I'm interested in which crews by which families have had their headquarters in East Harlem during the history of the mob.

I'm aware of the Morello gang, Morello being based on 107th street originally. Of course the 116th street crew. Which other crews have been present in East Harlem during the years?

The Genovese and Lucchese families were almost the most dominant in East Harlem. Just put Harlem into the search feature. Please.

It's been discussed here a million times, so you'll get plenty of hits. I've personally written about the Lucchese and Genovese crews on 107th and 116th ad nauseam, and that's not to mention the great researchers that we have here, like Ivy, Hairy, Tommy, Sonny, et al.

Nothing personal, Belette. You're a good guy. But East Harlem has been done to death here. And like I said, if you put Harlem in the search feature (make sure to use the full ten year max), you'll get hundreds of hits .

Oh, I feel ashamed. You know the truth is, I've gone beyond the 10 years of this board by searching by nickname rather than topic, and I never came up with that (I know because I've made notes about East Harlem particularly). You know I haven't tried the simple search function lately because I thought I was done with that Sorry guys.

And Belette you will NOT be disappointed to read about these men. Imo they were some of the toughest, most ruthless gangsters and Cosa nostra down to the very bone who had the smarts to run both legitimate and illegitimate businesses. If you can do that then you are the ultimate gangster who will achieve the same success, respect, money and power as any ceo running a corporation.

These men were class acts.

Thank you PB and Alfanosgirl!

If someone like Hairy has some of the history down, feel free to post about the succession after Morello and the Terranova brothers and how it all went. I will search the forum but if you're bored, go ahead and post

I love ya, Afs. You know that. But class acts?

There were plenty of outright pigs in those East Harlem crews. Being a millionaire with a button (and sometimes even a capo), and having class are two entirely different things.

Galante came out of that neighborhood, made it all the way to Bonanno boss, and the man was a fucking animal. Trigger Mike KILLED HIS WIFE because she ACCIDENTALLY overheard him talking business. Fish Cafaro was a rat. Fat Tony's brother would put one finger over his nostril and blow his nose in the fucking street. Right in front of the Palma Boys.

I could go on. A lot. But I don't want to mention anyone who's still alive. But suffice it to say, most of them made money. But they didn't all have class.

Well said PB.

Please don't go on I'm already completely disgusted.

I'm sorry, Afs. Again, you know I love ya. But I had to make that post for a reason. It's not all "Don Corleone" and "Little Pal." And the sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be.

I know how much pride you have in your Jersey roots, and your great grandparents Little Italy roots. And I APPLAUD that. But you basically grew up in California hearing the "myths and legends." And don't get me wrong, some of them are true, and there WERE a lot of decent guys in that life. But you didn't grow up knowing exactly what these guys are capable of when you become expendable to them.

If you wanna puke, read up on why Trigger Mike Coppola killed his wife. The day AFTER she gave birth to their child. He would have killed her sooner, but he wanted the kid. And this man RAN the 116th Street Crew for 25 years.

Don't be sorry. I appreciate you pointing out things out to me so that I understand the truth.
My father would never answer my questions or try to teach me much about oc. He would just show or tell me about how this guy or the other guy got whacked. Or he just would say these guys would whack you as soon as look at you. You can't talk about their business or get in the way of them making money. At least you explain things in detail. He told me a few things so I know what I know but it's nothing compared to what you have taught me on these boards.

Living in California will always sting me. My father was a Jersey street guy down to the bone. I wasn't raised by some hippie father like my friends were. And you know this already but I'm saying this cuz it's only fair to show that I wasn't raised by some shmuck.

I know about Trigger Mike and those abortions and sick stuff but I should have clarified that he was not a class act cuz I knew for sure he was a filthy animal. So I really f'd that one up.
You really got me on this one Pizza. I guess I have to admit that they were scumbags but I know that there were also DECENT men among these men too.

I am going to get off my kick on how Cosa Nostra is about honor and doing the right thing. It was nice for the few minutes it lasted before I was corrected on here hah!

Was Vincent Alo "Jimmy Blue Eyes " born in Harlem or Manhattan?

Harlem is part of Manhattan

He was born in Harlem

You know what I mean. So he was born in Harlem right. K thnx.

Lol at least I got you to laugh.

K that's ONE POINT for me. Class act Jimmy Alo from Harlem.

Fat Tony's brother would put one finger over his nostril and blow his nose in the fucking street

If this was during allergy season, I give the guy a pass. Once the pollen count starts rising in NY it's every man for himself.

Curiosity: what was the mafia's relationship with black gangsters like Frank Lucas or Nicky Barnes in Harlem? I mean, when the Italian mafia was at the height of its power? Were they on equal terms in Harlem or did the mafia make them pay a piece of the "cake" or was it the other way around? After all, Harlem is mostly black territory.

The Italians were historically east of 3rd Avenue, from roughly 106th Street to the upper one teens. Overall, that's a very small piece of Harlem. They left the Blacks to the Blacks for the most part and got along fine. Especially BEFORE the Civil Rights Movement.

Bumpy Johnson was particularly close to Larry Black Centore (an old time Westside skipper and a powerhouse in the Bronx). They actually used to socialize, which was unheard of back then. Bumpy had a lot of Italian friends. I remember seeing a surveillance picture of him coming out of the old La Luna with Benny Squint. Bumpy obviously wasn't heading all the way downtown just for the food, and Benny didn't sit with just anyone.

I think Frank Lucas was always praised by the black criminal community as being the first black gangster not to pay any tribute to LCN. Pretty sure Bumpy Johnson kicked up a piece to the Genovese

Well, like I said in the post above yours. Bumpy had a lot of friends with the Westside. Benny Quint and Larry Black weren't exactly candy store gangsters .

Remmenber in one of my first posts on this forum,you mentioned a Genovese capo Larry black.Up to that point I have never heard of him,and still to this day there is so little online about him.Acctually nothing.A person really has to tip their hats to those guys,Harlem/BX guys fow keepin it low whille being so powerfull..
Had a spot on Arthur ave?Do I remmeber you right?

Sorry Pizzaboy, should have read your post more thoroughly! lol

Lucas was all drugs so he wasn't going to kick up plus he bought some from Italians

Bumpy did #s and even up until the 80s or later black number guys worked with itlalians in the numbers biz , the Italians had the bank and it helped employ a lot of black people there

At least that is what I heard

I tell you something about Italian Harlem. I was born on a Hun 7 street. Most of the kids did not wander more then 4 blocks from where we lived as kids. That is a fact as I remember it. When I ran away from home I ventured out further. During the summer I slept in Jefferson park. I want to the feasts when I started to play soccer and American pointy I met some people from outside of where I lived. Because of two things I was good at pointy so when different blocks played each other they wanted me on their teams and I was a pretty successful thief even as a kid. Had to steal to survive when your out on the street.

When I got older I had some other people I knew who were heroin dealers. Italians they sold dope to blacks users. I went with them it was crazy. I met Nicky Barnes never even heard about Lucas until I saw the movie?

I did know a Chinese guy Philip who was 4 years older then me who went to st.anns prison with my older brother. He brought in heroin from around the same place that Lucas brought it in from.

No one is making a movie about him that I know of.

They certainly deserve credit. But it was a different time, Alex. Very little surveillance, an FBI leader who denied their existence, the whole nine yards. There were some very old Genovese guys who died as recently as the '80s and '90s never having made it on to the Feds radar. And to be fair, I'm sure this happened in all the families.

The Valachi/Scarpa/Fed charts gave us a fantastic outline. But it wasn't until the mid-80s and early '90s that the Feds knew of almost every made guy out there. And today? Forget about it. They may as well carry business cards that say "Made Since 2008."

True, VERY few slip under the radar. Nose nephew was exposed within a month Someone on the other site said they heard Chin's son Andrew got his button recently, you believe that?

As they're passed, can you furnish any more deets? Any capo's or higher?
All good if not.



Forget about it?
Or fooghetabouteet?

In Jack Falcone's book he mentions just that. He said that the Feds never had guys like Filapelli, Vaccaro, Campos, Basile,Petey Chops and a few others on their charts. Nor did they even knew who they were. Falcone was very critical of those FBI Charts in his book