Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Five Families and How Organized Crime Became Organized

Episode Date: January 31, 2025

Organized crime wasn’t always so organized.  In the early 20th century, in New York, what we would call the mafia was rather unorganized. There were competing groups, and while the individual groups had an organization, there was anarchy among them.  There was a war between some of the crime organizations, and when the dust settled, all of the major mafia groups in New York City had found a way to work together, or at least not openly feud.  Learn more about New York’s Five Families and the creation of the commission on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Mint Mobile Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/eed MasterClass Get up to 50% off at MASTERCLASS.COM/EVERYWHERE Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! ButcherBox New users that sign up for ButcherBox will receive 2 lbs of grass-fed ground beef in every box for the lifetime of their subscription + $20 off your first box when you use code daily at checkout! Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Ben Long & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Organized crime wasn't always so organized. In the early 20th century in New York City, what we would call the mafia was rather unorganized. There were competing groups, and while the individual groups had some sort of organization, there was anarchy among them. From 1929 to 1931, there was a war between some of the crime organizations, and when the dust settled, all of the major mafia groups in New York City had found a way to work together, or at least not openly feud. Learn more about New York's five families

and the creation of the commission on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night and how it shaped the world now.

Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. Before we get into the creation of the five families and the events that resulted in the commission, which put the organization into organized crime, it's important to understand how the mafia in New York came to be. The roots of the New York mob can be traced back to Italian immigrants to the United States in the late 19th century. Many immigrants, particularly those from Sicily, Calabria, and Naples brought their mafia traditions with them. Sicilian immigrants introduced the Sicilian mafia, a.k.a. Costanostra, a secretive criminal network. Neapolitan and Calabrian immigrants brought their own

criminal groups such as the Camorra and the Negrangida. These groups engaged in extortion, protection rackets, gambling, and loan sharking, primarily preying on fellow Italian immigrants. By the early 1900s, New York's Italian communities were dominated by small mafia gangs, particularly in neighborhoods like Little Italy, East Harlem, and Brooklyn. Before the mafia became highly structured, Italian gangs engaged in a crude form of extortion known as the Black Hand. The Black Hand was a form of extortion practiced by Italian criminals, primarily targeting fellow Italian immigrants in cities like New York. It was not an organized crime syndicate, but rather a method used by independent criminals

or loosely connected gangs. Blackhand extortionists would send anonymous letters threatening violence, arson, or kidnapping, unless money was paid, often signing them with a black handprint to instill fear. Unlike the mafia, which operated as a hierarchical structured criminal organization with defined leadership, codes of conduct, and long-term business interests, the black hand was more chaotic and opportunistic. The mafia, however, particularly the emerging Sicilian-American Costinostra, sought control over entire industries and ran extensive rackets, whereas black-hand criminals typically engaged

in one-off extortions with little organization. As the mafia grew in power in the 1910s, it was a lot of the time. actively eliminated black hand operations, seeing them as unprofessional and disruptive to more profitable and sophisticated criminal enterprises. Nonetheless, many early mafia bosses had their start in blackhand extortion gangs. What really changed for the mafia was Prohibition. Prohibition created a massive underground market for alcohol, allowing organized crime groups to accumulate wealth and power at an unprecedented rate.

The national ban on alcohol provided an opportunity for these groups to evolve in sophisticated criminal enterprises beyond their origins and extortion. Bootlegging became the most lucrative business and Italian mobsters quickly established supply chains, smuggling routes, and distribution networks. During this period, several powerful mafia bosses emerged. The most dominant being Giuseppe Joe the boss Masseria, who controlled much of the New York underworld, and his eventual rival, Salvatore Maranzano, a Sicilian boss from the Sicilian town of Castellamare del Golfo, Sicily. Masseria and Maranzano are two key figures in this story. Masseria was the most powerful Italian crime boss in New York at the time, running a criminal empire involving bootlegging,

extortion and gambling. He followed the traditional mafia customs and expected total loyalty from those underneath him. Marizano came from Castellamare de Golfo, Sicily, along the traditional. with many other New York mobsters, and the head of the mafia there mentored him, Don Vito Farrow. Don Farrow sent Maranzano to New York to attempt to take control of the criminal underworld so that the mafia factions and Castellamara del Guelpho would ultimately control it. Maranzano quickly grew his criminal empire and found himself in confrontation with Masseria. By 1929, this had erupted into an all-out war between the two factions, which became known as the Castellamare War.

The war had several different causes. The most obvious were ethnic and regional divisions. Massaria's faction consisted mostly of Sicilians and Neapolitans, while Marizano's faction was almost entirely Sicilian, particularly from the town of Castellamare del Golfo. Messaria adhered to a more rigid, old-school approach to mafia leadership, while Marizano sought to introduce a structured hierarchy inspired by ancient Roman military. banks. However, the biggest reason came down to money. Both men wanted to control the highly lucrative bootlegging trade in New York City. The war began as both sides assassinated each

other's associates, bootleggers, and enforcers. Messer reordered hit on a key Maranzano ally, Catano Rainia, who controlled the ice distribution business in the Bronx, and this move escalated the tensions. The fighting became increasingly violent with both sides using hit men to carry out assassinations. Several prominent mobsters were killed, including Joseph Perino, a Masaria ally, and Vito Bonventre, a Menzaro ally. Now entrenched of the picture, the man who was perhaps the most important character in this entire story, Salvador Lucky Luciano. Lugiano was born in Sicily, and in 1906 at the age of nine, his family emigrated to the United States, settling in New York's Lower East Side, a rough crime-ridden neighborhood where many Italian immigrants lived in poverty.

As a teenager, Luciano quickly became involved in criminal activities, forming his own street gang. Unlike many Italian immigrants who only associated with their own kind, Luciano built connections with Jewish and Irish gangsters, including Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel. In his late teens and early 20s, Luciano worked for Joe Masseria and became involved in prostitution, narcotics trafficking, and bootlegging during prohibition. By the mid-1920s, Luciano was a rising star in the mafia, making millions of people. from bootlegging while maintaining strong alliances with non-Italian criminals, including the likes of Lansky and Siegel.

In 1929, he was kidnapped, beaten, and stabbed multiple times before being dumped on Staten Island. Miraculously, he survived, earning him the nickname Lucky. When the Castell-Lamare war broke out, Luciano initially sided with Masseria, but became frustrated with the old-school mustache-peat mentality, which resisted working with non-Italians, and limited opportunities for younger gangsters. Mustache Pete was a name given to old-school mobsters from Sicily. Seeing an opportunity to modernize the mafia, Luciano secretly aligned with Maranzano. On April 15, 1931, he set up Masseria's assassination at a Coney Island restaurant

where hitman, allegedly including Bugsie Siegel and Albert Anastasia, gunned down Masseria why Luciano excused himself to the restroom. In exchange for the execution of Masseria, Luciano would get his business and be the number two guy under Maranzano. With Masseria dead, the war was now over, and Maranzano found himself at the top of Italian organized crime in New York City. One of the first things that Maranzano did was to create a new organizational system, which he based on Roman military hierarchy.

He created five families, with each family to beheaded by a boss. The first five bosses were Lucky Luciano, Vincent Mangano, and, and he created. Tommy Gagliano, Joe Bonano, and Maranzano himself. Each family would then have underneath the boss, an underboss, a consigliere, several capos, and many soldiers. At a meeting in upstate New York, Maranzano declared himself to be Capo di Tutti copy, or boss of all bosses. While these changes to the structure and organization of the mafia were well received,

Maranzano was fundamentally paranoid. He soon turned against Luciano, plotting to eliminate him and his allies. Word of the pending assassination made its way to Luciano. Before Maranzano could act, Luciano struck first. On September 10th, 1931, Luciano ordered Maranzano's assassination inside his office. The hit was carried out by Jewish gunmen, a move that broke mafia tradition. Maranzano had been the top boss for less than six months, and now the guy on top was, lucky Luciano.

Maranzano had been dubbed Little Caesar because of his obsession with Roman history. If Maranzano was Caesar, then in a very real sense, Luciano became Augustus. Luciano did not take the title boss of bosses for himself, as he knew it would only draw the ire of the other

bosses. Instead, he created a new system called the commission. Instead of a single supreme leader, the commission acted as a board of directors, allowing mafia families to resolve disputes, regulate criminal activities, and maintain order within the underworld. The commission consisted of the heads of the five families established by Maranzano, as well as the head of the Chicago mob, who was Al Capone at the time, and also the head of the Buffalo New York mob. Every member of the commission would have a single vote, and no boss would have total control. The commission had several purposes. The first was preventing internal conflicts. By result,

solving disputes between mafia families peacefully, it reduced unnecessary wars. The second was regulating criminal activities. The commission set rules and guidelines for how families operated, ensuring cooperation instead of competition. The third was approving murders. Any high-profile assassination, such as a boss or high-ranking member, required commission approval. The fourth was managing territories and profits.

The commission determined which families controlled certain cities and, and and industries. Finally, the commission allowed for national coordination. It allowed organized crime to expand beyond New York City, maintaining its influence and control across the entire United States. The goal of all of these reforms was to avoid another Castellamare war, as mob wars were very bad for business. The commission didn't meet frequently. In fact, the original agreement was that they would meet only once every five years, or if there was a need to resolve an important issue. One of the issues that they would adjudicate would be who would take over a family after a boss died or retired. The commission approved their successor to prevent power

struggles. They also served as a sort of Supreme Court, being the last word on any disagreements or disputes between families so they wouldn't break out in violence. The commission system developed by Lucky Luciano worked quite well at reducing violence and improving profits for all of the families involved. However, the commission itself became the weak point in the entire system. While the commission didn't meet that often, when they did, it became a potential single point of failure for the entire mafia. And this exact scenario happened in 1957 when the commission held a major meeting in Appalachian, New York attended by over 60 top mafia bosses.

The meeting was raided by police, leading to multiple arrests and exposing the mafia structure to the FBI, which under J. Edgar Hoover had previously denied the mafia's existence. The Appalachian raid led to increase government surveillance and legal pressure on the mafia for years. Nonetheless, the commission and the five family system survived. Now, if you know even a bit about the New York Mafia, you probably didn't recognize the names I gave as the first bosses of the families. And that's because most of the families became known by other bosses who came after them. In particular, the modern names of the families were named after who the bosses were during the 1963 McClellan hearings in the United States Senate. Joseph Bonano's family remained the Bonano family.

Lucky Luciano's family became known as the Genovese family, named after Vito Genovese. Vincent Magano's family became known as the Gambino family named after Carlo Gambino. Tommy Galliano's family became known as the Lucchase family named after Tommy Lucchese and Joseph Profas. Maki's family became known as the Colombo family named after Joseph Colombo. As for Lucky Luciano, despite his power, Luciano's empire drew the attention of law enforcement. In 1936, Special Prosecutor Thomas Dewey launched an investigation into Luciano's prostitution operations. Luciano was arrested, tried, and convicted of running brothels. In June, 1936, he was sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison, marking the biggest blow to organize crime at that time.

However, the U.S. government struck a deal with Luciano during World War II to help protect the New York Docks. And in 1946, as a reward for his assistance, the now governor of New York State, Thomas Dewey, commuted his sentence and Luciano was deported to Italy, permanently barred from returning to the United States. Luciano suffered a fatal heart attack on January 26, 1962, at the age of 64, after a meeting with a film producer who wanted to make a film based on his life story. Although the mafia still exists, the commission is no longer as powerful as it once was. Several high-profile bosses were imprisoned, murdered, or turned informant, and the mafia's influence over industries like labor unions and casinos has significantly declined. However, the five families of New York still operate, albeit in a much more low-profile and decentralized manner.

Lucky Luciano is considered to be the father of the American mafia for his role in resolving the Castellamare War, and for taking the steps to actually put some organization into organized crime. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Benji Long and Cameron Kiever. I want to give a big shout out to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon, including the show's producers. Your support helps me put out a show every single day. And also, Patreon is currently the only place where Everything Everywhere Daily merchandise

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