Cosa Nostra News

NEW PHOTO Mob Wives star Renee Graziano was arrested and charged with driving under the influence last night following a car crash around 10:19 pm at the intersection of Arden Avenue and Arthur Kill Road on Staten Island, according to an exclusive report today at the Daily Mail.com . . She has been charged with operating a motor vehicle while impaired, Shawn Cohen of the Daily Mail reported .  Graziano, 52, had been driving a 2020 Nissan Murano with New Jersey plates when she struck an unoccupied 2020 Jeep Wrangler. She told police she’d taken Adderall earlier in the day. She was reportedly taken to a nearby hospital for a medical review and was then transported to a local police precinct, where she was then charged with the misdemeanor. As per Daily Mail sources : Graziano was getting out of the driver’s seat when the police arrived at the scene. "She was allegedly incoherent, had watery eyes and slurred speech." DailyMail.com also reported that Graziano was seen leaving thr...

Talk about asking for trouble... Stevie Westside from Staten Island (who you most probably never heard of) is in an unenviable position: He was the topic of a not-at-all flattering  Daily News story this holiday weekend....  About the only solace we might extend (were he to ask) would be to highlight that it could always be worse: the News could've plastered a big photo of his mug alongside this pic of his house.... Stevie Westside's house; from New York Daily News Stephen (Stevie Westside) Blanco from Staten Island  brought his girlfriend along with him to collect debts for a Costa Rica-based gambling operation while he allegedly boasted about being a made member of the Mafia. When she wasn't sufficiently impressed, he upped his game by claiming to be a boss with the Genovese crime family. And while she may have bought some of his bullshit, it was when he drugged her and tried to steal $20 grand that she decided to visit an NYPD precinct on Staten Island'...

He really is bat-shit crazy -- or, at the very least, Anthony Comello, the twenty-something conspiracy theorist who allegedly shot high-ranking Gambino mobster Francesco (Franky Boy) Cali in the back and killed him in front of his Staten Island house in 2019, has been deemed mentally unfit to stand trial. Frank Cali, left; Anthony Comello That was the word from prosecutors and Comello's defense attorneys during a remotely held press conference in State Supreme Court, St. George, where Justice William E. Garnett ordered that Comello be transferred to a state Office of Mental Health facility for further evaluation. Comello is unable to aid in his defense and doesn’t understand the charges against him, the mentally unfit ruling means. [We posted exclusive video at the bottom of this story that purportedly shows Comello -- two months prior to the Cali shooting -- on the verge of fighting with someone on the street....] His next court hearing is scheduled for July 13. Comel...

In 1989, Gambino boss John Gotti put out feelers to trial lawyer James LaRossa , who Gotti wanted to hire to represent him as co-counsel for an anticipated prosecution for the 1985 Paul Castellano murder. James LaRossa, left, Paul Castellano, middle. We mentioned this in a recent post about James LaRossa — the accomplished trial lawyer who died in 2014 at the age of 82 — who is now the topic of a biography written by his son , James. Last of the Gladiators, A Son’s Memoir is available now. As we were noting, as per federal investigators, Gotti’s invitation included the proviso that if LaRossa were to decline, the noted attorney would find himself pushing up daisies a lot sooner than he would’ve thought possible. When asked about the alleged threat, LaRossa wasted no time in declaring it a joke, and nothing more. Prosecutors gave him a healthy out, in any event. They told LaRossa that he might be called as a witness because of his association with Castellano, who ...

A reputed Genovese crime family member from Staten Island who was among the 46 alleged wiseguys arrested and charged with racketeering and other crimes in last August's "big bust," has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of running an illegal gambling business. Alex Conigliaro in 2005 photo. Alex Conigliaro, 56, was accused of attempting to extort a man who allegedly put him in the hole for nearly a half-million dollars in February 2012. The man, a bookmaker, had accounts with codefendant John (Tugboat) Tognino, who allegedly worked for Conigliaro. Conigliaro suspected the bookmaker had allowed professional bettors to place wages, which put Conigliaro on the hook for nearly half a million -- the amount he owed the winning bettors, the Feds alleged. The bookmaker was summoned to a Bronx restaurant (Pasquale’s Rigoletto?), where Conigliaro, a capo, and another alleged mobster confronted him in the basement and threatened him.

UPDATED JAN. 26 A person of interest in the double murders on Staten Island is being grilled by police, according to an NYPD spokesman, who declined to provide further details. The suspect, questioned at the 69th Precinct stationhouse, has not yet been charged, according to published reports. Community advocate Tony Herbert is offering a $2,500 reward. Photograph of where the double homicide was committed. The double murders committed this past Tuesday evening on Staten Island at Universal Merchant Funding's storefront initially was reported to have been the work of a "disgruntled ex-employee,"  according to the New York Post , which noted that the suspect was taken into custody on another charge, violating his supervised release from federal prison. Sources revealed that the shooter walked into the storefront on Buel Ave. near Zoe St., after closing hours and entered a rear office at that location where he killed both the owner and an employee who is  kno...

Some of the bank burglary crew members mentioned here were apparently members of the same crew as Gerard Bellafiore  as well as the trio recently busted ... Lee D’avanzo had a past, but it was, like, no big deal. Besides, he was a changed man, a business owner, as he told his wife, Drita, who believed him, "but boy was she in for a shock!" as Hollywood Life wrote back in June 2011. Credit: Starcasm Drita then told HollywoodLife.com exclusively "that she didn’t know that Lee was a bank robber when she started dating and then later married him!" Lots of reality show blogs seem to have an addiction to exclamation points.

Drita D'Avanzo.... " Mob Wives " star Drita D’Avanzo ’s assault charges were dropped last week, the Daily News reported , "after her victim declared omerta and refused to cooperate with prosecutors, officials said." She declared omerta.... right... As noted , D'Avanzo, 40, was busted for fighting at Mary Bratti's Amboy Road home in Staten Island's Tottenville section at about 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 10 in what had all the markings of a classic celebrity-gotcha setup.

The Bonanno crime family apparently has so many informants that if "four guys get together there is a good chance one or two has flipped and is giving intel to law enforcement." Still, "the Bonannos have come back a few times after they were written off as finished." Nicky Mouth's crew members when arrested couple years back In the story (which disagrees with mine about who is the official boss) he notes that the family's new street boss, Joseph Cammarano, is trying to consolidate power under the watchful eyes of FBI agents (who do work on Sundays; apparently, the Bonannos thought otherwise, according to Breakshot Blog .) Some highlights: Plagued by internal fights, they were kicked off the Mafia Commission in New York. Then Joey Massino consolidated power and set the family on the right track. They were proud of the fact that no made family member had flipped. They closed their social clubs and made all kinds of rules to avoid detect...

Drita D'Avanzo UPDATE #2 : Drita D'Avanzo , a cast member of VH1's Mob Wives , was arrested on Tuesday, the NYPD confirmed. Reportedly, she had engaged in a "verbal dispute" with a woman on Staten Island. D'Avanzo "attacked" the woman and punched her repeatedly, then fled, police said. Of course "the woman" -- a former chef on Staten Island -- wants money before she'll even respond to press inquiries....  And it seems she found a buyer! See below for details....how much do they apparently pay, I wonder...

Blood, from Friday early morning shooting, all over car's interior console.... REVISED The NYPD was probing the Bulls Head shooting of a 30-year-old man that occurred early last Friday morning. A confidential source said this was mob-related, although there's no confirmation. The victim is not cooperating with law enforcement. And considering what else has happened on Staten Island the past few days -- the fatal stabbings and supposed suicides -- the would-be mob-hit victim appears to be the lucky one. The man (his name hasn't been disclosed) had been shot in the shoulder but reportedly is in stable condition. He privately made his way to Staten Island University Hospital around 1 a.m. Friday, said an NYPD spokesman.

The Staten Island Advance posted  an archive page from a story it published on April 20, 1969. The story names Paul Castellano as an "underboss" of the Gambino crime family. "An Advance study shows numerous Staten Island real estate dealings are being investigated to see the potential role taken by various organized crime figures. These include Paul Castellano, underboss of the Gambino Cosa Nostra family, the largest Mafia organization on the East Coast."

Paul Castellano's White House, on Todt Hill. Buzzfeed, among other newspapers and websites, reported that Hillary Clinton made an unannounced visit yesterday to Staten Island -- specifically to the White House, "a sprawling estate that earned the name during its time as a legendary mob palace in the 1980s." Clinton was at Gambino boss Paul Castellano's old home to collect checks from supporters.

Where was this federal judge  when the FBI installed a bug inside the home of Gambino crime family boss Paul Castellano? The article doesn't even reference Castellano. A federal judge issued a stern rebuke Friday to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's method for breaking up an illegal online betting ring.  According to published reports a Las Vegas court frowned on the FBI's ruse of disconnecting Internet access to $25,000-per-night villas at Caesar's Palace Hotel and Casino.  FBI agents posed as the cable guy and secretly searched the premises.

I read one of those 10 Mafia Movies That Made Their Mark lists and saw not a single surprise. Here's five Mafia films that'll surprise you -- and I mean in a good way. I have seen all of them, some once, others as many as a dozen times. From the bare-bones budgeted Wannabes to the major studio release Running Scared, these movies add technique or simple great story telling to etch their mark.... Chicago Overcoat (2009)   When Chicago mob kingpin Stefan needs a witness eliminated, Lou volunteers for one last big job so that he can retire. The task becomes complicated, however, when younger thugs resent Lou's interference.

The Godfather house MYFOXNY.COM - Good Day New York's Greg Kelly is a huge fan of The Godfather movie. The often-quoted and iconic movie was filmed on Staten Island. Greg visited the home and spoke with the owners- the same family who lived at the house while the movie was taped.

 John Pappa, a wannabe wiseguy with the tough Colombo family, was convicted of racketeering, drug dealing, and four murders, one of which was the 12th and final killing of the Colombo family war . John Pappa looking to be in the pink of health. The other three make this a horror story. They each met their end for getting between the vicious Pappa and what he believed was his rightful street credit -- which he'd been counting on to get him his button. He got slammed with prison instead. The judge sentenced the would-be wiseguy to life in prison -- and due to Pappa's young age, he has the dubious distinction of potentially serving one of the longest sentences in U.S. criminal history. Pappa, at the ripe old age of 22, was nabbed at a wedding rehearsal on Staten Island in 1997. (He had murdered the brother of the man getting married, along with two others.) Pappa believed the trio had been seeking to steal "street cred" for killing one of the Colombo crime ...