Why is he so seldom spoken of. He ran the Genovese Family for 11 years. Seems odd to me.

As far as I can tell, there isn't much information about him. It's been speculated that he was the boss of the Genovese family after Genovese's death. I would certainly love to know more about him too and some explanation about what his exact role was.

Let's wait what Ivyleague has to say about this.

From Wikipedia

Philip Lombardo (October 6, 1908, New York City - April 1987) also known as "Benny Squint" and "Cockeyed Phil", was the boss of the Genovese crime family from the late 1960s until the beginning of the 1980s.


Federal arrest photo of Philip "Benny Squint" LombardoLombardo began his career as a soldier on Michael "Trigger Mike" Coppola's powerful 116th Street Crew in the East Harlem section of New York. During the 1940s, Lombardo served a brief prison stretch for narcotics trafficking, his only imprisonment. Due to this thick eyeglasses Lombardo earned the nickname, "Benny Squint."

In 1959, family boss Vito Genovese was sent to prison. However, Genovese used a series of acting bosses to maintain control of the family from prison. His three acting bosses, or Ruling Panel, were Capo Michele Miranda, underboss Gerardo "Jerry" Catena, and acting boss Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli. The trio panel was known to authorities but in 1962 former mobster turned government witness Joseph Valachi stated before a US Senate subcommittee that Lombardo was also a part of this same panel. In that same year Anthony Strollo disappeared and was presumed murdered. Strollo's role as a front or acting boss was given to Thomas Eboli. Eboli himself was later gunned down in 1972.

According to FBI informant Vincent Cafaro, Lombardo had been boss since 1969 and had been using Eboli and Tieri as decoys to insulate himself from the FBI. It then seems that he coincided his retirement with Tieri's death and named Vincent Gigante as his successor whilst at the same making Anthony Salerno the new front boss to disguise Gigante's transition into boss. This way, the FBI would still not know who was really in charge and would continue to go after the wrong people, which they did sentencing Salerno to 100 years in prison in 1986. Although there is no definitive evidence Valachi's and Cafaro's testimonies have made it widely believed that he had been boss all along.

Tieri and Gigante manipulated members of the Philadelphia crime family into murdering their boss Angelo Bruno in 1979, and then killed off those same members of the Philly mob to cover their tracks. It is worth noting that Lombardo may also have been involved. As he was at least the de facto boss, and probably the official boss during that time he probably had the final say on whether the plan could go ahead. Adept at remaining behind the scenes he may have been privy to this scheme also, this is purely speculation however.

By 1981, Lombardo was in poor health and played a more relaxed role in the day-to-day operations of the family. Although he resided in Englewood, New Jersey, he spent his remaining winters in Hollywood, Florida. He made it clear that Gigante was to become the new boss, and Salerno would continue as the front boss. He was 78 years old and living in Florida when he died in April 1987.

He was one of the smartest players in that life and it's largely due to Benny Squint's approach, that this family remains the most powerful family in America. He instilled great discipline and taught his men the importance of secrecy. That is really his legacy. I know that when he retired to Florida, he bought a house close to his old friend from Harlem, Jimmy Alo. The two were often seen walking the sidewalks together. Jerry Catena was also living nearby.

There's been a lot of debate about him over on the other forum. As was said above, after Cafaro flipped he revealed that Lombardo had been running the family for years and that guys like Eboli and Tieri were acting bosses. Fat Tony Salerno was set to become the next boss but had some health issues, after which Chin officially took over. And then, after he recovered, Fat Tony was acting boss for the Chin.

A well known poster on the other forum (a local guy who grew up in Jersey and knew certain people fairly well) doesn't believe Cafaro's story. He says that Lombardo was only the boss for a very short time (a few months a believe) before he stepped down. He thinks Tieri wouldn't have "fronted" for anyone. Or Fat Tony for that matter. However, at least by the time Fat Tony was thought to be the boss, there are several wiretaps from different mobsters (including Fat Tony himself) insinuating that Chin was the actual boss.

In my opinion, by the 1980's it seems clear that Chin was definitely the boss, with Fat Tony as his acting or street boss if you will. Exactly what the leadership was in the 1970's will probably never be fully agreed upon. Sammy Gravano talked about meeting Chin during that time and being told he was the consigliere. Turncoat Pete Savino also talked about being called on the carpet in front of Chin, Fat Tony, and Tieri, though he was unsure of their specific ranks.

Do you also know why he supposedly stepped down after just being the boss for a couple of months?

The poster's explanation on the other forum was that Lombardo didn't want the stress that came with the job. He's always said that one reason why the Genovese bosses have always been superior is that they have taken the position somewhat reluctantly and out of a sense of duty. Not because they really wanted it or were using it to get rich. Guys like Lombardo, Tieri, Salerno, and Gigante were already millionaires before reaching the top.

We're using anonymous posters as sources now? Who is that poster? Give me a name.

Believe me, I'm always the most skeptical when it comes to people claiming inside information on the net. I usually take what they have to say with a dump truck of salt because, after all, anyone can claim anything. And I'm usually slow to quote them elsewhere. And I never could stand those people who claim to know what's going on simply because they live in a certain area. As if their zip code automatically gives them the inside track.

That said, this particular poster I'm referring to is very well known. He's posted for several years. Of all the local guys who "knew people" on the forums, you could probably count the real legit ones on two hands. This one is considered to be at the top of the list. He's never claimed anything outrageous. He's a Jersey guy and has lived there his whole life and has known people like Gerry Catena (back in the day obviously), Bobby Bisaccia, etc.

What I was quoting him as saying, I was just putting out there for consideration. There has always been sort of a tug-of-war back and forth on message boards between the mob watchers, who look at things in the macro/bigger picture, and the local guys who look at things in the micro/up close picture. Sometimes the info provided by both sides conflicts. But using both sources tends to result in the best over all picture of what's going on.

99% of everything this poster has said has never needed to be questioned. As I said, the only real disagreement he and others had (including myself) was the makeup of the Genovese administration in the 1970's and 1980's. Obviously he doesn't go by his real name. The name he went by on an old message board back in the day was "Picasso." Over on the Real Deal he now goes by "lucky7."

I figured you were talking about him. Picasso has been exposed as a liar and a rat many times. He's like the John Alite of organized crime forums, except Alite actually knew people. Picasso was called out on many things back in the day and for a while he completely stopped posting. I'm not exactly sure why, but it was either due to his incarceration for scamming the elderly down in Florida or the problems he was having with his credibility. You really think a guy like Jerry Catena would come near a guy like him? This guy is not even Italian. He's an FBI informant whose real name is Steve Lenehan. You do know that right? I thought this was common knowledge. The man's not trustworthy and he should NEVER be used as a source when discussing this subject. The reason he's been held in high regard over there at real deal is because he's been there forever. The Europeans were in awe of his stories and the guys who ran that site all stood up for him for a very long time. It got harder as time went by . He misled a lot of people with his bullshit. The local guys, the people who actually were around some of the people he claimed to have known, all had problems with this poster. That's not a coincidence.

Steve Lenehan has a new name now, but I decided to google him and found a small youtube piece somebody did on him. You'll like this.

Burn.

Lucky you've posted so much other reliable shit though Ivy, so i still value your opinion. Its comforting to know you are wrong sometimes too.

Nope, totally different guy. This has been hashed out many times. The one I'm talking about is definitely NOT Lenehan.

See my post above. The guy I'm talking about is NOT Lenehan. Do a search for that topic over on the Real Deal. You'll see the guy I'm talking about (lucky7) and Steven Lenehan are not the same person.

Frankly, Mickey, I'm shocked and appalled that you'd think I wouldn't be aware of Steve Lenehan. SHOCKED & APPALLED!

Y'know i thought it was a bit too simple. I should have known better. Faith restored.

I, unfortunately, am not a member over at RealDeal. I would like to be, but as yet no invite. I dont know why.
*ahem*(hinthinthint)

Seriously but, ive learnt more about LCN in the last year on the boards then I had in the last five years from books, & its from the links & info guys like you post that allow me to further my own research. & we can all agree, Benny Squint's a pretty interesting case study.

Check your messages....

Can you please direct me to the topic on real deal. I want to know how you can be so sure..

I'm sure because this is a very old topic that was dealt with a long time ago. Go to the link below, where I've typed "lenehan" into the search engine on the forum. Or you can do that yourself using the search function. You'll see the word "lenehan" higlighted in various threads. There are quite a few you'll have to go through, going back over 15 pages or so, but everything is explained in there.

http://www.realdeal-forum.com/forum/sear...p;submit=Search

Lol, nvm. I believe you.

great thread...Lombardo has always been one of those interesting figures for me. from the limited info available i was under the impression he basically called the shots from eboli's death (or even Genovese's death) until '81 or so. interesting to hear the other theories about how he may have only been official boss for a few months.

can I get a invite to the real deal forum too? ive always wanted to check that place out

Where the fuck you get off talking about me behind my back going on over my head XD