Favorite Family

Hey guys i just wanted to know whats your favorite family and why??

Mine is the patriarca family. I grew up in boston have always been interested in this family. The names and faces in the boston faction are very familiar to me as i grew up in the north end ( aka bostons little italy) and get to see alot of these guys around from time to time.

The philly family is a close second. I think i like the smaller families because it is much easier to follow the players and figure out who is who and what is what.

Chicago for the same reasons you mention...I live here and can walk and see the old spots, where everything happened.

Also because it ties back into the Capone era which was something almost until itself.

For me its the Genoveses, not only because they are the strongest, but also the most wealthy and most succesive bosses. And of course the areas they operate(d).

My favorite fictitious family is ofcourse .....

But I don't really have a "favorite" real world crime family as that sounds a little bit too much like fanboyism.

I do however have the "most interesting/intriguing" family.

From the Five Families I find the Bonanny family the most intriguing and that probably has to do with Donnie Brasco, but also because of famous figures like Joe Bonnano, Carmine Galante and Joe Massino. Another reason is the Cotroni/Rizzuto faction turned independent in Canada.

But due to all the recent discussions on this forum lately I'm also seriously starting to be more and more interested in the Genovese family and the Chicago Outfit.

i find the most interesting family to be the bruno/scrafo philly family. probablly because im from pa and the pittsburgh family isn't really worth mentioning. although i do enjoy doing research on the olden days of them. i find the philly family interesting because you never know what to expect outta them. they go from peaceful leadership, to the pschyoticness of scrafo and to the yuppiness "john gotti" style with merlino, then back to somewhat peaceful and great leader uncle joe. i also think that george anastasia does a great job covering the philly family with his mob talk and fantastic books. i really recommend blood and honor to anyone who waants to know about scarfo's regin. warning tho if you are looking for a good easy read like i considered murder machine to be then i dont recommend it. there is alot of great info from the top of the food chain down to the bottom feeders. i also find the luchesse family interesting. goodfellas is what got me interested in the mafia so i do enjoy reasearching them.

I grew up finding the Gambino Family to be the most interesting. I now find the Lucchese Family to be the most interesting due to the old school nature and clout of its high-ranking members. I would also say the Genovese Family for the same reasons, but too little is known.

Finally, I find Vincent Assaro to be an extremely intriguing figure and the kind of person that can bring that family back from the abyss.

The family I find the most interesting....

The Genovese Family, for obvious reasons.

From the Morello gang in the late 1800's, to the Masseria organization in the 1920's, to Luciano taking over, to it becoming known as the Genovese family in the 1960's, to the Chin taking over in the early 1980's, to today; it has been the premier Mafia group in the U.S.

Obviously mine is Philly but Genovese Family would be second. But not the current administration or recent years although I find it pretty cool how they have been such a powerhouse. But I love the history behind the genovese family. I also like doing research on the smaller families outside of the 5 families of NY, NJ, philly, NE and Chicago. I always think if there are any guys left...associates or an old made guy...that is left running a book somewhere. Im from philly and I always wondered how Big Bill ran the Scranton family with like no one there. And you would here about him making trips to NY and Philly so he had to be making some money before he flipped. Do you think there are guys left doing anything at all as a family or just on there own even in say Detroit, Pitt, KC, LA, etc. Old guys or assoicates or guys left...do they try to get into somewhat legit businesses? Thats what I have read. Espeically real estate. The mob has always been into real estate in one way or another.

There are still made guys in many places around the country - Rochester, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Tampa, Kansas City, Los Angeles, etc. - but not what is considered to be a formally structured, viable family. Rather it's a case of remnants of a family that once was. And even with only a handful of guys remaining they are often still involved in at least bookmaking. As well as have legit interests in businesses like restaurants, clubs, real estate, construction, etc.

My "favourite" would have to be the Gambino family.

Theres so much known about them.

Castellano
Gotti
DeMeo
Gravano
(I cant wait for the upcoming book about Carneglia to be released)

The Genovese's really intrigue me but sadly not enough is known about them for them to be my favourite

I've come to like the Bonanno's, or find them the most interesting might be the best way to put it. They seem to have a mix of white collar gangsters, and street guys, and always had a few Sicilians in their ranks. They were able to rebuild the family after being considered a joke from Donny Brasco debacle.

The Gambinos were also one of the more interesting families for me, but mainly because of their popular status. But the more I learned about the Gotti era, the more I realised how bad they screwed up.

Only the period when Carlo Gambino was their boss do I still find very interesting. He gave them the status they still have to this day in the eyes of the 'general public', although many believe that was actually John Gotti...

Gotti wasnt fit to polish Carlo's shoes.

The Gambino's would have been better off if the Luchese and Genovese were able to kill Gotti and install Jimmy "Brown" Failla or Danny Marino like they planned to do.