BY JOHN MARZULLI
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Mob Boss Rebuilding What's Left of Bonanno Crime Family
NY Daily News
He's got the worst job in organized crime, but somebody’s gotta do it.
Meet Joseph Cammarano Jr., the top banana on the street for the beleaguered Bonanno crime family — or what’s left of it.
Cammarano has been anointed acting underboss, a federal prosecutor revealed in Brooklyn Federal Court last week at the arraignment of three Bonanno gangsters, but sources say he wears a second hat as the crime family’s street boss, too.
Cammarano’s promotion has the blessing of the Bonannos’ jailed official boss, Michael (Mikey Nose) Mancuso, sources said.
Despite the setbacks the crime family has endured over the last decade, sources say cutting off the heads hasn’t killed the beast.
“It’s clear they’re trying to rebuild,” a law enforcement source told the Daily News.
But, with an FBI target on his back, Cammarano probably doesn’t have much time to make his mark.
His father, one-time underboss Joseph Cammarano Sr., died in prison in September 2013 while serving time for a gangland murder. The family has had a succession of at least six bosses since Joseph Massino was arrested in 2003 and decided to become the highest-ranking mob rat in history. Ever since then, the family has been infested with informants and cooperators.
Cammarano Jr. “is a unique man,” defense lawyer Elizabeth Macedonio wrote to a judge in a 2007 extortion case. “He is defined by his sense of selflessness, his strong commitment to family and his endless contributions to his country and community.”
Despite the praise, the mobster was convicted of strong-arming a Colombo mob wiseguy. He served out his 27-month sentence in prison.
Known as Joe C. Jr., the 56-year-old Cammarano grew up in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, joined the Navy after graduating from high school and served on a nuclear submarine in an elite patrol unit that conducted classified missions.
His wife, Angela, is the daughter of Bonanno soldier Vito Grimaldi, who owns Grimaldi Bakery in Queens.
While he was in the can on the prior case, Cammarano and his wife “both miss(ed) the mundane aspects of their relationship like sharing tea at the end of the day,” court papers revealed.
The couple lives in a modest home in Glen Cove, L.I.