I think a couple of factors, Lilo. One, Big Paul was under indictment himself and probably preoccupied with his own headaches. Second, similar to the GF trilogy, Castellano underestimated Gotti and those who might conspire against him. According to "Gangland," Gotti was livid that Castellano did not attend the funeral of Underboss Neil Dellacroce. It did not go unnoticed by big earners like Gotti, Gravanno, & DeCiccio that Big Paul rarely shared the wealth he was accumulating from his captains and soldiers.
Neil Dellacroce was also helping stonewall Big Paul from getting the Ruggerio tapes in order to protect his protegee, John Gotti. The tapes showed that both Quack Quack Ruggierio and Gotti were dealing heroin against Castellano's strict prohibition.
Lastly I think part of it was Big Paul's arrogance. The Gambino leader was the Boss of Bosses, which was a title highly regarded in Cosa Nostra and not someone to go after on a whim.
Those are all excellent points, goombah. I guess Paul really was ultimately not that quick when it came to some things. As you say, arrogant. Obviously times change but if he's the boss and gave someone a direct order to give him tapes either he should have had those tapes the next day or someone should have been digging a grave on Arthur Kill Road..
