working on federal projects and who had allegedly been vetted for mob ties was paying $20,000 each month to his crime family.

“He was the best,” Michael Campi, a former FBI supervisor who spent 20 years chasing wiseguys in New York and was one of those conducting the debriefing sessions, told us for the book “Mob Boss,” a biography of D’Arco. “Al D’Arco was the most significant made member to cooperate. He really built that bridge for others to cross.”

Born in north Brooklyn on July 28, 1932, Al D’Arco was raised a few blocks from the Navy Yard, then a hub of underworld hustles. An uncle was in the mob, but his father was a businessman, running a small basement dye shop for the garment industry. Above the shop, however, a local hoodlum had a bookmaking operation and the youngster was awestruck by the nattily dressed men who came and went.

“I’m still a mobster, but I’m an outlaw, that’s all. It’s not like they throw you out of the mob when you flip. You’re just considered an outlaw. That’s what I am.”
D’Arco committed his first crime at the age of 12, when he robbed a furniture factory across the street from his family’s home on Kent Avenue, a deed that earned a beating from his father. But he was soon working for a local candy store operator whose sideline was gambling and peddling stolen goods.

His one detour into legitimacy came during an Army enlistment when he was shipped in 1951 to an airfield near the Arctic Circle in Alaska, where he did guard duty on a frozen tarmac watching over long-range bombers. Two years later, he was back on the New York City streets, looking for moneymaking schemes.

Among those who tutored him was an old-school mobster named Vincenzo “Jimmy Alto” Altomari, who ran high-stakes crap games and whose headquarters was a cafe on Mott Street. “Be low key. Don’t stand out,” were among the lessons Altomari taught him, D’Arco later said.

He took the lesson to heart. Unlike flashy Mafia contemporaries such as Gotti, who sauntered through the Little Italy streets with an entourage, D’Arco lived modestly and conservatively. His residence was a government-subsidized apartment on Spring Street. There were no comares — girlfriends — on the side. Until his death, he remained loyal to his wife, Dolores Pellegrino, who had swept him off his budding young gangster feet when they’d met at a Brooklyn nightclub on Flatbush Avenue in 1953.

His only indulgence was a little restaurant on Cleveland Place called La Donna Rosa. Billed as Ristorante Siciliana, it featured recipes that D’Arco, an amateur cook, had learned from his grandparents, such as disco volante alla cognac con funghi — ravioli stuffed with wild rabbit mousse and wild mushrooms.

Patrons included Robert De Niro, who studied the moves of the mobsters who dined there, and John F. Kennedy Jr., who sat alone, quietly enjoying lunch during breaks from his duties as an assistant district attorney at the nearby courthouse. The late mayor and gourmand Ed Koch was once turned away at the door by D’Arco. A roomful of gangsters were holding a confab there.

“I told him it was a private party,” D’Arco told us later.

After he changed sides and testified for the government, prosecutors who worked with him were steadily impressed with both his uncanny memory and his insistence on holding to what he knew.

Secret mob history of Ray's Pizza
In a string of appearances as a witness for the government, D’Arco delivered devastatingly detailed testimony that helped win convictions against leaders of all five crime families, including Amuso and the elusive Genovese boss, Vincent “Chin” Gigante.

Altogether, prosecutors credited him with helping to convict more than 50 mobsters.

“He was one of the toughest, most difficult witnesses I ever faced,” said Gerald Shargel, the veteran defense attorney who represented Amuso and others.

Aside from recalling meetings and murders, his testimony from the stand also sometimes lapsed into a kind of mob poetry. Asked how he became involved with the Mafia in one trial, he explained that “it was always around my neighborhood. It’s like you’re in the forest. The neighborhood is the forest and all the trees in it, well, a lot of the trees, were organized-crime men. It was a way of life.”

His shift from gangster to witness was just another phase in that life, he said.

“I’m still a mobster,” he told prosecutors. “But I’m an outlaw, that’s all. It’s not like they throw you out of the mob when you flip. You’re just considered an outlaw. That’s what I am.”

Still, sitting in a chain motel in middle America far from the Little Italy streets for a series of interviews for the book, Little Al D’Arco often waxed nostalgic about the world he had left behind. “I could be back to crime now, if I wanted it. Crime is crime. You don’t forget how to make a living.”

But he had given his word to the feds, he said, adding, “If I am starving, I won’t go back to it. I gave my word.

“But as far as living day to day? I take that life any f–king day of the week.”

Last edited by PaulieSenter; 03/29/19 09:44 AM.
Re: Little Al D'Arco Has Died [Re: PaulieSenter] #967980
03/28/19 11:21 AM
03/28/19 11:21 AM
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 7,212
naples,italy
furio_from_naples Offline
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naples,italy
Where do you find this new?

Re: Little Al D'Arco Has Died [Re: PaulieSenter] #967981
03/28/19 11:51 AM
03/28/19 11:51 AM
Joined: Mar 2017
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Michael_Giovanni Offline
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Michael_Giovanni  Offline
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It was in todays gangland news column

Last edited by Michael_Giovanni; 03/28/19 11:53 AM.
Re: Little Al D'Arco Has Died [Re: PaulieSenter] #967985
03/28/19 12:35 PM
03/28/19 12:35 PM
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 5,094
Moe_Tilden Offline
ForeverBotheringIranians
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A lot of high profile deaths lately. Bulger, Persico, Cali, D'Arco…. I'm sure I'm forgetting one or two others.

I wonder if Nick Caramandi is still alive? He must be around the same age as D'Arco. Seemed to be a chronic smoker and possible alcoholic. Also appeared to be living in relative poverty.

Surprising someone with such a lifestyle would live so long.

For that matter, didn't Anthony Casso have pancreatic cancer ages ago?

I wonder what his health is like now.


Last edited by Moe_Tilden; 03/28/19 12:38 PM. Reason: How did I forget Cali? I have the memory of a fly.

I invoke my right under the 5th amendment of the United States constitution and decline to answer the question.
Re: Little Al D'Arco Has Died [Re: PaulieSenter] #968055
03/28/19 10:20 PM
03/28/19 10:20 PM
Joined: Mar 2016
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Hollander Offline
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Why was he called "The Professor"?


"The king is dead, long live the king!"
Re: Little Al D'Arco Has Died [Re: PaulieSenter] #968066
03/29/19 12:46 AM
03/29/19 12:46 AM
Joined: Oct 2013
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OakAsFan Offline
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I just listened to his audio book. Great stories about Lucchese history. RIP.


"...the successful annihilation of organized crime's subculture in America would rock the 'legitimate' world's foundation, which would ultimately force fundamental social changes and redistributions of wealth and power in this country. Meyer Lansky's dream was to bond the two worlds together so that one could not survive without the other." - Dan E. Moldea
Re: Little Al D'Arco Has Died [Re: PaulieSenter] #968068
03/29/19 01:25 AM
03/29/19 01:25 AM
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MightyDR Offline
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Thanks for the news PaulieSenter. He provided a hell of a lot of good info.

Re: Little Al D'Arco Has Died [Re: Hollander] #968071
03/29/19 05:04 AM
03/29/19 05:04 AM
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WhackWhack Offline
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Originally Posted by Hollander
Why was he called "The Professor"?


Casso gave him that nickname. He felt a street boss should not be called "little Al". He thought it was not respectful or intimidating enough.

Re: Little Al D'Arco Has Died [Re: PaulieSenter] #968079
03/29/19 06:42 AM
03/29/19 06:42 AM
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Hollander Offline
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Thanks.

Originally Posted by OakAsFan
I just listened to his audio book. Great stories about Lucchese history. RIP.


I have the book for a long time probably start this weekend, I will give him credits for bringing down those 'Mafia Cops' .


"The king is dead, long live the king!"
Re: Little Al D'Arco Has Died [Re: PaulieSenter] #968133
03/29/19 08:34 PM
03/29/19 08:34 PM
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Fleming_Ave Offline
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I enjoyed D'Arco's book too. I think like most of those guys, he puts a spin on things to make himself look good, but the book sheds light on Vic and Gas's reign over that family.

Re: Little Al D'Arco Has Died [Re: Fleming_Ave] #968137
03/29/19 09:09 PM
03/29/19 09:09 PM
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JCrusher Offline
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Originally Posted by Fleming_Ave
I enjoyed D'Arco's book too. I think like most of those guys, he puts a spin on things to make himself look good, but the book sheds light on Vic and Gas's reign over that family.

Yeah but thats true for most authors. The only book that didnt hold back was Henry Hills kids lol

Re: Little Al D'Arco Has Died [Re: PaulieSenter] #968138
03/29/19 09:44 PM
03/29/19 09:44 PM
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OakAsFan Offline
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D'Arco mentions Peter DeFeo several times. Little Italy capo for the Genovese. DeFeo had someone in his crew named Alex Morelli, whose son grew up with Martin Scorsese. This son is in the documentary that's included with the Mean Streets DVD.


"...the successful annihilation of organized crime's subculture in America would rock the 'legitimate' world's foundation, which would ultimately force fundamental social changes and redistributions of wealth and power in this country. Meyer Lansky's dream was to bond the two worlds together so that one could not survive without the other." - Dan E. Moldea
Re: Little Al D'Arco Has Died [Re: PaulieSenter] #968142
03/29/19 11:03 PM
03/29/19 11:03 PM
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Michael_Giovanni Offline
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The audiobook of mob boss is on YouTube and the narration of it can be pretty funny at times. The guy doing it has me cracking up when he’s quoting Al D’arco.

Re: Little Al D'Arco Has Died [Re: PaulieSenter] #968143
03/29/19 11:18 PM
03/29/19 11:18 PM
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OakAsFan Offline
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I liked the narrator. I like that stuff better than when someone just reads it and puts no color into the words. The old guy doing d'arco's book sounded like Jimmy Durante when doing D'arco's voice. I loved that.


"...the successful annihilation of organized crime's subculture in America would rock the 'legitimate' world's foundation, which would ultimately force fundamental social changes and redistributions of wealth and power in this country. Meyer Lansky's dream was to bond the two worlds together so that one could not survive without the other." - Dan E. Moldea
Re: Little Al D'Arco Has Died [Re: OakAsFan] #968144
03/29/19 11:20 PM
03/29/19 11:20 PM
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Originally Posted by OakAsFan
I liked the narrator. I like that stuff better than when someone just reads it and puts no color into the words. The old guy doing d'arco's book sounded like Jimmy Durante when doing D'arco's voice. I loved that.


I agree. It’s one of the best narrations I’ve heard. I hope I didn’t come across as putting him down. He’s great at it.

Re: Little Al D'Arco Has Died [Re: PaulieSenter] #968145
03/29/19 11:29 PM
03/29/19 11:29 PM
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OakAsFan Offline
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I'm listening to Garden State Gangland right now and that narrator's awful. The book isn't that great either bu the narrator sounds like a golf commentator. Just like a good writer often makes a book, a good narrator can make or break an audio book.


"...the successful annihilation of organized crime's subculture in America would rock the 'legitimate' world's foundation, which would ultimately force fundamental social changes and redistributions of wealth and power in this country. Meyer Lansky's dream was to bond the two worlds together so that one could not survive without the other." - Dan E. Moldea

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