The Gambino family

The Gambino Family

The first boss of the Gambino family was Salvatore D'Aquila. He was the boss of Bosses until he was murdered in October, 1928, in Brooklyn, NY. He was succeeded by Frank Scalise, who was in control until 1931. Vincent Mangano represented stability for the Gambino family as he was in control from 1931 to 1951. Albert Anastasia took over in 1951 and ruled until his murder in a barbershop in 1957. He formed Murder, Inc., the group that killed an estimated 400 people in his time as boss of the family. Anastasia's sanity began to be questioned by other members of the family. This led to his murder by the Gallo brothers, Larry and Joe, in a hotel barbershop.

Carlo Gambino took over in 1957 and ruled until 1976. He is generally known as the best boss of the Gambino family. He tried to keep a low profile. He was not a man who liked his name in the papers. This helped when some of the other wiseguys in the city were always on the front page of the New York Times. Carlo Gambino turned the family into the most profitable one in the city. Gambino never served a day of jailtime in his life. When Carlo was on his deathbed in 1976, he chose Paul Castellano to succeed him. Castellano was Carlo's cousin, and brother in law, so Carlo thought it was a good choice to let Paul take over. This move upset Aniello "Neil" Dellacroce, who had been family underboss since 1965. Dellacroce thought that he would be taking over the Gambino family, but he obeyed Gambino's wishes and was rewarded by Castellano by remaining in the number two spot in the family.

Paul Castellano was regarded as more of a businessman than a gangster. Castellano lived in his mansion on Todt Hill on Staten Island, where he rarely ventured out into the city. The soldiers and captains in the Gambino family began to resent this. They felt that Castellano was losing touch with them. In 1985, Paul Castellano and his bodyguard, Tommy Bilotti, were assassinated in front of Sparks Steak House in NYC in a move that was orchestrated by Gambino capo John Gotti. Gotti's mentor, Dellacroce, had died two weeks before the assassination. Gotti had waited for Dellacroce to die so he could take out Castellano. Gotti then took control of the Gambino family and was known as the "teflon don" for his acquital in three separate trials in the late 1980's. In 1991, the feds indicted John Gotti, along with underboss Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano and consigliere Frank "Frankie Loc" Locascio on racketeering and murder conspiracy charges. In a shocking move, Gravano turned state's witness and testified against his boss. Gravano was sentenced to 20 years in prison for 19 murders and he served less than five.

In 1992, Gotti was convicted on murder and racketeering charges, and is serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Marion, IL. His son, John Gotti Jr., is currently the acting boss of the Gambino family. The elder Gotti would like for his son to remain as boss, but the national commision of LCN will not allow it because John Jr. is known to have a quick temper and is not thought of to be as strong a leader as his father. Late 1996, Jerry Capeci, a writer for the N.Y. Daily News, reported that Gambino capo Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo was chosen by the commission to take over for Gotti after one last chance for legal appeals. The appeals failed, but Corozzo was then indicted on racketeering charges while in Florida, and he is currently incarcerated in New York City along with fellow Gambino capo Leonard DiMaria. The Gambinos were the strongest family in the city only seven or eight years ago, but now they are at a key time that will determine how far they go in the future.