Genovese Administration 1970s

[Charlie]

mmmh interesting perception. Of course the westside always had the biggest presence with the Luccheses maybe a close second ...Which is not surprising once you learn that they were one family in the past. However I would say the Gambinos had a very strong presence, equal if not superior to Luccheses. I always heard the older guys speak of Frank Scalise like he was the boss of the Bronx...
60's I don't know but 80's onwards Bonnanos always had Throggs neck and Country club on lock pretty much...We'd have to ask the forum's history buffs about their presence in the borough.

[chin_gigante]

FBI Report 14th April 1965:

'New York three nine eight six - c asterisk advised on four five that Thomas Eboli and Michael Genovese discussed possible change in leadership of Genovese family resulting from stated desires of Gerardo Catena to retire from organisation. Eboli stated he would like to see "Benny as boss". Benny is believed to be Philip Lombardo. Eboli claimed that six individuals agreed with his thinking regarding Lombardo. He named these six as Saro Mogavero, representing Rocco Pellegrino, Harry "Socks" /Lanza/, Jimmy "Blue Eyes" Alo, Jimmy Angelina, Ray DeCarlo and himself. Eboli refered to these individuals as "the colonels". Eboli stated the first thing they must do is discuss this with Mike /Miranda/ and then see what Vito /Genovese/ thinks.'

Cafaro Affadavit:

'In the 1960's, when Vito Genovese went to jail, he turned control of our brugad over to Lombardo. In 1972, Lombardo was the boss, "Tommy Ryan" (Thomas Eboli) was the underboss, and Fat Tony was the consigliere. Lombardo wanted to stay in the background and keep the heat off of himself, so Tommy Ryan fronted as boss of the family, while Lombardo controlled things from the background. After Ryan's death in 1972, Lombardo continued in the background while Eli Zeccardi fronted as boss of the family. When I was "straightened out" in 1974, Lombardo was the boss, Funzi Tieri the underboss who "fronted" as the boss, and Fat Tony the consigliere. Again, Lombardo stayed in the background and put out Tieri as boss of the family. In 1976, Fat Tony became the underboss and Buckaloo (Antonio Ferro) the consigliere. In 1978 "Fat Dom" Alongi replaced Buckaloo as the consigliere, followed by Bobby Manna in 1980. By this time, Fat Tony fronted as the boss of the family, but the real power behind the throne was Lombardo. In 1981, Fat Tony had a stroke and was "pulled down" by Vincent "Chin" Gigante, Manna and Santora. Lombardo was also in poor health and retired. Gigante became the boss, Santora the underboss and Manna the consigliere. Gigante allowed Fat Tony to continue to front as the boss, letting the other families believe that Fat Tony still controlled our brugad.'

[Frank]

FBI Report 14th April 1965:

'New York three nine eight six - c asterisk advised on four five that Thomas Eboli and Michael Genovese discussed possible change in leadership of Genovese family resulting from stated desires of Gerardo Catena to retire from organisation. Eboli stated he would like to see "Benny as boss". Benny is believed to be Philip Lombardo. Eboli claimed that six individuals agreed with his thinking regarding Lombardo. He named these six as Saro Mogavero, representing Rocco Pellegrino, Harry "Socks" /Lanza/, Jimmy "Blue Eyes" Alo, Jimmy Angelina, Ray DeCarlo and himself. Eboli refered to these individuals as "the colonels". Eboli stated the first thing they must do is discuss this with Mike /Miranda/ and then see what Vito /Genovese/ thinks.'

Cafaro Affadavit:

'In the 1960's, when Vito Genovese went to jail, he turned control of our brugad over to Lombardo. In 1972, Lombardo was the boss, "Tommy Ryan" (Thomas Eboli) was the underboss, and Fat Tony was the consigliere. Lombardo wanted to stay in the background and keep the heat off of himself, so Tommy Ryan fronted as boss of the family, while Lombardo controlled things from the background. After Ryan's death in 1972, Lombardo continued in the background while Eli Zeccardi fronted as boss of the family. When I was "straightened out" in 1974, Lombardo was the boss, Funzi Tieri the underboss who "fronted" as the boss, and Fat Tony the consigliere. Again, Lombardo stayed in the background and put out Tieri as boss of the family. In 1976, Fat Tony became the underboss and Buckaloo (Antonio Ferro) the consigliere. In 1978 "Fat Dom" Alongi replaced Buckaloo as the consigliere, followed by Bobby Manna in 1980. By this time, Fat Tony fronted as the boss of the family, but the real power behind the throne was Lombardo. In 1981, Fat Tony had a stroke and was "pulled down" by Vincent "Chin" Gigante, Manna and Santora. Lombardo was also in poor health and retired. Gigante became the boss, Santora the underboss and Manna the consigliere. Gigante allowed Fat Tony to continue to front as the boss, letting the other families believe that Fat Tony still controlled our brugad.'

Interesting info.

[Villain]

It is possible that after Vito the Genoveses had or took some type of hierarchy similar to the one which the Outfit had or created previous during the 1940s. Both families were quite close

[Confederate]

It is possible that after Vito the Genoveses had or took some type of hierarchy similar to the one which the Outfit had or created previous during the 1940s

Sound Familiar? lol

[Villain]

It is possible that after Vito the Genoveses had or took some type of hierarchy similar to the one which the Outfit had or created previous during the 1940s

Sound Familiar? lol

Yeah lol

[Frank]

It is possible that after Vito the Genoveses had or took some type of hierarchy similar to the one which the Outfit had or created previous during the 1940s

Sound Familiar? lol

Yeah lol

Yes I have mentioned this on one of these Genovese Leadership threads. It might be why there seems to be different informants claiming different bosses. Don't know if it's fact, but sounds familiar to Chicago. You have a Boss that is ultimately in charge of the Family and more behind the scenes. A Operations Boss who is in charge of day to day running of the Family, who is under the Boss.

[chin_gigante]

Found another version of the family's hierarchy. This time from Jimmy Fratianno, who stated I think in 1976 that Tieri introduced Eli Zeccardi as underboss and Tony Salerno as the consigliere

[chin_gigante]

Thought I'd paste Eld's find from the Anthony Russo thread here too:

The NJ state police ha a bug in Russo's Long Branch office during 1977-78 and picked up some interesting conversations:

Russo: "If he beats the murder rap, I'll put I got him ready and the kid from Trenton, Cappy. I wanna see what happens in Pat's case first, what good is making him, If he's gonna wind up in the can?"

Russo: "I don't report to Andy or nothing, There's me, Anthony DeVingo and Johnny, are strictly with the Old Man. The only one I can talk to is Johnny to go to the Old Man."

Russo: "I gotta take this week or next week - I'll make' this kid and ship him to Vegas, Vito,"

Angelo Sica: "Vito. You gonna 'make' Vito?" 

Russo: "Yeah, they went to New York yesterday, Johnny and Andy, I'm waiting now. They're supposed to get back to me today."

Russo: "if you proposed him and everything, that kid Is in your possession for a whole year. You're responsible. If he does anything wrong or anything, They come to me,"

Angelo Sica: "Does the Old Man tell everything to the kid, his kid?" 

Russo: "To his son? Oh, positively, When they 'made' Andy, first the Old Man tried to push it through, through Funzi, to make it, to make the kid acting caporegime. Benny Squint, which is the real boss, knocked it down. He said forget about it. Fat Tony knocked it down."

[Frank]

Thought I'd paste Eld's find from the Anthony Russo thread here too:

The NJ state police ha a bug in Russo's Long Branch office during 1977-78 and picked up some interesting conversations:

Russo: "If he beats the murder rap, I'll put I got him ready and the kid from Trenton, Cappy. I wanna see what happens in Pat's case first, what good is making him, If he's gonna wind up in the can?"

Russo: "I don't report to Andy or nothing, There's me, Anthony DeVingo and Johnny, are strictly with the Old Man. The only one I can talk to is Johnny to go to the Old Man."

Russo: "I gotta take this week or next week - I'll make' this kid and ship him to Vegas, Vito,"

Angelo Sica: "Vito. You gonna 'make' Vito?" 

Russo: "Yeah, they went to New York yesterday, Johnny and Andy, I'm waiting now. They're supposed to get back to me today."

Russo: "if you proposed him and everything, that kid Is in your possession for a whole year. You're responsible. If he does anything wrong or anything, They come to me,"

Angelo Sica: "Does the Old Man tell everything to the kid, his kid?" 

Russo: "To his son? Oh, positively, When they 'made' Andy, first the Old Man tried to push it through, through Funzi, to make it, to make the kid acting caporegime. Benny Squint, which is the real boss, knocked it down. He said forget about it. Fat Tony knocked it down."

Interesting. Another made member saying Lombardo is the real boss. Now the question is when did Lombardo become the real acting and or official boss.

[Frank]

Also isn't it pretty clear in conversations that were recorded in the 1960's that Catena was acting boss and Eboli was acting Underboss.

[B.]

- In early 1969, multiple informants reported rumors that Frank Tieri would succeed Vito Genovese as boss. He was described by one as "knowledgeable, loyal ,and well-liked." The informant felt, however, that Tieri would not have "complete authority" like Genovese had, and instead he would "probably function within a commission" made up of several redacted names, all of them high-ranking Genovese members. Other informants described the favorable opinion other members had toward Tieri during this time.

[chin_gigante]

Interesting. Another made member saying Lombardo is the real boss. Now the question is when did Lombardo become the real acting and or official boss.

It all depends on I suppose the interpretation of whether 'real boss' refers to Lombardo as the official boss or as the ultimate authority/ de facto boss like the Persico situation with the Colombos in the 1970s. The same interpretation would be harder to pin on Cafaro's comments since he explicitly refers to Tieri as an 'underboss who fronted', but there are certain things he got wrong anyway like the date of his induction, and his affidavit features quite a few pencilled-in corrections

[chin_gigante]

Also to address Frank's second point, the Eboli conversations from the sixties do make it clear that Catena had more of a say than he did and this fact frustrated him, specifically because of Catena's reluctance in the position (which led to the comments about Eboli wanting Lombardo to head the family instead - I don't recall if any evidence came forward saying whether that happened or not apart from Cafaro's statements on Benny Squint running the family since the 1960s).
In Mob Boss, Al D'Arco recalls Eboli during the sixties as the 'acting underboss' though noted that he was effectively running the Genovese family on the street, which backs up evidence citing Catena's reluctance and other sources such as Valachi and Bonanno who described Eboli as the acting boss. Seems like Eboli became much more of an acting underboss/ de facto acting boss (if you'll forgive the convoluted term) in relation to Catena's increasing desire to retire

[chin_gigante]

I always want to come back and look at the ‘official boss vs. de facto boss’ question for the Genoveses in the 1970s. One thing that both sides of the argument seem to agree on is that Lombardo was a true force in the family and that he was the official boss for some time: for one side he was official boss for most of the 1970s (if not from the death of Genovese in 1969) up until 1981, for the other it was just for a brief period in 1981 following Tieri’s death. Based on what I’ve seen, I can lay out the for and against evidence like this:

For Lombardo as the official boss:

1977-1978 Anthony Russo wiretap (based on a ‘real boss’ = ‘official boss’ interpretation)
Vincent Cafaro affidavit and testimony
Brief FBI mentions in 1965 (in reference to Catena wishing to retire) and 1972 (following Eboli’s murder)

For Tieri as the official boss:

Overwhelming majority of the FBI material on the family during the 1970s
Information from Jimmy Fratianno
Comments made by Dominick Napolitano to Joseph Pistone

Phil Leonetti also describes Tieri as a front boss, but his information is twisted as he never references Lombardo and implies that Tieri was fronting for Gigante at the time of the Angelo Bruno murder when we know that Chin didn’t take over until a year later.
I may be forgetting more sources, I don’t know if Michael Franzese ever said anything about the West Side at this time.
One could perhaps take this anecdote as evidence against Lombardo, I would be hesitant about it, but when Al D’Arco was inducted in the early 1980s he was told who the bosses of the five families were and Chin was mentioned to him instead of Tony Salerno. If Lombardo really was the official boss, I just find it hard to wrap my head around how that news only leaked to law enforcement through so few sources.