That's going a bit far. I think Gotti was very respected and feared, even liked. He was just not fit to be a boss in a time when LE was all out to get the mob, and had been after him even before he was boss.

Funzi Tieri..under,,, but so conniving , bad 2 the bone , even in his old days (Bruno hit) what did he get out of that?? he died a yr. later...all because of a long standing beef w/ Tony Bananas over a shitload of a number's bank in Newark N.J........overated??? Al Capone..'nough said on his part , fat douchbag that didn't really contribute 2 nuthin' 4 anybody nor himself (except wealth).Lucky L. in private couldn't stand him..

Not saying he wasn't tough. Gotti was hardcore LCN through and through. His cockiness though eclipsed that of most other bosses.

Agreed. Plus other than hijacking and loansharking he really didnt understand the other rackets. Truthfully im surprised he is on either list. He was probably one of if not the worst boss ever. Im still convinced if Frankie D didnt die he would of taken over in due time

It was obvious Gotti came from an exclusively blue collar faction of the family. There's a reason why Gambino chose to go with Big Paul, other than the fact they were related. I don't think Neil would've done great as a boss either. He was incredibly tough...I mean, Dellacroce was an almost terrifying presence, but he was slightly lacking in the smarts department.

Cheech had a bit of a gambling itch to scratch. It would've caused him a lot of trouble if he couldn't keep that shit under control as a boss.

Controversial choice for underrated- joey Merlino. I don’t say this as I think he’s done amazing. However some people talk about him like he’s a joke. The guy has been a sitting boss for decades since he fought it out for the title at a young age, told NY to piss off and come to Philly if they wanna see him (unlike any other Philly boss), avoided a life sentence miraculously after all these years and murders, all the while whilst making a ton of money. Also avoided being murdered loads of times. As that life goes he seems a modern success compared to most official bosses out there.

And He never really turned on any member of his crew. They are really close after all these yrs. That says alot, to me.

Total opposite of Scarfo.

People can say what they want about the Bonannos but the way they went legit and died pretty well off financially is something to be said for. The early Northern California bosses did the same. The Don Corleone fantasy, personified. Using the life as a means to an end was the way to go. Then again, some stayed active af and still lived to ripe old ages as free men. Carlo, Accardo, etc.

Most underrated: Benny Lombardo and Jerry Catena.
Most overrated: Carlo Gambino.

Most underrated: Carlo Gambino / Frank Costello
Most Overrated: Vito Genovese.

Gambino ruled for 19 years, never went to jail, and died at home. He was low key and outsmarted a lot of people. His leadership was never in question. His borgata was stronger when he died than when he got it.

Costello was smart and diplomatic. He ran the family for 20 years as either boss or acting boss, and built a gambling empire with political connections that provided protection. He wisely let Genovese take over and "retired" with his gambling interests and was out of the limelight. He died at home a very wealthy man.

Genovese inherited a powerhouse when Luciano went away. During his tenure at the top or near the top, he had Gerard Vernotico murdered so he could marry Anna, was involved in the murder of Carlo Tresca the publisher, had to flee to Italy, faced murder charges when he came back to the US, got sued by Anna for financial support, called for or arranged for Apalachin, got convicted for narcotics, and pushed Valachi into ratting. That's a lot of newspaper headlines and instability.

In my opinion, Genovese was the same train wreck as John Gotti. Genovese and Gotti committed very similar mistakes: exposing LCN (Apalchin and the weekly meets at the Ravenite), pushed people into ratting (Valchi and Gravano), personal murders (Vernotico and John Favara), highly publicized atempted murder / murder of their predecessor (Costello and Big Paul) and narcotics.

Underated: Vito Rizzuto. He helped turn a Canadian satellite crew for the Bonnano's into a powerhouse with global reach. If he wasn't imprisoned and later sick with cancer, I think the Rizzuto's would be in alot better shape. He was a tough guy killer when he was young, but also a diplomat when he was older, and that gave him alot of respect from everyone.

Underrated: Raymond Patriarca. Not trying to be biased here but I always think about the layout of New England and how he had two cities under his watch. Plus having to deal with the Genovese family in Western MA and Worcester when Carlo was operating there. Plus the Irish gangs in Boston early on in his reign. Maggadino was another for me too. The territory he covered and his 50 year reign I still feel goes some what under the radar. Esp for his deep rooted connections to Canada and holding a commission seat.


Overrated: Carlos Marcello/Santo Trafficante Jr. For some reason in my mind I could never put these southern bosses in the same category as the bosses back home, midwest, or westcoast. Esp in the areas they were in. I feel like both families were able to prosper because the areas they were in were very vulnerable, so basically by default. New Orleans/Tampa back in the day were ripe for the plucking. The families fizzled after they were gone. Tampa and Florida in general became a hot bed once the NY familes started coming down. Plus alot more people back in the northeast moved down there. And ever since Marcello passed, what was there for any of the other families to gain in New Orleans besides maybe some gambling? Again just my opinion.

ray did have a 30 yr run 54 to 84 i didnt was to be biased. he was locked up from 1969 till 75 76. he had the 60/40 split ive reacently read over worcesters crap game and number operation all them years. he was caught on wire saying sam cufuri in springfield lucky i give him anything at all if it wasnt for his friend genovese.

the capo in new england frank iacone died in like 56 thats when sam cufuri in springfield was bumped up.

I agree and disagree, it is true that they elevated the mob in canada and Quebec especially, but how they did it is what I take issue with. They should have respected the established Cotroni borgata and worked with them instead of taking them out.. This move was characterized by greed and sectarian considerations(Cotronis were calabrese), and look where it landed them now, they're a basically defunct clan and at war with calabrian groups coming from Ontario, instead of sharing the power with other Italians to stay on top of the OC ladder.

Still not overrated though!


Most overrated:
Paul Castellano; I think he had the right things in mind pushing the mob to involve itself more in legitimate industries, but he wasn't streetwise enough and didn't earn the respect of the rank and file, I think it's clear he relied pretty much entirely on Gaggi and the Demeo crew to keep the rest of the family honest and once they were gone he was almost taken out at once. Also lots of - points for the relative carelessness with bugs and such.


Most underrated:
Carmine Galante; Controversial pick maybe? Here's a guy who by most accounts had seriously low IQ(I doubt the accuracy a bit but yea), and managed to run or at least participate in serious international transaction and was savy enough to impose himself despite spending a decade or more in jail, adn even managed in a couple of years to impose Bonnano rackets in Montreal while establishing a bridgehead there for the family.

Nick Scarfo: Pure cosa nostra, and while there may be some truth to the fact he was a psycho, he was successful in organizing fairly sophisticated rackets in AC and elsewhere, understood the importance of maintaining good ties to the NY mob, won an intra-family war, and on top of that he was by most accounts very successful at dodging the law trying to bug him or follow him around and his demise came on account of mostly informants which was quick becoming the norm in the mob.

Yes, but when the Cotronis were taken out, Nick Sr took power, not Vito, so it was more to do with Nick than Vito. By the time Vito took control of the family, the Calabrese stuff had already happened a while ago.

Anthony Casso should be more known. He might not have technically been the boss, but he ran the Lucchese syndicate with an iron fist. He’s “underrated” by the public, I guess, as far as being a notorious psychopath and scariest kind of mafioso. One prosecutor was quoted as saying that Casso truly stood out in a criminal underworld filled with treacherous and bad people.

Bank robbing, drug trafficking, police on the payroll, torture, conspiring to murder judges and witnesses, murdering civilian business men... not to mention countless Lucchese mobsters at the height of his paranoid reign.

And ultimately, an informant for the feds. Who would have guessed? I’m surprised he isn’t as known as Sammy Gravano.

Underrated; Joe Profaci, ( May have been a boss before the Commision was even established, rules with an iron fist for 30 years?
Single handed mediated the feud in Sicily between the Ciuculli and Croceverde Grecos, who were the MOST POWERFUL family in Sicily at the time....
And kinda single handed dealt with the rebellion in his family forcefully ,only lost to Cancer, IMO. And from what I've read on the forums, he left a Billion dollar liquor distribution business? Is that right? Also, and I think it goes overlooked, the alliance between him and Bonnano, and then him and Zerilli, arguably gave him three commission votes, I really think he RAN Brooklyn during his time....)

Overrated: Frank Costello, For two reasons; One, he didn't have his own muscle in the Luciano- Genovese family. Two,I really think Joe Adonis and Tommy Luchesse were every bit as politically connected as him in NYC.

Underrated: Vic Amuso- For no other reason that he's STILL boss and we really don't have a clear picture why. The info on him seems SO contradictory..... The fact the Creas are still answering to him is intriguing in itself. Although I suspect the family was really grateful to him for putting Casso on the shelf, it probably restored a lot of what was lost when they killing guys left and right.

Daniel Leo- He's so low key no one ever thinks to mention him really.

Joe Bonnano- I Think he was really just starting to get cooking in his mid-fifties. He was like, SUPER active.......Everywhere...


Stefano Maggadino- The influence of American LCN on Canada is STILL being felt today. Appalachian is his huge black eye, but he seems to have been a VERY integral part of east coast LCN politics in his time.


Vito Genovese- I know Appalachian was stupid, as well as basically twice in his career forcing guys (by way of excessive violence) to rat on him ( Valachi and Ernest the hawk? ) but the shit he pulled in Europe is just nuts. How do you go seamlessly from the Axis to the Allies? Lol


Sam Giancana- He oversaw the Outfits most profitable period, we kinda give the elder statesmen all the credit, but all of his guys became top leaders too in the Outfit....


Joe Zerilli - Connections to the Bonnano and Luchesse families, as well as maintaining independence from coming under Chicagos wing.....

Raymond Patrairca- strong enough to have NY respect his territory......



Overrated: Phillip Rastelli- I almost practically don't consider him EVER a boss, for all his ineffective authority....

Gaetano Gagliano- I could be totally wrong, but I think Luchesse was always the power there.

Joe Colombo- The family seemed to tread water when he was boss.....


This is a fun topic, lol

Castellano wasn't the greatest boss. Aside from the fact that he was a greedy fuck and that he often was too busy banging his Colombian maid without any sense of tact, he took quite the hypocritical stance towards the people in his organization. Gotti and his crew were under siege because of their involvement in the drug trade, while Castellano turned a blind eye towards the Demeo crew's blatant forays into dope slanging. He also didn't seem to bother much with the Westies, who not only sold drugs, but jammed more of that stuff up their noses than they sold.

That being said, he did run a reasonably tight ship administration-wise. I also think his perceived "lack of street smarts" is a bit exaggerated. He ran extremely lucrative scams and generally speaking he wasn't a pushover either. He wouldn't hesitate twice of having you whacked when you posed too much of a problem. To the outside world he seemed to be a class act.

All in all, I think Gotti did far more damage to the Gambino's than Castellano would've done in the long run.




Personally I don't think Galante qualifies as "underrated". The only thing he had going for him - in New York - was his fearsome presence and his bond with the Sicilians. The Sicilians loved him, but the Americans couldn't stand him. And his bread and butter was in America, not in Sicily. The lack of respect for his ways of doing business in his own environment cost him in the long run.

A difficult discussion to be sure, but some great points made by people here. I think it's difficult to compare bosses in the past with bosses of the 80s with bosses of the present. Different time periods, different considerations, different variables and factors that either made people successful or not. Perhaps grouping by decade might better focus the research and will have comparative data considerations (e.g., RICO, wiretapping, when snitches became prevalent, the declining importance of the older values that set up the families to begin with, etc.).

Good post altogether but i'm not so sure about Frank Costello's lack of muscle. He was close with Willie Moretti, Anthony Carfano, Charlie the Blade Tourine. He also had supporters in the very powerful East Harlem crew led by Trigger Mike Coppola. Not much is known about Frank's brother Eddie but he supposedly did a lot of dirty work for Frank. Sure he started to lose muscle as time went on but if he had to exert force he was never short on buttons to do his dirty work.

i agree with both of your analysis. Castellano while greedy and not a "street guy" still ran the family better than given credit for. White Collar crimes were more lucrative and less risky then the usual hijacking,loansharking,and drug dealing and we Know Paul was good at the white collar stuff. Also he wasnt a pushover. If you pissed him off you were dead. He ordered a ton of murders during his reign. As for Galante he wasnt well liked. Hell even his sicilian bodyguards turned on him in the end

Marcello was Costello's guy, and Trafficante was with Lansky. Family size? Meh. It's all about money and these guys raked.

Really CC?? From all that I have gathered, he was nothing more than Gaspipe's puppet during the time they both were on the streets..

Most over hyped/rated boss EVER is Lucky by far. 4-5 years on the street as boss. Credited for Maranzano:s creation.

Most Underrated: Russell Bufalino
Most Overrated: John Gotti

I still see Gotti being called overrated, but I have never seen anyone on a site or in a book or article say he was a great boss.

Time periods are a factor. A boss who may have been good 70 years ago probably could not function now, and the same if we reverse it. The same holds true for captain and soldiers, and even associates. Genovese may have been a better boss if he was around in the 1920's as boss, Castellano may have failed as a boss in 1931.

Did you also know John LaRocca personally FoH? I knew you knew Michael Genovese very good, but didn't know about LaRocca.

And I agree that this man was a very underrated boss: he had a very long tenure, made a lot of money in Cuba with the elite of the elite in mob land and most importantly he died in his own bed of natural causes. But when I think of it, so did his successor Michael Genovese and to be honest it's actually way more impressive in his case because he managed to avoid jail in the post-RICO era, as one of the only bosses in the 80's and 90's. Plus, he supposedly oversaw the most lucrative period in the Pittsburgh family's history, with huge amounts of money made by drug dealing that had the blessing of Genovese allegedly..

If I stated some incorrect facts, don't be afraid to school my ignorant Dutch ass pal

Nobody who ever read up on the mob a bit claims Gotti was a great boss.
On the other hand, every average-Joe-nitwit who speaks gangster lingo to impress his local stoner buddies worships that iconic Gotti black-and-white courtroom picture like the North Koreans worship the Great Leader Gold Statues.

And let's be honest; there's a lot more of the latter category around than there's of the first. When we're talking from a "popular culture" point of view, Gotti definitely qualifies as overrated.