Which of the five families and even Chicago and Philly are best primed to either prosper the most or at the least maintain the best? I would say Genovese but they have a lot of very old higher ups other than Barney. Do they have enough capable schooled young guys or not so old guys at least?
The Gambinos? I know they have finally shaken off the gotti weight n it's back. Are the Sicilians and the remaining old school guys as well as the capable gotti captains the way to go in the future.
Luchesse,Colombo, bonnano?

If we are picking a single family, it would undoubtedly be the Genovese. A real argument can't be made about any other family (even the Gambinos who are a strong #2), especially those remaining outside New York who's relatively small recruiting pools continue to shrink.

In my opinion 3 . Genovese , gambino and lucchese , there rest r fighting for scraps

the west side has plenty of young guys. Not just barney, guys like pagano, dipietra, al generosa, stevie arena, steve buscemi is a younger guy who was a shylock under the ianniellos, hippy gets out in a few years, etc. Gambinos will better off too. just my opinion, good topic!

I agree with the others above . But not knowing much about all the families I would have to say it's staying as it is .The one thing all of them have going for them that has not been ,is that they have more coming out of prison then going in. How long this is aloud by LE never know . But one thing I do know that the young guys need role models . It just makes it much more the way it was before ,and was ment to be.Very ugly the way it has gotten to be . The quality of guys is very important in that life . From what I have seen it was the first thing to go . They always had a few in each family ,they were usually the hitters and the smart more classy guy was your earner . But when that balance gets out of whack other things follow.

Barney's almost 60, looks every day of it, and he's still not nearly as active as he was before his wife died.

I get everyone's point, but he's a grandfather. People act like he's still the Boy Wonder. But I agree with Skinny's assessment that they have some young guys. The two guys they just made who are with the guy running QD's crew are both in their late 40's. That's young for them.


I agree.


You won't believe it until you read it in a press release or in Jerry's column, and that's fine. It's your prerogative, you're entitled to it, and I've always given you the respect that you deserve.

But if you're talking about a strong number two, there are areas (especially in the Bronx and in Westchester), where the Luccheses aren't just number 2. To put it into horse racing parlance, they're 1A.

The Luccheses are tied at the hip to the Westside. So if you're saying that the Westside is going to be strong ten years from now (and who really knows anyway?), then you shouldn't discount the Luccheses. My two cents.

It's interesting to think about where the Gambino's will be in 5-10 years, their admin looks solid and seems to made up of guys who know the deal - ie not Peter or Junior Gotti

Columbo's look like the first family that will become insolvent.

Outside of NYC I think merlino will still be boss in 5 and as charismatic as he is the guys a born leader and probly build a small army down philly Florida and south jersey.

Like Pizza said it has to be the Genovese and Lucchese, and i think a big reason is the are where they operate the Bronx is so different from the other boroughs, the bigger poverty leads to more crime which leads to LE having to focus on more violent crimes which leaves many of the bookmakers, pot dealers, loan sharks and other OC activities to operate more openly

That's a big part of it and perfect examples of there being more blue collar LCN guys left in the Bronx and Westchester than in Manhattan and Queens (there are practically zero in Manhattan).

However, it's the construction partnerships that I'm referring to when it comes to the white collar money. They're incredibly profitable, completely legit and unbreakable.

The partnerships that the DiNapolis formed with Stevie and the old Salerno and Prince Street Crews back in the '80s are still honored, alive and well, and built on solid enough legal ground that the Feds can't touch them (unless they start inventing new laws, which is par for the course for agents and prosecutors in Federal Government).

I didn't realize they were completely legal.

I figured that kind of defeats the purpose. Why even bother being a boss/captain if you're making that kind of legit cash?

Pmac you are very smart when it comes to OC ,but you are dead wrong with this guy.

If Merlino has built a small army in the next 2 years, he'll be in jail for life.

It's not 1950 anymore. If you don't have a solid legit business showing real money, you're not gonna make it. John Gotti couldn't operate with his "I didn't get a button to open a construction company" attitude. Not that he made it all that far anyway.

I guess what I mean is -- why bother with the other LCN stuff if you're making so much money legit? If a guy like Crea is smart enough to avoid violence because of heat, why even get close to the illegal stuff?

My guess is if you use your lcn connections to start a few successful businesses then act like you don't want to do lcn business after starting these businesses it's probably frowned upon.

Yeah, I figured, also figured that some of these top guys that have done time are respected enough to back away. Maybe they have?

Yea agreed

Aside from the fact that Merlino will probably be serving a Predicate RICO in five years, do you have any idea how many New York wiseguys are living part-time in Palm Beach and Broward Counties?

I hope he retires, but do you think Vinny Artuso and the Gambinos are just gonna let Joey build a "small army" when Vinny comes home next year? They have thirty guys in that area RIGHT NOW.

You could be right about Philly. I don't know and I don't care. My interest Merlino is recent, and it's only due to the fact that he lives close by when we're in Florida.

Yeah, I think pmac is dreaming about Philly/Merlino.

Who says he does?

He leaves Jersey to Jersey, the street to the street (meaning the blue collar stuff), and his bread and butter is construction. Always has been, always will be. That's why he's so popular among the rank and file.

I don't know if he does. Maybe he doesn't. That would be the smart thing. I'm assuming the Feds are gunning for him.

EDIT: That said, I'd imagine people are kicking up to him... and those guys aren't clean... again just speculation

Again, Stevie's bread and butter was ALWAYS construction. He didn't get off as a street goon and THEN get into the demolition and building field.

PB was Stevie sought after cos he was doing so well in construction. Or did he always hang in the company of gangsters .

Of course, they are. But with no murders, and the way he's mastered the plea bargain, the damage wouldn't be too bad. And that's assuming they have anything on him. He doesn't talk to many people these days .


He wouldn't be much of a boss if they weren't .

I know crea gets the credit for stabalizing the lucchese family , but I think some of that should go to bagels , he seemed to steady the ship after the brooklyn morons , d'arco and defede did what they did

The Feds didn't even know he was until Little Al flipped.

I'm exaggerating, of course, because he had already been named as an unindicted co-conspirator in one of Vinny DiNapoli's cases prior to that.

But when D'Arco told the Feds that Stevie had more construction projects than Sammy Gravano, it really set them off. You have to remember, this was the post-Gotti, gang busting '90s. If you were connected to LCN and you had money, the Feds wanted to seize it for themselves.

Of course they do . But was he just a working guy and someone came to him ? or was he always involved one way or another ?

He was "born with friends." I won't cross that line, and I know you respect that because there's a line you won't cross yourself. And that's why I respect you.

But I want to make one thing PERFECTLY clear. He was never a punk. And to the posters who keep stressing his non-violent approach, well, all I can say is, you didn't know him thirty years ago. Like there was never any violence where construction bids were concerned. The guy was a beast with his hands. The perfect combination of businessman and tough guy. And it's served him well.

he was a former boxer just like chin