@ Adam

I get a lot of what you are saying....


I wasn't saying Buffalo had 200 members, just that it's not far fetched to me. I just don't see made guys like a lot of you guys do, to me they are just crooks.

It's not implausible to me 200 crooks worked for Maggadino. Now I know those numbers are exaggerated probably by 2thirds, just like Raabs 600 Gambinos and Genovese, when it's really more like 250-300 most likely. ( and Buffalos height was probably like 60 -75 ish..) After you read a lot of these books, you don't really even think about it any more, I just take it as a guesstimate rounded up, if that makes any sense. Just like the " City-centric" view taken by a lot of journalist, it's like I just tune it out' and read between the lines.....

I wasn't exactly comparing the Buffalo mob to the cartel, merely pointing out that the family was strong for similar reasons the cartels are strong, a shared land border with the US. And I've been posting ad Naseum about how organizations like this have fewer members than a power syndicate based on territory and made guys, so I definitely agree there too.

Here is an excerpt I've posted before, explains my thought process...

“When Charles Luciano and his cohorts formalized the hegemony of the modern mob in 1931, the Mafia’s first ruling Commission seated seven bosses. These included representatives from New York and Chicago, which could only be expected, but also the boss of another, smaller city, one which you might not necessarily suspect would warrant the honor. Steven Magaddino of Buffalo.
Magaddino’s name stands out on that debut Mafia Commission among such worthies as Al Capone, Charlie Luciano, Joe Bonanno, and Joe Profaci. What was a humble lakeside cousin doing in this august company? But Magaddino of Buffalo controlled the smuggling routes from Canada, and that lent him enormous weight. Within the organization schema of organized crime, the Queen City, the City of Good Neighbors, the City of Light—all chamber of commerce nicknames for Buffalo—possessed a surprising primacy.”

“In this sense, strictly in terms of the 1950s mob geography, the choice of Apalachin had a logic all its own. Dope was becoming more and more the new reality of the mob, and Apalachin fell squarely within the territory of Magaddino, one of the country’s leading dope smugglers”

So you can see, while I'm not exactly saying they are the same, I didn't pull it from thin air either. The mechanism that made both organizations powerful is similar, a shared land border with the US. In fact, it would explain how relatively few Made men would rule such a big territory. It's more about routes and contraband.

It thnk Billy might be right on Maggadinos power. People forget that this stuff wasn't set in stone from the beginning. A lot of their power came from SICILY, from Castallamare, and Maggadino was the senior figure. Bonnano, when made boss, is the youngest guy on there. His, what son, married a Profaci? People forget that I think. They also forget Profacis family was married into Detroit, so you got Profaci-Bonnano- Zerilli- Maggadino.
Think about that, that's at least three Commision votes, not sure if Detroit had a seat yet, but they eventually did. In his book, he said Mangano and Gagliano, were old school and more in tune with the " Conservative" faction. So a good portion of the Commision old school, and in leadership positions, when Lucky went to jail, and Vito fled, I think this group was really empowered, yet they had to respect Costello, Anastasia, and Luchesse cause they were Luciano's young Turks......


THAT WAS BONNANOS POWER, this coalition. As soon as he and his cousin became enemies, the wolves like Gambino and Luchesse played on this to break this coalition up. Bonnano couldn't do it alone, which he tried, and failed. I think his only other ally on the Commision was maybe Anastasia, I believe this is why Bonnano saw himself as top boss. Cause he had his coalition, plus he thought he could control Anastasia, I think better than Costello could. Giving him a ruling quorum on the Commission...



I also think it was a huge mistake by these guys to let Costello and Anastasia get away with killing Mangano. It set the precedent to be repeated. I think Bonnano thought he could out think Luchesse, while controlling Anastasia, the problem is Gagliano retired, he alienated Maggadino, and Profaci got sick, killed his base. They were a fuckin Freedom Caucus lol....


The Demeo thing, lol I know he didn't kill all the guys all by himself, just in the eyes of the law, he killed 37 guys, at least. And he was just a soldier, and a lot of his murders went even orders, just contracts. 26 guys really didn't seem like that many, it I didn't realize they meant ALL AT ONCE!! That is pretty silly.....