We all know that Big Paul was not considered a 'street guy' by the blue collar faction of the LCN.

But I think Paul had a smarter (and newer) vision of LCN money-making. He was more modern.

I have always thought Neil Dellacroce was a charismatic LCN figure, perhaps the greatest of them all.

The hey-day of the New York LCN (the 1970s and 80s) became the era of La Cosa Nostra becoming too successful (and visible) for its own safety.

So, in his own way, was Big Paul wise to avoid the Dellacroce funeral and wake, even if Gott was pissed about it?

Sure, Gotti wanted revenge for the snub, but maybe Paulie made the right decision in terms of secrecy.

Did Vincent Gigante attend funerals when he was doing his crazy act? Did anyone complain?

It wasn't Gotti's prerogative, it's not a soldier or acting capo's prerogative to get the huff over what strategy a boss chooses to pursue in order to avoid unnecessary detection and surveillance from the Feds.

If this is the kind of insubordination Dellacroce taught his underlings I don't know why he's held in such esteem.

Then again we're talking about the same moron who within 12 months of becoming boss had gifted the Feds the entire structure and administration of the family because of his insecurity and need for everyone to kowtow to him.

Out of respect he should of shown up. But who was Gotti to dictate what the boss does. Gotti and his guys were on the verge of being seriously Fucked without Neil. Paul not showing up was ammo for Gotti to use to shoot his way out of his predicament. It always boggled my mind how Gotti was pretty much a hijack guy and the rest of the Gambino clan got behind him. Or did the indictments of the bosses make everyone say fuck being the boss. It seems like Henry Hill had better rackets than Gotti.

paul was on bail for two cases, he did need to give the fbi more pictures on bail to show a jury, gotti used his absence to fire up some guys

I agree 100%.
Also this “ blue and white collar” bullshit is kind of absurd, was Carlo Gambimo a street guy? Look at Frank Cali, he is a businessman and loaded.

Gotti skipped big Paul's lol, Paul was put out of his misery , he had numerous pianos over his head .

Remember how the guys who planned the Galante hit all congregated at the Ravenite with Dellacroce after his murder? Remember all the surveillance photos and footage they dropped right at the feet of the Feds?

Fucking geniuses.

Paul should have had Dellacroce whacked long before Gotti and Ruggiero started becoming problems.

Stop the problem at the source.

Don't think getting a few bullets in the head was too smart!

Kurins and O'Brian, in "Boss of Bosses," say that Paul's failure to attend Neil's wake and funeral counted heavily against him among the working stiffs in the family, and may have helped Gotti get away with regicide. But, in the Mob, you can never go wrong by following the money. Paul was greedy about sharing the wealth with the working stiffs.

I was gonna go into this....but u just said it right & plain & simple Moe....

Neil wasn't that smart, either. He went away for five years on a tax-evasion rap--he lost $100k in a casino at a time when he was claiming only $10k in "legitimate" income.

People respected gigante, they probably didn't respect castellano or give much of a fuck when he was killed

Why didn't Paul have Dellacroce whacked? Was he still respecting Carlo's deathbed wish to keep Dellacroce as Underboss? Paul certainly could have used Gaggi; and DeMeo to set up the murder. If Paul did have Dellacroce whacked in let's say 1979' right after Galante's murder; Who could have been a good replacement as Underboss to keep the 'blue' collar guys in-check?

And to the question; Yes; Paul was smart not to attend Dellacroce's funeral. He was already in a shit-ton of trouble.

Castellano was out on bail if I'm not mistaken? If so he may have had restrictions on him. If he did go, it. would have hurt anyone else who attended. I think he should have been allowed to go, but police, FBI and others along with he media would make as if was a crime to attend the funeral of a person he knew. He was smart to not go, and Gotti had no excuse for being mad, and no place in the mob at the time to question Castellano.

I think most mobsters knew why he didn't go to the funeral. But it just gave Gotti yet another reason to kill Paul and made it easier for him to get support.

I agree, or Gotti may have been ticked off over a thing he should have understood.

The Gambino family was split into two factions and that had nothing to do with GOTTI.

I think A LOT of the family felt Dellacroce deserved to be boss and not Castalllano.

Castallano was NOT able to patch the family back together when he took over.

If Gotti didn't do what he did I think someone else would have.

Castallano was about to give the acting to Billotti.

Gigante loved nothing more than having a weak Gambino admin so he could pick up rackst's

I think you are right about the divisions in their family, but not about others killing Castellano. That was Gotti all the way, and if he had not led it the others would have never done it.

Agreed. I don't see it either. Now maybe if he went away and Bilotti came acting or true boss then I could have seen it but that's the only way.

That's what I meant

The divide was because Dellacroce deserved to be boss

Now imagine if Billotti was now acting boss after Castallano goes away on the commission case
???

I think that would have been the straw

Did Dellacroce really even want to be boss? He had. a long career without major trouble, was near end of his life, and had a lot of power without the added heat of the boss spot. I wonder if Gotti wanted Dellacroce to be boss way more than Dellacroce wanted the position.

Are we talking about Big Paul or John Gotti? It kinda applies to both of them, it seems.

I agree that Paulie stayed away from the Delllacroce funeral to remain low-key. John Gotti by comparison was an attention-seeker, not smart in the underworld. Sammy spoke about John loving the attention when they were in restaurants.... "Ooh, look it's the mob boss!"

Actually Neil was getting indicted quite a bit in the 70's and the 80's. I know he was in jail for a few years in the 70's while Carlo was getting sick and eventually died. I think that was part of the reason why carlo wanted paul in that position along with the fact that Paul was good at white collar rackets. Neil was a tough and well respected gangster no doubt about t but he wasn't the smartest gangster and did have a lot of heat from the feds. I agree Gotti wanted him to be boss mainly because it would raise his position and he would of taken over eventually. The same thing happened with the Fatico brothers. In fact Gotti was hoping the Fatico brothers went to jail in the 70's so he would become the official capo of the Bergin crew.

Believe Carlo was caught on a wiretap or told an informant something along the lines of Neil was expendable, so obviously Carlo didn't hold him in high regard.

Paul would always stick to the Sicilians, Neil and Gotti were Neapolitans.

70's and 80's the heyday of LCN in NY? Am I reading that right? I would think the heyday would have to be pre Kefauver. 1930s to 1950s. Most law enforcement in the country didn't even believe there was a mafia up to that point, including the head of the FBI.

hahaha I was just going to say that

John was going to do it regardless. I think that was another reason for it to be justified and maybe pushed him over the edge who really knows

If you ever run across that I would love to see it. Not saying you're lying or anything, it just sounds interesting and the Gambino's is not someone I follow that close other than reading Sammy's book which was probably full of bullshit I imagine.



I agree, John would have found ANY excuse to clip Paul. He found any excuse he could use to justify the hit.

Carlo never was caught on any tape , speaking or otherwise..that man was too shrwed.... after 27 yrs. of mob info ,& friends in the biz & inteI...I never heard that man speak....Dixie,,what is this thing of SC u speak of...I'm not 2 savvy w/ computers..u say @ the top of the forum...I don't c it

You can say a lot of things about Paul he was greedy and he wasnt a tough guy. HOWEVER he was a smart guy and tried to stay "in the shadows" which was probably the smart thing to do as a boss. The main reason the FBI were granted a bug in his house was because of Angelo's big mouth and the drug dealing from the bergin crew. I dont think it mattered that he didnt attend Neil's funeral because gotti and angelo had already started to put things in motion in september of 85