Thomas Lucchese

[Shellackhead]

Reading on an earlier post about Carlo’s reign, my question is how powerful was Thomas Lucchese?

[JoelTurner]

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.

[B.]

He and Gagliano ran a secretive and tightknit Family where high-ranking members didn't get killed. Bonanno credits him as an extremely cunning mafia politician who greatly influenced the Commission yet did so quietly and he never really ran into any open controversies as boss. Family continued smoothly for 20 years after his passing. Garment czar.

[JeremyTheJew]

Seems to hold as much respect if not more then everyone else except maybe Gambino

Regarded highly even as far back as the Castellmarese wars when he was under maranzano

Id lile to know how he was with gagliano and Reiana the bosses before him

[axx]

Id lile to know how he was with gagliano and Reiana the bosses before him

At least from what I remember from Valachi's manuscript they were a friendly bunch. He describes both Lucchese and Gagliano as generous bosses. When Maranzano became power they took votes on who would be assigned to which family. Valachi took offense as he was not consulted about this and out of protest decided to become a part of Maranzano's personal crew, thus likely making biggest mistake in his life.

[Don_Peppino]

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.

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.

[Wiseguy]

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.

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.

[Don_Peppino]

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.

[Don_Peppino]

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.

[Don_Peppino]

Lucchese may have been the best NY Boss in practice (maybe not the greatest in terms of accomplishment and influence). Certainly, a good arguement.

[JoelTurner]

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.

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.

Even if they had more members/money, there was a lot more drama going on while Tom Lucchese was running a smoother ship

Feb 1951- Lucchese becomes boss

1951-57- Frank Costello is in-and-out of prison

Oct 1951- Willie Moretti is killed

Jan 1956- Joe Adonis is deported

May 1957- Costello is shot and deposed

Jul 1958- Vito Genovese is pinched for narcotics

Sep 1959- Anthony Carfano is killed

Apr 1962- Anthony Strollo is killed

[Wiseguy]

Even if they had more members/money, there was a lot more drama going on while Tom Lucchese was running a smoother ship

Feb 1951- Lucchese becomes boss

1951-57- Frank Costello is in-and-out of prison

Oct 1951- Willie Moretti is killed

Jan 1956- Joe Adonis is deported

May 1957- Costello is shot and deposed

Jul 1958- Vito Genovese is pinched for narcotics

Sep 1959- Anthony Carfano is killed

Apr 1962- Anthony Strollo is killed

The same could be said for a number of smaller families around the country that had relatively less drama. But I don't think that outweighs all the other factors that power is measured by.