In no particular order ,

Carmine Persico - obvious one: spent half his childhood/teenage years in fights and shootouts, spent half his adult life in the can. been able to maintain control over the colombos through it all. plus if half the shit they say is true, him spitting out bullets and all that... well...

Nicky Corozzo - Went away on a pair of murders he (allegedly) had nothing to do with so a bunch of guys could stay out or cop to light plea deals. Plus since he's so short im guessing he could scrap in his younger years

Scarpa Sr. - mean son of a bitch, probably borderline psychopathic

Tony Frederici (sp) - dunno much about the guy but you dont get the nickname Tough Tony for nothin

Basciano - powerhouse on the street, been getting shitted on for the better half of a decade by the government/prison system. what hes been through would break or drive someone to suicide. and through it all he still looks like hes 35

I think the G-man had it in for anyone who was at The Infamous Bono Wedding and Basciano was the last on the list although I think he was there like Paulie was at the Corleane wedding 'Paulie More Wine!"

#3 ask how any luchesse guys if they give 2 shits about vic amuso. hes boss in name only. just like persico.

Hey guys, I just found this site, and I like it a lot. I've been reading up on the Cosa Nostra in the United States for the last year or so, and I'm ready to discuss my overall impressions with some experts.

As far as toughness, here's the list that I had in mind before I found this thread. Keep in mind that I don't know a lot about many of the lower lever mafia players, so my selection is pretty much limited to the various bosses.

1. Vito Genovese
2. Carmine Galante
3. Albert Anastasia

I am very curious why nobody in this thread has mentioned Genovese. His reputation for brutality among guys of his generation was rivaled only by Anastasia. Lucky Luciano once called him "the world's greatest hitman." And I read the earlier discussion about toughness vs just being a mean bastard, and while I agree that there is a difference, I think that if you are a mean bastard who has made it to the top of the mob, you're probably pretty tough. All three of the guys on this list are psychopaths, and violent psychopaths are some of the toughest guys out there (unfortunately).

Other factors that I believe contribute to Vito's toughness include the following (please correct me if I'm wrong):
-He immigrated to the United States when he was a teenager, with no family or support
-He was on the team that assassinated Joe the Boss, which would take massive balls
-When he fled to Italy for ten years, he basically pulled together a huge black market organization from scratch, and managed to play both sides of the war against each other (you gotta be tough to successfully deal with the Fascists and the US Army)
-When he was sent away to prison as an old man, he didn't say shit (I'm looking at you Joey Massino!)

Some of you guys seem more well-read on the Mafia than I am, so I'm wondering what you think about my view of Don Vittono.

Anna eventually ratted Vito out and he did nothing to her that we know about. He loses toughness points in my book for that. Compare that to Mad Sam DeStefano who made his wife have sex with a random black dude off the street once when she pissed him off.

Imo, this has nothing to do with "toughness". From such a perspective, every lunatic would be tough...

Gotta go with Carlo Gambino.......The guy could bench three plates and squat a volkswagen.....Not bad for a short, wispy squirrely looking man with a big nose!

Gotta go with Carlo Gambino.......The guy could bench three plates and squat a volkswagen.....Not bad for a short, wispy squirrely looking man with a big nose!

Instead of Chuck Norris facts, we can do Carlo Gambino facts.
I'll start. When Don Carlo stares at the sun, it goes blind. Don Carlo can cut through a hot knife with butter. Don Carlo finished the Neverending Story. Carlo Gambino is the reason why Waldo is hiding. Etc Etc

Actually he had terminal cancer which is the main reason he shot himself. And I doubt being a p u s s y is a character trait of someone who rises to the top of the Chicago outfit.

i see alot of people putting demeo on here. i find him the most interesting gangster and if you want to go as to call him my fav i guess you could do this. he was very psycopathic and cruel but i don't know how tough he really was. he def had a tough stomach. but also killed a man who gave him a black eye. although the line he muttered about the guy who gave him a black eye was "last important thing he will ever do!"

I think the G-man had it in for anyone who was at The Infamous Bono Wedding and Basciano was the last on the list although I think he was there like Paulie was at the Corleane wedding 'Paulie More Wine!"

what is the infamous Bono wedding?