In the annals of American organized crime, few entities loom as large or cast as long a shadow as the Mafia. Within this shadowy world, the “Five Families” of New York City stand as a particularly formidable and infamous chapter. Emerging from the tumultuous landscape of the early 20th century, these families – Genovese, Bonanno, Lucchese, Gambino, and Colombo – forged a criminal empire that captivated and terrorized America for decades. Their story is one of power, betrayal, and the relentless pursuit of illicit wealth, deeply interwoven with the social fabric of New York and beyond.
The year 1931 marked a pivotal moment in the history of the American Mafia. Amidst a backdrop of violent power struggles, Charles “Lucky” Luciano, a cunning and ambitious mobster, orchestrated the establishment of “The Commission.” This wasn’t just another gang; it was a sophisticated governing body designed to oversee and regulate the burgeoning Mafia operations across New York City. Composed of the heads of the nascent Five Families, the Commission aimed to bring order and structure to a previously fractured underworld. For nearly half a century, these families, leveraging tactics ranging from loan sharking and extortion to infiltrating labor unions, exerted immense influence and reaped vast profits from a diverse array of businesses, both legitimate and illicit.
As Selwyn Raab, author of Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America’s Most Powerful Mafia Empires, astutely notes, “They didn’t rob banks—they didn’t have to. They did all these more elegant, sophisticated crimes, because they paid more and there was less danger.” This quote encapsulates the insidious nature of the Five Families’ operations. They diversified their criminal portfolio, engaging in lucrative ventures like gambling and drug trafficking rings, while simultaneously embedding themselves in legitimate sectors such as construction and transportation.
In the formative years of the Commission, the Five Families drew heavily from their Italian, particularly Sicilian, heritage. Many members were immigrants who brought with them the traditions and codes of conduct from Sicilian crime families. A central tenet they adopted was omertà, a strict code of silence that forbade mobsters from betraying their own family or any member of the Commission to law enforcement. This code of silence became a cornerstone of the Mafia’s power and resilience, shielding their operations from outside interference for decades.
However, the seemingly impenetrable edifice of the Five Families began to crumble in the wake of the 1970 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, more commonly known as the RICO Act. This landmark legislation armed the government with powerful new tools to prosecute organized crime. The RICO Act’s effectiveness was instrumental in dismantling the Mafia’s grip, as it incentivized mobsters to break omertà and turn informant, leading to unprecedented prosecutions and even instances of bosses betraying their own families.
Genovese Family
Notable Bosses: Charles “Lucky” Luciano (1931-1937), Vito Genovese (1957-1969)
Significant Snitch: Joseph Valachi
What a Racket: Controlling the Fulton Fish Market
The genesis of the Commission was directly linked to the bloody Castellammarese War, a brutal conflict that engulfed two rival crime families in New York City in the early 1930s. In a dramatic power play in 1931, the bosses of both warring factions were assassinated. This created a vacuum that Charles “Lucky” Luciano swiftly filled, consolidating power and establishing what would become the Genovese family and the overarching Commission.
Luciano’s reign as boss was cut short when he was convicted of compulsory prostitution in 1936. Frank “Prime Minister” Costello stepped into the leadership void. Yet, the family’s enduring name derives from Vito Genovese, who seized control in 1957 after a failed attempt to assassinate Costello, who wisely opted for retirement. Genovese’s tenure was also marred by legal troubles; he was convicted of drug trafficking in 1959. Remarkably, even from behind prison walls, Genovese continued to orchestrate the family’s activities until his death in 1969.
During Genovese’s imprisonment, a significant crack appeared in the Mafia’s code of silence. Joseph Valachi, a Genovese family member and fellow inmate, became the first “made man” from the Five Families to publicly violate omertà. Mistakenly believing Genovese had ordered his murder, Valachi killed a fellow inmate. Subsequently, he agreed to provide televised testimony to the U.S. Senate in 1963, exposing the inner workings of the mob. Valachi’s unprecedented act of betrayal, predating the RICO Act, foreshadowed the erosion of the Mafia’s once-unshakeable omertà.
Bonanno Family
Notable Bosses: Joseph “Joe Bananas” Bonanno (1931-1964), Joseph “The Ear” Massino (1991-2004)
Significant Snitch: Joseph “The Ear” Massino
What a Racket: Infiltrating the New York Post union
Joseph “Joe Bananas” Bonanno holds the distinction of being the founding boss of his namesake family within the Commission. He enjoyed a lengthy reign of over three decades. However, his grip on power weakened in the mid-1960s when Carlo Gambino and Tommy Lucchese, fellow Commission bosses, uncovered Bonanno’s plot to assassinate them. In 1964, Bonanno vanished, only to reappear in 1966, claiming abduction by his rivals. (Investigators, however, suspected he had simply gone into hiding to evade the fallout of his failed plot).
The Bonanno family faced further disruption when FBI agent Joseph Pistone, operating under the alias “Donnie Brasco,” infiltrated their ranks between 1976 and 1981. Pistone’s undercover work yielded a trove of intelligence, leading to over 100 federal convictions. Joseph “The Ear” Massino revitalized the Bonanno family after assuming leadership in 1991. But his resurgence was short-lived. In 2004, federal prosecutors deployed the RICO Act to secure Massino’s conviction on a wide array of charges.
Claire White, Director of Education at The Mob Museum in Las Vegas, emphasizes the transformative impact of the RICO Act: “Before RICO, it was incredibly difficult to build cases for large scale, multi-decade operations. And even more importantly, it was almost impossible to put away mob bosses, because they were so insulated from the violent crimes.”
The RICO Act fundamentally altered the landscape by criminalizing participation in racketeering activities. Faced with a potential death penalty in an impending murder trial after his 2004 conviction, Massino made a momentous decision: he agreed to cooperate with the government and provide testimony against his fellow mobsters. This act of betrayal earned Massino the dubious honor of being the first New York City crime boss to become a government informant, a stark indication of the RICO Act’s effectiveness in dismantling the once-impenetrable wall of omertà.
Lucchese Family
Notable Bosses: Tommy Gagliano (1931-1951), Tommy “Three-Finger Brown” Lucchese (1951-1967)
Significant Snitch: Henry Hill
What a Racket: Turning JFK airport into “the mob’s private candy store”
The Lucchese family’s initial representative on the Commission was Tommy Gagliano. He retired in 1951 due to ill health, paving the way for Tommy “Three-Finger Brown” Lucchese to take the helm. It was Lucchese who lent his name to the family. He cultivated a strong alliance with Carlo Gambino, another powerful Commission boss. Together, they became targets of Joseph Bonanno’s ill-fated assassination plot in the mid-1960s. Lucchese survived the plot and continued to lead the family until his death from a brain tumor in 1967.
In 1978, the Lucchese family orchestrated one of the most audacious heists in Mafia history: the Lufthansa heist at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Mobsters made off with approximately $5 million in cash and $800,000 in jewels. Henry Hill, a Lucchese associate involved in the heist, eventually became an FBI informant and entered the witness protection program. His life story was immortalized by writer Nicholas Pileggi in the 1985 book Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family, which Martin Scorsese adapted into the iconic 1990 film Goodfellas.
Gambino Family
Notable Bosses: Carlo Gambino (1957-1976), John Gotti (1986-2002)
Significant Snitch: Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano
What a Racket: Controlling the New York waterfront
Vincent Mangano was the Gambino family’s first boss on the Commission, ruling from 1931 until his mysterious disappearance in 1951. Suspicion fell upon his successor, Albert “Lord High Executioner” Anastasia, who was believed to have murdered Mangano to seize power. In a twist of fate, Anastasia himself met a violent end in 1957, assassinated in a plot orchestrated by his own successor, Carlo Gambino. Gambino assumed leadership, giving the family its current name and leading it until his death from a heart attack in 1976.
John Gotti stands out as one of the Gambino family’s most notorious bosses. He ascended to power through the murder of his predecessor, Paul “Big Paul” Castellano (who was also Gambino’s brother-in-law). Gotti earned the moniker “Teflon Don” due to his repeated ability to evade convictions. However, his luck ran out in 1992 when he was finally convicted on racketeering and murder charges, including Castellano’s death, thanks in part to the testimony of his underboss, Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano. Even while imprisoned, Gotti retained his title as boss until his death in 2002.
Colombo Family
Notable Bosses: Joseph “Olive Oil King” Profaci (1931-1962), Joseph Colombo (1963-1971)
Significant Snitch: Gregory “The Grim Reaper” Scarpa
What a Racket: Running a gas tax evasion scheme
Joseph “Olive Oil King” Profaci was the Colombo family’s inaugural Commission boss, leading the family until his death from cancer in 1962. Joseph “Evil Eye” Magliocco succeeded Profaci, but his reign was brief. In 1963, Magliocco conspired with Joseph Bonanno to assassinate Carlo Gambino and Tommy Lucchese.
However, Joseph Colombo, tasked with carrying out the hit, betrayed Magliocco by informing Gambino of the plot. The Commission responded swiftly, banishing Magliocco from the Mafia for life. With Gambino’s backing, Colombo assumed Magliocco’s position as boss, giving the family its current name. Colombo remained boss until he was shot and paralyzed in 1971.
The Colombo family holds a unique distinction due to the FBI’s unusual relationship with one of its members, Gregory “The Grim Reaper” Scarpa. In the 1960s, the FBI recruited Scarpa to investigate the murders of civil rights workers. Over the ensuing decades, Scarpa maintained an on-again, off-again relationship with the FBI, undertaking assignments for the bureau and providing them with Mafia intelligence. Speculation persists that this clandestine partnership contributed to Scarpa’s ability to evade lengthy prison sentences until 1993, when he pleaded guilty to racketeering.
The story of the Five Families is a compelling saga of organized crime, power dynamics, and the eventual erosion of an empire. While their influence has waned in recent decades due to relentless law enforcement pressure and internal betrayals, their legacy continues to fascinate and inform our understanding of American criminal history. The names Genovese, Bonanno, Lucchese, Gambino, and Colombo remain synonymous with the Mafia, forever etched in the annals of organized crime.
