The legendary “five families” still exist, experts said, and still operate in the same realms of organized crime: extortion, loan-sharking, racketeering, gambling.
New York City remains the underworld's big daddy but the Five Families — the Gambinos, the Colombos, the Luccheses, the Genoveses and Bonnanos — have been greatly diminished, as they have in places like Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit and all points in between.
It also estimated that the Genovese family consists of about 270 "made" members. The family maintains power and influence in New York, New Jersey, Atlantic City and Florida. It is recognized as the most powerful Mafia family in the U.S., a distinction brought about by their continued devotion to secrecy.
More than 40 years after Gambino's death, the New York crime family is still named for him. Although decimated by the federal crackdown during the Gotti era, the Gambino family is still involved in various criminal activities in Brooklyn and Staten Island.
His father John Gotti Jr. was worth an estimated $30 million by the time John Gotti Sr. passed away at the age of 61. Since then, the Gotti family has dramatically decreased its level of influence and fortune.
While Mannino does not have an official title, Domenico Cefalù remains the official boss of the Gambino Crime family.
Major battles
Emilio Barzini, Sr. The Five Families War was a major conflict between New York's Five Families.
The Five Families, under the suggestion of Salvatore Maranzano and Charles "Lucky" Luciano, were responsible for the establishment of The Commission, a council that changed how things worked with Mafia activities in the United States. The five families and their bosses are (currently):
In The Godfather, the Five Families are the Corleone, Tattaglia, Barzini, Cuneo, and Stracci families. The real-life Five Families are the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese crime families.
Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo (born June 4, 1944) is an Italian American former mobster who was de facto boss of the New Jersey DeCavalcante crime family before becoming a government witness in 1999. Fictional mob boss Tony Soprano, the protagonist of the HBO series The Sopranos, is said to be based upon Palermo.
The Genovese family is still active in the 21st century, reportedly engaged in such white-collar crimes as extortion, loan sharking, and gambling. A 2006 raid led to the conviction of as many as 30 members of the family on racketeering charges, and 6 alleged associates were arrested in 2022.
Longtime Colombo under-boss John “Sonny” Franzese is the living embodiment of the ultimate mob rule — bragging in an interview about refusing to rat despite it making him the oldest federal prisoner at the age of 100.
The five major families of organized crime still exist in New York today, and the families continue to operate in illegal business practices similar to those they have engaged in since their creation. The practices of the families include extortion, gambling, loan sharking, and racketeering.
Charles "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian-American mobster, considered the founder and father of organized crime in America and the most powerful Mafia boss of all time.
Al Capone (estimated net worth in 1929: $100 million)
According to Biography, by 1929 notorious Prohibition-era gangster Al Capone had a fortune of $100 million: or as much as $18.6 billion in today's money.
As of 2021, the Chicago Outfit is believed to be led by Salvatore "Solly D" DeLaurentis.
Vito Corleone is based on a composite of mid-20th-century New York Mafia figures Carlo Gambino, Frank Costello, Joe Bonanno, and Joe Profaci. The character's story begins as Vito Andolini in Corleone, Sicily, in the Kingdom of Italy.
The Lucchese crime family continues to operate today in New York City, with involvement in traditional rackets such as illegal gambling, labor racketeering and extortion.
Giuliani decided to prosecute the leaders of the families and their upper-level cohorts together under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, for allegedly conspiring to commit felonies including contract murders, loan sharking, extortion, labor racketeering and drug trafficking.
Connie (who was unaware of her husband's role in Sonny's murder), hysterical after Carlo's death, blames Michael, denouncing him in front of his wife, Kay.
2. Michael and Vito might have placed some of the blame for Sonny's assassination on Tom. Though it turns out that Carlo Rizzi plotted with Barzini to set Sonny up, Michael and Vito probably believed that Tom didn't do enough to stop Sonny from leaving the safety of the family compound that day to find Carlo.
Once closely-connected mobsters, Sammy “the Bull” Gravano (left) turned on Gambino crime family chief John Gotti (right) to help prosecutors finally put the organized-crime boss behind bars.
Italian: from a diminutive of gamba 'leg' probably applied as a nickname for someone with short legs. The surname probably of Italian origin is also found in Spain and Portugal. Similar surnames: Zampino, Babino, Gerbino, Canino, Gaudino, Bambino, Sabino, Zambito.
After Persico died in jail (2019), another one of his cousins, Andrew (“Andy Mush”) Russo, reputedly took over as boss of the Colombo family. He and other leaders, however, were arrested in 2021 on extortion charges, and Russo died in 2022 while awaiting trial.