The inter dynamic among the big three running the ship with Genovese in the can was really interesting. In the DeCarlo tapes he says that Genovese told him that he needed Catena to be the boss because of his connections to the big money in Vegas, Havana, etc. DeCarlo said that Catena did not want to be boss but only took the position because he did not want to have to kick up any of his money, which was a ton, as he may have been the wealthiest gangster ever when you take into account his legitimate interests in Bally's, Standard Oil, Helman's, etc. Miranda was oldest and most experienced, but he was pissed at Genovese for not making him the acting boss according to DeCarlo, who said that Genovese thought that Miranda was too close to Costello. Then you had Eboli, who I think replaced Tony Bender when he fell out of favor with Genovese and was hit. Eboli was probably chosen because of his presumed loyalty to the big boss, but he could not stand Catena and his aloof attitude toward NYC mafia politics. He also complained about Catena not including Miranda in decisions despite his experience. The idea that Eboli was power hungry is somewhat questionable given the fact that he lined up support not for himself, but for Lombardo, to replace Catena. One thing is for certain, he did not like Catena and he hated Gambino.

I think that it can be assumed that after Genovese died Catena became the top boss with Ryan as the under, but when Catena went to jail in 71 and Ryan was hit in 72 things got murky. When Catena got out in 72 he immediately went to Florida, where he lived until 2000, probably remaining a power behind the scenes but not involved in the day to day. If it is thought that Gambino was behind Eboli's murder, I find it hard to believe that he did it without first consulting the other powers in the Genovese family, just like when Piccolo was hit in Connecticut the Genovese got the okay from Castellano. When Piccolo was hit it eliminated a problem for the Gambinos, because he was under indictment for drug dealing and the extortion of Wayne Newton. Using the same train of thought, getting rid of Eboli probably helped the Genovese by getting someone out of the way who might have wanted to run the family with Genovese and Catena gone.

The people who benefited from Eboli's death in the family were Lombardo and Funzi Tieri. A lot of people assume that Lombardo wanted to run the family, but I am not so sure, as when Eboli told him that he wanted him to be boss Lombardo did not seem too anxious to jump into the breach. He was obviously a power, but the actual boss, who knows? Funzi Tieri was very powerful and respected, and if a guy from Jersey could run the family what would stop a guy from Brooklyn? At least some of the Mary Farrel transcripts have him meeting with Chicago and the like as the top guy. However, he was not a healthy man. Then, if you believe what Frank Sheeran said in his book, he and Bufalino met with Fat Tony as boss of the Genovese in the 70's. Most likely, Sheeran did not know enough to differentiate between the actual boss of the Genovese and a higher up so he just assumed that anyone meeting with Bufalino had to be the actual boss. I don't think that Gigante came into the picture for the top spot until the late 70's.

Obviously, it is very confusing, and we will never know for sure what was what. My best guess is that after Catena went to Florida Lombardo, Tieri and Salerno were the three most powerful guys in the family who probably each had final say on different matters at different times depending upon who was healthy and available,until Gigante took over as the actual boss in 1980 or 81. Just one man's opinion for what it is worth.