CROSSWORD Five Major Crime Families

The American Mafia: An Analysis of Structure, Operations, and Key Figures

Executive Summary

This document provides a comprehensive synthesis of the structure, operations, and history of the American Mafia, with a primary focus on the five major crime families of New York City. The analysis reveals an evolution from warring immigrant street gangs into a sophisticated, nationally organized criminal enterprise governed by a “Commission.” This transformation was largely catalyzed by Prohibition, which provided the capital and organizational impetus for groups to consolidate power.

The core of the New York underworld consists of the Five Families—Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Lucchese, and Genovese—each with a distinct history of leadership, internal conflict, and operational focus. Their criminal portfolio is vast and adaptive, ranging from traditional rackets like gambling, loan-sharking, and extortion to the infiltration of legitimate industries such as construction, sanitation, and the garment trade. In modern times, these activities have expanded to include complex financial fraud, online gambling, and cryptocurrency scams.

Violence, while often a last resort for strategic leaders, has been a defining element of Mafia power. The enforcement arm known as “Murder, Inc.,” a collaboration between Jewish and Italian-American mobsters, was responsible for hundreds of contract killings to eliminate rivals, informants, and internal threats. The leadership styles of key figures have profoundly shaped the fortunes of their respective families. The quiet, strategic discretion of Carlo Gambino led his family to become the most powerful in the nation, whereas the flamboyant, high-profile approach of bosses like John Gotti and Joe Colombo ultimately attracted intense law enforcement scrutiny that contributed to their downfall.

The golden age of the Mafia began to wane in the latter half of the 20th century due to a two-pronged assault: aggressive federal prosecution, empowered by tools like the RICO Act, and the systemic erosion of the code of silence (Omertà) by high-ranking government informants. Despite this decline, the Five Families remain active, demonstrating a persistent, albeit diminished, presence in the criminal landscape. As one former member described, the Mafia is “like an amoeba… always changing shapes and forms, and they’re always trying to come up with new schemes and new scams in which to make money.”

The Genesis and Structure of American Organized Crime

The Castellammarese War: A Bloody Path to Order

The foundation of the modern American Mafia was forged in the bloody conflict known as the Castellammarese War (1930-1931). This power struggle was fought between two dominant New York factions: one led by Joe “The Boss” Masseria and the other by Salvatore Maranzano, who hailed from Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily. The war was characterized by a series of brutal, tit-for-tat murders that destabilized the criminal underworld.

The conflict represented a clash between the older, traditionalist Sicilian “Mustache Petes” and a new generation of Americanized mobsters, the “Young Turks,” who sought a more modern, business-oriented approach. Key figures like Charles “Lucky” Luciano, Vito Genovese, and Albert Anastasia, lieutenants under Masseria, saw the war as self-destructive and bad for business.

Recognizing an opportunity, Luciano and his allies secretly conspired with Maranzano to end the war. On April 15, 1931, Luciano lured Masseria to a restaurant in Coney Island. After Luciano excused himself to the restroom, gunmen—including Vito Genovese, Bugsy Siegel, Albert Anastasia, and Joe Adonis—entered and killed Masseria.

With Masseria eliminated, Maranzano declared himself capo di tutti i capi (“boss of all bosses”) and reorganized New York’s Italian-American gangs into the Five Families. However, his autocratic rule was short-lived. Viewing him as another “Mustache Pete,” Luciano orchestrated Maranzano’s murder on September 10, 1931. Jewish assassins, disguised as treasury agents, entered Maranzano’s office and killed him, definitively ending the war.

The Commission and the Five Families

With the old guard eliminated, Charles “Lucky” Luciano implemented his vision for a new, more stable structure for organized crime. Rejecting the “boss of all bosses” model that had fueled conflict, Luciano established The Commission, a governing body designed to mediate disputes, regulate criminal activities, and prevent future wars.

The Commission acted as a “board of directors” for the Mafia, with seats held by the bosses of the Five Families of New York and the leaders of other major outfits, such as the Chicago Outfit. This new system institutionalized cooperation, making murder a “business decision” that required collective sanction, especially if the target was a high-ranking member. Its key functions included:

• Dispute Mediation: Serving as a “Supreme Court” to resolve inter-family conflicts over territory or business.

• Regulation: Approving the succession of new bosses to prevent power struggles.

• Policy Setting: Establishing rules and overseeing national criminal interests.

This reorganization solidified the power of the Five Families, which became the core of the American Mafia.

The Five Families of New York

Murder, Inc.: The Enforcement Arm

Murder, Inc. was the notorious enforcement arm of the National Crime Syndicate, active in the 1930s and early 1940s. It functioned as a multi-ethnic, profit-driven hit squad, primarily composed of Jewish and Italian-American gangsters from Brooklyn’s Brownsville, East New York, and Ocean Hill neighborhoods.

• Leadership and Operations: The organization was formally headed by labor racketeer Louis “Lepke” Buchalter, with Albert “Mad Hatter” Anastasia serving as the operational chief, or “Lord High Executioner.” It operated out of a 24-hour candy store in Brooklyn run by Rosie Gold. Contracts were issued by The Commission to eliminate informants, rivals, and internal defectors. Members received a regular salary in addition to a fee of $1,000 to $5,000 per hit.

• Key Hitmen and Methods: The group was responsible for an estimated 400 to 1,000 murders. Its most prolific killers included Abe “Kid Twist” Reles and Harry “Pittsburgh Phil” Strauss. Their preferred method of execution was often stabbing with an ice pick, as it was quiet and difficult to trace. As Reles demonstrated, his “preferred method of execution being an ice pick rammed through the victim’s right ear and into the brain.”

• Notable Hits: Murder, Inc. was responsible for numerous high-profile assassinations, including:

    ◦ Dutch Schultz (1935): Killed on the orders of The Commission after he announced his intention to assassinate Special Prosecutor Thomas Dewey.

    ◦ Joseph Rosen (1936): A former trucker who threatened to testify against Lepke Buchalter.

    ◦ The Shapiro Brothers (1931-1934): Brooklyn rivals whose elimination allowed Abe Reles and his crew to take over Brownsville.

• Downfall: The organization unraveled in 1940 when Abe Reles was arrested and agreed to become a government witness. His detailed testimony implicated dozens of his former associates, leading to the convictions and executions of Lepke Buchalter, Louis Capone, Mendy Weiss, Harry Strauss, and Martin Goldstein. Reles’s death from a fall from a hotel window in 1941—just before he was to testify against Albert Anastasia—was officially ruled an accident but is widely believed to have been an assassination.

Mafia Revenue Streams: A Diversified Criminal Portfolio

The New York Mafia has historically relied on a wide and evolving array of methods to generate income. As government crackdowns closed certain avenues, new and often more sophisticated schemes emerged. John Pennisi, a former Lucchese crime family member, states, “Cosa Nostra, to me, is like an amoeba. And it’s always changing shapes and forms, and they’re always trying to come up with new schemes and new scams in which to make money.”

Notable Figures and Leadership Paradigms

Charles “Lucky” Luciano: The Architect

Luciano was the visionary who modernized the American Mafia. He orchestrated the end of the Castellammarese War by eliminating both Masseria and Maranzano, viewing their old-world feuds as obsolete and unprofitable. His greatest contribution was the creation of The Commission, which transformed disorganized street gangs into a structured, national crime syndicate. He prioritized business and cooperation over ego and constant warfare.

Carlo Gambino: The Quiet Strategist

Carlo Gambino rose to become arguably the most powerful Mafia boss in American history by embodying discretion, patience, and strategic thinking. He operated from the shadows, maintaining a low profile to avoid the attention of both law enforcement and rivals. An old associate noted, “Gambino was hard to get on your radar screen… he was an elusive character and I think very deliberately so.” He expanded his family’s empire into lucrative rackets at JFK Airport and the garment industry, making it the nation’s strongest. His philosophy was summarized by his own words: “You have to be like a lion and a fox. A fox is small enough to recognize traps and the lion is strong enough to scare away the wolves.”

Vito Genovese: The Ambitious Usurper

Vito Genovese was defined by his relentless and often destructive ambition to become the “boss of all bosses.” After returning to the U.S. following WWII, he systematically undermined his rivals. He orchestrated the failed assassination of Frank Costello in 1957, which nonetheless convinced Costello to retire, and ordered the successful murder of the volatile Albert Anastasia that same year. His attempt to consolidate power culminated in the disastrous 1957 Apalachin meeting, where a gathering of mob bosses from across the country was raided by police, exposing the national scope of the Mafia to the public for the first time.

Joe Colombo: The Public Don

Joe Colombo represented a radical departure from traditional Mafia leadership. As the first American-born boss of a New York family, he embraced the media and public stage in a way no don had before. In 1970, he founded the Italian-American Civil Rights League, a protest group that claimed the FBI was unfairly harassing Italian-Americans. This move brought him unprecedented publicity, including appearances on late-night talk shows where he publicly denied the existence of the Mafia. While an innovative tactic, his high profile made him a major target and created friction within the underworld, leading to his shooting at a League rally in 1971.

John Gotti: “The Teflon Don”

John Gotti’s leadership of the Gambino family stood in stark contrast to that of his predecessor, Carlo Gambino. After orchestrating the brazen public murder of boss Paul Castellano in 1985, Gotti embraced a flamboyant, media-courting lifestyle. His expensive suits and repeated acquittals in court earned him the nicknames “The Dapper Don” and “The Teflon Don.” However, this high profile made him a top priority for law enforcement. His downfall came when his underboss, Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano, turned state’s witness. Gravano’s testimony, confessing to 19 murders ordered by Gotti, finally secured a life sentence for the once-untouchable boss, proving that Gambino’s low-profile approach had been the key to long-term survival.NotebookLM can be inaccurate; please double check its responses.