I don't really follow the big five that much. But when did Lucchese earn a spot with the big 3?

I always thought they were dead last in terms of overall quality. That might be an outdated perception tho.

I think the Lucchese family received the bump up when Massino and others began flipping in the late 1990s - early 2000s.

I always wondered that too.. if a guy is a partner in 3 companies and he gets life what happens to those business interests?

Ever since Crea got out of prison and his parole expired in 2009 he's been running things. He's been a steady Boss so far, he's one of the main reasons why they're back. The Bonanno Family was way more powerful when Massino was in charge (1991-2004), but after he flipped they've been struggling ever since while the Lucchese's have rebuilt

So the Colombo's and Bonnano families can build up to close to 200 members? Entrench themselves in Unions, Carting, and work joint ventures with the other families in a short period of time? The Genovese and Gambino families will forget all thier fuck ups and reconize them again?

That would be really hard. The Bonanno's are down but not out, they could rebuild with the proper leadership. The Colombo's just can't seem to avoid indictment. They're not going down at all no way, but they have about 60-70 guys on the street and 100 made. To get it up to 200 again like in the old days would be extremely difficult. Plus getting away with stuff in Unions is tougher than it used to be but Families like the Genovese's and the Gambino's are still involved in them.

+1. Yes. As long as there is a Commission, there can never be a boss of bosses.
According to Vitale (I think it was) the last Commission meeting was held 12 years ago but as far as we know, the Commission has not been dismantled.

Carlo Gambino wasn´t made the official boss until 1960. During the years between 1957 and 1960 he served as the acting boss. You can find this in FBI documents on the Mary Farrell Foundation site. As an acting boss, Gambino could not not have controlled the Commission.
After the murder of Anastasia, the family was divided and Gambino was given the task by the Commission to restore order in the Family. In 1960, the Family elected Gambino the official boss.

Guys, I´m sorry to say it, but you are relying too much on Wikipedia. Using Wikipedia is easy and accessible, but extremely unreliable when it comes to sharing knowledge on the Mafia. But you have to dig a lot deeper in order to come closer to the truth. No boss was ever a boss of bosses after the creation of the Commission. Not even technically speaking. Having a boss of bosses on the Commission would undermine the purpose and functions of it. It´s two completely different systems of rule that can never be combined. All Families, especially those on the Commission, was autonomous. All bosses on there ruled their own Families and to allow somebody else to exert pressure or secretly control your Family would be a sign of weakness and a sure way to lose face.
When the Bonanno Family lost its seat on the Commission, perhaps as early as 1975 when Rastelli was sent away, it looks like the Family was governed by the Commission. I can´t think of any other cases where sitting Families on the Commission were controlled by it. Can you?

Remember Genovese became Boss in 1957 and was Boss of Bosses for two years supposedly then Bonanno was chairmen of the commission for 3 then Gambino took it after the Commission rivaled against the Bonanno's remember CDTC is a de-facto title given to the Boss all other commission Bosses support of cource in recent years with the unknown Bosses it is unknown who holds the title.

Also i'd like to add thanks for all of you making this post big this quick i'm glad you all find it interesting.

Hairy, Couldn't of said it better

There's not been an actual boss of bosses since Salvatore Maranzano.

Massino never held that position the media labelled him boss of bosses just like everyone else since Maranzano. Only because he was the last official boss on the streets the Gambino and Genovese acting bosses would've been more powerful .

I doubt Benny is even active he's going blind aand is confined to a wheelchair.

As Hairy said i think you're relying on wikipedia too much.

In the mob money is everything right?!so...who has more money than the others,his the wealthiest than the others,he has most of the business to him self,most of the connections,politicans,cia,transatlantic connections,most dangerous crews and lots of others tuff....so my point is when some of the bosses dont have shit and need connections for anything and they all depend on that person(cuz he's the boss with the connections)....how do you call that person????

When has that ever been the case though? When have the other families ever not had shit and relied on one boss? Imo never so i still don't think there's been a boss of bosses since the start of the comission.

Right, even though position is not officially recognized, they can be de facto "boss of bosses". It's like arguing the US is not most powerful nation on earth because it has an equal vote at the United Nations.

Im not sayin the title "boss of bosses" exists,but what ht2 just sad is the truth.And no1 can deny that!!!

It's not at all though when Maranzano was boss of bosses he could override any of the other bosses decisions since the commission that's not been possible .

No it's not if it was the same the US would've been able to overrule all the nations who voted to recognize Palestine for example that's essentially what the boss of bosses could do.

ITs all about wealth,power and connections and violence of course,if every1 on the table is dead who's gonna vote?!after that you just place your ppl and you get "Roman Empire",theres always a leader,official or not,thats the ppl's nature,if theres no1 who can guide them there will be an internal war!How can thives and killers get a long if theres no1 with the biggest "gun" on the table?

There's not been a boss of bosses since Maranzano they vote and come to agreements . Of course at any given time there's been a most powerful boss but he's never been some kind of dictator whhatever he says goes which is what the boss of bosses is which is why it didn't last very long.

Get it into your head everyone. Since 1931 Boss of all bosses has never existed!!

Read the posts first,than put a comment!pls

Thats true they never last long,but thats why theres always a guy less powerful than him but at the same time more powerful than the others,to replace him

He's right though

Maranzano was the last one he didn't last long.

Well I have read the comments...

ok i know that,but my point is about the most powerful boss on the table(Luciano,Genovese,Gambino,Galante,Castellano...),not that he's a dictator and stuff but he has a little bit more of a...how should i say...your gettin me right?

I agree with that totally he has a bit more influence i already said that in one of my other posts all i was saying was there hasn't been a boss of bosses since Maranzano.. i'm guessing that was just a break down of communications there