How did the Genovese family remain powerful?

Do any quick google search on this family and you'll read about how they've remained powerful even in the 21st century when most of the mafia has been brought to its knees. I'm interested in hearing some of the best reasons from posters here as to why this is. Were they just run by smarter people? Was some of it just luck? Do some in government and law enforcement want them at the top for any particular reason? Everything just seemed to fall into place for this family and many of its high ranking members.

This is all obviously a quick opinion, but I think a lot of it had to do with simply going against the grain of the other families.

They were doing the front boss thing while other families were suffering from internecine warfare over who would be the boss. This way their real hierarchy remained insulated.

I know they encourage anyone in the family who gets booked to plead out to a lesser sentence instead of fighting the government at trial, which seemed to be pro forma for the older generations.

Also, just downright caution. When the feds were trying to get a bug into Fat Tony's club it was occupied around the clock. I think they finally got in during a holiday.

This is a family that always had very strong leadership and that gets passed down through generations. All the other families have seen several coup attempts, successful or not. I can't recall one with the Genovese except for obviously Costello and Vito. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

They have also mastered the art of the plea deal , this minimises the chances of its members becoming informants . They also instead of killing them seem to put there arms round families of guys that do flip , Thomas cafaro being a good example

that family made a ton of money, and managed it well, of all the books ive read about the 5 families, one common thread was that the genoveses stayed under the radar, no gottis there, no cassos, no gallos, and in the book "the five families" its mentioned that they were real money makers,

I understand that all the families have suffered badly in the last few years due the law enforcement and turn coats etc.


But I get the feeling that many of them have turned things around to a certain extent?

They might be in a bit of trouble now though , according to gangland news an undercover FBI agent has been recording them in a Donnie Brasco style operation for 3 years , culminating in the recent arrests

Simply the Genoveses don't made the end of the other family after the commission trial.
With Fat Tony that get 100 y but was the front boss the feds believe to had cut the head of the family.
Gigante was also a smart boss except with the mistake of trust pete savino he dont speak if don't was sure to don't be recorded,use the messaggero for speak with the other capos and feigning mad staied for stay on the street as long as possible.

The genoveses also always used the ruling panels of the most powerful capos so even the soldiers on the streets know exactly who is the boss.

Also I think that one important reason is that Genovese leaders(except for, ironically, Vito) all thought of the family as a family in pure sense of that word. They shared the wealth around unlike some bosses who demanded huge cuts and didn't let their captains earn a lot. Keep the majority happy, the minority can rule for a long time.

By taking pleas and getting back out on the street earlier to run things. The lack of greed by bosses to not take big chunks from their capos, soldiers and associates. They have become more compartmentalized and operate in a cloud of mystery as to who's who in their administration. Kind of like the Army, Don't ask, don't tell!

I just read the book on Chin and he was portrayed as being the most against selling heroin and other drugs among all the bosses. Is it possible that the Genoveses sold less drugs than other families so they avoided harsh sentences? I know some of them did sell it, but was it to a lesser degree than other families?

No, don't think so. Genovese are as guilty as anyone else of selling drugs. Wasn't Vito genovese himself the family name sake himself deep in the dope game and ultimately brought him down?

They are also involved in many big money making semi legitimate or more white collar rackets...

The higher ups in a lot of cases have $ and are not as greedy.. Not being as greedy creates more loyalty and combine that with the plea bargain philosophy leads to less rats...

They are very secretive also so even when someone does rat they don't know as much as someone in another family does.

They have also always been very powerful with smart leaders and the big money making rackets getting passed down to the next generation which was taught how to be smart and low key...

And of course they have been lucky in certain cases.... I don't remember the whole or exact story but I bieve when Fish ratted he could have potentially brought down Barney and other higher ups but something occurred that minimized his potential damage...

Good leaders.

When you have money to start or your skipper is loaded it's much easier to be selective on what rackets to stick your neck out on .

The guys that work under a broke skipper are always looking desperately for the next dollar and it costs them there freedom in most cases.

That is just one reason but there is many.

It start with good leadership.

Their leaders have usually been smarter than other mafia leaders. They're also disciplined. A lot of old war vets have been in leadership positions.

It helped that the family basically started out on top and simply had to maintain that position.

It was more willing to partner with Jewish mobsters and was the first to become involved in the labor union rackets and from there it always had the deepest involvement. A big reason why the family has been the most difficult for the government to remove from unions and legitimate industries.

The family probably had the most political clout, overall, of any if the NY families. Obviously they were the one to represent several of the eastern families on the Commission. Today they are said to have the strongest ties to other crime groups.

One thing law enforcement has commented on is the family being diversified on terms of their rackets. They control the largest bookmaking and loansharking operations in New York and New Jersey, have the most labor racketeering activity remaining, and have usually been at the front when it comes to getting involved in new rackets like stock fraud or health care fraud.

They've been involved in drugs but, especially for a family that size, seem to have been more restrained and careful than other families. And because it's maintained more sophisticated operations in things like gambling and labor, it hasn't been as dependent on the drug trade.

The family, traditionally, has seemed to never have a shortage of capable leaders. The "deepest bench" one LE official said. Loyalty, secrecy, and discipline were always enforced and the result was a lot less guys flipping. And even when guys did flip, there wasn't a domino effect and widespread disruption like with other families. More careful about who they make, relatively speaking. The average age of the family is older than the others too.

As others said above, the family has long been quick to take pleasure deals and minimize the damage. It's why people shouldn't take this latest bust as some earth shaking event. Look at how many top Genovese guys have been indicted over the past 15 years. A lot. It chips away at the family but it's a revolving door as guys go away and come home and the organization overall keeps going. That's all law enforcement can really do as they wait for attrition to take its toll. Which it is, albeit slowly.

They were the first family to have a guy flip. I think they decided to get their act together so it wouldn't happen again. I understand they only make older men. A younger guy with kids at home is a lot more likely to flip, I would think.

they dont "only make older men" they have made plently of guys who are young and even if they make more older guys than other familys i still highly doubt they are only making guys in there 60s and 70s.

They made bellomo when he was 21 its more common to make older guys but i dont think age is what they consider when making someone and that goes for all five familys if someone is a earner and whoever they are reporting to trusts them they will eventually get made you have guys who wait till they are in there 60s or never do get chosen but then you have guys who get made in there 20s and 30s it does not matter especially today its all about the money

They had the first 2 made guys to flip from the nyc 5. Valachi then cafaro in 86. Like someone said they mke young guys. I think it come down to how much clout the capo in the family has. The guy anthony a from springfield did a hit for nigro the guy survived but he liked it and made him 3 months later. Anthony said it was on hos 34th birthday or it was his kids bday. But he was real young fliped 7 yrs later.

I think there true power is they have just as many member's in nyc as they do in say nj ct ma an florida but mostly new jersey. So its well spread out. Say theres 100 members living in the 5 boros they have another half a family living elsewhere.

Insulation of the boss seems to be the common thread between the successful families. Here's what the Chicago Outfit was involved in while Tony Accardo was "retired"/cosigliere:

- Rigging a presidential election

- A plot to kill Fidel Castro (Operation Mongoose)

- Multi-million dollar casino skim in Vegas

- A ton of circumstantial evidence suggesting the involvement of the assassination of a U.S. president

Giancanna, Joey Doves, and others take the heat while Accardo eventually dies an old man at home, having spent 1 night in jail in his entire life.

I have Sammy the Bull's book just 20 feet away from me, maybe I should look it up. The case that convinced Sammy to flip, could he, Gotti, and the others have plead it down? If so, Gotti was truly crazy. I recall Gravano saying that Gotti insisted on them being tried together, for some reason, even when the lawyers advised that separate trials would be better for both of them.

The first mafia family in NYC, and once called the Luciano Family. That says something.

I like you when you're not talking politics.

Actually they had a guy flip much earlier than that. Salvatore Clemente began informing as a confidential source (he never testified) from around 1903 until the 1920s. He is a biggest source of information on the early Mafia in the United States years before Joe Valachi and Nick Gentile.

Rafaele Daniello and Antonio Notaro were two early guys who flipped and gave testimony in late 1910. But they were both camorristas, members of the Camorra. There was also Bartolomeo Fontana, who was member of the Good Killers Gang, he gave testimony against Stefano Magaddino and other Mafia members of the early Castellammarese Family in New York. Fontana cleared up several murders the gang was involved in. But it´s unclear if he was an actual member of the Family.

Why the Genovese family remain powerful ?

Look at its history:

1) The family always used front bosses to divert the attention of the LA from who really command;
2)no internal war (like Colombos)or boss that attracts too much attention
(no gotti or casso)
3)Using the street boss for insulate the real boss;
4)The ruling panels (build a process without knowing who makes the decisions is much more difficult)
5) Take pleas and turn back on the street as soon as possible.


For me what makes the Genovese so difficult to penetrate is their compartmentalisation.
The fbi undercover agent in 4 y he was able to participate in various meetings with family capos but even if would be made there are few chances taht he will see Bellomo or a ruling panel member.

Someone mentioned Bellomo. He is a special case. Wasn't he made early as a favour to his deceased father or something? I think an important guy took him under his wing. He got fast-tracked basically.

Yes Moe Barney was in 77 or 78 at the age of twenty,very fast for the genoveses standards.

I think having their power base in the Bronx has helped. Simply hasn't gentrified like other boroughs.

Because of them, perhaps?

They didn't always use front bosses hence it's name the Genovese family. They were the ny family that was closest to Chicago, I doubt that's a coincidence. That's probably where they got the front boss model from

Good Point. Gentrification hasn't taken off in "SoBro" the way the city council, the elected officials and REBNY wanted it to. They really tried, too. Even had a celebrity bash in Mott Haven with P-Diddy and some A list stars.

As for the mob, there are almost zero neighborhoods that the 2010 census identified as predominantly white. Throgs Neck, Country Club, Woodlawn, a small bit of Morris Park and Riverdale. That's it. And Woodlawn is all Irish, while Riverdale is very Jewish.

There isn't enough suitable habitat remaining to support a thriving mob. You could also throw in City Island, but that's a very low population.