How Many Mafia Families Were There? 20,24,26???

[Homerthedog]

Did the Commission have a standard, as far as anybody knows, to consider a family as independent and not just a large crew?

[JCB1977]

I remember reading way back when that Providence and Boston were originally 2 separate families. I don't remember where I read it or if it was even accurate.


Pogo

Pre 1920's during the days of the Black Hand Society, they were two different groups

[Wiseguy]

Did the Commission have a standard, as far as anybody knows, to consider a family as independent and not just a large crew?

Not sure but Capeci said Rochester never received formal approval from the Commission to break away from Buffalo.

[Homerthedog]

I see can see why Rochester got away with it since the Commission was dealing with the Bonanno and Colombo wars. Good timing for Rochester.

[B.]

Did the Commission have a standard, as far as anybody knows, to consider a family as independent and not just a large crew?

Not sure but Capeci said Rochester never received formal approval from the Commission to break away from Buffalo.

Interesting, that would mean they never truly were their own family from the perspective of the national mafia.

DiLeonardo said that when he met Frank Valenti, who by then lived in Tucson, Valenti had been assigned to Pete Milano by the Commission, so the Commission was still involved in Valenti's affairs later on.

[Lupara]

I did a search and didn't see a similar thread, But Wiseguys' post on the Buff/Ontario thread got me thinking- based on these:

"Once boasting 26 families nationwide, the mob is down to 11, half of those confined to the New York area. Moreover, the Mafia's influence still extends far beyond New York. There remain active families in Chicago, Detroit, New England, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Miami." (US News & World Report, 2000)

"Operation Button Down, the codename for the FBI's campaign to crush the Mafia, reduced the number of families operating in the United States from 24 to only nine, FBI officials said. (CNN, 2004)

"The federal government's hit list for the Mafia once included nearly 20 cities...'" (Washington Post, 1992)

What is the correct number of mob families at peak (say late 1950s/early 60s)? I get 26.

Bonanno
Bufalino
Buffalo
Cleveland
Colombo
Dallas
DeCavalcante
Denver
Detroit
Gambino
Genovese
Kansas City
Los Angeles
Luchesse
Madison
Milwaukee
New England
New Orleans
Philly
Pittsburgh
Rockford
San Fracisco
San Jose
Springfield
St. Louis
Tampa

You forgot Chicago.

How can one forget Chicago. Unforgivable. Muted.

[B.]

You heard it here, folks:

Scott Deitche doesn't believe there was ever a Chicago family.

[sdeitche]

You heard it here, folks:

Scott Deitche doesn't believe there was ever a Chicago family.

[Lupara]

You heard it here, folks:

Scott Deitche doesn't believe there was ever a Chicago family.

I sense a new book is being written based on new research that indicates Chicago was a Madison crew.

[B.]

You heard it here, folks:

Scott Deitche doesn't believe there was ever a Chicago family.

I sense a new book is being written based on new research that indicates Chicago was a Madison crew.

That was just the Bagheria faction in Chicago who was under Madison's influence. Chicago as a whole was a faction of the DeCavalcante family run by Phil Bacino until the 1970s, at which point Chicago broke off and merged with Buffalo.

--

May or may not be relevant to this topic, but there's still the mystery of the Vancouver, BC mafia group once led by relatives of Nick Gentile from Siculiana. Discussion here:
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=4246

[Pogo The Clown]

Chicago was never even a real Costa Nostra family anyway.


Pogo

[sdeitche]

You heard it here, folks:

Scott Deitche doesn't believe there was ever a Chicago family.

I sense a new book is being written based on new research that indicates Chicago was a Madison crew.

Forget Accardo. Carlo Caputo was the real top boss of the Midwest!

[cavita]

Interestingly I remember reading some articles from the 1960s that stated Frank Zito of Springfield was the "worst hoodlum" outside the city of Chicago.

[maxiestern11]

You heard it here, folks:

Scott Deitche doesn't believe there was ever a Chicago family.

I sense a new book is being written based on new research that indicates Chicago was a Madison crew.

Forget Accardo. Carlo Caputo was the real top boss of the Midwest!

Lol, Carlo Caputo headed a “Family” if you want to call it that of appx 10 +/- members. Hardly a top figure! We’ve got skippers in NYC That ran a single crew with upwards or 30-40 members + associates.

Caputo couldn’t carry Capone’s or Accardo’s jock strap let alone surpass them in influence and power! Even Balistrieri ran a borgata much larger than Caputo.
Zerilli is another boss to name just one more that out muscled Caputo. I’d say that Caputo was probably the least influential of any boss in the USA during that era!... with the possible exception of San Jose or similar Cali outfit

[Pogo The Clown]

Sarcasm is clearly not your strong suit.


Pogo