116th Street Crew
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116th Street Crew
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Founded
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Years
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1890s-present
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Territory
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Ethnicity
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Membership
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Unknown
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Criminal
activities
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Allies
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Rivals
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The 116th Street crew,[2] also known as the Uptown crew,[3]
is a powerful crew within the Genovese crime
family. In the early 1960s, Anthony Salerno became one of the most powerful capos
in the family. Salerno based the crew out of the Palma Boys Social Club
located 416 East 115th Street in East Harlem, Manhattan.
History
The
116th Street Mob
In the early 1890s, a group of five
brothers (Antonio, Nicholas,
Giuseppe and half-brothers Vincenzo and Ciro Terranova) arrived in New York City from Corleone, Sicily.[1]
The Morello-Terranova brothers soon started taking over the growing Little
Italy in East Harlem, by using the black hand technique of extorting small business and running illegal
gambling operations. The group became known as the 116th Street Mob (or Morello
gang), with their increasing power the Morello's sought to control the Lower Manhattan's Little Italy. The Little Italy in lower Manhattan was under the
control of Ignazio "Lupo
the Wolf" Saietta,[4] before a gang war reputed the two
sides decided on joining forcing. Giuseppe Morello became the Capo di tutti capi (or boss of bosses), but before long he and Ignazio
Saietta were arrested and charged with counterfeiting in 1910.[1][5][6]
Nicholas "Nick
Morello" Terranova took over
the 116th Street Mob, and became in boiled in the Mafia-Camorra War.[1][7]
The War was between the Sicilian Morello-Terranova family and Brooklyn
Camorra gangs led by Pellegrino Morano. Each side wanted to completely control all the Italian
gangs in New York City and across the United States. On September 7, 1916
Nicholas Terranova was murdered, giving the Camorra gangs the advantage.[1][7]
The next leaders of the Morello family were brothers Vincenzo and Ciro Terranova. They continued the war and within month's police began
arresting top members of the Camorra gangs.[7]
This allowed the Sicilian to maintain dominance and control over New York City
and the remaining Camorra gangs joined forces with Sicilian gangs.[7]
Vincent continued operating from Brooklyn and Ciro continued expanding his
operations in East Harlem and The Bronx.[1][5][7]
The
Artichoke King
Ciro "The
Artichoke King" Terranova
controlled the 116th Street Crew during the prohibition era.
Coppola's
policy racket
Michael "Trigger Mike" Coppola, was a top lieutenant in the 116th Street crew of Ciro Terranova. He took over the crew sometime between 1932 and 1936,
Terranova was being "put on the shelf" (meaning forced into
retirement) by the new Luciano-Genovese-Costello regime of the Luciano crime
family. Coppola was also supervising the
illegal number racket that was once controlled by Dutch Schultz before his murder. The number racket controlled bookmaking
and illegal gambling throughout Harlem and South Bronx making thousands of dollars
a year.
When boss Vito Genovese was imprisoned in the late 1950s, various influential
members began running the crime family through a ruling panel/committee.
The panel consisted of acting/front boss Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli, underboss Gerardo "Gerry" Catena and consigliere Michele "Big Mike" Miranda while others served in the advisory capacity, Mike Coppola
was considered an influential capo and was used to help the panel. In the early
1960s Mike Coppola was imprisoned on tax evasion charges and followed in the
footsteps of his predecessor Ciro Terranova, being put on the shelf after his
release from prison in 1963. Coppola later moved to South Florida and
effectively retired. His crew, with his vast illegal interests went to Anthony
Salerno.
Palma
Boys crew
Anthony "Fat
Tony" Salerno, started as a soldier in the 1930s
under capo, Michael Coppola.
As years went by Salerno work his way up the ranks of the crew and the crime
family, controlling his own lucrative gambling and loansharking operations. In
the early 1960s his capo Coppola was imprisoned on tax evasion charges and
demoted of his rank. The crew then split, allowing Coppola's top lieutenants to
break up his vast illegal interests that included his numbers empire. Salerno based the 116th Street Crew form the Palma
Boys Social Club Crew located at 416 East 115th Street in East Harlem.
Anthony Salerno, and his brother
Cirino (known as "Charles" or "Charlie Speed") led the
crew, operating in East Harlem and the Bronx. He was usually found sitting out front on
patio furniture smoking his ever-present cigar holding meetings with underlings
or in the kitchen cooking some Italian dish for the boys. The Salerno brothers
oversaw a multi-million dollar gambling racket based in East Harlem that
expanded into the South Bronx. Tony Salerno's gambling empire included numbers,
bookmaking and floating dice games. Even when the East Harlem neighborhood went
from a predominately Italian to a predominately Black neighborhood Salerno
managed to hold onto their interests and employ over 200 people in their street
rackets.
Anthony Salerno was a highly
respected and feared gangster and well known New York Mafia powerhouse who
continued to rise through the ranks of the Genovese crime
family becoming consigliere from 1972–75,
underboss in 1975 and eventually the acting–front boss from 1981-86. In
the late 1970s the FBI managed to place a bug (or listening device) in his East
Harlem headquarters of the Palma Boys Social club. By the early 1980s
Salerno had been caught on the bug discussing crime family affairs and business
with various members, including top underlings such as capo Matthew "Matty the Horse"
Ianniello, Salerno driver and right-hand-man Vincent "Fish" Cafaro and even Lucchese crime
family boss Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo, whose own Jaguar, where Corallo conducted much of his
affairs had also been bugged. In February 1985 the information obtained through
the FBI bug was used to eventually indict Salerno and the bosses of New York's Five Families, who sat on The Commission. The Mafia Commission Trail began in September 1986 and
ended in November. Tony Salerno, along with five other New York bosses were
convicted under the RICO statute and sentenced to 100 years in prison in
January 1987.
Bellomo
era
Liborio
"Barney" Bellomo, took
over the crew operating in East Harlem and the South Bronx in the early 1980s.
In the early 1990s Bellomo was promoted to street boss for imprisoned
boss Vincent "The
Chin" Gigante. On July 27, 1992 former capo
Anthony Salerno died in prison. Bellomo was imprisoned, and various acting
leaders such as Frank "Farby" Serpico and Ernest "Ernie"
Muscarella controlled the crew.
Historical
leadership of the 116th Street Crew
Capos
of the 116th Steet Crew
·
1893–1909 – Giuseppe "the clutch hand"
Morello (Capo di tutti capi from 1898-1909 until he was imprisoned on counterfeiting
charges)
·
1916–1935 – Ciro "The Artichoke King"
Terranova (controlled the artichoke racket;
he retires in 1935, later dies in 1938)
·
1935–1962 – Michael "Trigger Mike" Coppola (controlled "numbers racket", imprisoned in 1962
and demoted, later dies in 1966)
·
1962–1972 – Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno (served as Consigliere 1972-1975; Underboss
1975-1980; Front Boss 1981-1987; jailed in 1987 in the Mafia
Commission Trail and died on July 27, 1992)[2]
o
Lieutenant 1960s–1970s – Cirino "Charlie Speed" Salerno
(Anthony Salerno's brother)
o
Lieutenant 1974–1986 – Vincent "Fish" Cafaro (Salerno right hand man, became a co-operating witness in
1986)[2]
·
1982–present – Liborio "Barney" Bellomo (moved the 116th street crew's base into East Bronx; served
as Acting Boss 1990-1992 then promoted to Street Boss
1992–present; imprisoned 1997-2008)[8]
o
Acting 1998–2002 – Frank "Farby" Serpico (acting
street boss 1998-2002; died in 2002 of natural causes)[9][10]
o
Acting 2002–2003 – Ernest "Ernie" Muscarella (acting
street boss 2002-2003; imprisoned 2003-2008)[11]
o
Acting 2004–2008 – Arthur "Artie" Nigro (imprisoned
projected release date 2-28-2011)[8][13][14][15]
References
4. ^ Herbert Asbury. The Gangs of New York: An
Informal History of the Underworld. Alfred A. Knopf, 1928.
5. ^
a b David Critchley. The Origin of
Organized Crime: The New York City Mafia, 1891-931. New York, Routledge,
2008.
6. ^ Mike Dash. The First Family: Terror,
Extortion and the Birth of the American Mafia. London, Simon &
Schuster, 2009.
8. ^
a b c Lukas I. Alpert. Mafia takes a
big hit-jailed Don 1 of 32 nailed by Feds. February 24, 2006. New York
Post.[1]
9. ^ Greg B. Smith. Genovese family keeps its chin up Gigante
becomes top don as Gotti fades. August 12, 2001. New York Daily News.
13. ^ Bruce Golding. Genovese Mob boss
indicted on racketeering charges. February 17, 2010. New York Post. [2]
·
Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia
Encyclopedia:Second Edition. Checkmark Books, 1999.
·
Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's
Guide to the Mafia. Indianopolis, Alpha, 2002.
·
Raab, Selwyn. The Five Families: The
Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of American Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New
York, St. Martins Press, 2005.
·
Critchley, David. The origin of
organized crime in America: the New York City Mafia, 1891-1931.
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