Five Families
The Five Families are the
five original Italian-American
Mafia
crime
families which have dominated organized
crime in America since 1931. The Five Families in New York remain as the
powerhouse of the Italian Mafia in the United States.
History
The Five Families originated out of
already existing New York City Sicilian Mafia gangs. They were formally
organized in the summer of 1931 by Salvatore Maranzano after the murder of Giuseppe Masseria, in what has become known as the Castellammarese War. Maranzano also introduced the now familiar Mafia
hierarchy: Boss, Underboss, Consigliere, Capo, Soldier, and declared himself
"capo di tutti capi" -- the ultimate boss over all of the families.
When Maranzano was murdered just
months after Masseria, the "Boss of all Bosses" position was
eliminated in favor of the Commission, a council which demarcated territory between the
previously warring factions and governs American Mafia activities in the United States (virtually a "board of
directors.") The idea was to settle things politically amongst the
families and prevent the tyranny of one man controlling all the Mafia's
operations.
Names
The names of the Five Families are
attributed to Mafia informant Joe Valachi. After his arrest in 1959, Valachi gave the police the
names of the current bosses of the Five Families. The names of four of those
bosses, Tommy Lucchese, Vito Genovese, Carlo Gambino, and Joe Bonanno, were used to name their respective families. While the
fifth family was headed by Joe Profaci in 1959, it is named after the succeeding boss, Joseph Colombo.[1]
Current
bosses
·
Lucchese: Boss - Vittorio "Vic" Amuso, (Ruling Committee/Panel - Aniello "Neil" Migliore, Joseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli, Matthew Madonna)[3]
·
Bonanno: Boss - Vacant, (Acting Boss - Vincent Asaro is also the candidate to become the new official Boss.)[5]
Territories
The Five Families operate throughout
the New
York Metropolitan area, but
mainly within New York City's five boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island and also in Northern New Jersey. In the state of New York
the families have increased their criminal rackets in Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk) and the counties of Westchester, Rockland and Albany. They have maintained a historical presence in the state of
New Jersey since the Prohibition era.[6]
The families are also active in South Florida,
Connecticut, Massachusetts and Las
Vegas.
·
The Genovese crime family —
operates mainly in Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn and New Jersey. It also
maintains influence in Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, Westchester County,
Rockland County, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Florida.
·
The Gambino crime family —
operates mainly in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and New Jersey. It also maintains
influence in The Bronx, Staten Island, Long Island, Westchester County,
Connecticut,Boston, Florida and Los Angeles.
o
DeMeo Crew — (operates in Brooklyn,
Queens and Manhattan)
·
The Lucchese crime family —
operates mainly in The Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and New Jersey. It also
maintains influence in Queens, Long Island, Staten Island, Westchester County,
and Florida.
o
The Tanglewood Boys — (a recruitment gang operating in Westchester
County, The Bronx and Manhattan.)
·
The Bonanno crime family —
operates mainly in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island. It also
maintains influence in Manhattan, The Bronx, Westchester County, New Jersey,
Florida and Montreal, Quebec Canada.
·
The Colombo crime family —
operates mainly in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island. It also maintains
influence in Staten Island, Manhattan, The Bronx, New Jersey and Florida.
o
Garfield Boys — (operates in the
South Brooklyn area)
In
popular culture
·
In the 1972 film The Godfather, the Five Families are represented by the Godfather
Five Families, named the Corleones,
the Tattaglias, the Barzinis,
the Cuneos and the Straccis.
·
In the HBO series The Sopranos, the Soprano family (based on DeCavalcante
family [7])
works with the Lupertazzi crime
family of Brooklyn, one of the five
families in New York.
·
In the video game series Grand
Theft Auto, the Five Families are represented
by the Leone, Sindacco and Forelli families. In Grand Theft Auto IV, the Five Families are represented by the Gambetti, Pavano,
Messina, Lupisella, and Ancelotti families.
References
1. ^ "26 Mafia Cities - New York, New Jersey".
Americanmafia.com. http://www.americanmafia.com/Cities/New_York_New_Jersey.html.
Retrieved 2011-04-13.
2. ^ "Virginia girl found eating herself in cage in mobile
home; parents Brian and Shannon Gore charged".
Daily News (New York). http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/the_mob/2011/07/29/2011-07-29_wiseguy_sicilian_the_capo_of_the_gambinos.html.
5. ^ "Jerry Capeci: Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger
Bloodshed In New York". Huffingtonpost.com. 2010-01-11. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html.
Retrieved 2011-04-13.
Raab, Selwyn. The Five Families: The Rise,
Decline & Resurgence of America's Most Powerful
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