I don't believe Gotti was afraid at all.He killed his boss in Christmas rush hr.And The Bull said Gotti's word was "fuck Chin" we will go to war with him.He would have crushed the Cherry Hill's I am sure.Now,they did push for Stanfa and he went with it.But no way afraid.Don't forget nobody could get to Demeo.Not Deccico or Gravano or Gotti.Nobody.Everyone was hesitant toward that guy.Only his Captain and crew could kill him.that is no black mark toward Gotti either.that man had the biggest balls of them all

@MemphisMafia

I don't believe Gotti would have went to war with Chin. If Gotti didn't get a life imprisonment; He would have died on the streets. Chin was gunna get rid of him one way or another...

I'm not tooo sure he would have crushed the Cherry Hill's the more I read about them. Tooo tough of a crew; Plus I'm sure Gotti didn't wanna rock the boat with those over in Sicily. Rosario Gambino pulled some strings over there in Sicily too. If Gotti whacked Rosario; He'd be dealing with a huge mess in NY and Sicily.

Your point with Stanfa; Yea the Cherry Hill's was one of the main reasons why Stanfa became boss. Gotti wanted to give the Sicilian faction of the family a favor by supporting Stanfa for the boss position.

Your last point; DeMeo was no joke.... No one messed with him and you'd end up in a 6 foot grave if you did. His captain; Anthony Gaggi and Paul Castellano were prolly the only ones who could "Control" him..

According to Five Families book, Gotti is on wire tap bad mouthing everyone from Dellacroce to his closest friends but when it came to Chin and the Genovese he was always super respectful and nothing disparaging was ever heard...in hours and hours of rants

Gotti had balls but he knew Chin was the most powerful boss in the country.

I agree they even used a car bomb.

@zavattoni, I''m probally the least in the know guy here on the bb.But I do love these discussions and it's really the only books I have purchased the last decade.Anyway,i absolutely believe in what you said.The Chin,Manna,Mangano,Canterino,these were the top of food chain in Organized Crime.They would have killed Gotti and his brothers and D'Arco says Gravano was a goner too.and they did get Decicco,Lino,Borello hell they all would have been dead.Plus Casso was on there ass.But that doesn't take away that Gotti was willing,according to Gravano to go to war those old timers.the whole Demeo story is really just crazy.But my opinion only,with Gravano's crew.the Bergin,Corozzo's,I'm not sure when Agro was out the picture but I don't believe any of the New York guys would allow the Cherry Hill's to take over at that time.@Balaclava,yes,Gotti knew the Chin was the man.I'm no Gotti fan.But as a gangster he was the real deal.He took that oath to the grave.

The politics is crazy! Is that the reason why the gambino's and bruno's had a fallen out which led to ligambi making the peace? The cherry hill gambino's installed a puppet boss in stanfa and merlino wasn't going for it. How accurate am i?

@MemphisMafia
.
I'm glad you involved yourself in the discussions. I love the talks. Back to your point; Chin and Manna were gunna get rid of his whole circle. I believe I read a while back that Chin wanted to kill Gotti's inner circle first and then get Gotti last. Gotti's time was clicking.... Casso was on his ass too. I agree with you; I don't think NY would have allowed the Cherry Hills to take over the Gambino's. There's a rule were Sicilians cannot be head of a family if they were made over in Sicily. Idk if this is true tho... Sal Catalano in the Bonanno's had power to take the boss position once Phil Rastelli got whacked. His lack of English curtailed that; however.

@Thebigfella

I believe you are accurate to an extent. I don't think the Cherry Hills would have thought Stanfa to be a puppet though. Stanfa was very very close with Rosario and John. Stanfa hung out alot with them during the 70's. I believe he even worked for them in NJ when he was on the run after the Bruno hit. I believe the Cherry Hills hid him from NY. Your other point; I'm not sure if Bruno and the Gambino's ever had a falling out. I am surprised Castellano didn't avenge his death. They were supposily close..

Its true. Gotti was Scared of both the Chin and Casso. They blew up Frankie Decicco. Now I guess you can say the Gambinos retaliated against casso but ive always felt that Angelo was the prime force behind the Casso hit. I'm sure gotti knew about it but after it failed and Hydell was killed Gotti basically did every thing he could to make peace with Casso. But even after that they Killed eddie Lino and Bobby Boriello and Gotti didn't do a damn thing

I meant to say when Carmine Galante got whacked. Talking about Sal Catalano. Yea; Gotti was scared... No way he was gunna survive a Chin and Casso repeated assault on him. Those two guys were deadly.

Regarding the Cherry Hill group, John was made under the Gambinos and Rosario was made in Sicily. That’s why John Gambino was a powerful capo and served on the family’s ruling panel.

Even though he was never boss, the Gambino’s Sicilian faction did retake control over the family behind Dom Cefalu and Frank Cali, likely with John Gambino as a huge source of power behind them.

I also agree that Stanfa wasn’t a puppet, the Sicilian ‘Binos just wanted an ally down in Philly. But Stanfa was weak because he was a general with no army and was considered an outsider by the actual guys on the street.

@Stubbs

Yup! You are right; The Sicilian faction did eventually take over with Cefalu and Cali; John Gambino was a major power to. The Sicilians still run the family today don't they?

Stanfa is one lucky man... He was gunna get whacked by NY/Philly and he got saved by Paul Castellano and the Cherry Hills. The Cherry Hills had him working in a Pizza shop while NY was trying to find answers about the Bruno hit. He then become boss about a decade later...... Stanfa owes most of his success to Rosario and John Gambino.

It is odd that he never retaliated. It seemed like Casso and the Chin were not afraid of the boss of the most powerful crime family out there. I think they felt that Gotti could never outsmart them.

I know that the Ndrangheta was nowhere near as powerful and wealthy as the Sicilians during this time so there was no need for them to set up crews in New York. But what about today? Are Calabrese crews powerful within the New York families now?

they still in charge
with mannino as no 1 then the sicilians are still in control

Why do people always call the street boss number 1?

He’s basically the eyes & ears of the sitting Boss.

so what street boss is ? no 2 ? or 3 ?

I’m not sure to be honest but he’s up. They’re usually guys who are known by most lower ranking and approachable. They’re there to either 1, divert attention from the boss or 2, just handling day to day operations while a boss is imprisoned. Only thing they don’t have that a boss has is, Vote in the commission, can’t order people’s deaths without the bosses nod, and can’t make people.

This is my understanding:
1. Boss
2. Street boss
3. Under boss
4. Consigliere

Note: a acting boss is an unofficial position that serves at the discretion of a boss or family and they can be changed or voted out at anytime, unless, a vote or boss makes them official boss

Haven't there been instances where there's a 3 man panel who's making decisions along with the Underboss and Consigliere still on the streets? Who has the most power then?

Crews are mixed but at the moment the Sicilians are dominant, then Neapolitans followed by the Calabrians.

holla do you mean that they are part of the american mafia (like their have guys who in the families) or they
just work with them but they are independent ?

yeah when fat tony was the chin street boss he surely was no 2
but maybe it depends on the situation and what family...

Wasn't Fat Tony official Underboss; who just happened to be fronting for Chin? The terminology of his position can be confusing. I do know his wasn't some idiot who was taking the fall for Chin. He was very very powerful in his own right. I read a while back that Benny Lombardo; Salerno and Chin each would attend commission meetings at different times.

I don't mean Italian immigrants, but Americans of Sicilian, Neapolitan or Calabrian origin. Ofcourse the five families have zips, but they are just integrated in the different crews.

Gotti couldn't outsmart them. Chin was made over 20 years before Gotti was. He knew the rules and was gunna get Gotti sooner or later. Casso was just flat out ruthless.... You ever get those two guys on you..... Your done...

Well put Zavattoni,if those guys are on you game over.The Chin matched wits with the Feds and it was advantage Chin for years.I don't know if any mobster was as smart and crafty as him including Gambino.Gambino survived in a different era

I was referring to immigrants. But yes, southern Italian Americans are the most prevalent in the mob.

It is true. Caffe On 18th ave it happened on they lured a relative for a sit down and he got shot. I also read it somewhere on here I’ll try to get the post

It's worth noting that prominent Calabrese-American mobsters did not come from areas of Calabria where the 'Ndrangheta was deeply rooted. Anastasia came from Parghelia, fishing village next to Tropea. Costello came from Lauropoli in Cosenza. Nicky Scarfo and Piccolo's were second-generation with attenuated ties to the old country (and Scarfo's father was Neapolitan). By contrast, Carlo Gambino, Bonanno and other Sicilians came from mafia strongholds and could therefore recruit fresh "zip" blood.