Originally Posted by furio_from_naples
Originally Posted by NYMafia
Furio,

Some of the information you posted in the statement above is correct and has merit to it. But there are also a few misstatements as well. The most glaring of which is that once legalized gambling was brought to Atlantic City that the "Philadelphia Family" had control there and the NYC Families had to ask for the permission of Angelo Bruno before they could operate there, and that if permission was granted, they had to pay a portion of their earning to Bruno and the Philly Family...That is incorrect.

The 'fact' is that many years ago (in the 1940s), the Mafia Commission had declared all cities across the U.S., as well as Island nations such as Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Haiti, etc., where gambling is legalized and casinos operate are declared "open cities," that any and ALL borgatas are free to operate within, if they so desire.

Any city or gambling Mecca, regardless of where it may be located, is open territory.

The fact that Atlantic City was always considered part of the general 'geographic' territory of Philadelphia's Bruno Family has nothing to do with that steadfast Commission 'rule.'

The Philly crew might have been more dominate in A/C. After all, thats only natural, right? They had members who lived and operated there for many decades previous. And I'm sure, that even after gambling came to town the Philly guys still dominated the area. NY/NJ guys were generally not gonna move down there just to be near the casinos.

But after legalized gaming came to that town, the Bruno Family was NO LONGER the only family who could operate there. Did some of Philly's members maybe balk to one another about 'out of town' (NYC/NJ) mafiosi coming into 'their' town, Atlantic City, and starting up some action? Maybe? Probably?

But thats only because these types of fellas probably didn't have a solid overall grasp about what Cosa Nostra was really all about, and what the Commission dictates and rules were from decades back (because it never applied to them before), etc.

But that still doesn't change the 'fact' that Commission 'rule' was put in place over three decades before A/C got gambling. Understand what I'm saying here?

Why do you think there's so many guys from varied Families across the country in Las Vegas. The same holds true for why so many families shared the wealth in Cuba, The Bahamas, etc. These are ALL declared "open cities."



So why kill Bruno? If they doesnt have to ask to put a flag in AC? Was years that Caponigro blaming Bruno because his ban on narcotics but 4 years after lost his friend Gambino and the gambling become legal he was killed?
I think there are too many coincidences, you can't kill a boss without preparation. Maybe NY wanted a non-Sicilian boss or maybe Bobby Manna wanted to put his partner in yardville Scarfo as a boss and then pass the Philadelphia mafia under the protection of the Genovese, for me there was something under it.


A lot of the reasoning behind killing Bruno, was also wanting to have a "legit" reason to kill Caponigro. Many years prior there was a dispute between Caponigro and Tieri over bookmaking in North Jersey, in which the Commission ruled in favor of Caponigro. Also remember that at the time with Bruno, Philly was 'under' the Gambino's which gave the Gambino's an extra commission vote on any Commission matters. Killing Bruno, and installing anyone else would essentially shift the proxy vote of Philadelphia to the Genovese family. So with Bruno AND Caponigro out of the way, the Genovese grabbed a larger share of North Jersey rackets, shifted the Philly proxy vote to Genovese in all Commission matters and were able to make further uninterrupted in-roads into Atlantic City.