Carlo Gambino

Obviously, Gambino's choice in Big Paul Castellano as his successor and heir divided the family, but does anyone think there was a better candidate than Big Paul to run the Gambino family?

Yea Dellacroce for starters. He was LCN to the core and definitely had put in time. That being said he wasn’t the best choice for the direction Carlo wanted family to go but I feel he was a better choice and all around more respected then Big Paul. A few other guys near the top would have been a better choice for the family as well

James Failla, Salvatore Aurello, Joe N Gallo, Frank Perrone, Tony Scotto, Joe Paterno, John Riccobono, and Mario Traina.

I would say Anthony Scotto. Guy was younger and smart; if not smarter then Paul. I think he's the last person alive who was named a captain by Carlo Gambino.

Paul said on wiretap ''Tony can be the president if he wanted too'' Something of that nature; I'm not directly quoting.

. Neil was constantly under surveillance and under indictment. He also knew nothing about the white collar or labor rackets. He was well respected for sure but I understand why Carlo didnt choose him

Think Neil was locked up the last few years of carlo life. He would have probaly been in the famous picture of all those made guys and jimmy the weasel and Frank Sinatra in 7576 why else wasn't neil there.

Tax evasion for 2 or 3yrs

He missed his shot. Then carlo names big paul I believe. Million dollar question in October 1976 when carlo gambino dies is neil on the street? Why wasn't the underboss at his deathbed if Carl is sick? Didnt he see it coming big paul who was acting boss at the time would over step him. That might be a first in mafia history. A acting boss becomes boss over the official underboss. How the hell did neil let that happen rite?

Big paul went from a capo to acting boss because neil was in jail

That be cool if sammy graziano ever did a reddit and answered mafia ners questions. Hey board next time michael franzese is taking question I know he was in another family we should ask him home that happend

My spell check on my phone twists names sorry

Yes Neil was on jail from 73-76. During that time Carlo got sick and Paul was the acting boss. So the decision had been made. Like I said Neil was well respected but he was always under FBI surveillance/indictment. He got inducted again in 1979 for murder and only got out of that because the Bergen crew murdered the co-defendant Tony Plate. Carlo wanted somebody similar to himself. Paul made mistakes near the end but his first 6-7 years he did the smart thing staying away from clubs and things like that and focusing on white collar rackets

No doubt there was at least a handful of guys who would have been a better choice then Neil. In the can or not Neil would have been a better boss then Paul as far as keeping family together and keeping men under him content and happy. He was happy with money he made and would not have bled his men or made them feel embarrassed by his actions. As far as white collar part of family goes he would have let them do their thing and not worried about sticking his nose(pun intended) in shit he didn’t know about like Big Paul did with street shit.

Brown or Gallo probably would have been best choices, but Neil would have been better then Paul and his age wouldn’t have made a difference as The commission case would have focused on him and Paul still with Paul getting life and Neil dying just before because in all probability Neil would have had to put a business man under him to control that side of family. Then Neil names a successor and that boss doesn’t get caught up for Paul being hit because it wouldn’t have been necessary at that point. IMO works out way better if Neil or Gallo or Jimmy Brown gets it.

Jimmy Brown would of been a better option, call me biased.

Think it's messed up Gallo knew about the Castellano plot; He did nothing to stop it. Paul and Gallo were friends for decades.

Zav, that's not the first time or the last time that will happen, most mob hits need to convince a family member or friend to get close to the victim even becoming the killer.

When you read their files, James Failla, Joe N. Gallo, Anthony Scotto, and John Riccobono really stands out.

That's true. Especially the case with Anthony Mirra; His cousins whacked him and his uncle Al Walker went along with it.

Can u elaborate when u say James Failla; Joe Gallo; Anthony Scotto and John Riccobono stood out?

Neil was a gorilla, LCN to the core but not a boss. I bet Carlo wanted someone to negotiate 1st and wack as a last resort not the other way around.

Neil was also, a boss is the boss guy and would always defer to Gambino's wish, edict, whatever.

Scotto is still alive I believe.

Yes; Scotto is still alive. I think he could have been a good boss. He was smart. Who retired him? Castellano; or Gotti?

Zav, Tony Scotto was demoted by John Gotti in 1986, mainly for questioning John Gotti picking of people in certain spots, soldiers who were more experienced being pasted over for guys that were loyal to John Gotti, and were not as efficient as other members were in that particular field.

James Failla was a cautious man, he was a former driver for Gambino, and had a huge bookmaking and gambling operation. His control of the Trade Waste Association made both him and the Gambino family rich. He was a master extortionist and had done work for the family. He served as acting boss during Gambinos reign which won a few people over. I know people say he was a big time loan shark, but most of that was due to his crew. He again served as acting boss with Peter Gotti when John Gotti was locked up.

Joe N Gallo, was big in gambling and the garment industry. He had strong connections to Philadelphia, New Jersey, Tampa, and New Orleans. He suffered a stroke in 74 or 75, and when Carlo passed away, he refused the top spot. I also want to note that from 1957 till Gallo was demoted, the Consigliere was always a Calabrian. His connections alone made him a good candidate for the top apot.

John Riccobono, he inherited much from his father. He had his finger in a lot of business and was big in the garment industry. Two stories, he was demoted by Castellano or he stepped down in the early 80's.

In my opinion, Gambino has never considered Dellacroce to be a potential successor.

Don't forget that Gambino was very hostile towards the Anastasia faction of the family. Dellacroce was one of the few Anastasia guys he could work with so he made him underboss in order to keep the family united but there was no way, he would make an Anastasia guy boss of the family.

In that regard, Gotti taking over Castellano could be viewed as the Anastasia faction taking back the boss position from the Gambino one.

In the Late 50s-earlier 60s, was the Anastasia faction really powerful enough to take power from Don Carlo?