The Gambinos would be #2 behind the Genovese in the U.S. And at this point, I'd also put the other the other three New York families ahead of any family outside the city as well. And that includes the Outfit.

For me, the jury is still out on the Rizzutos. There are two schools of thought on them. One being that they are just a Bonanno crew that operates in Canada. The other being they are an international powerhouse that can rival, if not surpass, any family in the U.S. I think the truth falls somewhere in the middle.

The Rizzutos do have international ties to the Mafia in Sicily, as well as for drug connections in South America. They are different because they are sort of a hybrid group made up of guys made into the American mob but said to have loyalties to their clan in Sicily. This is a glaring contradiction for anyone familiar with how things work between the Italian and American Mafias.

At the same time, former Bonanno underboss Salvatore Vitale testified about a meeting he had with Vito Rizzuto where Vito told him they had 18-20 members and mostly kept to themselves, though they were well respected. Of course, this wasn't counting all their associates. Over 90 guys were picked up in Operation Colisee back in 2006. More recently, Vito was said to have sent the message to the Bonannos that he didn't recognize Salvatore Montagna as his boss since he was a "lightweight." The question is, if the Rizzutos were completely broken off from the Bonannos as is thought after the Sciascia murder, why would Vito feel the need to say that at all?

It's also interesting to see the reaction of some authors who have all but mythologized the Rizzutos in the past after the recent killing of Nick Rizzuto Jr.



Today they are a mid-sized family, similar in size to families in New England, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.