I think that any family that has active ties or factions connected to Sicily or any part of Italy, will be able to survive long term.
For the ones that do not they will probably be absorbed into families that do.

I.E.

The Gambino families Colombo Crew.

The Bonanno families New England Crew.

The WestSide families Philadelphia Crew and Luke Crew.

I dont think the current recruitment pool in America can support replenishing of the ranks long term.

The only Anomaly to the equation is the WestSide, they just did so many things right, I think they actually continued to groom their guys to take key positions, groomed their recruits before they made them, invested wisely so alot of their members have accumulated wealth,

This is who I thin survives and why:

1) Gambino- they are international Sicilians are running the family.
2) Westside- as I discussed up above.
3) Bonanno- need stable leadership however, have a strong ZIP faction.
4) Detroit- similiar to the Westside however, they have a Sicilian faction and a Canada Crew, so they did everything right, brought in their children and nephews/cousins, its a family affair.
5) Chicago- I dont think anyone knows what their plans were or if there was/is a plan in place to keep the family going for future generations, it seems whatever they planned they planned well.
6) Buffalo- Buffalo controls that Canada/America border to get drugs across and what they have going on in Canada, so a crew in Buffalo and a couple of crews in Canada.


This is my opinion I know alot of you will not agree however, I gave my reasons.

Where will the new blood come from for the Colombo's? Who is going to lead them? Teddy Persico?


The Luke's other than them doing something like Massino did where he pushed current members into bringing in their blood, there are no more American farm teams, no more Bath Ave Boys, Bay Parkway Boys etc...

So when they get small enough they will become like a branch of a bigger family.
Like the Decavs, and they actually have a Sicilian faction, they needed to be absorbed by the Gambino family, they needed their backing.

So the rest of the families will be "GLORIFIED CREWS" like the DeCavs.

who are the leaders of these zip factions?
does detroit and bonanno family even have these anymore?
i also question the partnerships canada crew in windsor i assume...there has not been a sniff of mafia activity in that city for decades.
if u take a look at some of the major busts in the windsor area it all indo canadian coke smugglers and tobacco haulers,asian oc etc.

Vito the Bonannos have recently been reported to have members who travel between Sicily and America. I believe Detroit still has strong ties as well. And I don't see the Luccheses going anywhere. There's one Lucchese guy I'd like to know more about and that's Tindaro Corso. There's absolutely no photo of him and I wonder if he's from the old country because both his first and last name is Italian. And didn't the Colombos recruit Angelo Spata from Italy? It's possible that all 5 Families have ties to the old country to some degree.

Spata- was born here he is the son of the owner of Lucy’s sausage which is the best Italian sausage in America.

As a matter of fact they are at the feast on 18th I’ll be there getting a sandwhich.

Angelo married one of Persico’s daughters.

He used to drive for Butch Carrero’s from little italy years back.

He got his button because he married Persico’s daughter
His father is still an associate of Gambino’s last I heard he was in Jackie DAmico’s crew from 18th Ave.

I never heard the Colombo’s having a Sicilian faction anything is possible.

I think they are in trouble here.
I don’t think they have capable leadership.

Teddy Persico he is not Boss Material he has spend more than 1/2 his adult life in prison.
It would me more of the same thing with them.

For families to survive: (ALL FAMILIES)

1) They have to want it.
2) They have to have a plan in place.
3) They have to have good stable leadership that can lead them to profitable as

As I mentioned earlier Massino had a plan atleast
he pushed his guys to bring in their sons and nephews.

You see a lot of it Father and Sons in the Bonanno’s
More than any other family by far I believe.

I think it's possible that the 5 Families all have members who are what I like to say 'straight off the boat" from Italy, whether the mainland or Sicily. Whether they're full-blown Italian or Sicilian factions is another matter. But keep in mind that for every Italian or Sicilian they recruit, I think that there's the potential for them to create a faction of their own countrymen and maybe even take control, especially with the dwindling American recruitment pool.

United States 20**

A new elected President Donal Trump to curb the advance of Mexicans and non-whites,accepts the offer of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to allow tens of thousands of Italians to settle in America.
However what Trump does not know is that Meloni has given orders to empty prisons and asylums as well as arrest and deport all members of organized crime.
So 100k italians come to US and together with honest workers come the criminals that rebuilted the us mafia and create new families.
Im joking,men.

Definitely agree that the Colombos are closest to death's door - and three civil wars and three decades of nepotistic leadership later, how could they not be? Few if any viable leadership candidates and the quality guys they do have are getting awfully old. Seems like the smartest guys around that borgata - like Michael Persico - long ago figured out that its best not to be an official member and to just get rich trading on the association instead.

Also agree that in a weird sort of way, the Bonannos are one of the stronger families with long term prospects because of the family ties and the Sicilian connections. In fact, they're probably unnecessarily hampered at the moment by lacklustre leadership.

Genovese should in theory be strongest, but you have to wonder who's going up in the ranks? Could it be a huge, strong family that one day hits a wall? If they are recruiting successfully, how are they getting the success other families aren't getting? I rather suspect that the Genovese are slowly going the way of Chicago - powerful, yes, profitable, yes - but just getting older and older with each passing year. Hard to know what's going on in there.

Gambino's are big enough and have the Sicilian connection that they should be pretty well OK. Also agree that if the Colombos DID fold, it would be most likely to the Gambino's benefit.

Lucchese I would think are doing OK for now - DeSantis and Dellorusso seem to have provided some stability and Madonna, Crea et al are doing their time like men. But like all of the above, its tough to imagine that they'd have any more than half a dozen capable, *SMART* and tough guys that are real long-term leadership material. And if the talent pool is really that shallow then...it may be only a matter of time.

Around the rest of the country, the prospects are bleak although like others here, I suspect more is going on than anyone knows about.

In my town, there was always a historical presence of mob guys whose influence peaked in the mid 70's - and those of them who are still around will lend money and take bets. One in particular is well known for sophisticated scams and money laundering. And while they would almost certainly not kill you if you didn't pay them, I guarantee you that not paying promptly would be a very bad idea. You see these old guys hanging around any one of a couple of Italian coffee shops and from an outsider's perspective, its almost as much now a social thing as it is anything else. I don't think any of them see a resurgence in their organization. I wonder if that is not a distant early warning as to how things will ultimately go in the bigger cities where they are surviving for the moment on their density but will ultimately face the same issues in time.

Would the smaller fading Families be absorbed once they got to the point that none of their current made guys wanted the big chair?
If nobody wants to be the Boss and have that target on them, maybe that's when they get absorbed into another family?
Or does a large Family just come in and say "you are now with us, and you have no choice"? I think it is my previous thought.

A couple of recent examples would be the Gambino’s taking over what was left of the Trafficante Family.

Again the Gambino’s made a move out to New Orleans, with some joint rackets.
The feds shut that down pretty quickly.

L.A. crew is currently headed by a Gambino, they are really under the Gambino flag now.


Or again recently the Philadelphia family Re-aligned themselves with the westside
So they could stand up to the Luke’s.

And I am guessing the DeCavs were concerned about whoever moving in on their turf
So they aligned themselves with the Gambino’s.

So I think it would be more mutual.

And I am pretty sure the DeCavs probably more or less still steer their ship.
They just kick up stairs to the Gambino’s

If they want to make new guys they would ask the Gambino’s for permission.

All the above Is what I have read from websites like G.R. and Gangland News etc.
I don’t have any personal knowledge about the above.

I don't think that Families operating in the shadows of more powerful and bigger Families is the same as being absorbed by those Families or losing all their independence. This has actually been going on historically since the American Mafia's inception. Smaller Families have always acted as a satellite of sorts of bigger Families. I don't think that the Trafficante Family were absorbed, they went extinct, significant difference there. Also, if the Colombos were absorbed by the Gambino Family what would we have? The 4 Families of NYC? You know how boring that would be? Not to mention 4 Families makes it much easier for the feds. I actually remember reading where one agent said part of the problem with NYC vs LCN in other cities is that they have 5 Families to tackle.

was it ever known who the bonannos were that travelled to sicily to meet with francesco domingo et al?
from italian news that i've read it sounds more like the domingo led sicilians were setting up shop in the U.S.
i cannot recall even a mention of any bonannos they were allied with.

furthermore can anyone on here see john spirito jr or any of the other lowlifes that mancuso surrounds himself with being an emissary to hardened sicilian men of honor?

these meetings also took place 2016/2017 in sicily around the time that cammarano jr. was making his move to become boss. is it possible they were there to feel out support for such a move.

with vito grimaldi now dead the only member (shelved or otherwise) to be named part of the sicilian faction was him. so whos the new leader?

Read this article talks about the Sicilian faction.
It’s from a few years ago.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688/amp

Few years? More like many years ago.

12 years long time.
I read article again and still don't get a clear picture of who these alleged 25 zips are
Vito Grimaldi,his son Joseph .
Vincent and Jerome Asaro unlikely.
Cammarano Grimaldi's son in law maybe although he's more often mentioned as a leader in Queens when not up on the shelf with the elf.
Vincent badalamenti is allied with Mancuso.
And to put to rest this myth that sciascia was the capo in MTL for the rizzutos.
He was not...gerlando sciascia was the Rizzuto families man in my not NYS guy in MTL.
Think of all the senior members on the street in MTL in 1999.
Nick Sr. Vito,Paolo Renda,Rocco Sollecito,Francesco Arcadia,joe dimaulo and I could go on. R we to believe that sciascia was the guy running the show?
Beautiful old world Sicilian deception by the rizzutos who by that time has completely eclipsed not only the bonannos in power worldwide but aside from the Genovese and gambinos all other east coast mafia families.

Further the rizzutos had a well functioning admin in 1999 that far exceeded what most satellite crews would have.
I also wouldn't even put a number on man power amongst Italians let alone the allied criminal groups that the rizzutos so often worked with.

I am not sure what you are trying to say here?
That you think there is no more Sicilian faction of the Bonanno’s?

The faction has been around since the 1960’s maybe longer.
They held some pretty high spots in the admin through the years.

At one time ways back they voted in Catalano however, due to the fact that he was already part of the Sicilian mafia they could not put him in as boss.

I believe Montagna was part of that faction as well.

There is no shortage of Sicilians in Sicily, or guys that want to come into the mafia italy.

So what would make you think that?
Other than that you have not read any news specifically about them.

Historically they really never made headlines.

Aside from Vito Grimaldi who's now dead I have never heard any other names currently of this faction. The above mentioned article states 25 members. Is it 2 crews then?
Does the Sicilian faction even exist in 2022?
I would say no and more likely it's Sicilian mafia members operating in ny.
I would be curious to know if the author counts among the 25 members in MTL?

The B.H. Forum usually has lists for everything.

The article stated I believe 25 and growing....

The author is none other than:
By
Jerry Capeci, Contributor
Organized crime expert
Mar 18, 2010, 05:12 AM EDT
|
Updated May 25, 2011

To this very day there are vibrant Sicilian factions in both the Bonanno and Gambino families that flourish. Trapani Province supplies the Bonanno's. And Palermo Province supports the Gambinos. Thats a well wore fact for well over a century already. And a fact that continues "unabated" to this very day.

All five families. Colombo will not be absorbed. DeCavalcante. Definitely Philadelphia has staying power. There's a chance for KC. I know nothing of Detroit.

I always found it strange that there are people who believe the smaller families will eventually be absorbed. It's not gonna happen any time soon. The Colombos have always been the smallest. Yet, they still have some of the biggest crews around

Detroit still has ties to Terrasini. The Detroit area has seen an influx of Italian immigrants over the years with an estimated 275,000 now living there. A large number of these are from Sicily.

The D'Anna brothers are known to have immigrated from Terrasini.

Which ones of the Colombo crews are that big in size?

The Colombos are too proud to allow themselves to be absorbed, they've been around since before the 1920s. I just don't see it happening.

On that I agree. In fact, a general "merging" or "absorbing" or smaller borgatas by the larger borgatas will never happen IMO. Its all hype. Whether a crew has 250 guys, or 50 guys, each is staying put right where they are.

so the colombos r destined to slowly decrease in size until there is nothing left?
i doubt they even have 50 active members on the street currently not to mention the entire admin still under indictment and all under house arrest with restrictions.

who's the new boss?acting boss?ruling panel?

ALL the NYC families have been somewhat deduced in size and reach over the years. But as far as the Colombo's (or any other NYC group shrinking to nothing?). The chances of that are slim to none! Now as far as the "quality" of recruit, thats a whole other story. But as far as the numerical count goes......

In fact, not to get too specific with you on this. But all the crews have been on a serious recruitment campaign for years now. The results of which have yet to be publicly documented and revealed.

Don't believe everything you read or hear on these forums or in the newspapers.

i can see that just by a few of the names in the most recent 2022 ny mafia indictments.
carmelo polito as acting capo plus a soldier for the genovese.
anthony pipitone as capo i was aware of but not his brother vito being a soldier.
nicholas celisi as genovese capo and soldiers michael messina,john campanella?new to me as well as joseph celso from the romanello punch out indictment.

The WestSide has always been in a class by itself.

They have been hiding their boss since the 70’s

This is the way that I am looking at this:

If a large percentage of current members were either:

1) in a formal gang I.E. “PURPLE GANG” prior to being a member,
2) In the late 80’s and into the early 2000’s we’re part of a crew I.E. “BATH AVE BOYS”
3) Were brought in through family.
4) Associates that wanted to be made but never were. “HUGE POOL OF ASSOCIATES” Like Polito, Frankie B.F. Guerra, Larry Sessa just to name a few.

(I know Sessa was made, the point is he was newly made and was drawn from a pool that will no longer exist in future generations)

If you took an accounting of day the Bonnano’s and out of their what 110 members
Say 60-70 of them are part of the above statistic.

Case in point: The whole Bruno family the whole admin the closest associates were part of the Joey Merlino’s crew.

There are no more crews like that that the family can recruit from..,

With out the whole farm system and the fact that fathers are less eager to bring their children in to become members.

With out alll the above where is the next generation going to come from?

It has very little to do with the size of the family.

As a matter of fact the smaller the family the easier it would be to maintain its current strength by way of less recruits needed.