Strongest crew from 60-90's

[bababooey]

Who do you think the single strongest crew was before the RICO act / the commission case took place? Not just in pure numbers, but in terms of control over unions, the rackets, bookmaking, loansharking, narcotics, influence, etc.

Was reading about "Trigger Mike" coppola and the level of people associated with that crew was insane. At the time it was -

Frank (Cheech) Livorsi, Joseph (Tough Joey) Rao, Joseph (Joe Stutz) Tortorici, Anthony (Fat Tony) Salerno, Alexander (Al Ross) Rosato, Pasquale (Little Patsy) Erra, Louis (Louie Dome) Pacella, Joseph (Joe Stretch) Stracci, and Philip Lombardo, among many others. The FBI in the 60s estimated 19 soldiers in the crew.

This got me thinking who do you think was the strongest crew of the 60s-early 90s? Can be of any of the 5 NYC families.

I honestly think the mix of lucchese members in the 60s was underrated. Mr gibbs, tom mix, big john, las Salle, joe beck, eddie coco, Tommy brown, Big sam, jimmy dio, cheech, tony ducks and more.

[TallGuy19]

I think the 116th Street crew from the Genovese family is, and always has been, the strongest.

[Manhattan_]

Genovese GV Crew

[Shellackhead]

Mike Miranda’s crew imo. A lot of future top administration guys were there.

[bababooey]

Mike Miranda’s crew imo. A lot of future top administration guys were there.

This was one i was gonna mention, i'd debate if they were stronger than the 116th crew / the future Ciro crew with trigger mike / fat tony.

[bababooey]

I think the 116th Street crew from the Genovese family is, and always has been, the strongest.

I would assume with barney as the boss / leader of the crew , that they would still have an insane presence in the current day. People argue Mirandas crew could rival the 116th crew

[Wiseguy]

I think the 116th Street crew from the Genovese family is, and always has been, the strongest.

2gm7it.jpg

[Manhattan_]

Genovese GV Crew - Dom “ The Sailor “ DeQuartro alone was a crew onto himself .

[Mustangsally]

Genovese GV Crew

What is GV?

[avvocato]

Genovese GV Crew

What is GV?

Greenwich Village


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mustangsally]

Genovese GV Crew

What is GV?

Greenwich Village


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, should have been able to figure that out.

[newera_212]

im going to go with the Vario crew. I know on the lower rings of that ladder, the crew was mostly thugs and degenerates (Hill, the Argentina Brothers, Larry Taylor) blue collar street shit...but the crew as a whole was huge. between made guys and real associates it had to have been 50 guys?

original poster said it best. Luccheses highly underrated.

the Luccheses from the time of Valachi up until the Commission Trial... insane. ridiculously powerful. small in numbers...maybe even the smallest in numbers out of all the 5 families at the time? but look at the Capos. they had the top titans of industry for every racket imaginable. garments, garbage, even that 282 local before Thomas Lucchese gifted it to the , and lets face it...drugs. The Luccheses in the 50s and 60s definitely didnt shy away from drugs, they pioneered the Heroin and pharmaceutical trades in NYC.

for what its worth, even though the book read like a steaming pile of fanboy shit, in Phil Carlo’s book on Anthony Casso, Casso said that he was apparently a free agent with ties to all 5 families. He specifically gravitated to the Luccheses because of their smaller size, reputation, and the fact they were known for making the most money. Take that with a grain of salt, but lets assume that is the truth and Casso “had his pick” , it says something that he “chose” the Luccheses

[bababooey]

im going to go with the Vario crew. I know on the lower rings of that ladder, the crew was mostly thugs and degenerates (Hill, the Argentina Brothers, Larry Taylor) blue collar street shit...but the crew as a whole was huge. between made guys and real associates it had to have been 50 guys?

original poster said it best. Luccheses highly underrated.

the Luccheses from the time of Valachi up until the Commission Trial... insane. ridiculously powerful. small in numbers...maybe even the smallest in numbers out of all the 5 families at the time? but look at the Capos. they had the top titans of industry for every racket imaginable. garments, garbage, even that 282 local before Thomas Lucchese gifted it to the , and lets face it...drugs. The Luccheses in the 50s and 60s definitely didnt shy away from drugs, they pioneered the Heroin and pharmaceutical trades in NYC.

for what its worth, even though the book read like a steaming pile of fanboy shit, in Phil Carlo’s book on Anthony Casso, Casso said that he was apparently a free agent with ties to all 5 families. He specifically gravitated to the Luccheses because of their smaller size, reputation, and the fact they were known for making the most money. Take that with a grain of salt, but lets assume that is the truth and Casso “had his pick” , it says something that he “chose” the Luccheses

Appreciate the input! And i would have to agree that in the 60s-early 70s that the lucchese HANDS DOWN were the #3 family and even maybe #2 depending on what you value. if youre going by overall influence in unions, control of rackets, and overall money intake - i'd say they would tie for the #2 family (not counting direct members).

I forgot where i read the post, either on here or gangsterbb, but one of the big posters (i think nymafia?) said at the time the lucchese had more individual millionaires and huge union influence for their member size for that period. As you mentioned, they were involved in the garment industry, concrete industry, JFK, garbage industry and one of the pioneers of the heroin trade. Tom mix, Mr gibbs, joe beck and big john all were huge in the heroin trade, but they weren't limited to it like some of the bonanos.

The Vario crew was the biggest crew in the lucchese at that time and paul himself was SUPER lowkey. Its honestly amazing how little info there is about him. I am not sure what would have happened if they had to go to war with another family, but as a self sustaining family, they were the little giants. Many families had captains who just weren't that influential, but EVERY captain in the lucchese at the time were legends in their own right. Tommy lucchese was loved deeply by his family, and was said to be more generous with splits of money more than any other boss. He also believed in using money to solve problems and not bullets. The colombo family of the same 60-70s era would be considered a joke compared to them, unless youre talking about just "street guys" aka having known killers. Heck the bonanos were being kicked off the commission in 64 due to joe bonanos plot to kill some of the other NY bosses.

I wonder what the family would have ended up like if they had a massino (before he flipped of course..) or barney bellomo take over instead of amusso/casso. I know they had someone else in mind that tony ducks would have appointed but he was in prison at the time i think. Someone correct me if i am wrong. I bet they'd be another genovese if they didn't decide to go into a reckless war in the 90s which lead to them getting big busts in the early 2000s then 2010s.

[Southshore88]

im going to go with the Vario crew. I know on the lower rings of that ladder, the crew was mostly thugs and degenerates (Hill, the Argentina Brothers, Larry Taylor) blue collar street shit...but the crew as a whole was huge. between made guys and real associates it had to have been 50 guys?

original poster said it best. Luccheses highly underrated.

the Luccheses from the time of Valachi up until the Commission Trial... insane. ridiculously powerful. small in numbers...maybe even the smallest in numbers out of all the 5 families at the time? but look at the Capos. they had the top titans of industry for every racket imaginable. garments, garbage, even that 282 local before Thomas Lucchese gifted it to the , and lets face it...drugs. The Luccheses in the 50s and 60s definitely didnt shy away from drugs, they pioneered the Heroin and pharmaceutical trades in NYC.

for what its worth, even though the book read like a steaming pile of fanboy shit, in Phil Carlo’s book on Anthony Casso, Casso said that he was apparently a free agent with ties to all 5 families. He specifically gravitated to the Luccheses because of their smaller size, reputation, and the fact they were known for making the most money. Take that with a grain of salt, but lets assume that is the truth and Casso “had his pick” , it says something that he “chose” the Luccheses

Appreciate the input! And i would have to agree that in the 60s-early 70s that the lucchese HANDS DOWN were the #3 family and even maybe #2 depending on what you value. if youre going by overall influence in unions, control of rackets, and overall money intake - i'd say they would tie for the #2 family (not counting direct members).

I forgot where i read the post, either on here or gangsterbb, but one of the big posters (i think nymafia?) said at the time the lucchese had more individual millionaires and huge union influence for their member size for that period. As you mentioned, they were involved in the garment industry, concrete industry, JFK, garbage industry and one of the pioneers of the heroin trade. Tom mix, Mr gibbs, joe beck and big john all were huge in the heroin trade, but they weren't limited to it like some of the bonanos.

The Vario crew was the biggest crew in the lucchese at that time and paul himself was SUPER lowkey. Its honestly amazing how little info there is about him. I am not sure what would have happened if they had to go to war with another family, but as a self sustaining family, they were the little giants. Many families had captains who just weren't that influential, but EVERY captain in the lucchese at the time were legends in their own right. Tommy lucchese was loved deeply by his family, and was said to be more generous with splits of money more than any other boss. He also believed in using money to solve problems and not bullets. The colombo family of the same 60-70s era would be considered a joke compared to them, unless youre talking about just "street guys" aka having known killers. Heck the bonanos were being kicked off the commission in 64 due to joe bonanos plot to kill some of the other NY bosses.

I wonder what the family would have ended up like if they had a massino (before he flipped of course..) or barney bellomo take over instead of amusso/casso. I know they had someone else in mind that tony ducks would have appointed but he was in prison at the time i think. Someone correct me if i am wrong. I bet they'd be another genovese if they didn't decide to go into a reckless war in the 90s which lead to them getting big busts in the early 2000s then 2010s.

That you Maxie?

[bababooey]

im going to go with the Vario crew. I know on the lower rings of that ladder, the crew was mostly thugs and degenerates (Hill, the Argentina Brothers, Larry Taylor) blue collar street shit...but the crew as a whole was huge. between made guys and real associates it had to have been 50 guys?

original poster said it best. Luccheses highly underrated.

the Luccheses from the time of Valachi up until the Commission Trial... insane. ridiculously powerful. small in numbers...maybe even the smallest in numbers out of all the 5 families at the time? but look at the Capos. they had the top titans of industry for every racket imaginable. garments, garbage, even that 282 local before Thomas Lucchese gifted it to the , and lets face it...drugs. The Luccheses in the 50s and 60s definitely didnt shy away from drugs, they pioneered the Heroin and pharmaceutical trades in NYC.

for what its worth, even though the book read like a steaming pile of fanboy shit, in Phil Carlo’s book on Anthony Casso, Casso said that he was apparently a free agent with ties to all 5 families. He specifically gravitated to the Luccheses because of their smaller size, reputation, and the fact they were known for making the most money. Take that with a grain of salt, but lets assume that is the truth and Casso “had his pick” , it says something that he “chose” the Luccheses

Appreciate the input! And i would have to agree that in the 60s-early 70s that the lucchese HANDS DOWN were the #3 family and even maybe #2 depending on what you value. if youre going by overall influence in unions, control of rackets, and overall money intake - i'd say they would tie for the #2 family (not counting direct members).

I forgot where i read the post, either on here or gangsterbb, but one of the big posters (i think nymafia?) said at the time the lucchese had more individual millionaires and huge union influence for their member size for that period. As you mentioned, they were involved in the garment industry, concrete industry, JFK, garbage industry and one of the pioneers of the heroin trade. Tom mix, Mr gibbs, joe beck and big john all were huge in the heroin trade, but they weren't limited to it like some of the bonanos.

The Vario crew was the biggest crew in the lucchese at that time and paul himself was SUPER lowkey. Its honestly amazing how little info there is about him. I am not sure what would have happened if they had to go to war with another family, but as a self sustaining family, they were the little giants. Many families had captains who just weren't that influential, but EVERY captain in the lucchese at the time were legends in their own right. Tommy lucchese was loved deeply by his family, and was said to be more generous with splits of money more than any other boss. He also believed in using money to solve problems and not bullets. The colombo family of the same 60-70s era would be considered a joke compared to them, unless youre talking about just "street guys" aka having known killers. Heck the bonanos were being kicked off the commission in 64 due to joe bonanos plot to kill some of the other NY bosses.

I wonder what the family would have ended up like if they had a massino (before he flipped of course..) or barney bellomo take over instead of amusso/casso. I know they had someone else in mind that tony ducks would have appointed but he was in prison at the time i think. Someone correct me if i am wrong. I bet they'd be another genovese if they didn't decide to go into a reckless war in the 90s which lead to them getting big busts in the early 2000s then 2010s.

That you Maxie?

? Sadly not lol. Just a random who was gotten into mob history the last 1-2 years and decided to finally register. Who is maxie?