1. Who was the most powerful Don that ruled the Gambino Mob family?

2. Shortly after Anastasia's murder, I read somewhere that a certain faction of Soldiers/Button Men, who were loyal to him, were gonna take action against Carlo. What was the outcome of all this?

3. What were some of the reasons why Gotti wanted Paul taken out? Was it because Paul planned to have him killed first? Was it because he thought Paul wasn't suitable for the title of boss? Did it have something to do with Paul's future plans for legitimacy and his extreme opposition on Narcotics? Or what? What else could there be?

1. I go with Carlo Gambino because he made the family the most powerful in the nation. His predecessor, Albert Anastasia, had tremendous personal force and was greatly feared, but his wasn't the most powerful family. And, at the end of the day, he was assassinated, while Gambino died peacefully in his own bed.
2. There may have been some dissent after Gambino took over. But within a month, Gambino's main supporter, Vito Genovese, called the famous Apalachin convention, which was held (among other reasons) to anoint and legitimize Gambino.
3. Gotti's main reason for planning Castellano's assassination was self-defense. After Gotti's patron and protector, Aniello (Mr. Neil) Dellacroce, died, Castellano announced that he was breaking up Mr. Neil's crews, which included Gotti's crew. He also announced that his new underboss would be his chauffer, Tommy Bilotti, a stammering, bat-wielding thug whose only qualification was his loyalty to Big Paul. So, when Castellano called Gotti to have dinner at Sparks that night, Gotti had reason to think it might have been his Last Supper, so to speak.
But Gotti probably wouldn't have moved against Big Paul if he didn't think he'd have the support of others in the Gambino family. He did have support--not because others loved Gotti, but because they hated Castellano. He was a penny-pinching cheapskate who squeezed his people unmercifully and micromanaged the family. He was a near-recluse who seldom left his Staten Island mansion to mingle with the guys. He also committed two unpardonable breaches of Mafia "etiquette": He failed to attend Mr.Neil's wake and funeral, and he carried on openly with his Colombian-born housekeeper under his own roof, with his wife and daughter present.
BofB, much has been written about Castellano's alleged objection to dope-dealing. I don't think that was a major factor in the Gotti-Castellano feud. Big Paul's wrath was aimed at Angelo (Quack-Quack) Ruggiero, whose dope-dealing was caught on law enforcement tapes--and the tapes potentially were damaging to Castellano. He demanded to have copies of the tapes, but Mr. Neil stalled him. Then the Feds filed a RICO charge against Castellano, and he had bigger things to worry about.

Now how did I know that Carlo's name was going to be said already? Anyway, I agree with you now that I think about it. The only thing I disagree on is about the Gambinos being the most powerful in the nation. I read many many Mafia sights saying that the Genovese Mob Family as being the largest, richest and most powerful in america, if not, the world. Carlo was the top Don of the country at the time of his leadership

BobB, that's what I meant: Under Gambino's leadership, his was the most powerful family. It went downhill under Castellano, and down the tubes under Gotti.
The issue of which one is the most powerful and richest isn't easy to determine. These guys don't file financial reports with the SEC. I've seen the same things you have about the Genovese Family. Of course, it could be true. But I think that's speculation based on the fact that, for a long time, their boss, Vincent (the Chin) Gigante, was the only Don in NYC who wasn't in prison for double-digits.

IF you go by power being related to finances then
you have a strong fight that castellano would be
the most powerful don.BIG paul at one point in 1984 was reported as saying along with the fbi as
a back up that the GAMBINO enterprises brought in
over 500 million in legal and ill-gotten gaines.
Yes paul was greedy,but his keen business sense
enabled the family to branch off into other projects such as the grocery industry and the
ny co-op concrete business that was run by his
son.CARLO was a feared business man,he would kill
at the drop of a hat,he was also fair with his
crews and associates,money was distributed evenly and often.DELLECROCE also was a feared leader,he
handled the less glamerous activities,drugs,
killing for hire and the motley gotti crew.
UNDER gotti the family business was cut down,
earnings were said to have dropped down to 50 million in 1990.IT will be interesting to see how
the new regime will work out.

Turnbull:
Not that I'm doubting you, but where did you hear that Gotti was supposed to have dinner with Castellano on 12/16/85 at Sparks? I thought that Gotti found out where Big Paul would be eating through contacts and that Paul was having dinner with the "bigwigs" of the Family. I can't believe that I missed such an important detail.

That meeting was set-up by frank decicco, he led paul to believe that if he showed up the crews would let paul slide for not showing the right amount of respect to MR.NEIL,tommy gambino was
there as was frankie marino,of who got who first though,gotti won that one.Decicco was killed
shortly after that by the GENOVESE family.

I look up info on Certain mobsters. I just read somewhere that Carlo Gambino claimed that in 1968 the FBI and CIA officials approached him with a proposal. He said they offered him One Million dollars to kill Martin Luther King Jr. The Old Mafia leader refused, stating that none of his henchmen would accept the offer.


What's your take on this?

Turnbull:
Not that I'm doubting you, but where did you hear that Gotti was supposed to have dinner with Castellano on 12/16/85 at Sparks? I thought that Gotti found out where Big Paul would be eating through contacts and that Paul was having dinner with the "bigwigs" of the Family. I can't believe that I missed such an important detail. [/b][/quote]Turnbull,

I too, like Goombah, have never heard that Gotti was supposed to meet Castellano for Dinner at Sparks. It was always my understanding that Frankie DeCiccio was backing Gotti because he was not happy with the way Big Paul was running things so DiCicco set up the meet at Sparks with Castellano and the other bigwigs under Big Paul, setting up Big Paul for the hit. I am not saying that you are wrong, as you are always very accurate with the facts, I just never heard or read that anywhere. Turnbull, if it is true then please enlighten me.


Don Cardi

There's a certain amount of mystery surrounding the Sparks murder, because the people who were at the table inside waiting for Castellano cleared out in the immediate aftermath of the shooting: they weren't going to wait around to be interviewed by the police.
The best and most careful view I've found is in the Gene Mustain/Jerry Capeci bio of Gotti, "Mob Star." According to them, following Neil Dellacroce's death two weeks earlier, Castellano summoned Frankie DiCicco, James Failla and "two other men, one of whom didn't show," to have dinner with him and Tommy Bilotti, whom Castellano had promoted to underboss after Dellacroce died. The subject was the breakup of the Bergin Hunt and Fish Crew, which Dellacroce had bossed, with Gotti as his crew chief. "Castellano was well aware of the anxiety in Queens" [Queens is the borough where the Bergin was located] caused by his promotion of Bilotti and his intent to break up the Gotti organization. Most writers have inferred--correctly, imo--that Gotti was the guy who didn't show for the dinner. He was outside with Da Bull, directing the murder.
Can I prove that Gotti was invited to the dinner? Of course not: he never admitted any connection to Castellano's murder, and no one in the know ever dared say he was invited.

I too have not heard this one,i could not
say what gottis story was,my understanding
was that paul was to meet frank decicco
tommy gambino,jimmy failla and marino,all
of whom were there.For one this was pauls
way of making up with the queens crew for
showing dis-respect at the non showing of
mr.neils funeral and also to terminate the
crew run by gotti and putting failla and
marino in charge,it has been said that marino
and failla were in on the decicco hit that
also was to be the end of gotti.