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The Italian-American Mafia has long dominated organized crime in the United States. Each crime family has its own territory and operates independently, while nationwide coordination is overseen by the Commission, which consists of the bosses of each of the strongest families.
- 1861; 162 years ago
- Since the mid-19th century
- Gambino Family. A longtime rival to the Genovese family as the dominant entity of the Commission, the Gambino family offers a roster of some of the more colorful figures in mob history.
- Lucchese Family. For years, this family operated as a model organization under the fists of Tommy Gagliano and then Tommy Lucchese, longtime colleagues who paid their dues during the Prohibition years and understood the value of steering clear of the headlines.
- Genovese Family. The outfit, initially overseen by Lucky Luciano, has been called the "Ivy League" of organized crime due to its size, strength of operations in areas from gambling to loan-sharking and ability to keep members in line through adherence to "omertà" — the legendary code of silence.
- Bonanno Family. One of the oldest families of the American Mafia has also endured some of its most notorious scandals, beginning with the Luciano-ordered assassination of Maranzano that placed 26-year-old Joe Bonanno in charge of the organization.
Oct 22, 2009 · The U.S. Mafia: Hierarchy and Rituals. Typically, each American Mafia crime family was organized around a hierarchy headed by a boss, who ruled with unquestioned authority and received a cut of...
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 Five Families refer to five Italian American Mafia crime families that operate in New York City. In 1931, the five families were organized by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War .
A crime family is a unit of an organized crime syndicate, particularly in Italian organized crime and especially in the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia, often operating within a specific geographic territory or a specific set of activities.
Jun 27, 2011 · Unlike New York’s infamous Five Families, the Chicago mob consists of only one family, often referred to as the “Outfit.”. It is organized under a variety of crews that engage in various ...
