Thomas Hunt

Michael Tona and I just completed work on the two-volume historical biography, DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime . Mafioso Joseph J. DiCarlo was once known as “the Al Capone of Buffalo” and as western New York's “Public Enemy No. 1.” DiCarlo - Vol. I Son of the region's first known Sicilian underworld boss, DiCarlo was rejected as heir to his father's criminal empire. After spending troubled years as a vassal of the influential Stefano Magaddino, DiCarlo and his underlings wandered, seeking their fortunes in Youngstown, Ohio, and Miami Beach, Florida, before returning home to witness the bloody disintegration of western New York's Mafia organization. Through the two volumes, DiCarlo's colorful and violent life story becomes a window into the history of the powerful Magaddino Crime Family and the American Mafia network. Volume I covers the period through 1937. Volume II focuses on the period 1938 to 1984 and includes an epilogue describing event...

Recently tried the Vermont version of the "beef on weck" sandwich. I had been seeing it on restaurant menus around the area, and I had always been curious about the Buffalo, New York, creation. A few days ago, I could resist no more and placed my order for "beef on weck," drawing curious looks from my companions. The sandwich was good, but I suspect the original western New York version is substantially more flavorful and more... well... damp.  There was little in the way of salt/caraway seed crusting on the alleged-kummelweck roll (caraway is the "kummel" portion of the German kummelweck roll recipe). The mound of roast beef was more medium than the traditional rare. That was actually a relief, as there was no cow blood spurting from my meal, but it was not entirely authentic. Rather than dunk the top of  the roll in beef juices, as apparently called for in the original Buffalo version, the Vermont sandwich was served with au jus on the side.  A pi...

I've been spending some time lately designing a website to supplement the book Mike Tona and I are completing. The site and the book ( DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime ) will contain information on the Mafia in western New York. Some of the site skeleton is in place and can be viewed at these web addresses: dicarlobook.com , buffalomob.com . Initially, the most eye-catching aspect of the site probably will be the horizontal "crawler" of mugshots across the top of the main entrance page. The crawler, based on a design by John Davenport Scheuer, will allow visitors to link to biographies of mob figures by clicking on mugshots. If anyone decides to take a look at the fledgling website and would like to provide feedback, comments can be added to this post or emailed to info@dicarlobook.com.