Originally Posted by ColonelReb
If I had to historically rank mafia families by the most influence in the State of New Jersey I would say......
#1. Genovese
#2. Philadelphia
#3 Decavalcante
#4 Lucchese
#5 Gambino
#6 Bonanno
#7 Colombo

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Hey its the Colonel!...Good to see you my friend.

I do differ from your view of the top regimes and strength in NJ. The Lucchese did have a very strong faction serving under Anthony Accetturo/Taccetta and Perna brothers with at least 10-12 good fellas and numerous associates. But the Gambino's ran many crews in Jersey, all of whom were just as large or larger as well.

Good examples of what I'm talking about are their presence in Northern New Jersey:

Capo Joseph (Joe) Paterno ran a huge crew for decades. He was a very well respected and low key leader.

Capo Anthony (Little Tony) Carminati also ran a big crew in No. Jersey.

Capo Frank Perrone was another low key, almost invisible leader for the Gambino's who ran his own regime.

Among the more notable of their inducted soldiers were Frank (The Bear) Basto, Robert (Bobby Cabert) Bisaccia, Francesco (Frank) Rappa, James (Jimmy Higgins) Palmieri, Frank (Butch) MIceli, Joseph (Demus) Covello, to name but a few. Collectively the ran a large crew of associates. Several of these solders later rose up to take over these crews with the death or retirement of Paterno, etc., such as Bisaccia.
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In Southern New Jersey they had a huge presence as well, albeit a lower keyed one.

Capo Giovanni (John) Gambino and his two brothers Guiseppe and Rosario (Sal) oversaw an extremely large regime probably numbering twenty or better made men. Many of whom were Sicilians under the Gambino Family flag and inducted themselves. The also oversaw numerous associates.

Capo Antonino (Nino) Inzerillo was another near shadow capo until his disappearance. He helped control several interlocking regimes of the "Zip" faction of the Family in South Jersey area of Cherry Hill, etc.

Good examples of the soldiers under their control were the Inzerillo brothers, and the Adamita brothers. Others include surnames like Gallina, Sollena, and Buscetta. And I am just touching on the surface of their South Jersey regimes membership.
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The Colombo's also had a "official" crew in Jersey under longtime capo Salvatore Profaci. Jersey Sal ran a regime numbering maybe 8-10 good fellas, with some associates. So I agree the Colombo Family were technically the smallest yet because of the Profaci name were still a formidable bunch. Very, very integrated in legitimate industry there. Remember that his dad owned a 328 acre estate in the Hightstown area back in the day if I'm not mistaken. So the "Profaci" footprint was stable as well.

Maybe even more significant than the Bonanno's. I make that case because the Colombo's had such members as the elder Salvatore (Tutti) Lombardino who was a powerhouse in his own right. He attended the 1928 Cleveland meeting. He was a top boss.

Also his sons Tutti Lombardino Jr. and Rosario Lombardino, and soldiers Emmanuel (Nello) Cammarata, Angelo Speciale, Joseph (Joe Yak) Yacovelli, James (Jimmy Ski) Scianna, Profaci cousin Salvatore (Fat Sal) Profaci, Gus Spatafora, shadow soldier Guiseppe (Joe) Leone, They also had James (Jimmy Ran) Randazzo the son of old time original Vincenzo Randazzo. Also Michael Piancone was a key Profaci operative overseeing Roma Foods, Inc. for him.

In later years of course the added the Cagno brothers and Peter (Petey Black) Campisi and his brother to the mix.

On review and balance I think I'd even place the Colombo regime above the Bonanno presence in New Jersey. For as you stated earlier many Bonanno's lived in Jersey yet operated in NYC almost exclusively. Whereas the Colombo's I mentioned were all knee-deep in New Jersey racket operations. So my list would look something like this:

Genovese (appx. 5 regimes)
Gambino. (5 regimes)
DeCavalcante (ranked #3 because they're homegrown, NJ is the base. They have at least 25-30 NJ based made members in 3-4 regimes and over 100 associates)
Philadelphia. (smaller overall membership in NJ although they were always very active there)
Lucchese. (1 large regime)
Colombo. (1 mid-sized regime) But ran Roma Foods (a firm active in 20-25 states with a multi-multimillion dollar annual volume)
Bonanno. (Joe Bayonne was their main guy, and he was mostly a soldier. Riela was a soldier - influential but a soldier. I'm not even sure they had a regime in NJ)
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This is my take on it. Of course this is subjective. None of us know for certain the exact strength of any crew. And from era to era the power shifted a bit as well. But I think overall this was a valid picture of the New Jersey underworld landscape.
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one additional thing I'd say is that we both agree on the Genovese being the most prominent crew in Jersey. Many top bosses of that borgata actually lived there. Jerry Catena, Willie Moretti, Chin Gigante, Tommy Eboli, Tony Bender, etc.

And other very important capos ruled with an iron fist such as Ruggiero Boiardo, Eugene Catena, Gyp DiCarlo, Louis Gatto, Bobby Manna, Tino Fiumara, Pepe Sabato, etc., etc. They always were, and still are the powerhouses of the Garden State.



Last edited by NYMafia; 10/07/20 04:20 PM.