by Don_Peppino » Thu Feb 23, 2023 10:37 am
Don_Peppino wrote: ↑Thu Feb 23, 2023 10:22 am
Wiseguy wrote: ↑Wed Feb 22, 2023 12:30 pm
Don_Peppino wrote: ↑Wed Feb 22, 2023 9:53 am
JoelTurner wrote: ↑Tue Feb 21, 2023 7:49 pm
My impression is that he was the most powerful boss during his reign.
His family had a lot of good earners across various industries: garment, construction, transit, etc.
More importantly, they were the only NYC family that didn't have any major drama during his reign.
It depends on how you define power. We all agree that the Genovese Family is the Ivy League but, there was a split between the Costello faction and Genovese faction, resulting in the attempt on Costello and the hit on Little Augie Pisano. Gagliano and Lucchese had a peaceful transition and that Family had no real "structural" problems until the late 80s. We I mean by make a strong arguement is, you can't find a "kink in the armor" like the other Families. So I just say " Pound-for-pound" the most powerful. Or maybe the arguement is for the no# 2 spot.
Totally agree with this statement. You could definitely make a strong arguement that they were the most powerful Family. Lucchese was similar to Bonanno in that his true intentions were expertly concealed. Lucchese was involved in the Maranzano hit (which often is an afterthought) and I believe he was the true puppetmaster behind Bonanno's removal from the Commission. You just have to follow the money. 1957, Bonanno has the meeting in Sicily. By the mid 70s, the Gambinos and Lucchese Families dominate the heroin trade. In the 40's/50's, Bonannos had a piece of the Garment district (seemingly outside the Lucchese network) by the 70's, the Bonanno are wiped out of Garments (and where did the "legendary" gifted piece of the Garment district to Tommy Gambino come from? ). Just making the point that Lucchese was as treacherous as they came and very underrated/underexamined in the genre.
The Genovese have always been the most powerful family. Period.
We all agree that the Genovese (should be Luciano) Family is Ivy League but it depends on how you define power. In the 50s, there was a split between Genovese and Costello, resulting in violence. Gagliano-Lucchese had a peaceful transition of Power. Its hard to find a "kink in the armor" of the Luccheses until the late 80s. And during the 60s, with Genovese in jail, it appears, the west side generally took a "fly on the wall" approach, when it came to national issues. But maybe the arguement would be better for who was the second most powerful Family.
[quote=Don_Peppino post_id=253056 time=1677172920 user_id=7985]
[quote=Wiseguy post_id=252746 time=1677094224 user_id=51]
[quote=Don_Peppino post_id=252715 time=1677084799 user_id=7985]
[quote=JoelTurner post_id=252647 time=1677034146 user_id=7603]
My impression is that he was the most powerful boss during his reign.
His family had a lot of good earners across various industries: garment, construction, transit, etc.
More importantly, they were the only NYC family that didn't have any major drama during his reign.
It depends on how you define power. We all agree that the Genovese Family is the Ivy League but, there was a split between the Costello faction and Genovese faction, resulting in the attempt on Costello and the hit on Little Augie Pisano. Gagliano and Lucchese had a peaceful transition and that Family had no real "structural" problems until the late 80s. We I mean by make a strong arguement is, you can't find a "kink in the armor" like the other Families. So I just say " Pound-for-pound" the most powerful. Or maybe the arguement is for the no# 2 spot.
[/quote]
Totally agree with this statement. You could definitely make a strong arguement that they were the most powerful Family. Lucchese was similar to Bonanno in that his true intentions were expertly concealed. Lucchese was involved in the Maranzano hit (which often is an afterthought) and I believe he was the true puppetmaster behind Bonanno's removal from the Commission. You just have to follow the money. 1957, Bonanno has the meeting in Sicily. By the mid 70s, the Gambinos and Lucchese Families dominate the heroin trade. In the 40's/50's, Bonannos had a piece of the Garment district (seemingly outside the Lucchese network) by the 70's, the Bonanno are wiped out of Garments (and where did the "legendary" gifted piece of the Garment district to Tommy Gambino come from? ). Just making the point that Lucchese was as treacherous as they came and very underrated/underexamined in the genre.
[/quote]
The Genovese have always been the most powerful family. Period.
[/quote]
[/quote]
We all agree that the Genovese (should be Luciano) Family is Ivy League but it depends on how you define power. In the 50s, there was a split between Genovese and Costello, resulting in violence. Gagliano-Lucchese had a peaceful transition of Power. Its hard to find a "kink in the armor" of the Luccheses until the late 80s. And during the 60s, with Genovese in jail, it appears, the west side generally took a "fly on the wall" approach, when it came to national issues. But maybe the arguement would be better for who was the second most powerful Family.