well i have not seen a post about this fine man. So i thought i would make one what are your thoughts mine are that he was a shrewd man not to mention very intelligent. Everyone thought he was dumb but that was not the case. he never went to prison in fact when everyone in the country finally saw what he looked like he was already an old man. his one mistake that i will say he made was when he named his brother in law paul castelanno boss of the family. and not aniello dellacroce even though he was the underboss at the time. that decission split the family in two in my estimation the paul castelanno supporters and the ones who supported aniello dellacroce namely john gotti. but aniello dellocroce did not complain since carlo gambino was the boss and he had made his decission aniello dellocroce was an old time gangster. Who respected what the boss said and decided.

Indeed he was a very intelligent, and not to mention shrewd old man. But not just in his golden years, also as a young man who was still making his bones he learnt how to screw people out anything. Someone educated (or at least a fan of the Italian philosopher, Machiavelli), he could often quote entire parables, as could one of his protegés, John Gotti. He was as close as a mob boss ever got to be capo de tuti capi or boss of bosses. He was a powerful force on the commission and no decisions occured without his approval. It was said that a raised eyebrow or even a long stare from this little old man could invoke the deepest fear even into the biggest and toughest mafiosi. He died quietly in his home, at 74, in 1976 while watching the game. He was often called "the nodding don" because in his old age had the habit of tipping his head forward in conversation over a cup of coffee. He was unconvictable, only once brought to trial and then released due to poor health (though he lived 6 years, he must've pulled some strings at least).

Gambino was admired by many, especially John Gotti in his day. Years later, bugs would pick up Gotti describing Gambino in his Ravenite appartment, as a "Back door motherfucker, and a weasel motherfucker". Gambino's funeral had an attendance of over 1000 and he was buried near his home, on "boot hill", the Mafia's cemetery.

[ August 30, 2001: Message edited by: Joey Montana ]

Including James Caan, who attended the funeral.

Caan at Don Carlo's funeral
(from a Police surveillance photo)


[ August 30, 2001: Message edited by: SC ]

My favorite Carlo Gambino story -

A few weeks before Joe Colombo was shot, he was sitting in a bar here in Brooklyn, with a bunch of his "guys" still celebrating his 48th birthday (2 days earlier). Carlo Gambino came walking in with a few of his "guys" and shouted at Colombo to stop the crap (about being on television with his Anti-Defamation League). After the yelling stopped, Gambino slapped Colombo on the face and walked out. Colombo just sat there, staring at the table.

(I had heard this story in the neighborhood, and read about it a few years later in a book about the NY Police Department, so I'm fairly sure its true.)

It's been generally accepted that Gambino gave the job to Castellano because he wanted the Family to become more "legitimate", and he thought it had a better chance of doing so under Big Paul.

This wasn't the first time that Dellacroce had been "stepped over". When Albert Anastasia was killed (with Gambino's help), Dellacroce was next in line to take over, but Gambino took the title of "Boss" for himself.

Carlo Gambino was great in mafiosi circles because he made his family the biggest and most profitable. Puzo based Vito's quiet, unassuming, humble but strong nature on Gambino. Also, the wedding day scene of favors was based on the stories of when Gambino would come to Little Italy, the people would say 'Don Carlo' and at a cafe there his men would usher in people who wanted to ask him for help.

Dellacroce would not have made a good boss in my opinion because the old ways of making money (books, numbers,shylocking, etc.) were dying. Dellacroce was a gangster and racketeering was the bigger, safer profits. Unions, Wall Street scams, more white color crimes was the future and it proved itself true (internet gambling, many states having casinos, state lotteries replacing numbers, pay day loans & companies specializing in 'C' and 'D' rated credit, you can have a bankruptcy today and still buy a house 6 months later today!). Castellano was better suited for that. Plus it didn't hurt he was his cousin/brother in law. Carlo's mistake was not preparing Big Paul better or in making Neil a better business man. Neil was a bruiser, not a man with a head for big business. Paul should have consolidated the family after Neil died and been a little more loyal financially and otherwise to the troops. Hindsight is 20/20. He should have seen that bosses do get killed (Joe Columbo).
No one runs a perfect family. He did the best job of any of the other families namesake (Tommy Luchesse, Joe Columbo, Joe Bonanno or Vito Genevesse). Your greatest Presidents never had a perfect tenure in the white house.

All in all, Carlo Gambino did the best. Present day I would have to say The Chin was the best boss of the present day.

In reality, Aniello Dellacroche got a better deal than he could have wished for. He got extra territory and profits for staying underboss while Castellano was moved up, and he was saved the heat from the feds and police because he was mostly unknown. Only a fool would want to be the head of a mafia family.

This is only speculation but if Neil hadn't succumbed to cancer, Gotti would be a dead man or at least part of the crew would have been.
I believe Neil was still alive when the drug charges first occurred. Neil was old school. The boss is the boss is the boss in his book. Gotti would have to kill him too.

Also, its speculation Neil would have survived the large scale indictments that went down. Was he any smarter than all the commission bosses? No I dont think so. He would have been caught up with the rest. Ravenite was bugged, no doubt Neil would have been implicated directly or indirectly by them.
As far as being boss. Its not desirable now, but back in the '70s and '80s the mob didn't see what effects the RICO statutes could have.

I disagree. According to the movie, "Gotti", John Gotti was in total awe of, and showed only respect to Dellacroce. Gotti would not have whacked Neil.

Neil did everything he could to stall Castellano while the boss wanted to hear A: The Ruggerio Tapes, and B: To Kill Gotti. When Neil died, Gotti and his crew would have rightfully be put into the ground. So they acted, but there is no way Neil would have touched Gotti - dont you think that Castellano had asked him to do so before? He'd wanted to kill Gotti long before.
In retrospect, accepting John into his family in 1977 was possibly the worst decision he ever made.

Well, I guess we agree to disagree on what Neil would have done. I ageee he loved and proteceted Gotti but he was still known as a keeper of omerta and the traditions of 'the life'.
I agreed he stalled Big Paul but I don't recall reading anywhere where Neil heard the tapes. If Neil had heard the tapes I would agree but if he hadn't he would see that Gotti would be dead and I don't think he would kill Paul over that. He was a follower of the old ways. That's why he didn't kill Paul when he was passed over as boss. He told Gotti that that was what Carlo wanted and he had to comply.
Killing a boss was still outlawed and he would have to get commission okay like Gotti did directly or indirectly, with the exception being the Chin who was close to Paul and followed the rules about killing bosses.
None of us really knows what Neil would have done but I vote for whacking Gotti if he was ordered, especially after hearing the tapes and it was about drugs. Outlawed by the commision. Plus, it reflected badly on his leadership of the crew since he let it go on.
Neil knew part of the life was sometimes asked to kill a friend. They all know that the best way to get to someone was to have their freind, who the victim would least expect set it up. I'm sure Neil has done his fair share.

Yeah he protected John, but in the HBO film "Gotti", he comes very close to killing him due to the order given by Paul, because he had killed some cokehead in his crew who had messed up a hit on someone. I think he says something to the effect of "Paul wanted you dead. If Carlo had given the order, I would be here right now, and you would be dead". This was when Gotti was a button, I believe. So he was a no-nonsense guy who would do what the boss wanted, I agree. Over the years he got closer to John though, and their trust built its foundations. I dont know if he'd have gone ahead with it by 1985.



I dont think he had heard the tapes, they were still sealed (though no doubt Paul could have gotten them) but Neil told him that since they werent officialy released, police my have tampered with them etc, thus he kept Paul stalled. If he wanted to follow the orders, as you say, he would have given them immediately and Ruggerio and John would have been killed. He took John's side over Paul's, and disliked Paul quite alot. But, he did follow the rules like a man, in general.



He would have had no right to kill Paul just because he didnt get the position. Besides, he was saved alot of heat from the federal authorities by not being the "man in charge", and Paul ended up with his house bugged instead (and with a 100 year sentenced had he lived through the Commission Trial). Secondly, he got alot of profit and territory in return for not taking top spot, Gambino did this to ensure there would not be animosity among the crews, especially Gotti.



Killing a boss is always outlawed unless The Commission approves, as was the case with Bonnano boss Carmine Galante in 1979. Due to problems with drugs and federal probes, the Bonnano family was exiled from being on The Commission, so there were four families on board, not 5. Of the 4, three agreed to remove Paul because he was greedy and his family was starving in his command (even though it was making $500 million a year, and he was filthy rich) but the kickups he got from his capo's and soldiers never seemed to be enough, and he distanced himself from them. Vincent "Chin" Gigante, wasn't opposed to a boss being removed if need be, but he was personally close to Castellano, so he was not consulted.
What you say about him being against killing a boss is a boloney, because he tried to have John Gotti killed over 5 times, once in 1986 by making a car bomb which killed one of the Gambino capi's, Frank Decicco, a good friend of Gotti, another time by having a soldier shoot at him in 1987 as he walked out of the Ravenite. It was simply a case of revenge, there were no rules or codes (and if he had killed Gotti those times, The Commission had NOT approved of it. He took it into his own hands.



I disagree. The Commission did not approve of drugs due to an edict passed years earlier, and also Paul Castellano passed an edict outlawing them - even though much of the profit going to him was made from them. It was a no-questions asked business. It would not reflect that badly on Paul as it would on the people involved (Ruggerio, Gene Gotti and friends) thus meaning they'd get whacked. That is why Neil had the tapes kept from Paul, because he would have killed Gotti and Neil wanted to do anything possible to avoid this.



I dont think Neil would have done it unless it had gotten to the point where Paul heard the tapes and ordered the hit, in which case I am sure Neil would not do it himself. That is why Paul was killed, among other reasons, because once he heard the tapes there might even be an inter-family war over who gets whacked and who sides with Paul, and who sides with John. Also, at 70 years old and with a life accustomed to mansions and expensive restaurents, they feared that Paul might start talking about the family to save himself. There was no proof of this but it only helped to make him even worse in the eyes of his troops. The final indignity came when he did not attend the funeral of Neil Dellacroche. His death warrant was set. When he went to Sparks steak house, to discuss the reasons for his lack of attendance and the tapes, with Frank Decicco, he was gunned down by "the fist", Gotti's clan of killers and back-up shooters who killed him and his newly appointed underboss, Thomas Billoti, as he stepped out of the car.

[ August 30, 2001: Message edited by: Joey Montana ]

Very good points Joey Montana but first I must say that I didn't say the commission okayed drugs. Maybe I could have written it clearer but I said 'Outlawed by the commission' after I mentioned drugs, implying just that: drugs were officially outlawed by the commission.

Neil got John a pass after he spoke to Paul. Those tapes were very damaging. Neil did not know what was on them plus the indictments were over drugs, an automatic death sentence--no passes. John's crew said it was a BS charge but the facts would have came out in court. If you're telling me that Neil would have openly disobeyed Paul AFTER he and Paul heard the tapes AND it was proven that they dealt drugs then I must disagree.

As far as the Chin. In the book Underboss, it said The Chin said killing a boss was against the rules and Gotti said they were working on finding the culpret. I agree that the Chin tried to kill a boss himself and was hypocritical. He himself tried to kill Costello. He may have made the statement out of convenience but the fact remains it was a rule and he wanted to enforece it. Plus, one could argue that his attempt at killing Gotti was for killing a boss. I wouldn't argue strongly for that theory.

I respectly still maintain that Neil would have killed or would have stepped aside or whatever but he would have 'let' Gotti be killed IF the tapes became known and the drug charges were proven true. Probably just for the comments on the tape alone.

Read the first two lines again. I agree that my writting "i disagree" was confusing, but I clearly said that the commission passed an edict (a law) in the 50s that outlawed drugs, and Paul Castellano passed one in the 80s that said the same thing. Thus, Gotti's crew and friends would have been killed, even Gotti himself, because Angelo Ruggerio badmouths Paul and also says that John badmouths him too on the tapes. Paul would have have them all killed. This is why Neil stalled him. I'm sure you already knew that. As for knowing what was on the tapes, i'm certain Neil had been told by Angelo or John, just to keep him out of the dark, but he was no doubt acting clueless with Paul so as not to let on that there was anything damaging in them. So, in the end, he would have stuck by Gotti until either he died (which he did, of brain cancer) or until he had absolutely no choice but to let Gotti die (I dont believe he would do it, either himself, or have someone sent for it).

[ August 30, 2001: Message edited by: Joey Montana ]

..one more thing Joey Montana, thanks again for your post. Re-reading it and I had to rush because I was doing two things at the same time. We seem to agree, right? Based on what you said below:

So, in the end, he would have stuck by Gotti until either he died (which he did, of brain cancer) or until he had absolutely no choice but to let Gotti die (I dont believe he would do it, either himself, or have someone sent for it).

The man with the plan who you know you can trust.

Don Carlo Gambino: strong like a lion, sly as a fox. The last boss of honour. (Well, maybe The Chin?)

The Chin tried to have a mob boss killed (Frank Castellano in 1957), then John Gotti repeatedly in the late 80s and early 90s. I dont find him honorable, but I find him very cunning. He avoided prosecution for 30 years by feigning insanity, until his ruse was foiled in 1996. He had an operation on his heart a couple of years ago, let's hope he makes it through his 12 year sentence.

Gigante was only a lowly "button" then, and was acting on the orders of Vito Genovese when he shot Frank Costello. "The Chin" was such a bad shot that he only slightly wounded Costello.

I read the reason Costello survived was because his automatic reflex to answer "this is for you, Frank" that Gigante gave. Apparently this turn of the head saved his life. Gigante was stupid for saying anything, thus provoking him into turning around.

The reason why Costello survived was that Gigante didn't take any other shots at him. This all happened in the lobby of Costello's apartment building late at night, so it wasn't like Gigante had to rush. He must have panicked after firing off the one shot (from almost point blank range), and he ran out to a waiting car, leaving Costello dazed, but alive.

Carlo Gambino lived to a ripe old age and died peacefully. Not an easy thing for any mobster to do....let alone a boss.

This is my first reply, so go easy on me with the criticism guys. Carlo Gambino....the name alone just says capo di tutti capi. I saw the Biography on the Gambino Crime Family on A&E in March, and I must say, I learned a lot about "Treachury." He was an extremely intelligent man. His method of evading the FBI's wiretaps is being implemented by Peter Gotti today. The switching of meeting places, and the refusal to speak when conducting those meetings. Gambino used to have his Capos do the talking, and only responded with gestures. The FBI would later say they could never get Gambino on tape because he hardly ever spoke, so his system worked. The feat of dying due to old age, in his line of work, is amazing. The stories of how much coffee the man would drink in Ferrara's was unreal! And he would give advice to anyone that seeked it. I, personally, could never join the mafia, but I do regard Carlo Gambino with much respect. He had the perfect cover, which was his unassuming, frail Grandfather-esque stature. That might have been his greatest weapon. Besides, imagine being the INDIVIDUAL(at least in part) that THE GODFATHER was based upon. I find that to be an unmatchable feat personally. I couldn't imagine saying "Yeah, I am the guy Marlon Brando played in one of the best films ever made." That's just my personal opinion.

I apologize for a typo. I meant to say Gene Gotti. Peter is John's younger brother. Sorry for the mistake guys.

I agree. I've been around to see names like Vito Genovese, Frank Costello, Joe Profaci and Joe Bonnano, but the name of Carlo Gambino always drew the most respect (at least from me).

Welcome to the boards, Noodles.

I agree with you SC.

Yeah welcome to the boards noodles

Wasn't Dellacroce the one who sponsored Gotti's entry or rise in the Gambino family in the first place?

according to my local newspaper, Carlo Gambino is 25 years dead today. congrats!