When I think of the original cosa nostra, I immediately think of Chicago and New York. There were obviously way more cities where also highly influential in this thing of ours, but those are the 2 that really stand out the most. For the most part I believe that they both operated independently of one another, but I am curious about cases where the Chicago outfit and the five families working directly together on different schemes, rackets, etc. Obviously there are things way early on like the forming of the commission, Havana conference, the construction of Las Vegas, and certain labor union issues where they certainly where working hand in hand together. I'm hoping for more recent (60's to date) examples but any information on this topic is greatly appreciated. Thanks to all in advance.

Didn't the Bonannos try and overthrow the outfit in Vegas as the dominate family only to get beat down? I feel like I read that somewhere.

I've heard that they attempted to as well. I've also heard that both Accardo and Giancana couldn't stand Joe Bonnano. Not sure how true that is, though.

That is a question for N.Y. Mafia
I think he knows more about the history then any other poster

Each of the families in those two cities operated independently of each other and were autonomous entities (as were all families throughout America). But there was a lot of interaction between individual members and crews. A good example of what I'm saying was an incident in the early 1960s where I believe it was a Chicago soldier who dealt with several NY/NJ soldiers (or vice versa) after he acquired a shipment of hijacked fur coats.

Because of the law enforcement "heat" involved, and difficulty in selling the coats some of which were less than top quality furs, a large part of the shipment made its way to NJ where Gaetano (Corky) Vastola and Frank (Big Frankie) Cocchiaro of the DeCavalcante family, and Michael (Mikey Dee) D'Alessio of the notorious D'Alessio brothers of the Gambino family's wing on Staten Island, interacted together to try and dispose and "fence" the coats.

Chicago and New York also often interacted and worked in tandem in those days for the "interstate transportation and criminally receiving" and thefts of stolen securities and stock certificates taken from various stock brokerages on Wall Street. By shipping them out of state hoodlums hoped to more easily sell them on the open market.

Another incident was in the early 1950s when Genovese soldier Michael (Mike Rosie) Maione was tapped by the Chicago Outfit to be their East Coast distributor and point-man for the wholesale distribution and sale of counterfeit money. He ran a huge operation that sold spurious $20. notes putting them in circulation through key members of all the families.

And let's not forget that Louis (Louie the Mooch) Eboli, a key member of the Chicago Outfit, was in fact the son of NYC Genovese boss Thomas (Tommy Ryan) Eboli. This tie also helped to provide a lot of interaction between those two crews.

Note: And although its been documented that Outfit members were dissuaded from handling narcotics, and that certain guys were even compensated monetarily on a regular basis to avoid that racket, there were many "associates" who dealt with NY guys on a regular basis to obtain their narcotics.
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During the 1970s, the FBI also documented Frank (Funzi) Tieri and the Genovese hierarchy sending out $250 "Christmas baskets" to Tony Accardo, Paul Ricca, and several other top Outfit bosses for the holidays. So there was plenty of interaction between the two crews.

Lastly, Although we know that Chicago had a "Commission Seat" for many decades, by mutual agreement after the dissolution over their control of Las Vegas it was decided that Chicago would no longer sit on NY's Commission (there was no more need).

So a second "smaller" Commission was formed to handle everything west of the Windy City. All small families in the Midwest and West Coast now answered to Chicago. (I'm sure that if there was need, Chicago would still then get in touch with NY on a "case by case" basis).

Remember too that the Laborers & Hod Carriers International Union; and the Restaurant, Hotel, and Bartenders International Union are both located and based in Chicago requiring constant communication between the NY and Chicago families.

So there were numerous ties throughout the later decades between the borgatas of Chicago and New York City as well.
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And Thank You for that compliment and shoutout Bensonhurst. I appreciate it.

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Note: For anyone who cares to read more about this subject, most of what I just expounded on (and a whole lot more) can be found on my "ButtonGuys of The New York Mafia" website. Just pull out your cc and go subscribe. A whole gamut of unique and very singular "real" A-Z content about the mob will be at your fingertips! (And don't be afraid to let those moths out of your wallets fellas...You only come around this way once ya know!). Lol

www.thenewyorkmafia.com

This is great information. Thanks a bunch, my man!

You're very welcome BigTuna.

That was something Bill Roemer dreamed up