crime families from the slammer.
Genovese was monitoring his gangland operations and even ordering hits during his sentence. Nevertheless, he could not be a completely hands-on don from the little cell he shared with informant-to-be Joe Valachi. The men on the outside whom Genovese relied on were not the brightest bulbs lighting the underworld, and they could not compete with the machinations of the savvy Carlo Gambino and usurpation in his own family.
The Genovese family leadership went to great lengths to avoid being watched by the feds. They would hide in the backs of cars while traveling to meetings, hold sit-downs in the early mornings, and rotate their hangouts across New York City.
Vito Genovese died in prison on Valentine’s Day 1969. While he was in prison the Genovese family was ruled by a threesome—Thomas Eboli, Gerardo “Jerry” Catena, and Philip “Benny Squint” Lombardo (also known as “Cockeyed Phil”). While Eboli was out front, many in the know thought that Lombardo was the real boss. The wily Genovese wise guys were known to have false front-bosses in order to hide who was really running things.
Gerardo Catena was one of the most influential Genovese bosses in New Jersey, but he remained above any internal family politics and below law enforcement’s radar. After his release from prison in 1972, Catena moved to Florida. He died of natural causes at age ninety-eight in 2000.
Eboli was not respected by his own men or the Mafia community at large. And if you’re not a man of respect in the Mafia, your lifespan is often a short one. After a botched drug deal with the Gambino family, Eboli was whacked while leaving his girlfriend’s apartment. Lombardo and Cat-ena sank back into the shadows and Gambino cleared the way for Frank “Funzi” Tieri to fill the slot. “Funzi,” though not a household name like Gotti or Capone, was an effective don who brought the Genovese family back to prominence. He also never forgot that it was Gambino who put him there.
When Tieri died in 1981, it is believed that “Fat Tony” Salerno took over, though other sources maintain that it was “Cockeyed Phil” Lombardo. The Genovese crime family became the second most powerful of the five families, second only to the Gambinos.
Taking It on the Chin
When Salerno was sent away for 100 years, the colorful and eccentric Vincent “Chin” Gigante took over. The Chin had a unique way to keep the law off his case. And it almost worked. Gigante was often seen wandering around his Greenwich Village neighborhood in a bathrobe and talking to himself. This behavior caused wags to give him the moniker “the Oddfa-ther.” It was generally accepted that he was faking it in an effort to avoid prosecution for his many crimes via an insanity plea. The feds were not fooled. Secret wiretapped conversations revealed a sane and lucid criminal mind at work. In 1996 he was charged with murder and racketeering and was sentenced to twelve years in prison. He died in December 2005.
The Gambino Family
The Gambino family became the most famous and successful family in America under the leadership of Carlo Gambino and later the “Dapper Don,” John Gotti. From 1957 until his death in 1976, Gambino made the family more powerful than the formidable empires of Lucky Luciano and Al Capone. It also suffered its greatest setbacks under the egotistical Gotti’s flamboyant stewardship. Most recently the family let in an undercover FBI agent, Jack Garcia, known on the street as Jack Falcone. Garcia so ingrained himself into the family’s structure that capo Greg DePalma was going to propose him for membership. But before that could happen the feds closed the operation and took down a sizable chunk of the upper echelon.
The Beginnings
The earliest incarnation of what was to become the Gambino family began in New York in the 1920s during the days of the Castellammarese War. Alfred Mineo and Steve Ferrigno were bosses of the Brooklyn
Genovese was monitoring his gangland operations and even ordering hits during his sentence. Nevertheless, he could not be a completely hands-on don from the little cell he shared with informant-to-be Joe Valachi. The men on the outside whom Genovese relied on were not the brightest bulbs lighting the underworld, and they could not compete with the machinations of the savvy Carlo Gambino and usurpation in his own family.
The Genovese family leadership went to great lengths to avoid being watched by the feds. They would hide in the backs of cars while traveling to meetings, hold sit-downs in the early mornings, and rotate their hangouts across New York City.
Vito Genovese died in prison on Valentine’s Day 1969. While he was in prison the Genovese family was ruled by a threesome—Thomas Eboli, Gerardo “Jerry” Catena, and Philip “Benny Squint” Lombardo (also known as “Cockeyed Phil”). While Eboli was out front, many in the know thought that Lombardo was the real boss. The wily Genovese wise guys were known to have false front-bosses in order to hide who was really running things.
Gerardo Catena was one of the most influential Genovese bosses in New Jersey, but he remained above any internal family politics and below law enforcement’s radar. After his release from prison in 1972, Catena moved to Florida. He died of natural causes at age ninety-eight in 2000.
Eboli was not respected by his own men or the Mafia community at large. And if you’re not a man of respect in the Mafia, your lifespan is often a short one. After a botched drug deal with the Gambino family, Eboli was whacked while leaving his girlfriend’s apartment. Lombardo and Cat-ena sank back into the shadows and Gambino cleared the way for Frank “Funzi” Tieri to fill the slot. “Funzi,” though not a household name like Gotti or Capone, was an effective don who brought the Genovese family back to prominence. He also never forgot that it was Gambino who put him there.
When Tieri died in 1981, it is believed that “Fat Tony” Salerno took over, though other sources maintain that it was “Cockeyed Phil” Lombardo. The Genovese crime family became the second most powerful of the five families, second only to the Gambinos.
Taking It on the Chin
When Salerno was sent away for 100 years, the colorful and eccentric Vincent “Chin” Gigante took over. The Chin had a unique way to keep the law off his case. And it almost worked. Gigante was often seen wandering around his Greenwich Village neighborhood in a bathrobe and talking to himself. This behavior caused wags to give him the moniker “the Oddfa-ther.” It was generally accepted that he was faking it in an effort to avoid prosecution for his many crimes via an insanity plea. The feds were not fooled. Secret wiretapped conversations revealed a sane and lucid criminal mind at work. In 1996 he was charged with murder and racketeering and was sentenced to twelve years in prison. He died in December 2005.
The Gambino Family
The Gambino family became the most famous and successful family in America under the leadership of Carlo Gambino and later the “Dapper Don,” John Gotti. From 1957 until his death in 1976, Gambino made the family more powerful than the formidable empires of Lucky Luciano and Al Capone. It also suffered its greatest setbacks under the egotistical Gotti’s flamboyant stewardship. Most recently the family let in an undercover FBI agent, Jack Garcia, known on the street as Jack Falcone. Garcia so ingrained himself into the family’s structure that capo Greg DePalma was going to propose him for membership. But before that could happen the feds closed the operation and took down a sizable chunk of the upper echelon.
The Beginnings
The earliest incarnation of what was to become the Gambino family began in New York in the 1920s during the days of the Castellammarese War. Alfred Mineo and Steve Ferrigno were bosses of the Brooklyn
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