From Gotti to Gigante, the names atop today’s Mafia organizational charts are old ones. But the times have certainly changed for New York’s biggest families—and not for the better. In this book we will look at New York City’s Five Families. All have bookmaking, loan-sharking, and extortion rackets. The Genovese family and, to a lesser degree, the Lucchese family (like the Gambinos) also have viable labor-racketeering endeavors that let them invest and launder their ill-gotten gains in “legitimate” industries. Every Family has declined as of late, some more than others.
We will journey into the underworld of NYC and look at each family. We will start with their beginnings in Sicily, and journey to the dark streets of New York City. We will look at the famous and infamous killings and go in the courtrooms to see the wheels of justice roll in some of the century’s biggest trials.
