Which family was the most powerful in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s? I know that's a long span of time I'm just curious as to which family was the most powerful in each decade.

Lucchese was ONE if the not the most powerful family in the 50's and 60's in The states.


Boss - tommy lucchese

In NYC, The Genovese Family has traditionally been the largest in terms of numbers for most of that time period. They get my vote for most powerful.

IMO, the Gambino's had equal power during Carlo's reign, from the early 60's to the mid 70's.

Outside of NYC, Chicago is the only city to have anything that could rival the Genovese and Gambino borgata's.

I think any attempt to compare a non-NYC family with a NYC family is futile. Apples and Oranges.

Let the debate begin.

From the early 20th century up to the present, it's been the Genovese family. I agree that the Gambinos rivaled them in many ways in 60's, 70's, and 80's.

In NYC? Genovese hands down.

Both in New York and nationally.

Genovese ofc.

In terms of numbers its always been the Genovese family.
Though as others said, in the days of Don Carlo the Gambino's maybe slightly surpassed them in influence given Carlo's sly ways of bringing the smaller families into his tent.

The Gambino family superseded the Genovese family in numbers in the 1970s and 1980s. And some say that the D'Aquila/Mineo/Gambino family was always the largest family.

idk man chicago had everything west of illinios on lock for generations including 3/4ths of vegas and controlled alot of the unions there and in the midwest ... but id have to say genovese and gambinos on the east for sure its a close call for sure .... these days genovese are number one on the east with not too many pinches on their end i mean colombos and bonnanos are constantly getting bombarded and flipped its a joke and bad for business

"If anybody survives it will be the Genovese."
- Anthony Accetturo, Lucchese LCN family Captain (1994)

"I have always considered the Genovese Family to be the most powerful LCN family in the United States."
- Al D'Arco, Lucchese LCN family Acting Boss (1994)

"The Genovese family is the most sophisticated, cautious, secretive, and powerful Cosa Nostra family in the United States."
- Phil Leonetti, Philadelphia LCN Underboss (1989)

Your location of Illinois may bring some bias eastsider, though I do agree with you. They did control all families west of the Mississippi and I think stronger control of unions vs. New York

"Control" may be too strong a word. The Outfit had varying degrees of influence over the families west of Chicago. And one of the main reasons the Genovese family has always been considered the #1 family in the country was/is because of their control of labor unions and influence in legitimate industries. More so than any other family.

20's - 40's. Genovese, in whatever incarnation.

Late 40's - After his return from Sicily, I think it's worth saying Vito Genovese gained broader influence than any other head of a family. That being said, he wasn't able to consolidate it for more than a short period of time. Therefore, it's basically null.

50's - 70's. Gambino Family, thanks to the leadership of Don Carlo Gambino and his partnership with Tommy Lucchese

Late 90's - '02. Bonanno Family under Joe Massino. Begins the decline 2 years before Massino turns when high rankers suffer house arrests and minor convictions.

'02 - Present. By staying rooted in generally legitimate business and understanding the value of plea bargains, Genovese reign supreme once again. Probably forever more.

Agree, however it's the Chicago Outfit's role in politics and corruption, urban legend or real that makes me put a lot of weight behind it.

Obviously the Genovese has always been #1, but it's typically the Gambinos that are compared to be the runner up, where I don't think that was always the case

I wonder with a new boss in Cefalu, perhaps the Gambino's might strengthen and possibly challenge the genovese for number one spot.

I doubt there is any competition at this point. The spheres of influence and territories seems to be set in stone.

I don't mean in terms of a rivalry, just in law enforcement eyes they may be viewed as a more stable family as compared to after John Gotti days.

As long as there are no radical changes within the Genovese family itself they will be viewed as #1 by the feds.

While one can make an argument about the Gambinos from the 1960's through the 1980's, the Bonannos were never the top family.



I'd say the corruption in New York and New Jersey (especially New Jersey) rivaled Chicago's back in the day. Frank Costello had as much clout as anybody in Chicago ever did.