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Colombo crime family, New York-based organized crime syndicate. Along with the Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese, and Bonanno families, the Colombo family is one of New York City’s Five Families, prominent criminal organizations that share the territory.
- Five Families
Five Families, moniker given to the five major Italian...
- Five Families
The Colombo crime family (/ kəˈlɒm.boʊ /, Italian pronunciation: [koˈlombo]) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia.
Dec 23, 2023 · The Colombo crime family stands as one of the notorious Italian American Mafia families that controls organized crime activities in New York City. It is part of the Five Families, which are central to the criminal landscape of the American Mafia.
- Overview
- Background and formation
- Lucchese family
- Bonanno family
- Colombo family
- Gambino family
- Genovese family
- The Five Families in American culture
Five Families, moniker given to the five major Italian American Mafia families in New York City: Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese. The families and their inner workings were publicly revealed in 1963, when a Mafia soldier testified at a congressional hearing. The heyday of the Five Families is confined to roughly four decades, from...
The Five Families were organized after the end of the Castellammarese War, the name given to a violent power struggle between Joe Masseria and Maranzano. In 1931 Maranzano’s faction made the decision to assassinate Masseria. The plot was devised and overseen by Lucky Luciano, Maranzano’s lieutenant. In the power vacuum created by Masseria’s murder, Maranzano reorganized the Mafia’s power structure. He recognized the groups that would become the Five Families—then known as the Luciano, Gagliano, Mangano, Maranzano, and Profaci outfits—and demarcated their respective territories. Each family now had, in descending order of authority, a boss (or don), an underboss, lieutenants, and soldiers. Maranzano also declared himself capo di tutti i capi, or “boss of all bosses,” essentially making himself the supreme authority of the Mafia.
Later in 1931 Luciano had Maranzano murdered, disavowed the capo di tutti i capi title (though he maintained much of the power), and organized the Commission, which initially consisted of the heads of the Five Families, the Buffalo (New York) Mafia, and the Chicago Outfit; Luciano served as the chairman. They met to discuss shared issues and mediate internecine conflicts. This arrangement, albeit constantly tenuous and outright hostile at times, ushered in a new era of cooperation and success for the Italian American Mafia. Over some three decades the Five Families amassed great power and wealth. However, with the enactment of the RICO Act in 1970, the Mafia and the Five Families entered a period of decline. Hugely effective in combating organized crime, the act resulted in numerous convictions. In addition, the prospect of lengthy prison sentences led many Mafia members to become informants.
The Lucchese family was originally called the Gagliano family after Thomas (“Tommy”) Gagliano, who rose to power following Gaetano (“Tommy”) Reina’s death in the Castellammarese War. When Gagliano died in 1951, Thomas (“Tommy” or “Three-Finger Brown”) Lucchese became boss and renamed the family. The Luccheses, alongside the Gambinos, controlled the...
The Bonanno family is named for Joseph (“Joe Bananas”) Bonanno, who became leader after the death of Maranzano. One of the longest-serving bosses in Mafia history, Bonanno was in power for more than 30 years, during which time the family rose in prominence. It was largely engaged in loan-sharking, gambling, narcotics, and prostitution. Bonanno atte...
The group that eventually became the Colombo family was first controlled by Joseph Profaci, who served as boss until his death in 1962. His brother-in-law, Joseph Magliocco, assumed power and plotted with Joseph Bonanno to assassinate the leaders of the Gambino and Lucchese families. The plan, however, was revealed to the Commission by their top assassin, Joseph Colombo. As a reward, he was made leader of the family in 1964. Colombo publicly accused the FBI of racial profiling after the RICO Act was passed, and he later founded the Italian American Civil Rights League. As with other families, the Colombos made their money from myriad illicit activities, including extortion and drug trafficking. In 2011 the Colombo family was decimated by a series of arrests, leaving the family without an apparent boss.
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The Gambino family’s origins date to the early 1900s, with Salvatore D’Aquila as the first leader. After he was killed in 1928, there were a series of bosses, including Vincent Mangano, who assumed control in 1931 when the Five Families were first recognized. Twenty years later he was killed, reportedly by Albert Anastasia, head of a notorious murd...
The Luciano family, as it was then known, was initially headed by Lucky Luciano, whose second-in-command was Vito Genovese. After Luciano was deported to Italy in 1946, Frank Costello took over but faced opposition from Genovese. The latter ordered a hit on Costello in 1957. Although he survived, Costello was replaced by Genovese, who renamed the f...
The Five Families, despite wielding only a small fraction of the power they once held in the mid-20th century, maintain an enduring place in American culture. They have appeared in hugely influential films and television shows in the 20th and 21st centuries. Notable movies include Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather: Part ...
The Colombo Family is one of the Five Organized Crime Familes in New York City. It endured three separate internal struggles for power generally known as the Three Colombo Wars. History.
The Colombo Crime Family was the last of New York’s Five families to be created, all the way back in 1928. Their family tree begins with a Sicilian immigrant named Giuseppe Profaci. They were originally a group that profited mainly from bootlegging.
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Emerging from an illicit alcohol distribution ring spearheaded by Joseph Profaci in 1928, the Colombo crime family stands as one of the five infamous syndicates governing organized criminal enterprises across New York City and the broader United States.
