Five Families
Five Families, moniker given to the five major Italian American Mafia families in New York City: Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese. The families and their inner workings were publicly revealed in 1963, when a Mafia soldier testified at a congressional hearing. The heyday of the Five Families is confined to roughly four decades, from 1931, when Salvatore Maranzano formed the consortium, to 1970, when the United States passed the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. While the families persist, they no longer hold the power they once did.
Background and formation
The Five Families were organized after the end of the Castellammarese War, the name given to a violent power struggle between Joe Masseria and Maranzano. In 1931 Maranzano’s faction made the decision to assassinate Masseria. The plot was devised and overseen by Lucky Luciano, Maranzano’s lieutenant. In the power vacuum created by Masseria’s murder, Maranzano reorganized the Mafia’s power structure. He recognized the groups that would become the Five Families—then known as the Luciano, Gagliano, Mangano, Maranzano, and Profaci outfits—and demarcated their respective territories. Each family now had, in descending order of authority, a boss (or don), an underboss, lieutenants, and soldiers. Maranzano also declared himself capo di tutti i capi, or “boss of all bosses,” essentially making himself the supreme authority of the Mafia.
Later in 1931 Luciano had Maranzano murdered, disavowed the capo di tutti i capi title (though he maintained much of the power), and organized the Commission, which initially consisted of the heads of the Five Families, the Buffalo (New York) Mafia, and the Chicago Outfit; Luciano served as the chairman. They met to discuss shared issues and mediate internecine conflicts. This arrangement, albeit constantly tenuous and outright hostile at times, ushered in a new era of cooperation and success for the Italian American Mafia. Over some three decades the Five Families amassed great power and wealth. However, with the enactment of the RICO Act in 1970, the Mafia and the Five Families entered a period of decline. Hugely effective in combating organized crime, the act resulted in numerous convictions. In addition, the prospect of lengthy prison sentences led many Mafia members to become informants.
Lucchese family
The Lucchese family was originally called the Gagliano family after Thomas (“Tommy”) Gagliano, who rose to power following Gaetano (“Tommy”) Reina’s death in the Castellammarese War. When Gagliano died in 1951, Thomas (“Tommy” or “Three-Finger Brown”) Lucchese became boss and renamed the family. The Luccheses, alongside the Gambinos, controlled the trucking and garment industries in New York. They also wielded major influence over a number of labour unions and trade organizations. In 1978 one of the family’s associates, Jimmy Burke, is believed to have masterminded the Lufthansa heist, in which some $5.8 million in cash and jewels were stolen from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, a site the family purportedly controlled. At the time it was the largest cash theft in American history. Similar to other families, the Luccheses were also involved in narcotics trafficking, particularly heroin. In the second half of the 1980s, Vittorio (“Little Vic”) Amuso took over as boss, ushering in a period of extraordinarily bloody infighting. In 1992 he was convicted on various charges and received a life sentence. However, he continued to head the family from prison.
Bonanno family
The Bonanno family is named for Joseph (“Joe Bananas”) Bonanno, who became leader after the death of Maranzano. One of the longest-serving bosses in Mafia history, Bonanno was in power for more than 30 years, during which time the family rose in prominence. It was largely engaged in loan-sharking, gambling, narcotics, and prostitution. Bonanno attempted to take control of the Mafia in 1964, but his enemies were tipped off, and he was forced into hiding. Upon his emergence, he was granted retirement. The power vacuum, along with the success of RICO cases against the family, led to a period of unrest. In 1976 FBI agent Joseph Pistone (alias “Donnie Brasco”) infiltrated the Bonanno family and went undetected for years. That breach resulted in the family losing its seat on the Commission. However, it was regained by Joseph Massino in the 1990s. The family was later headed by Michael (“the Nose”) Mancuso.
Colombo family
The group that eventually became the Colombo family was first controlled by Joseph Profaci, who served as boss until his death in 1962. His brother-in-law, Joseph Magliocco, assumed power and plotted with Joseph Bonanno to assassinate the leaders of the Gambino and Lucchese families. The plan, however, was revealed to the Commission by their top assassin, Joseph Colombo. As a reward, he was made leader of the family in 1964. Colombo publicly accused the FBI of racial profiling after the RICO Act was passed, and he later founded the Italian American Civil Rights League. As with other families, the Colombos made their money from myriad illicit activities, including extortion and drug trafficking. In 2011 the Colombo family was decimated by a series of arrests, leaving the family without an apparent boss.
Gambino family
The Gambino family’s origins date to the early 1900s, with Salvatore D’Aquila as the first leader. After he was killed in 1928, there were a series of bosses, including Vincent Mangano, who assumed control in 1931 when the Five Families were first recognized. Twenty years later he was killed, reportedly by Albert Anastasia, head of a notorious murder-for-hire organization known as Murder, Inc. Anastasia became boss, but his violent reign ended six years later with his murder in 1957. Carlo Gambino then took control and renamed the family. During his tenure, which lasted until 1976, Gambino reputedly became the “boss of bosses,” and the family became extremely powerful. After ordering a hit on Gambino’s successor Paul Castellano in 1985, John Gotti served as the boss for a number of years. He continued the family’s involvement in narcotics trafficking and racketeering while establishing more legitimate businesses. Gotti was later convicted of various crimes, including Castellano’s murder. Leadership of the family changed on several occasions, with Frank Cali reputedly serving as the Gambino boss from 2015 to 2019, when he was murdered.
Genovese family
The Luciano family, as it was then known, was initially headed by Lucky Luciano, whose second-in-command was Vito Genovese. After Luciano was deported to Italy in 1946, Frank Costello took over but faced opposition from Genovese. The latter ordered a hit on Costello in 1957. Although he survived, Costello was replaced by Genovese, who renamed the family and effectively became the “boss of bosses.” Following Genovese’s death in 1969, Vincent (“Chin”) Gigante assumed control. He was often called “The Oddfather” because of his tendency to wander around New York City in pajamas and a bathrobe, which prosecutors deemed a tactic to avoid being declared competent to stand trial. In the 1990s the family reportedly became especially powerful, aided, in part, by their caution and secrecy. Nevertheless, in 1997 Gigante was sentenced to prison for racketeering and other crimes. After Gigante’s death in 2005, Liborio Bellomo became boss. The Genoveses made much of their money by trafficking narcotics through ports in which they controlled the workers’ unions.
The Five Families in American culture
The Five Families, despite wielding only a small fraction of the power they once held in the mid-20th century, maintain an enduring place in American culture. They have appeared in hugely influential films and television shows in the 20th and 21st centuries. Notable movies include Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather: Part II (1974), Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990), and Donnie Brasco (1997). On the small screen, the families have appeared in such shows as The Sopranos (1999–2007), featuring James Gandolfini, and Boardwalk Empire (2010–14), starring Steve Buscemi.