Schiro crime family - Revision history

Informer: Link the approved Milazzo Gang and distinguish local Detroit organization from Brooklyn command

2026-08-26T00:25:53Z

Link the approved Milazzo Gang and distinguish local Detroit organization from Brooklyn command

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:25, 26 August 2026
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	\| activities = Counterfeiting associations {{small\|(early phase)}}<br>Extortion and protection<br>Bootlegging<br>Vendetta violence and murder		\| activities = Counterfeiting associations {{small\|(early phase)}}<br>Extortion and protection<br>Bootlegging<br>Vendetta violence and murder
	\| leader = Sebastiano DiGaetano {{small\|(reported c. 1909/10–1912)}}<br>Nicolo “Cola” Schiro {{small\|(1912–1930)}}		\| leader = Sebastiano DiGaetano {{small\|(reported c. 1909/10–1912)}}<br>Nicolo “Cola” Schiro {{small\|(1912–1930)}}
	\| notable_members = Vito Bonventre<br>Stefano Magaddino<br>Bartolo DiGregorio<br>Gaspar Milazzo<br>Giuseppe Bonanno		\| notable_members = Vito Bonventre<br>Stefano Magaddino<br>Bartolo DiGregorio<br>[[Milazzo Gang\|Gaspar Milazzo]]<br>Giuseppe Bonanno
	\| predecessor = [[Williamsburg Gang]] {{small\|(formative DiGaetano-led phase)}}<br>[[Castellammaresi network (New York City)\|Castellammaresi network]]		\| predecessor = [[Williamsburg Gang]] {{small\|(formative DiGaetano-led phase)}}<br>[[Castellammaresi network (New York City)\|Castellammaresi network]]
	\| successor = Maranzano family<br>Bonanno crime family		\| successor = Maranzano family<br>Bonanno crime family
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	==Formation==		==Formation==
	David Critchley describes the family as exclusively Sicilian and heavily attuned to interrelated mafiosi from Castellammare del Golfo. Kinship and birthplace ties developed as immigrants settled near one another in Williamsburg, while links extended to Castellammarese networks in Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago and other cities.<ref name="Critchley">David Critchley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2eCPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA214 ''The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891–1931''] (New York: Routledge, 2009), pp. 212–230.</ref> This structure arose from migration and recruitment, not from a documented corporate merger of blood families.		David Critchley describes the family as exclusively Sicilian and heavily attuned to interrelated mafiosi from Castellammare del Golfo. Kinship and birthplace ties developed as immigrants settled near one another in Williamsburg, while links extended to Castellammarese networks in Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago and other cities.<ref name="Critchley">David Critchley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2eCPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA214 ''The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891–1931''] (New York: Routledge, 2009), pp. 212–230.</ref> The [[Milazzo Gang\|Gaspar Milazzo faction in Detroit]] maintained strong links to Schiro's milieu but operated as an independent local group. This structure arose from migration and recruitment, not from a documented corporate merger of blood families or routine command over every out-of-town formation.

	Warner, Santino and Van't Reit cautiously date Sebastiano DiGaetano's leadership of the formative [[Williamsburg Gang\|Williamsburg organization]] to approximately 1909 or 1910. Schiro succeeded him in March 1912.<ref name="Warner" /> The former “Schiro Gang” label is therefore best understood as an imprecise name spanning the transition rather than a separate organization that merged to create the family.		Warner, Santino and Van't Reit cautiously date Sebastiano DiGaetano's leadership of the formative [[Williamsburg Gang\|Williamsburg organization]] to approximately 1909 or 1910. Schiro succeeded him in March 1912.<ref name="Warner" /> The former “Schiro Gang” label is therefore best understood as an imprecise name spanning the transition rather than a separate organization that merged to create the family.

Informer: Link the renamed Williamsburg Gang and clarify the DiGaetano-to-Schiro transition

2026-08-25T17:42:23Z

Link the renamed Williamsburg Gang and clarify the DiGaetano-to-Schiro transition

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:42, 25 August 2026
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	\| leader = Sebastiano DiGaetano {{small\|(reported c. 1909/10–1912)}}<br>Nicolo “Cola” Schiro {{small\|(1912–1930)}}		\| leader = Sebastiano DiGaetano {{small\|(reported c. 1909/10–1912)}}<br>Nicolo “Cola” Schiro {{small\|(1912–1930)}}
	\| notable_members = Vito Bonventre<br>Stefano Magaddino<br>Bartolo DiGregorio<br>Gaspar Milazzo<br>Giuseppe Bonanno		\| notable_members = Vito Bonventre<br>Stefano Magaddino<br>Bartolo DiGregorio<br>Gaspar Milazzo<br>Giuseppe Bonanno
	\| predecessor = [[Castellammaresi network (New York City)\|Castellammaresi network]]~~<br>DiGaetano-led Williamsburg organization~~		\| predecessor = [[Williamsburg Gang]] {{small\|(formative DiGaetano-led phase)}}<br>[[Castellammaresi network (New York City)\|Castellammaresi network]]
	\| successor = Maranzano family<br>Bonanno crime family		\| successor = Maranzano family<br>Bonanno crime family
	\| status = Reorganized under Maranzano and Bonanno		\| status = Reorganized under Maranzano and Bonanno
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	David Critchley describes the family as exclusively Sicilian and heavily attuned to interrelated mafiosi from Castellammare del Golfo. Kinship and birthplace ties developed as immigrants settled near one another in Williamsburg, while links extended to Castellammarese networks in Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago and other cities.<ref name="Critchley">David Critchley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2eCPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA214 ''The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891–1931''] (New York: Routledge, 2009), pp. 212–230.</ref> This structure arose from migration and recruitment, not from a documented corporate merger of blood families.		David Critchley describes the family as exclusively Sicilian and heavily attuned to interrelated mafiosi from Castellammare del Golfo. Kinship and birthplace ties developed as immigrants settled near one another in Williamsburg, while links extended to Castellammarese networks in Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago and other cities.<ref name="Critchley">David Critchley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2eCPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA214 ''The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891–1931''] (New York: Routledge, 2009), pp. 212–230.</ref> This structure arose from migration and recruitment, not from a documented corporate merger of blood families.

	Warner, Santino and Van't Reit cautiously date Sebastiano DiGaetano's leadership to approximately 1909 or 1910. Schiro succeeded him in March 1912.<ref name="Warner" /> The ~~[[Schiro Gang]]~~ is therefore the ~~Schiro-led phase of this borgata~~ rather than a separate ~~predecessor~~.		Warner, Santino and Van't Reit cautiously date Sebastiano DiGaetano's leadership of the formative [[Williamsburg Gang\|Williamsburg organization]] to approximately 1909 or 1910. Schiro succeeded him in March 1912.<ref name="Warner" /> The former “Schiro Gang” label is therefore best understood as an imprecise name spanning the transition rather than a separate organization that merged to create the family.

	==Good Killers and family networks==		==Good Killers and family networks==

Informer: Create source-calibrated article on early Castellammarese or Palermitan networks and blood families

2026-08-25T16:47:08Z

Create source-calibrated article on early Castellammarese or Palermitan networks and blood families

New page

{{SHORTDESC:Early Williamsburg Sicilian Mafia family led by DiGaetano and Schiro}}
{{Infobox criminal organization
| name = Schiro crime family
| image = Nicolo Schiro 1923 passport photograph.jpg
| image_alt = 1923 passport photograph of Nicolo Schiro
| caption = Nicolo “Cola” Schiro in a 1923 United States passport photograph
| founding_location = Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City
| territory = Williamsburg and Brooklyn
| structure = Sicilian Mafia borgata heavily oriented toward Castellammarese kinship networks
| activities = Counterfeiting associations {{small|(early phase)}} Extortion and protection Bootlegging Vendetta violence and murder
| leader = Sebastiano DiGaetano {{small|(reported c. 1909/10–1912)}} Nicolo “Cola” Schiro {{small|(1912–1930)}}
| notable_members = Vito Bonventre Stefano Magaddino Bartolo DiGregorio Gaspar Milazzo Giuseppe Bonanno
| predecessor = [[Castellammaresi network (New York City)|Castellammaresi network]] DiGaetano-led Williamsburg organization
| successor = Maranzano family Bonanno crime family
| status = Reorganized under Maranzano and Bonanno
| years_active = c. 1909–1930 {{small|(DiGaetano and Schiro leadership period)}}
}}

The '''Schiro crime family''' was an early Sicilian-American Mafia borgata based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Historians conventionally name it for Nicolo “Cola” Schiro, who led from 1912 to 1930, but the organization appears to have taken form before his accession under Sebastiano DiGaetano.<ref name="Warner">Richard Warner, Angelo Santino and Lennert Van't Reit, [https://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/739915 “Early New York Mafia: An Alternative Theory”], ''Informer: The History of American Crime and Law Enforcement'', May 2014, pp. 52–61.</ref>

==Formation==
David Critchley describes the family as exclusively Sicilian and heavily attuned to interrelated mafiosi from Castellammare del Golfo. Kinship and birthplace ties developed as immigrants settled near one another in Williamsburg, while links extended to Castellammarese networks in Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago and other cities.<ref name="Critchley">David Critchley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2eCPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA214 ''The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891–1931''] (New York: Routledge, 2009), pp. 212–230.</ref> This structure arose from migration and recruitment, not from a documented corporate merger of blood families.

Warner, Santino and Van't Reit cautiously date Sebastiano DiGaetano's leadership to approximately 1909 or 1910. Schiro succeeded him in March 1912.<ref name="Warner" /> The [[Schiro Gang]] is therefore the Schiro-led phase of this borgata rather than a separate predecessor.

==Good Killers and family networks==
The [[Magaddino family|Magaddino]] and [[Bonventre family|Bonventre]] families were blood and marriage networks from Castellammare del Golfo. Particular members became important mafiosi and supplied interstate relationships, but the families themselves were not criminal organizations that formally merged into Schiro's borgata.

The 1921 [[Good Killers Gang|Good Killers]] investigation exposed vendetta and kinship connections involving members or associates from these families. Hunt and Tona interpret the Good Killers as a crew or enforcement arm within a wider Castellammarese formation, while Critchley states that the evidence does not prove such an enforcement-arm relationship.<ref name="Hunt">Thomas Hunt and Michael A. Tona, [https://mafiahistory.us/a014/f_goodkillers.html “The Good Killers: 1921's Glimpse of the Mafia”].</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2eCPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA220 Critchley, ''Origin of Organized Crime'', pp. 218–223].</ref>

Consequently, the family is not described as the product of a four-way merger among a Schiro gang, Good Killers, Magaddinos and Bonventres. The evidence supports an existing Williamsburg borgata drawing personnel from overlapping Castellammarese migration, blood-family and criminal networks.

==Later succession==
Schiro left the field around 1930 amid pressure from Giuseppe Masseria. Salvatore Maranzano assumed control of the existing family during the Castellammarese War. After Maranzano's 1931 murder, Giuseppe Bonanno inherited the surviving organization, conventionally beginning its Bonanno phase.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2eCPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA178 Critchley, ''Origin of Organized Crime'', pp. 178–191].</ref>

This succession involved leadership change and wartime reorganization. “Schiro,” “Maranzano” and “Bonanno” are conventional leadership labels, not evidence that an entirely new corporation was created at each transition.

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Former criminal organizations in New York City]]
[[Category:Mafia groups in the United States]]
[[Category:Italian-American organized crime groups]]
[[Category:Organizations based in Brooklyn]]