As for back in the day.....


The Chicago Outfit was one of 7 families that were on the original Commission established in 1931, along with the five New York families and Buffalo. The Genovese family represented most of the eastern families on the Commission. The Outfit represented most of the western families. By the 1960's, the ties between the families across the nation had started to become weaker and the Outfit missed more and more Commission meetings. This eventually resulted in a sort of "two headed" Commission with the New York and other eastern families in one and the Outfit resolving issues regarding western families in the other. The only remaining common interests were open areas like Florida, Nevada, and California, and the national unions like the Teamsters, Laborers, and Hotel Employees Union.

There is really no argument that the northeast was always a more important Mafia base than the midwest. With New York itself being ground zero for all things Mafia. The Genovese were not only the most powerful family in New York. The families they represented in the east were larger and more important than the ones the Outfit represented in the west.

At its peak the Outfit was well known for its strong political clout. If any family could rival this during the same time frame in the 1950's and 1960's, it was the Genovese family in New York and New Jersey. Frank Costello had as much political influence as guys like Guzik, Humphries, or Alex ever had.

Besides controlling several Teamsters and Laborers Union Locals, as well as a few Hotel Employees Union locals, the Outfit had considerable clout over those unions on a national scale and their pension funds. The difference is, the Genovese family controlled even more Teamster and Laborers locals, and about the same number of Hotel Employees Union locals. And they had comparative influence on a national level. Through their extensive involvement in these unions that was seen nowhere else outside of New York, the Genovese were able to control (along with the other New York families) the construction industry, trucking industry, garbage industry, the garment center, the trade show industry at the Javits Center, the waterfront, the Fulton Fish market, etc. Plus, the Genovese shared controlled of the 4th major labor union, the ILA, with the Gambinos, and had sway on the docks in Manhattan, New Jersey, and Miami.

At their peak, both families operated in several locations. In the 1950's and 1960's, after the Outfit, the Genovese family had the most interest in Las Vegas hotels. The Genovese family had extensive interests in the entertainment industry. And the Genovese have always been said to have the largest mob gambling operations in the country. And, at their peak, the Genovese had over 400 members. The Outfit maybe had half of that at its peak.