Were there any bosses out there that really spread the wealth with their soldiers?

Big Paul to Bilotti took care of him pretty good.
Carmine P took good care of Hugh (not a soldier but as close as poss)

Orena was considered pretty generous by his troops, much more than Persico had ever been.

I'm not completely sure but I think Carmine Galante didn't have much of a tight reign over his family since he was mostly busy with the heroin pipeline where most of his money came from. Maybe he left running the family to his underboss Nicky Marangello?

Vito Genovese gave his soldiers thousands at the drop of a hat. The power-hungry guy did this as a plot to win over the troops when he made moves to be boss. The reasons don't really matter much though. Many bosses wouldn't do it for any reason.

I think Gigante had something like that the skippers didn't have to kick up to him and that they could keep the money they had to kick up.

He wasn't a greedy guy at all. That's why there have been so many wealthy captains in the Genovese family. Things run a lot smoother when everybody eats.

offtopic, but PB I had a question about the Genovese but I didn't want to start a thread for this. Why is the Genovese family also called the Westside?

I think I knew who was the tightest boss, joe profaci was the most stingy, and gave nothing according to jr persico. jr made a score one time and it was for 4ooo bucks, when profaci found out, he took it and gave jr 200 dollars back, and then made him pay monthly dues.

he at first joined the gallos rebellion because of profacis squezzing every nickel from all his soldiers.

read john gotti wasn't greedy that's why his capo loved him.

Vince's club was in the West Village. It also refers to their dominance in Jersey, which is west of New York.

Thanks

I know you're the resident Genovese expert PB, but I have to mention, that the Luciano Family had always been the richest mafia family with the greatest number of millionaires, at least in Lucky Luciano's time. I think that goes back to his way of ruling, to let everyone wet their beak and keep everyone happy enough to put their guns away, at least temporarily. He had to adopt that non-tyrannical style of governance since it was greed that got his predecessors whacked.

Is it safe to say that when it was the Masseria Gang, people weren't as happy with the taxes they had to pay?

I don't know who the most generous boss is, but Lucky Luciano is right up there. He was popular because he allowed a lot of people to get and stay rich.

Really, I heard somewhere that Gigante micromanaged his troops and was a little greedy too... not "Profaci-greedy", just a little greedy. I think I heard his troops complaining about it in one of the wiretaps (maybe in WMob or somewhere else) and he's also been described as greedy in one documentary I watched recently. I guess people always find something to complain, so probably not true.

I always thought the term Westside mostly referred to the panel set up to rule the family, or upper-echelon of the family including the capos.

That's okay, Alfa. And yes, it's always been that way. Vince was only doing what he learned from Benny, and down the line right back to Luciano. These guys not only encouraged spreading the wealth, they encouraged assimilation. They'd tell their soldiers to learn how to play golf instead of pinochle. Because they had the vision to see that they'd eventually need the legitimate business contacts to survive.


That's not true, Malandrino. Like you said, you can't please everyone. Simple as that. But there are skippers who were in place when Vince took over who were actually starving under Benny and Funzi. And they weren't greedy either, so that's really saying something.


It refers to their dominance on the west side, and in Jersey. I believe that law enforcement actually had a hand in coming up with that moniker. But that's usually the case with these guys anyway. They read something in the paper and run with it themselves. Life imitates art, etc.

If so then I guess he really was the best boss in the last 30 years or so. Not being greedy goes a long way as a boss, it's basically what gave Orena his following among other things... but you have to be tough too because it could also be perceived as a weakness by the guys if you don't ask for much.

I know what you mean. In the words of Burt Young's character in Once upon a time in America: "Life is funnier than shit!"

i remember reading something in benny lombardos fbi files that he had a coat check stand at the copa cobana and vito genovese, while he was the boss, took it from him. idk if it was a personal thing or if genovese was really that greedy...but it seems like a non generous thing to do lol

on those wmob wiretaps bw frank condo and giovanelli they were complaining about having to play cards at the triangle and everyone would always let gigante win. i wonder what would have happened if gigante himself got a hold of those transcripts before he died... some pretty unkind stuff spoken about him there. but most people in america can rightfully gripe about their boss i guess

Bad blood there because Vince went nuts after that cop got killed.

what is the story/motive behind the hit on the cop? seems really fucking strange...

those wiretaps of condo and fritzy are hilarious... there is a whole website that has audio of all the calls there is a bunch of them.. its great they literally talk about everything.. just two old guys shooting the shit.

I heard a good story about how kind Joe Bonanno was to this kid who worked for him.

This kid (teenager) was working at the time shining shoes.
Joe noticed the kid was an earner and gave him a job paid him a dollar a day to shine his shoes in late 50's. He left the shoes at a store where the kid could pick up and leave after shine. As he got a little older Joe told the kid I got a real job for u at Wedding hall in Astoria. Go there tell them I sent u. He was hired as a busboy. His main job was to take care of the Bride n Grooms table. They told him that the minimum the tip would be for table is 100 dollars and if u hustle make a lot more from tips at other tables. The kid made 280 his first night.

So the headguy told the kid he had to throw his money in with everyone elses. So the kid threw in his money. He got 50 dollars. In that day it was alot but the kid was pissed out of the 280 he threw in and adding up what other guys should have got he should have walked away with alot more. So what could the kid do but go home with his 50 dollars. He saw Joe the next morning after taking care of his shoes. Joe asked how he made out .He told Joe what happened .Joe said so do me a favor go to that Wedding Hall right now. The kid said he was off. Joe said what did I say. The kid was off to the wedding.


The kid went back to Wedding Hall. When he got there the head guy who told him that he had to throw his money in was there n told him Hey kid I made a mistake here's the 280. So the kid said here is ur 50 back lookin to do the right thing. The guy said no u keep it just tell Joe I took care of U. He never had problem after that.

Lol that's a good story never heard it before. I heard somewhere that Joe Bonanno was a real mean guy to his troops and even Galante had to take some shit from him, but who knows maybe that was a bullshit story.

"As greedy as joe bananas" was a phrase I'd seen written somewhere.

Although Bonanno has written an autobiography he's an unreliable narrator. and as leader of one of the most insular crime families he was and still is a bit of an enigma. Greed could refer to his lust for more and more territory.

Angelo Bruno allowed Harry Riccobene to run his won organization without kicking up to him except small symbolical presents, what about others, did anyone else enjoy local independency under Bruno?

Look at it this way...would you go to your father on his birthday without bringing a gift?

Frankie Flowers

I think you could call it autonomy instead of independency.

He's one of the few bosses of his generation to have a full-scale rebellion by unhappy capos/soldiers/adim un-seat him. Even if it was supported by outsiders it tells us what some of his people thought of him. One way of seeing it is that he was greedy in screwing over a lot of guys who had been loyal for years out of a shoot for the boss position by trying to put his son in the seat.

Even by his own admission in passages of his book he spent as much time out of town as he could and stayed aloof of affairs on the street, that couldn't have gone down well with blue collar crews and capos.

Evertying I've heard about Tommy Lucchese paints him as a generous boss who treated people who were to loyal to him well. He had a house in a suburbs of Long Island and didn't put on airs like living in a penthouse like Costello or a well-guarded mansion like Anastasia.

Does anyone have the web address?


Thx.

http://www.wmob.com/prev.html

They talk about a lot of stuff. Sex, pills, movies, whatever comes up.

Thx Red.