It Began With the Boss of All Bosses
At the beginning of the 1930s, after decades of turf warfare, a Brooklyn bootlegger by the name of Salvatore Maranzano established the leaders of New York City’s five largest Italian-American criminal organizations. He also took the liberty of declaring himself Capo di Tutti Capi, which means the “boss of all bosses.”
Source: Pinterest
It didn’t take long for Maranzano to be “offed.” The other bosses didn’t like having just one leader – they preferred sharing leadership. So, they established what became known as the Commission — something that carried on and turned the Five Families of New York into central players in the saga of the American Mafia. Now, before we get into what these families have been up to since the mid-‘80s, it would help to first give a brief look into each of the families.