The 5 Families Today

[Mason_dixon]

I would love to hear opinions on how active each of the 5 families are today. According to the news I have seen some arguments that the Bonannos may be the most active family today or the most sloppiest family today as they are constantly in the news. Also the strength of each family in manpower. Is Joe ac still acting boss after his acquittal? Or with Mike Mancuso our is he back down to Captain ? Here is my estimate on man pose of each family just my guesses from my sail reading:

Genovese: 200
Gambino: 180
Lucchese: 100
Bonanno: 100
Columbia: 50

Like I said these are all just my guesstimates if anyone has any more educated opinions I’d love to hear them.

[Mason_dixon]

Columbos* sorry

[gohnjotti]

The Colombo’s have something like 80-90 confirmed made members, plus a ballpark estimate of about 10-20 guys we don’t know about.

[gohnjotti]

I’m making the 10-20 ballpark given the fact that they tend to make about 5 guys every 2 years or so.

[AlexfromSouth]

Don't think the Genovese fam has more soldiers than the Gambino's.

[Mason_dixon]

Don't think the Genovese fam has more soldiers than the Gambino's.

Most sources disagree

[eboli]

If I have to make a guess based on the reports from the last 20 years and the charts we have on the forum:

1. Genovese - 200+, but less than 300
2. Gambino - 180-200
3. Bonanno - 120-130
4. Lucchese - 100-110
5. Colombo - 75-100

As gohn mentioned the Colombos had a good run in recent years and are quietly rebuilding as much as they can.

[gohnjotti]

If I have to make a guess based on the reports from the last 20 years and the charts we have on the forum:

1. Genovese - 200+, but less than 300
2. Gambino - 180-200
3. Bonanno - 120-130
4. Lucchese - 100-110
5. Colombo - 75-100

As gohn mentioned the Colombos had a good run in recent years and are quietly rebuilding as much as they can.

I wouldn’t jump to say rebuilding... but since their books were reopened in 2000 they’ve been at a very steady rate of new inductions.
Then again, you have to look at the quality of made members... Jerry Ciauri was making, what, $250 a week profit from hue loansharking gig? I guess since he was proposed all the way back in 1990 by Bobby Zam...

[eboli]

When you consider the history of that family I think they are doing more than okay in recent years, all things considered of course. You mentioned Ciauri's broke ass, but it could be worse. Larry Sessa was made in the can and is working as a used car salesman.

[StandUpGuy]

The Bonnanos are easily around 130-150 made guys. They’ve made 30-40 guys in the last 7-8 years.
Basically the 5 families have around 750-800 made guys in the greater NYC area And thousands of associaties.
They are far away from dying and Will easily dominate organized crime for atleast another 20-30 years.

[slimshady_007]

The Colombo family does seem to be rebuilding, but on a very small scale. I doubt the family will ever recover from the infighting in the 90’s and all the indictments that followed in the 2000’s. As of right now, it seems like the feds just aren’t motivated to go at the Colombos. Their probably lookin to get bigger fish in other families, which is understandable. The feds have a big investigation on Gambino capo Frank Camuso and I’m sure the feds r tryin to get some dirt on Bonanno boss Mike Mancuso now that he’s free. So the Colombos have some time to breathe so to speak. Time will tell how much they rebuild.

[johnny_scootch]

Then again, you have to look at the quality of made members... Jerry Ciauri was making, what, $250 a week profit from hue loansharking gig?

It would be unwise to believe that was his only source of income.

[Wiseguy]

I would love to hear opinions on how active each of the 5 families are today. According to the news I have seen some arguments that the Bonannos may be the most active family today or the most sloppiest family today as they are constantly in the news. Also the strength of each family in manpower. Is Joe ac still acting boss after his acquittal? Or with Mike Mancuso our is he back down to Captain ? Here is my estimate on man pose of each family just my guesses from my sail reading:

Genovese: 200
Gambino: 180
Lucchese: 100
Bonanno: 100
Columbia: 50

Like I said these are all just my guesstimates if anyone has any more educated opinions I’d love to hear them.

Why go with your own estimate and guesses when you can go with official figures? This isn't the GBB forum,.

In the 2007 Danny Leo case, the government cited 200 estimated members for the Genovese family. In a 2014 Wall Street Journal article, the Genovese were said to be the largest with almost 200 estimated members.

In a 2005 article, Capeci had the Gambino family at 160-180 members. In the 2010 Danny Marino case, the government cited about 200 members for the Gambinos.

The 2014 WSJ article had the Lucchese family at about 100 members.

In his 2005 article, Capeci had the Colombo family at 75-85 members. The 2014 WSJ article had them at about 100 members.

The Bonanno family is a little harder to get a read on and there is some disagreement on the forum. As I've mentioned before, in 2001 the feds released a "no contact" list for Robert Lino of every known Bonanno member. There were 111 names on the list, including Lino's. In 2003, Frank Lino testified the family had 12 captains and 100 soldiers but both Massino and Vitale's figures were larger. In the 2006 Basciano case, wiretap evidence said the family had less than 100 soldiers. A more recent 2013 article estimated 100 members. The Bonannos appear to have more members than the other two smaller NY families but I have a hard time believing it's in the 130-150 range quoted by others at this point. Especially with all the members who have flipped and technically can't be replaced until they die.

The Bonnanos are easily around 130-150 made guys. They’ve made 30-40 guys in the last 7-8 years.
Basically the 5 families have around 750-800 made guys in the greater NYC area And thousands of associaties.
They are far away from dying and Will easily dominate organized crime for atleast another 20-30 years.

Going by most estimates, the NY families are at about 700 members. Add up another 200 or so members for the rest of the U.S. and it's about 900 members total.

If I have to make a guess based on the reports from the last 20 years and the charts we have on the forum:

1. Genovese - 200+, but less than 300
2. Gambino - 180-200
3. Bonanno - 120-130
4. Lucchese - 100-110
5. Colombo - 75-100

As gohn mentioned the Colombos had a good run in recent years and are quietly rebuilding as much as they can.

200 would be the ceiling for the Genovese family. Range wise, it appears to be something like this -

Genovese 185-200
Gambino 175-200
Bonanno 115-125
Lucchese 100-110
Colombo 75-100

[Flushing]

http://www.urbanresearchmaps.org/compar ... itymap.htm

I've posted this demographic map before, which shows NYC in all it's races, ethnicity, etc. The map on the right, which was compiled by CUNY and us based on the 2010 census is very accurate.

It shows bensonhurst becoming Chinese, the east Bronx becoming almost entirely non-italian, etc.

There are so few neighborhoods in NYC and North Jersey that truly provide a recruiting base for OC. Even the neighborhoods that have retained an Italian presence (like Bay ridge, dyker heights, Howard beach, Whitestone, Pelham gardens, southern Staten island) aren't very "gung ho" Italian anymore.

The only real wildcard is Nassau county, for reasons well known (but rarely said).

[eboli]

200 would be the ceiling for the Genovese family. Range wise, it appears to be something like this -

Genovese 185-200
Gambino 175-200
Bonanno 115-125
Lucchese 100-110
Colombo 75-100

It makes sense for them to be trending down since the 300 members Raab reported in the late 90's. Capeci had them at 225 14-15 years ago. Then the sources you cited above. I think Genovese's numbers depend on Gambinos' numbers and by that I mean they have had roughly 10-20 guys more than them since the 90s. It's a possibility that both families are capped at 200.