Alexander Morelli

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2008)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Alexander "Black Alex" Morelli (b. September 2, 1939) was a New York City mobster and soldier in the Genovese crime family, also known around the neighborhood as "Skinny Alex".

Morelli became a soldier in Peter DeFeo's Little Italy based crew in the late-1970s. Morelli became DeFeo's second-in-command, and supervised DeFeo's rackets in the N.Y.C. District Council of Carpenters. DeFeo and Morelli placed associate Marcello Svdese into Bronx Local 17, making him a shop steward at the Jacob K. Javits Center. In the mid-1980s, Vincent DiNapoli sought the removal of all of DeFeo's influence in the Carpenters Union and the Javits, and him and associate Attilio Bitondo, Local 257's Vice-President, placed their own men in Svdese's position. There were several sitdowns between DiNapoli and Morelli during the late-1980s, and eventually with the emergence of Liborio Bellomo, consigliere Louis Manna sided with DiNapoli and Bellomo on the jurisdictional dispute. Morelli also handled a betting book in his Little Italy neighborhood, and had runners at several of the neighborhood's social clubs and bars, including Volpe's Bar, which was featured in the Martin Scorsese film Mean Streets.

It is believed that both DeFeo and Morelli likely retired in the early-1990s, and their rackets were absorbed by acting consigliere James Ida and Ida's former mob captain Matthew Ianniello.