hairy I just took quick look at gravanos tail. he says he was made by big paul so the Gambino books may have been closed up untll Gambino died in oct 76. goes down the cellar to big paul joe n and neil. now we got gaspipe who said he was made in 1974 the guy real old Genovese guy barone who flip cause chins kid wanted him dead said also he was made in 74 also fish cafaro. Michael franses goin all the way back 1993 to when his 1st book came out said it was 1975 Halloween he has never backd off that claim he was 24 or 25, could you imagine gottis guys havin to kiss his ass. then you had buster ardito the Genovese capo talking to his wired up lawyer friend pete p. "they let all the rats in when they open the books in 74". Im thinking carlo was dead set against opening the books and was the driving factor in having them closed in 58 or 59. ardito also was caught on the lawyers wire saing he came in 1958. and finally you got massino testimony someone put up online, very hard to hair.galante started making al those guys in 77 copa,lino,d'amico,massino.

Looking into it, Gravano said that the books were reopened in 1975 but never claimed (at least in the book) that he was made that year. He says that "There was a long waiting list of associates, and each Family was initially alloted ten new members....The following year [1976] the Families were permitted to replace made members who had been lost through attrition. For the next group, later the same year [1976] Toddo Aurello proposed Sammy."

///Although a little fuzzy, I believe Gravano to be saying that the first group of guys that were made, was in 1976. The second group of guys that were made, was in late 1976. Gravano was part of this second group. So, to Gravano´s credit, him saying that he was made in 1975, most likely is a misunderstanding from our part. His recollection of guys being made in 1976, and in late 1976, seems to be correct. So it´s only Michael Franzese´s claim of being made in 1975 that I have a problem with.

Interesting enough, if you take a look in the Tony Mirra files, it says that Mirra was made with his uncle very late December 1976 by Galante. Both Mirra and his uncle seems to be in the first class of Bonanno guys being made. Later in 1977, guys like Coppa, Lino, D´Amico, Massino etc followed in the second Bonanno group. My point is that no one seems to have been made in 1975, but later.

hairy no way im trying to argue with you over this, your a great poster. I just think its a good subject. do you agree the Genovese open there books in 1974. George barone said fat tony brought him in I forgot who he said also was there and you have fish cafaro fat tonys right hand say he was brought in 1974. casso infront of the senate said he was inducted in 1974 and vic amuso not till 77. when I listend to massino testimony he says 1975 him sonny black where hijacking trucks they ask him about sonny black massino says a wiseguy, made man. I wish they would just print it out the sound is bad.i want to read the mirra files soon. and back to miichael franses why would the guy lie? he said it was dibella who did the ceremony. I mean Halloween not hard to forget. I don't like Michael but he seems to tell the truth even in front of the senate committee, he forgets about murders thou. I always wonder if tommy dibella (old Colombo boss) is related to the boxing promoter from Brooklyn guys big time dibella ent. maybe grand kid or great nephew. hairy no other rats claim to have been inducted 1975. could you imagine Sammy gravano kissing some 24yr olds ass or dan marino or the corrozo's. if he was made guy before all them. I think I read in scarpas file allie boy was made in 1977 the bumped to capo 1979. carmines son.

I actually agree with you. The books were open in 1974 and all the five Families inducted new members that year. (Cafaro, Genese, Tommy Gambino, Barone and some other guys were let in.) But they were only a handful. However, the books were closed in 1975 but reopened in 1976. I guess Franzese was wrong on the year of his induction. It doesn´t mean that he intentionally lied. But his induction probably happened in 1977 and Tommy DiBella was the boss until 1980. Yes, DiBella was the son of Salvatore DiBella who some claim was the boss before Profaci. Can´t remember if this Salvatore DiBella was a boxing promotor though but I know he was some kind of a union boss in the South Brooklyn area in. Little Allie Boy was made in 1977 and was given his own crew by his father in 1981.

I find you you a very good poster too. You´ve got great knowledge and I know I have mentioned this before. We seem to have the same specific interests.

EDIT - Sorry, Barone was made in 1978. Not in 1974.

Ha, I couldn't finish the Gambino book and picked Volkman's Gangbusters not realizing it was him at the local library. The first half is pretty terrible, a lot of it is lifted straight of Luciano's and Bananno's books. But the part on the Corralo period seems solid since he probably just lifted most of his info from court records in the Vario and Commission cases. The whole invented passage about Tommy Lucchese's poor mother journeying to 107th St. to give her wayward son maranara sauce set's the stage for the place and times, but it's corny as hell.

black mass

Rat Bastards

Last Rites( gigi portalla)

legnds of winter hill

marked card

rougue mobster

street soldier- eddie mackenzie

my life in the mafia- vinnie teresa

some decent new england reads.

how good is Rogue Mobster? Does it have extensive coverage of the mob war in Boston in the early 90s? Is this Silverman guy credible?

Thats a good question, silverman was really a nobody, he moved to florida and wrote marked card and rougue mobster... but the guys he wrote about were holding power through 1990-2007

its a wierd subject becuase its about guys whos story have never been told before and theres alot of twists and ties to it. Some would say its even jucier than whitey and flemmis story. by the 90's alot of the action in MA was moving to cities like medford,someville,malden,everett,revere instead of the traditional nieghborhoods of east boston, south boston, charlestown and the north end. it was a wierd time and people these days trying to write books about these crews from medford and revere have a tough time deciding wich players were worth writing about( in my opinion its the guys who actually had the balls to pull the triggers) BUT TO BE HONEST SILVERMAN WAS A NOBODY, but the guys in th book were the real deal. SOME OF THE OTHER MASS GUYS ON HERE WOULD PROBALY GET A KICK OUT OF IT.

BIG paul decologero- who ran his crew out f the unsuspecting suburbs of woburn and burlington.

Niel mazza- a leftover from winter hill.

lonnie hillson- low level medford/everett guy

brian porreca- government informant killed by his handlers in las vegas fro hot dose had 10 g;s on him. was a pro boxer in the 80's and masterminded the carrot scam.

- kevin mucka mccormick a malden pimp and drug dealer- ran a very succesful prostittuuion ring. was tried for attempted murder in 1996 but was murderd himself in 1999 outside a malden bar

Mccormick used to pay off a malden cop named dave jordan but jordan went to the fbi and told them mccormick was payong him off

jordan the cop would later end up in federal prison himself fro robbng a coke dealer.

billy angelesco- suspect in several unsolved murders

gene giangrande- suspect in several unsolve dmurders

theN theres the two guys from medford AB BC.

richy sperlinga- sal sperlinga son

bobby rennell- low level somerville guy

gigi portalla and his crew- revere standout renegade faction

joey mongiello- left over from medford/somerville was with WHG.

COULD OF WROTE A BETTER BOOK MYSELF BUT WHOS GOT THE TIME, AND THERES THE DESECION OF WHOS WORTH WRITING ABOUT.

The younger guys from eastie, revere and medford were just as violent as the oldtimers were in there day but.. so many of those murders from 1989-up until now are unsolved thats why no one wants to write there story, and in true wiseguy fashion osme of them have never uttered aword..

was thinking about doing a chart of the bosotn guys fom the 90's but no one would be familar unless your from new england.

Another factor is that they all ended up being herion atticts or in prison or dead... so whats the piont.

some guys from cambridge and charlestown were apart of things too.. but they were more convicts than wiseguys. And theses days its spanish/asian/black gangs who got a hold on the drugs and prostitution.

just finished mike russells book undercover cop....was a good read...but he is just so full of himself it makes it tough sometimes

Cheech, I haven't read the book, but the reviews on the other Forums are flat out calling this guy a LIar, who they say was not even a State trooper, but instead was a snitch. Here are some reviews from pretty savy mob guys:

"Heres the bottom line on this guy - He was An east Orange cop - he was dirty - he got thrown off of the force - he was working in the pro shop at Kings court - he met and became friends with Bobby Alveggi (a cousin of the Taccettas) they began selling drugs together and stealing cars and breaking into cars....Russell broke into a Benz, that belonged to a legit guy who was around the Taccettas - there nothing in the brief case pretaining to mob stuff - he was asked to return the breif case - he got an attitude with Michael Taccetta - Some how Joe Ricciardi who was friends with Alveggi went to talk to Russell about getting back the breif case - one word lead to another and Ricciardi gave him a beating with his HANDS...there was no GUN he was never shot its all a lie - he then got in trouble again, so he was on Bloomfield Ave and somehow runs in to Andy Gerad - He then runs to the state police and offers to be an informant - he did create some cases (Gambling cases) the most I think anyone got was 24 months.

The guy is Jerkoff, wanna be - he was never an undercover cop in his life, he was never a state trooper. He is trying to gain a little fame and money. The book is full of mis0information and he write sit like abitter child who someone took his lunch money, by insults and bad mouthing every single guy in the book. This guy is abum, he could not be apimple on Joe Pistones ASS (donnie brasco) A real undercover cop who wore a wire and risked his life everyday for 9 years and whos family suffred as a result.

This guy was alow level two bit informer for the state police, that resulted in very little after wards.

He cliams he took a bullet to the head - NEVER HAPPENED

He Claims he was a State Trooper - NEVER was

Claims he called Michael Perna a rat to his face - NEVER happened

Claims Ralph Vaccaro said he was the future of the crew (LOL...Yeah OK)

Claims Tommy Ricciardi was a fag not capable of Killing (Ah, OK ask the dozen or more people he plead guilty to killing about that)

The GUY is atotal Loser and is Libal for some of the stuff in that book - wouldn't surprise me if he catches a law suit... will see?
Smarten Up
Associate

"ID's all the Campisi's as made Gambino guys"

LMAO

Another great point. The only Campisi's that were ever made were PiPi [Gambino/murdered 83] and Petey Black [Columbo/died natural causes]. There is already a law suit pending and ready to be filed against the publisher.

That's just a sample cheech. they have three threads on this guy.

I believe it. Sounded like bullshit. Said he was meeting with bobby manna. Can't picture bobby letting this guy in the same room as him. Knew it was bullshit

Honestly, I really enjoyed reading it when I first got it because of all the familiar names. But once I posted about it, some other knowledgeable guys pointed out a decent amount of inconsistencies in Silverman's story. However, for someone not concerned about the facts and just wants to read a cool story, go for it I never said it wasn't entertaining

yeah like ive said in all my posts silverman was a phony, but it is cool to see someone write about these guys cause there story hasnt been told yet, and in the 90's these were the guys dealing in violence, trust me no one would of wrote abook about these guys if they all werent rotting in prison or in old age or have a serious drug problem or dead.

big paul decologero(IP)

anthony barry(IP)

gene giangrande

billy angelesco

joe donahue(DEAD)

niel mazza

lonnie hillson

joey mongiello

kevin hardy

kevin mucak mccormick(DEAD)

brian cahill(IP)

gigi portalla(IP)

like i siad before all serious dudes. I COULD OF WROTE A BETTER BOOK MYSELF.

I just got Bill Bonanno's book . How is it ? I'm also thinking about buying Micheal Franzese's books too.

I haven't read franzese book but I've seen him on so many mob documentaries I feel like I already know his life story so I'm not going to read it. I would love to meet him though, seems like a nice genuine guy.

And he has the same exact accent as me.

Mike russel is a tool. Guy comes off as such a dick. He was a dirty cop who got caught and rolled. The mob guys were good to him, hes the reason he got beat down stealing from connected guys car and acting tuff wat a low life. Lie after lie in this book I did not buy, just making shit up. Tumacs a herion junkie for decades nowonder he gettin sued guy just talks shit about everyone. Do not by this book anyone. Cant wait for lil al thou.

Too bad Greg Scarpa's daughter "Little" Linda isn't coming out with a book because I know it would be a good read . If Karen Gravano can come out with a book so can she.

I can't stand Greg Scarpa. I never knew him personally but just the fact that he was cooperating for his own good after killing all of those guys rubs me the wrong way. And he disrespected his wife and family by having another family behind their back. It's his life but I just can't respect someone like that. Originally they didn't want him the be made because he was northern italian also. Idk maybe he was the first northern italian to be inducted.

Agree 100% Yeah, even though he was cheating on his wife, he was also cheating on his kids too even though it seemed he loved his family. He was also cheating on LCN and cheating on the FBI. He was a real snake in the grass

^Agree with everything you said.

Anyone ever read Mr New Orleans: The Life of a Big Easy Underworld Legend?

No, but I just started reading Mafia Kingfish: Carlos Marcello and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy. Is Mr. New Orleans about Marcello? Or Silver Dollar Sam?

Which Bill Bonanno book?

I just recently finished reading Bill Bonanno's Bound by Honor and his wife, Rosalie's book Mafia Marriage (although she insisted the cover have mafia written in lower case because it was never meant to be a noun, or something like that, lol). I'm currently looking for Bill's other two books.

The Last Testament of Bill Bonanno.

Some new books I've come across, not read the first one but read the second.

A Bad, Bad Boy



The little known Southern California underworld of the mid-Twentieth Century comes to life in this unique, never before told story of San Diego Mafia hit man Frank Bompensiero. Born in Milwaukee to Sicilian parents, the Bomp, as he came to be known, was one of the most fearsome Caporegimes of the Los Angeles crime family.


"Gaga": The Real Whitey Bulger/Irish Mob Story



Francis X. “Gaga” Murray was a member of the McLaughlin gang and was involved in there war with Winter Hill, it's a good read if your interested in that period, but you do need some previous knowledge because it can be hard to follow who he's talking about, the first couple of chapters concern his military career and then it's down to business, only available on Kindle I think.

Negative its Kent "Frenchy" Broulliette, AKA Marcellos guy that ran the prostitution rings and was Edwin Edwards Cousin.