Messina Family
| GANG Messina Family | |
|---|---|
 Messina Family war with Ancelotti Family
| |
| Games: | GTA IV The Ballad of Gay Tony GTA Chinatown Wars |
| Locations: | Cerveza Heights East Island City Little Italy Meadows Park |
| Leader: | Harvey Noto |
| Type: | Italian-American Mafia family |
| Enemies: | North Holland Hustlers Ancelotti Family |
| Affiliations: | Gambetti Family Algonquin Triads |
| Colors: | Blue |
| Vehicles: | Sentinel XS Sports PMP 600 Cavalcade Cavalcade FXT Maverick |
| Weapons: | Knife, Pistol, SMG , Uzi and Combat Shotgun |
| Businesses: | Loan Sharking Extortion Drug Dealing Prostitution Gambling Robbery Construction Blackmail Union Corruption |
| Fronts: | Majestic Hotel Opium Nights Hotel |
| Members: | Harvey Noto Harry Hall Mark Volpe Fredo Volpe Jimmy Capra |
The Messina family is one of the Italian-American families based in Liberty City, and part of the Cosa Nostra The Commission. Named after former boss John Messina, the Messina syndicate is based in Algonquin and Dukes, but also controls Little Italy alongside the other families. The family is believed to be led by Harvey Noto, who was able to establish himself at the top of the organization after a long and bloody power struggle. Mark Volpe is a Capo whilst Fredo Volpe, another Capo and brother of Mark, has been a police informant since 1998. Harry Hall is the Underboss/Consigliere of the Messina family.
In 2008, the Messina Family prevented Yusuf Amir from continuing constructing by the labor union. However, Playboy X saw a potential business relationship with Amir, and he therefore hired Niko Bellic to take down all union workers at Amir's construction site. Sometime later in the same year, Rocco Pelosi of the Ancelotti Family kidnapped a union official and had Luis Lopez torture him by hitting him with golfballs. The union official revealed that the head of the LTA was working for the Messina's. He later revealed more information to Rocco, and he ordered Lopez' boss "Gay" Tony Prince to blow up all of the undercover Messina's with Sticky Bombs. Lopez himself took care of the job, resulting in a construction crane, LTA train and a private jet to be blown up. Harvey Noto, the boss of the family owns the upper class Majestic Hotel in Algonquin. This can be the family's base of operations, but there is no evidence to prove this. The Jewish Mob hired a few rooms in the hotel, hinting the fact that they may be allies to the Messina family, but this remains unproven.
In 2009, Rudy D'Avanzo tricked the Triad Huang Lee into believing that his rival Jimmy Capra (a Messina made man) was an undercover police informant who was revealing information about the Triads to the LCPD. Rudy told Huang that he had bugged Capra's car and he ordered Huang to steal it from a Messina-owned parking lot in north Bohan. They later went to a meeting with Capra, where several Messina gangsters and possibly Capra himself were killed. The Messina Family were allied with the Jaoming Family, but after these events it is most likely that their friendship has ended.
Clothing
The Messinas all wear black jackets with blue shirts under it. Their cars are also blue so its possible that blue is their favorite color. In GTA Chinatown Wars the Messinas all wear red clothing and their cars are also red. The reason for the color change is unknown.
Members
- Harvey Noto - Boss of the Messina Crime family, and close friend of John Gravelli.
- Harry Hall - Underboss/Consigliere for Harvey and owns a few prostitution rings.
- Mark Volpe - Caporegime and a suspected police informant
- Fredo Volpe - Former Capo and brother of Mark. He is the true informant and has been since 1998.
- Jimmy Capra - Member and "Made Man" of the Messina crime family.
- Union Official- Knew Messina business and had to give evidence as he was extorted by Rocco Pelosi.
Influences
The Messina family is likely to be based on the real-life Bonanno crime family in New York City which is one of the Five Families. They share a similar history of bloody infighting and each received help from another family in the commission; The Messinas from the Gambettis and the Bonannos from the Gambettis real-life counterparts, the Gambinos. The name of the family is also a reference to one of the modern Dons of the Bonanno family; Joe Massino, while the first boss of the Messina family has a similar name; John Messina.
Trivia
- Harvey Noto, boss of the Messina family, owns the Majestic Hotel.
- According to Fredo Volpe's LCPD profile, he has provided the LCPD enough evidence to take down the whole family/operation, but one year later, in the events of GTA Chinatown Wars the gang is still operative, but his profile also said that arrest warrants would still have to be made in later years before going after the entire organization.
- The Messina Family is the only named mafia family in GTA Chinatown Wars.
- In the The Ballad of Gay Tony mission Practice Swing, the Messina Family drives an army of Cavalcade FXTs. It is possible they drive the cars for room, luxury, and room for work (construction) supplies, weapons or drugs. It is suggestively their favorite car. Maybe blue is their favorite color, because they all wear blue shirts and their cars are in a dark blue color.
Gallery
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Jimmy Capra, a made man in the Messina Crime family
