Bruno was loved by the masses and Philly but held his boys back for the good of the family and his pocket.Bruno was concerned about the attention that the casinos would have on crime. He was happy not having to deal with all that .(other then union)
The state was all over Philly mob by this point so you had the state offices and the Casino Control Commission, then you had the Feds, and the internal revenue service all with there hand out Bruno knew this and was fine with other families with there hand in the pot that would drawl attention from his family.
He wanted local 54 all to himself and all those little things like that stopped his guys from becoming rich or earning .
The ones that were rich in the family were already rich or had a monopoly on his racket and Bruno was at the top of that also.
No doubt with his close confidant Gambino out he was done !!!!
The best thing he could've done was retire at the end of the 70's and have a peaceful transition of power to Phil Testa, don't you agree Serp?
He had all the money in the world and he should have seen the many writings on the wall, like you said the FBI were starting to get all over LCN and his protector Gambino was dead and rank and file were unhappy. Plus he had the right age to take a step back and enjoy his grandchildren and stuff..
Up until the eighties, things were very stable for bosses. I mean, Galante obviously had it coming, but who would've thought back then that Bruno or Castellano could've been clipped? And by rivals within their own families at that?
As others have said, Bruno was in tight with the Gambinos, so who could've seen that Castellano couldn't have protected him? Bruno was obviously weak, but Castellano was super powerful and was respected by Gigante and Fat Tony.
It makes me wonder if Gigante approved of the hit on Bruno, if it was Funzi by himself plotting or all of the West Side was on board. If the whole West Side was behind it, maybe they didnt think Big Paul was smart enough to figure it out or strong enough to do anything about it. Anyway, just thinking out loud.
