We know about him from the Frank Costello hit then the drug conviction from the late 1950's to the early 1960's. We know about him taking over as boss and using Fat Tony Salerno as his front boss in the early 1980's. What did he do in between that made him rise up to the top of the Genovese when there were so many other capable guys in the family?
Cafaro testified that much of Gigante's power (as a captain) came from the size of his crew, which was said to be rather large. He also said that, in addition to taking over Eboli's loansharking operations, Gigante's crew controlled the numbers operations from Sullivan Street up to 14th Street. The crew also controlled the Saint Anthony Feast.
He controlled alot of unions in the contruction and garbage hauling industries. He controled the javits convention center which was a cash cow, the fulton fish market, was involved in drug trafficking, the concrete industry and ofcourse the traditional mob rackets of extortion, gambling loansharking and bookmaking.
Chin's crew had their interests in these businesses but the Javits Center was more the 116th crew. They were also the family's main crew in the construction trades.
This guy was amazing. We know almost nothing about his rise to power. One thing I have wondered about is when he really became boss of the family. It is usually said he became boss after Lombardo retired in 1981. However we have testimony that he ordered the murders of at least four Philly mobsters in 1980 to avenge the death of Angelo Bruno. Not just anyone can order the murders of four members from another family. My question is, could he have been the boss earlier then has always been thought. There are several sources that say Lombardo never wanted to be boss. I find it highly probable he may have been calling the shots earlier then 1981.
The Genovese family's leadership succession during that time has been one of the most debated topics on these forums over the years. Vincent Cafaro testified that Vito Genovese turned the family over to Philip Lombardo when he went to prison. Chin was a captain during this time. Fast-forward to 1972 - Lombardo was the boss, Tommy Eboli the underboss, and Tony Salerno the consigliere. Lombardo wanted to stay in the background however, so Eboli fronted as the boss of the family. In other words, Lombardo was the official boss but Eboli was the acting boss. After Eboli's death, Eli Zaccardi was the acting/front boss for Lombardo. By 1974, Lombardo was the boss, Frank Tieri was the underboss (but also the acting/front boss), and Salerno the consigliere. By 1976, Lombardo was still the boss, Zaccardi was the underboss, and Antonio Ferro the consigliere. In 1978, Dom Alongi replaced Ferro as consigliere, followed by Bobby Manna in 1980. During this time, Salerno had been the acting/front boss for Lombardo. Of course, Salerno had his stroke in 1981. Cafaro said that, while Salerno was in NYU hospital, he was visited by Chin, Santora, and Manna at different times. Lombardo was also ill and hospitalized. It was decided by these three, as well as Lombardo, that Chin would take over as the official boss of the family. After he recovered, Salerno resumed his role as acting/front boss but was now doing it for Chin instead of Lombardo. Lombardo went into at least semi-retirement, though later bugged conversations seemed to insinuate that he still held some influence.
While I'm not sure where it originated, the idea of Chin being the consigliere at one point is a mistake. In 1976, Sammy Gravano had a disagreement with Vincent DiNapoli involving the construction business. Gravano met with Chin at the Triangle Social Club. Gigante was still a captain at this point and Gravano still a soldier. At the meeting, Gravano's captain, Toto Auriello, introduced a man named "Dom" as a captain. Chin corrected Auriello and said Dom (not Chin, himself) was the consigliere. The "Dom" mentioned was probably Dom Alongi. Now, there is obviously a slight date discrepancy, as this meeting was said to have taken place in 1976 but Cafaro said that Alongi didn't become the consigliere until 1978. There was likely a mistake in the timeline on one hand or the other.
In his book Leonetti said Tieri wanted to take over Caponigro's north jersey rackets but he said he thought Chin was more concerned about getting philly's vote on the commission. Before Bruno was hit Bobby Manna asked Scarfo something like "if something was to happen to Bruno where would the philly family stand?" And Scarfo told him they would be "una familia" with the Genovese. Manna replied "my friends will be very happy to hear that". It's in Leonetti's book.
According to Leonetti, Scarfo told him "Lefty (Bruno) has some real trouble heading his way and when it does he ain't gonna know what the fuck hit him".
Leonetti contradicts himself on who the boss of the Genovese was when Bruno was taken out. In one part of his book he's talking about how Caponigro thought he was dealing with the boss of the Genovese when he asked Tieri for the greenlight on Bruno but Leonetti said the real boss at that time was Chin. Then in another part of the book he said Chin didn't become boss until later. So who the hell knows, i'm not so sure Phil really knew himself.
Leonetti may have gotten a little mixed up, this whole Bruno/Philadelphia thing was over a number of years, and Tieri was the acting boss and Chin the official boss at different points during it.
It's interesting that Phil Leonetti talks about the Genovese family plotting against Angelo Bruno early on. George Fresolone said one of the reasons Bruno was killed by Anthony Caponigro was because he was letting the NY families into Atlantic City. Of course, the beef between Funzi Tieri and Caponigro over the $2 million gambling operation in North Jersey, originally testified about by Tommy DelGiorno, is well known. George Anastasia wrote that Tieri saw Bruno's death as an opportunity to take over Caponigro's North Jersey gambling operations, apparently knowing what would befall Caponigro after the fact, as well as weaken the Philadelphia family's hold on Atlantic City. Obviously other top Genovese leaders, besides Tieri, were involved in all this, including Chin. Bobby Manna's role is no surprise, as he was close to Scarfo. And we know that, after Bruno's death and Scarfo's eventual succession, the Genovese got a cut from the money he was taking out of HEREU Local 54. Tony Salerno was sitting along side Chin and Manna at he meeting where Scarfo was installed as the new boss and Peter Casella was banished to Florida. The 6 Philadelphia guys Leonetti testified Chin had ordered dead were Caponigro, Alfred Salerno, Johnny "Keys" Simone, Frank Sindone, Frank Narducci, and Rocco Marinucci. Again, several of these top Genovese guys had a hand in this, not just Tieri or Chin.
