As we begin to make our way into the new year we take a look at the status of the New York Mafia families and which of them is currently the strongest.
The American Mafia also known as Cosa Nostra remains a viable criminal enterprise with the five families of New York leading the way. The mob’s overall power and influence has diminished over the years but the reports of its demise have been greatly exaggerated especially in the Big Apple where the most powerful mafia families remain. Even as the traditional values of the mafia fade away like the once sacred code of silence known as Omerta it continues to find a way to adapt and survive. Before we get into more of the mafia news 2018 we take a look at which of the NY Mafia families is currently the strongest heading into the new year.
Over the past few years, the feds have shifted a lot of its focus and resources away from organized crime and into the fight against terrorism. This has seemingly allowed at least some of the five families to begin to restabilize and strengthen their ranks to an extent. These reports have sparked an interesting debate as to which family has benefited the most from these developments and which is currently leading the way in Gotham. With new hierarchies and 2018 mafia leaders in place, it is clear that some of these organizations have more momentum going into 2018 than others. So let’s take a short look at the current status of each family and you can take the poll at the end and decide which of them you think is the strongest today.
Genovese Crime Family: It was reported back in 2016 that Liborio Bellomo was the new boss and he continues to lead the way although the rest of the hierarchy remains a topic of debate. The Genovese family is probably still the largest of the NY Mob families in terms of numbers although its unclear as to whether or not that still makes them the strongest. While they continue to find a way to avoid the turncoat problems some of the other families are dealing with they did have some bumps in the road over the last year. The families Springfield crew was taken down by the feds and a couple of the families captains Pasquale Parrello and Eugene O’Nofrio were snared in the ongoing East Coast LCN Enterprise case. With an established boss in place over the last few years and the lack of any major hits to its hierarchy last year it’s still pretty easy to make a case for them at the top.
Gambino Crime Family: Many believe the Gambino family is now the most powerful family in NY although it remains a topic of debate as to who is in control. Some speculate that rising star Frank Cali has taken the reigns from the aging Dom Cefalu but regardless of who’s actually the current boss the Gambino’s are clearly gaining in power. Behind Cali and Cefalu they have strong Sicilian ties and have one of the more dominate Zip factions in NY. In 2017 the feds exposed links between them and the Ndrangheta in Canada showing that their international ties could be expanding. They continue to take an old-school approach to things which aided them in 2017 as their hierarchy was able to avoid any legal setbacks and the family as a whole took very few hits. It seems clear that a case can now be made for the Gambino family!
Lucchese Crime Family: It seemed like the Lucchese family was once again on the rise behind their veteran filled hierarchy which included Steven Crea, Matthew Madonna, and Joseph DiNapoli. But the family has seemingly taken a big step back after a rough 2017 which included a massive bust by the feds leading to indictments against nineteen mobsters and associates including the current leadership. The families ongoing rat problem played a large role in the current case which includes racketeering and murder charges that could completely decimate the current hierarchy. The progress they have made could be wiped out in 2018 and the organization as a whole could now be heading in different direction.
Bonanno Crime Family: It’s pretty clear that the Bonanno family is not on the rise as they remain one of more dysfunctional of the five families. Acting boss Joseph Cammarano Jr. is in control of the families day to day operations while official boss Michael Mancuso remains a guest of the government. The Bonanno’s probably take the prize for one of the worse blunders of 2017 allowing the feds to secretly record both audio and video of a Mafia induction ceremony. The add salt to the wound the man being inducted into the Bonanno family is believed to have been a confidential informant. So coming off a less than banner year it seems obvious that the family has plenty of work to do as we head in 2018.
Colombo Crime Family: The smallest of the five families had a fairly quiet 2017 but may be one of the more interesting families heading into 2018. Many believe the family may be getting closer and closer to the end of an era as the Persico family continues to slowly lose its grip. Longtime boss Carmine Persico saw another of his sons Michael Persico sent to prison last year decreasing the number on the streets of those still loyal to him. The family has been stuck in the past for far too long and its ability to remain as a viable organization may depend on its ability to finally break free from the Persico regime. There is already plenty of debate as to the families existing structure and whether or not there is enough talent remaining within the family to competently rebuild its ranks.
[poll id=”11″]
I think its clear that the majority of people will vote for the Genovese family in this poll and that has pretty much been the norm since the 70’s or so. But I think we finally have to really start to put the Gambino family into that mix present day. We know the mafia as a whole isn’t the same and in NY things have also been changing. The Genovese are prob still ahead of the Gambino’s in NY operations. But with Cali etc the Gambino’s now seem to be moving forward doing more business in an international fashion even if it may be more geared to the drug business than anything else. Either way that comes with huge profits and added strength and I think if they haven’t now they are well on their way to becoming the strongest family in NY if Cali and company can stay on the streets over the next few years.
On the same note how much longer can the Colombo family stay under Carmine’s thumb and continue to survive? I don’t think for much longer.
John the amount of power carmine or any of the periscos have today is extremely limited as i said in my post above most of them are dead or in prison now its not like it used to be even ten years ago. I would actually argue they are one of the more stable familys at the moment the lack of indictments against the administration and the lack of information coming out about them while the other familys are getting hit would be a good thing. However i do think the fact they have not been hit last few years means they are due another major indictment against there leadership which will probably come soon.
I think your right as to the lack of fed attention on whomever is running things on the streets today. I just wonder if there is anyone on the ground within the family today who can take advantage of the situation and do something with it that isn’t under Carmine’s thumb even if his influence is somewhat limited by now.
I think this is hard to tell to be honest because what determines “strongest family” if we are talking the largest family it would be the Westside so they would in theory be the most powerful but if we are talking stability then its going to be the Gambinos due to there leadership has largely been untouched in the last few years. However this can change quickly if there was to be an major indictment and guys like Cali got hit then the list would change.
The Lucheses are obviously in a bit of turmoil after the recent indictment the guys who are running the family on the streets now will be worrying if one of those guys indicted flip and implicate them. Crea, his son and Madonna look like they are done the charges they face look hard to beat and the evidence is strong we will see though if they were to somehow beat these charges then everything changes but at the moment the Luchese family is the most unstable family.
The Bonannos have seen frequent indictments and had power struggles during the last few years and while seem to have found some stability in last year since Cammenros faction ended up running the streets and with mancusos nephew getting busted and Mancuso himself being moved to a prison in Texas does make you wonder how much power he currently has. He gets out of prison in a couple of years should be interesting what happens could be another power struggle similar to what happened few years back. They would currently be the second most unstable family due to the amount of cases against them.
The Colombos as far as i am concerned have seen there administration largely untouched in recent years so have been stabilizing there has been little informantion about the current leadership so know one really knows what is going on with that family i know some on here will disagree with me but i consider them to be one of the more stable familys in the last couple of years. The Perisco era is dead though carmine,alphonse never getting out teddy junior is in prison so his micheal(whos not even a made guy) danny died last year teddy senior died a couple of years back the amount of periscos left on the streets is now minimal
I disagree with you as far as the Lucchese’s , they got alot of old heads who have been in leadership positions before who can steer the ship. Aniello Migliore , who took a shotgun blast in attempted rubout and then still came back to the family is one that comes to mind. When they try and kill you and you still come back in the fold is about as true Cosa Nostra as you can get! Joe Caridi, Anthony Barratta, Frank Lastorino, DomTruscello, Sal Avellino,Boopsie Castelle are all capable guys who can run things just to name a few. The Lucchese’s will be alright even if those other guys get convicted .
Aniello Migliore is 85 years old and in ill health, i heard he is retired…
Frank Lastorino also in his 80s
I think you are misunderstanding my point i agree with you they do have solid guys on the streets i am not saying they are now a weak family i was talking about stability which because of the recent indicment makes them the most unstable family not the weakest by any means. They will continue if they get convicted the fear for these guys on the streets is that someone under indictment flips if that happens it changes everything .
Also the guys you mentioned they are unlikely to be the guys succeeding the Bronx faction is the most likely guys like Blue eyes and Joey giampa would probably be in a better position. Guys like Truscello are retired and Barratta is not getting any leadership position in 2018. Then again the Bronx may have won the war amuso and casso started this case might have hurt the Bronx faction enough to allow Brooklyn to finally take the power back we will see what happens
this makes me apperciate what joey ligambi did for the philly mob.
10 plus years as a boss, stablized the philly mob and still going at it. Makes you think where philly would be without ligambi!
would probably be a mess in philly without ligambi
Seems like The Westside and Gambino are neck in neck as usual. Lucchese are small but still well respected. Bonanno and Colombo all fucked up from the inside out so it seems like business as usual just on a smaller scale maybe. Personally I’d like to see The Outfit do some serious rebuilding. They have had a fair amount of internal strife as well. They ran a tight ship for years but slowly seems to be falling apart. Detroit is small but solid.