street boss (front boss)

[Wiseguy]

A while back MightyDR posted these article excerpts which caught John and Anthony Russo referring to Lombardo as the "real boss" in 1977. So, whatever conclusion you want to go with, the idea that it only came from Cafaro isn't true.

The_Central_New_Jersey_Home_News_Tue__Dec_18__1979_ (1).jpg

The_Central_New_Jersey_Home_News_Tue__Dec_18__1979_.jpg

[eboli]

I don't think anybody's implying it came from Cafaro alone , but that he's the most well-known source. To my knowledge, the first time Lombardo was mentioned as boss was in a report from September 1972 in which it was stated that he was 'still the boss'.

Edit: I forgot to mention - the posted news article quotes Russo saying how Benny Squint is the boss, but later mentions how both Tieri and Lombardo are the heads of the family. An overall mess, like most sources from the period.

[Frank]

Yes , I was going to mention that Russo also said Lombardo was the real boss. Ive flip flopped my opinion on who was boss serveral times.

[chin_gigante]

Something I've also kept in mind from time to time is that "real boss" could also refer to a situation similar to the the Colombo family at that time where it was understood that Persico was the"real boss" while DiBella was the official boss. Could be the same thing where Tieri is official while Lombardo is the "real" boss. Like how Angelo Lonardo described the situation in the late 1970s where he had Salerno as acting boss on behalf of a sick Tieri but ultimately consulting with Lombardo. Though I also flip flop on that a lot just based on Cafaro explicitly referring to Tieri as the underboss.

[Frank]

The question is was he the real official boss or was he a very influential Capo that Funzie might of listened and took his advice, giving the impression to some that they might sarcastically say Lombardo is the real boss.

[Frank]

I was thinking in one report it says Lombardo, Salerno and Gigante were a panel for awhile.If true why would Lombardo move from official boss, then to a panel, then back to official boss. That just dont seem right. If there was the 3 man panel after Funzie, dosnt that back up the possibility that Funzie was the official boss.

[B.]

The way I read into it, they knew the word was out that Salerno was boss because he was Tieri's UB and then allegedly the boss for a short time. Whether Salerno volunteered to act for Chin because he was an ill old man and ready to take the blows, or there were other agreements behind the scenes is unknown, but this possible explanation makes sense to me.

On the Palma Boys tapes, Salerno is telling Tony Corallo about an issue he had with someone where "Ben" got involved, and Salerno says he told him "... you gave me a fucking job over here, do you want me to take care of it or don't you?"

Doesn't necessarily mean Lombardo outranked Tieri earlier, but it lends itself to the idea of Lombardo being the top power who set up the administration in the early 1980s.

[eboli]

After Tieri stepped down in late 1980, we have the reported triumvirate of bosses, which according to one FBI informant, was succeeded by Salerno's short stint as boss before he stroked out and Lombardo took over In March-April 1981 as the 'new boss'. Both Tieri and Lombardo had health issues since the 1960s and they were not in the best shape in the 1970s. It makes sense that Lombardo was the top dog in 1980-1981 because he was the most senior guy sitting on that panel. Somehow he was in a better shape at the time than he was just a few years earlier, but it seems he was still too ill and old to be a long-term option by then.

Lombardo was a powerful capo who had a ton of leeway in the family because he was close to Vito Genovese, Tommy Eboli and many administration members during the 1960s and 1970s. His name entered the boss discussion before he was even a captain. After Vito's death in 1969, the newspapers namedropped Lombardo alongside Catena, Eboli, Miranda and Tieri as a potential candidate for the boss position. We can argue that early on was his best shot at it because that's when he had support from other high-ranking members.

The information provided by Cafaro, Russo and confidential informants can be explained with Lombardo's operational freedom. Slogging through the FBI files, you don't really get the impression that Funzi was acting for anybody. In the 1972-1974 there are reports on both Tieri and Lombardo being the boss, but there are also reports of Lombardo being a capo regime. Then between 1974 and 1980 there are many reports of how Tieri was the one calling the shots, setting up ruling panels while hospitalized, meeting up with other bosses, etc. And only a few examples where Lombardo's name comes up. The FBI were very confident that Tieri was the Genovese boss when they indicted him, and that was pretty much what Hairy wrote earlier in the thread.

[eboli]

Here are some notes I made awhile back. Based on federal files for each year:

1969-1981

October 1969: Catena - boss; Tieri - capo; Lombardo - capo
February 1970: Catena - boss
July 1970: Tieri - 'important capo'; Lombardo - 'powerful capo'
August 1970: Catena - boss; Tieri - 'acting head'
September 1970: Eboli - 'figurehead'; Tieri & De Feo - panel members
March 1971: Catena - boss
September 1971: Catena - boss
April 1972: Tieri - 'heading the family'
August 1972: Catena - boss; Tieri - acting boss
Early September 1972: Lombardo - boss; Tieri - 'top guy'
Late September 1972: Tieri - 'the head of the family'
October 1972: Lombardo - caporegime
March 1973: Tieri - boss
September 1973: Catena - boss; Tieri - acting boss
October 1973: Tieri - full fledged boss
December 1973: Genovese family - 'remains leaderless'
February 1974: Tieri became boss after Eboli's murder
March 1974: Peter DeFeo - acting boss
April 1974: Lombardo - caporegime
June-September 1974: Tieri very ill; Zeccardi - underboss; Ardito - consigliere; Lombardo - successor
April 1975: Tieri - boss
October 1975: 1st source Tieri - still the boss / 2nd source Tieri - only temporary boss
November 1975: Tieri - boss; Zeccardi - acting boss
February 1976: Tieri - boss
Ápril 1977: Tieri - boss; Zeccardi - underboss
January 1978: Tieri - 'family head'; Lombardo - 'Genovese leader'
August 1978: Tieri - boss
June 1979: Tieri - boss
January-April 1980: Tieri - boss, stepping down; Salerno - underboss; Gigante - consigliere
November 1980: Tieri - boss, retired; Lombardo, Gigante, Salerno - ruling panel members
December-January: Salerno - boss
April 1981: Lombardo - boss; Salerno- underboss; Gigante - consigliere

[Pmac2]

teiri was at the table with big paul demanding ruby steins loan book. thenjimmy the wesel saying he went to a candy store and a panel of guys decided to kill a union guy. we can argue all day. they were sneaky.

[MightyDR]

Looking over Cafaro’s testimony and affidavit in “25 Years After Valachi”, he says that Salerno had a stroke, went and recovered upstate, then wanted to come back, so Gigante allowed him to front as the boss. Which I interpret as being a mutually beneficial situation where GIgante was happy to be behind the scenes and Salerno was eager to be involved in the day to day, rather than Salerno being selected as a patsy.

As far as money was concerned, that link below should go to Cafaro’s declaration about the carpenters. He says that Gigante was the “behind the scenes” boss and Salerno was the “figurehead” boss who retained control over the Genovese Family's rackets in the construction industry. We see this with S&A concrete, which from what I’ve read was “with” Castellano and Salerno, not Castellano and Gigante.
https://web.archive.org/web/20110527124 ... _Page1.htm

Concerning the Lombardo/Tieri situation, as posted earlier, John Russo said in 1977, “Put this in your mind. Benny Squint is the boss. Don’t let anybody tell you any other (expletive).” That implies that there was confusion at the time about who the real boss was but at the end of the day it was Lombardo.

There is also another excerpt where Anthony Russo tells how Tieri tried to get Anthony Boiardo promoted to acting caporegime. He says that Lomabardo, the real boss, vetoed the idea.

[CornerBoy]

The way I read into it, they knew the word was out that Salerno was boss because he was Tieri's UB and then allegedly the boss for a short time. Whether Salerno volunteered to act for Chin because he was an ill old man and ready to take the blows, or there were other agreements behind the scenes is unknown, but this possible explanation makes sense to me.

On the Palma Boys tapes, Salerno is telling Tony Corallo about an issue he had with someone where "Ben" got involved, and Salerno says he told him "... you gave me a fucking job over here, do you want me to take care of it or don't you?"

Doesn't necessarily mean Lombardo outranked Tieri earlier, but it lends itself to the idea of Lombardo being the top power who set up the administration in the early 1980s.

Hi B- where did you get all the info about whether Lombardo was boss or figure head- that whole situation. If you could pt me in the right direction, I'd be grateful. Thanks so much

[Wiseguy]

Not to start another debate on top of this one, and I may be alone in this, but I've always been skeptical about Catena being official boss. When has the Genovese family, or any of the other four families, ever had an official boss outside of New York?

[Antiliar]

Not to start another debate on top of this one, and I may be alone in this, but I've always been skeptical about Catena being official boss. When has the Genovese family, or any of the other four families, ever had an official boss outside of New York?

Here's one example of Catena being named the official boss:

FBI File - Tieri - Tieri acting for Catena.jpg