Is Barney truly a "boss"?

[aleksandrored]

I am in agreement with this thread. Barney is not really a boss. People shit on Paul Castellano. They said he wasn’t a good boss or a real gangster. But he was meeting with his captains. He went to his social club. He attended sit downs. He went to commission meetings. Hell...he met with solidiers like Sammy Bull. He was a boss. Barney is too distant.

Castellano was a boss in a different era. A boss on the streets wouldn't last 5 minutes in this day going to social clubs, meeting with captains and soldiers. The last known commission meeting was 20 years ago that wasnt even attended by all the bosses.

The rules you've just made up for what makes a boss don't exist.

When was the last committee meeting?

Last official commission meeting was 1985. Massino called a meeting where he wanted a representative from each family to show in January 2000. It was attended by Massino, Sal Vitale, Louis Daidone, Larry Dentico, Peter Gotti and Joe Waverly.

Thanks man.

[Orzan]

That these debates exist confirms how well you are doing

[aleksandrored]

We’ve always heard that the mafia adapts to the times, and I think Barney did it very well, we may be weird because we’re used to bosses from the past, like Luciano, Genovese, Gambino, Profaci, but personally I think Barney is a boss just like them, only adapted to the times, from what I read here it reminds me of Ricca and Accardo, guys who were in the shadows but had the last word.

[Frank]

We’ve always heard that the mafia adapts to the times, and I think Barney did it very well, we may be weird because we’re used to bosses from the past, like Luciano, Genovese, Gambino, Profaci, but personally I think Barney is a boss just like them, only adapted to the times, from what I read here it reminds me of Ricca and Accardo, guys who were in the shadows but had the last word.

I agree

[Pogo The Clown]

I am in agreement with this thread. Barney is not really a boss. People shit on Paul Castellano. They said he wasn’t a good boss or a real gangster. But he was meeting with his captains. He went to his social club. He attended sit downs. He went to commission meetings. Hell...he met with solidiers like Sammy Bull. He was a boss. Barney is too distant.

Castellano was a boss in a different era. A boss on the streets wouldn't last 5 minutes in this day going to social clubs, meeting with captains and soldiers. The last known commission meeting was 20 years ago that wasnt even attended by all the bosses.

The rules you've just made up for what makes a boss don't exist.

When was the last committee meeting?

Last official commission meeting was 1985. Massino called a meeting where he wanted a representative from each family to show in January 2000. It was attended by Massino, Sal Vitale, Louis Daidone, Larry Dentico, Peter Gotti and Joe Waverly.

Thanks man.

According to Gravano the meeting he was at with Gotti, Amuso and Gigante from 1988 was a Commission meeting.


Pogo

[aleksandrored]

I am in agreement with this thread. Barney is not really a boss. People shit on Paul Castellano. They said he wasn’t a good boss or a real gangster. But he was meeting with his captains. He went to his social club. He attended sit downs. He went to commission meetings. Hell...he met with solidiers like Sammy Bull. He was a boss. Barney is too distant.

Castellano was a boss in a different era. A boss on the streets wouldn't last 5 minutes in this day going to social clubs, meeting with captains and soldiers. The last known commission meeting was 20 years ago that wasnt even attended by all the bosses.

The rules you've just made up for what makes a boss don't exist.

When was the last committee meeting?

Last official commission meeting was 1985. Massino called a meeting where he wanted a representative from each family to show in January 2000. It was attended by Massino, Sal Vitale, Louis Daidone, Larry Dentico, Peter Gotti and Joe Waverly.

Thanks man.

According to Gravano the meeting he was at with Gotti, Amuso and Gigante from 1988 was a Commission meeting.


Pogo

Thanks man.

[slimshady_007]

I am in agreement with this thread. Barney is not really a boss. People shit on Paul Castellano. They said he wasn’t a good boss or a real gangster. But he was meeting with his captains. He went to his social club. He attended sit downs. He went to commission meetings. Hell...he met with solidiers like Sammy Bull. He was a boss. Barney is too distant.

And look what happened to Castellano. He got pinched in two major racketeering indictments. If it wasn’t for Gotti, big Paul would’ve gotten 100 years like the other old time bosses. Bosses who don’t insulate themselves are destined to get caught eventually. The only way a Lcn boss can last on the streets in 2020 is by insulated themself. Barney isn’t the only boss who does it either. Mancuso, Cefulu, and Merlino all hold the boss title, but dont run day to day business. Thats what an street/acting boss or a panel is for. I dont doubt that Barney is official boss of the westside at all. He’s a smart, treacherous guy who has a lot of respect. Not to mention that he’s been around forever and has pretty much outlasted a lot of guys from his time.

[sharpieone]

I guess I phrased this thread poorly, and I apologize. I totally understand he holds the position and is identified as such by LE and members. I’m just wondering, in 2020, with next to no murders being called, how much goes into his involvement with the enterprise? Someone brought up a good point about promotions and demotions. But if someone is meeting with a few acting administration members after the random death or indictment, that seems like it’s not even worth risking your ass for. I totally agree that this is what it takes to stay off the government radar. I just wonder how often bosses now call the shots on how to stay the most profitable, or if they only meet and mandate when it comes to an administrative shuffle. I didn’t mean to call into question BB being in that position, I only meant to use him as an example of someone occupying a position that’s so vastly different now — possibly to the point at which they merely act as senior counsel.

[Wiseguy]

You just HAVE to get all cute and cunty don’t you.
We’re talking absolute hypotheticals here and you get all passive aggressive.

This was my only point: IF a boss doesn’t fulfill a whole bunch of unknowns, at what level do we remove him, in a practical response, from being the boss. Ie Peter Gotti. There comes a time when despite the title, If a boss doesn’t fulfill a certain level of basic criteria we don’t carry them as functioning/legitimate.
We reached that with PG. At what stage (we were discussing a complete list of hypotheticals) would we do so with BB?

That’s a legit discussion which several posters have made interesting contributions on (polack)

Your response? “Why don’t you email the FBI and tell them BB isn’t a boss!” Hahahha.



See where you miss the boat?

You said it - hypotheticals. A theoretical discussion, based on hypotheticals, of what constitutes "a boss." Which, hypothetically, could be applied to any guy at the top right now. And in Barney's case, we are so starved for info (to use your phrase) that it almost renders the discussion pointless. Especially when him being the boss seems to be the common thinking across the board.


What did the GL News article tell us?

* Bellomo has been identified as "the boss," "calling the shots," etc. by law enforcement officials and other reliable sources

* Bellomo is the reason "people from Brooklyn and the Bronx have been showing up in lower Manhattan in the last few years"

* DiChicara served as street boss, relaying messages from Bellomo to captains and important family soldiers

* Bellomo has had no legal problems since his release in December 2008

* Bellomo receives rental income every month from numerous apartment buildings worth millions of dollars that he owns in the Bronx and northern suburbs

* Bellomo has financial interests in construction companies

* He still resides in New York when he's not at his condo in Florida


What exactly, either from this article or what has or hasn't happened since, has people bringing up their own checklists of what makes a boss? Especially in regards to Bellomo?

I guess I phrased this thread poorly, and I apologize. I totally understand he holds the position and is identified as such by LE and members. I’m just wondering, in 2020, with next to no murders being called, how much goes into his involvement with the enterprise? Someone brought up a good point about promotions and demotions. But if someone is meeting with a few acting administration members after the random death or indictment, that seems like it’s not even worth risking your ass for. I totally agree that this is what it takes to stay off the government radar. I just wonder how often bosses now call the shots on how to stay the most profitable, or if they only meet and mandate when it comes to an administrative shuffle. I didn’t mean to call into question BB being in that position, I only meant to use him as an example of someone occupying a position that’s so vastly different now — possibly to the point at which they merely act as senior counsel.

Every boss has their own approach but it definitely seems Bellomo is the type to stay in the background and delegate as much as possible. But that's based on some vague, general info we've received about him in recent years. Him typically relaying messages through one guy doesn't necessarily mean he never meets with anyone else.

Maybe because he hasn't been indicted yet - which could happen next week, next month, or next year for all we know - people think he's too hands off. You will recall that, even back in the 1990's, law enforcement said Bellomo was very hard to surveil.

Anyway, it just seems people have come to certain conclusions about Bellomo that aren't really warranted yet.

[Frank]

Look at Mancuso. A guy and others try to take over the family. He shelves them. Barney can use shelving, demoting, taking a money making operation away from an individual. Murder brings LE. Even planning murder caught on tape, big time sentences. If most members are making good money then I would say hes a good boss.

[Lefty Ruggiero]

Others mentioned that he might not receive any tribute. If that was really the case what is the point of being involved at all, let alone being a boss? Seems like the guy goes through a LOT of trouble to be undetected - I have a hard time thinking he would do that with no financial incentive.

[Manhattan_]

Truthfully I think he has plenty enough legitimate interests - to for go any tribute - the guy is the model for LCN - did his time , only a few very loyal people around him who delegate for him. Christmas time if someone delivers a envelope for him thru a trusted member - as he is way to smart to accept anything himself - then that X-Mas envelope is tribute enough.

[don-shunter]

The best bosses seem to be the ones who don't need the title. They take it out of their loyalty to the code of Cosa nostra and don't really interfere with captains and the daily grind so to speak. They let their crime families grow without much input just a quiet word with an underlying and their will is done.
The Genovese seem to be the best at this especially since the 70s. Catena, Lombardo, Tieri, Salerno, Chin and now Barney, all didn't want or even need the top spot but took it after being asked and never upset crews or rocked the boat so to speak.

[Kash]

Overall I think the question is, is he a traditional boss. The answer is clearly no. But 2020 the mob isn’t the traditional mob. He’s adapted with the times. I don’t see how that’s anything but respected.

[johnny_scootch]

Barney seems to have taken a page or two from Benny Squints book.

I find it ironic how people always talk about the Sicilians being better than the Americans when it comes to the mafia in general but than you realize the least sicilian of all the American families is the most successful.

I wonder how the Sicilians view the Genovese family?