Five Families: The Rise, Decline, And Resurgenc... -

In the beginning, they were kings of the invisible. They didn't just sell vice; they owned the city's infrastructure. Every yard of concrete poured in Manhattan carried a "mob tax." If a skyscraper went up, the Gambinos got their cut of the trucking; if a suit was made in the Garment District, the Luccheses ensured the unions stayed quiet. They lived by Omertà —the code of silence—and a handshake that was more binding than a legal contract. The Decline: The RICO Storm

The fall didn't happen with a bang, but with a wiretap. When Rudy Giuliani and the FBI weaponized the , the "Commission" fell apart. One by one, the titans—Fat Tony Salerno, John Gotti, Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo—traded their silk suits for orange jumpsuits. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgenc...

But by the late 1980s, the carving knife had turned into a scalpel. The Rise: The Golden Age of Concrete In the beginning, they were kings of the invisible

The mahogany table in the back of Rao’s wasn’t just furniture; it was the altar of East Harlem. For decades, the bosses of the —the Genovese, Gambino, Lucchese, Bonanno, and Colombo—had sat there, carving up New York like a Thanksgiving turkey. They lived by Omertà —the code of silence—and