Talk:Gambino crime family

Name origin
I believe there should be something which explains why the Gambino family is called Gambino. After all, according to the article it starts with Marano and is presently with Gotti. I mean, it is not as obvious as it sounds. Just because a Gambino ran them in the fifties, doesn't mean that is where the name comes from or else it should instead be Marano or Gotti. Doesn't that make sense? I'm not familiar enough with the subject to do it myself, but I thought I'd throw it out there for whomever may know for sure. Thoughts? MagnoliaSouth (talk) 23:28, 5 September 2009 (UTC)


 * if i remember correctly, when the fbi started lookin into the five families they named each family after their current boss, and carlo was one of the bosses at the time. so it became known as the gambino family. StillTrill (talk) 08:35, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

The family was christened the Gambino because of the Valachi Senate Hearings, he gave the names of the 5 bosses of the new york families at the time and they have been known as those names ever since — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.219.222.144 (talk • contribs)

Note: This is a work in progress.
It is a subject I know a lot about, so I'm well qualified to write this article. When I came across this earlier today, I resolved to rewrite it. I have most of what I'd like to post written (not edited yet), and will have the conclusion of it (the history section and external links) posted within a day or two. I'm getting too busy today, and have to put it down. So for the next day or two, until it is done, I'd ask respectfully to wait until my vision is complete before editing. Thanks. --ExplorerCDT 20:17, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC)


 * It looks as though this article is only partly completed, or should I say that the 'work in progress' referred to above was never completed. For one, the "After the Gotti era" section is empty. When I get a chance I will sort it out, though if anyone gets to it before me please feel free to steal my thunder. C i d 12:31 30 Dec 2005


 * Having given it two more months for the author to fix the article, I've cleaned it up myself. Hope it passes muster. C i d 10:41 15 Feb 2006 (UTC)

In the origins of the Gambino family
is written that can be traced back to the days of the Brooklyn Camorra - a Sicilian gang, the word "Camorra" is the mafia from Campania (the zone of Naples), when Cosa Nostra is instead the Mafia of Sicily. Gambino's crime family seems to be native of Sicily, not Campania.

gambino family
Your article states that Castellano was carlo gambino's cousin, but I have read and researched the Gambino family. And on several documnets, reports, and books, it states that Paul Castellano was Gambino's Brother-in-law. Was this just a miscommunication on your part or is there more truth to it. Was he a cousin or brother-in-law. Please let me know. I'm not trying to be picky but would like to know just for my own curiosity. amberharris@cox.net —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.96.174.249 (talk) 14:36, 10 May 2010 (UTC)

Carlo Gambino married Paul Castellano's sister, Catherine, who was also his (Carlo Gambino's) cousin. Thus, Carlo, who was already Castellano's cousin, now became his brother-in-law as well.

Citations/footnotes/verification
Someone appears to have added two tags to the top of this page but have given no reason for doing so. It wuold be helpful if whoever did that could explain where they believe the missing information should be. C i d 15:38 17 Aug 2006 (UTC)

Re documenting crime families
I wrote an article on the Mafia in my area (which is not nearly so notorious as the Gambino family). I found plenty of websites devoted to the Mafia, serious websites with information collected over the years. Yes, it does take some looking. But it is amazing what is there.

Available also are criminal records and other public documents, police reports etc. and many well-referenced books. Also, in your case, there must be many newspaper articles. I found some for mine even. When my article was written, everything in there was documented. I was writing for a serious publication so it had to be that way for fear of being sued. Mattisse(talk) 15:42, 17 August 2006 (UTC)


 * That's as may be, but simply to add these tags to the top of the page without specifying where you believe the misleading or incorrect information to be does not help the page, it simply clutters it up. If you can specify exactly where you believe citations are required I will be more than happy to look at finding them. However, I would like to point out that this isn't 'my' article any more than any page on Wikipedia belongs to anyone else - so feel free to find the citations yourself. C i d(talk) 11:53, 21 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Having inspected other edits by Mattisse I have removed the tags from this article until Mattisse, or anyone else, specifies where they believe the information to be missing from the piece. Once again, please let me point out that I am happy to look into any suggested inaccuracies, but having the tags there without explanation is pointless. C i d(talk) 21:46, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Diddy?
What proof is there that Diddy has any connections to the Gambino Crime Family. Personally I think that's a pretty stupid statement which brings up the question of how and why an African American Hip Hop artist would have connections to an Italian Mafia Family. I think that statement should be deleted if the person who put it their doesn't cite some kind of source that clearly states it.

Diddy?
Please provide documentation on the Diddy connection. As it is, this is slanderous. anything that cab be done to bring these criminals to justice... they should get a real job instead of murdering people for money. the cops and the justice system haven't been doing their job. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.71.8.57 (talk) 16:45, 5 September 2011 (UTC)

You are truly clueless. RelatedToMarioPrayer (talk) 17:45, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

Cleaned up lists of Gambino members
Reworked existing content to add clarity and consistency. If anyone objects to particular change, please feel free to reverse it.Rogermx (talk) 17:04, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

I looked through that list, and I see that there isn't an entry for Greg DePalma anywhere. Can somebody who knows about this guy put up a bio on him??? I would think it would be timely because of the recent publication of Jack Falcone's book (Joaquin Garcia). I wondered what DePalma's status is now that everybody knows that he let in the FBI and actually recommended that an agent get "made". He's gotta be a laughing stock these days. And why hasn't he been hit yet??? Isn't that the normal punishment for letting in an agent?81.129.156.184 (talk) 16:28, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Image copyright problem with File:Carlogambino1.jpg
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Jackie D'Amico as acting boss
I know there is a source that states D'Amico was acting boss in 2005. But this would give you two acting bosses (D'Amico and Corozzo), plus D'Amico as both acting boss and street boss all at the same time. IMO, it's more reasonable to assume the source meant "street boss", a number two position in the family, newly created for D'Amico. Kauffner (talk) 10:56, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Official Beginning
I thought that the Gambino Family as it is known today began in 1931 with the other five families and that any bosses of this borgata before were not considered Gambino bosses. As this family stems from Maranzano, there are many bosses who controlled before 1931 but they were not Gambino family bosses.

Yes, I thought that too, I believe Mangano was the first proper boss of the gambino family and all those before were not bosses of the same borgata.


 * Anyone can check the revision history and figure out that you are only one person, despite your attempts to present yourself as two.
 * As far as the mob's history goes, there is no "official" way to do it and I don't know what rationale there might be for a 1931 cutoff date. Some historians begin in 1931 just because no one knows when the real beginning was and you have start the story somewhere. The article on the Genovese crime family calls the pre-1922 family by a different name, but this strikes me as an arbitrary decision and a poor way to organize the material. None of the other articles on crime families do anything similar. Where would you put the gang's pre-1931 history? Maranzano was the boss of the Bonanno family, not Gambino. Perhaps the cutoff idea is based on the theory that either Maranzano or Luciano reorganized the five families, but this no longer the mainstream view. The peace settlement at the end of the Castellemarese War restored the pre-war relationships between the gangs and froze the situation that way. The Colombo family was recognized as a fifth family in 1928, just before the war, and also got a piece of the Genovese mob, but the status of the Gambino mob wasn't affected.
 * In any case, I would submit that the list of bosses isn't the place for a discussion of this issue, which is why I removed the comments. Kauffner (talk) 05:22, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Augustus "Gus Boy" Sclafani
Why does the link in the article lead to the person it says he shouldn't be confused with???? 68.99.30.245 (talk) 15:51, 1 January 2010 (UTC)

Still the largest crime family in the US?
An editor changed "what for a time was the most powerful crime family in America" to simply "the most powerful crime family in America", with no explanation and a jokey edit summary of "Mind your own business. Capisce?". Are the Gambinos still the largest crime family in the entire country? --McGeddon (talk) 10:30, 17 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Genovese is said to be the most powerful mob nowadays. On Jerry Capeci's site, Genovese is listed first. Kauffner (talk) 17:07, 17 January 2012 (UTC)

Operation New Bridge
Does Operation New Bridge warrant a separate page? I've noticed that Operation Old Bridge has its own. Thoughts? TheWarOfArt (talk) 17:03, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

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Criticism of the WHOLE article
if your going to rant fiction, please label it as fiction and not cite it as actual history

The History Channel (USA) and other sources all report that Sicily, during WWI WWII, had been impoverished by a facist Italian government - that the "Mafia" began with a good name and cause to do business and earn money that facists were trying to stop merely to create poverty and evictions. They got a reputation for illegal business however the government calling it illegal was overthown as a facist government. The history of course has nothing to do with modern day Sicilian business activity in the USA "outside of the government's permission" as being wholesome or not: and the history should be remembered as one of many groups of Italians who were NOT aligned with facism and absolute government rule. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:8806:400:51F0:598F:1580:D5D:36EF (talk) 23:17, 8 June 2017 (UTC)

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Actual status of Cali
It's mentioned in the article that Jerry Capeci first said that Cali had replaced Cefalu as acting boss and then retracted it. Since Cali's death the article has amended all listings to show Cali as acting boss ever since Capeci made that retracted announcement. Has corroboration that he did take control ever surfaced? LE (talk) 19:54, 20 March 2019 (UTC)

How were the founders of the families chosen as such?
I had printed this article out to read at home not too long ago and noticed a rather glaring contradiction in the info box’s photo of Carlo Gambino. It had read that Gambino was the family’s founder and namesake. But right under that, it listed the founder as Salvatore D'Aquila. I was going to suggest that this obvious contradiction be corrected, but it already has. However, I note that the founder has been changed from D’Aquila to Vincent Mangano.

As the article indicates that the family originated from the gang led by Ignazio Lupo, why is he not named as the family’s founder? I see that on the Genovese family article that recently the indicated founder was changed from Giuseppe Morello, who established the first recognized Mafia family in NYC from which the Genovese family evolved, to “Lucky” Luciano. (On a side note, I think in this instance his actual first name should be used as a matter of encyclopedic form.) Has a consensus been reached that the indicated founders of the five families be the ones in place immediately after the murder of Maranzano and the self-elevation of Luciano to power? If so, what is the philosophy behind that, please? I’m not exactly objecting, but rather, am just curious as to why this presumed starting point for NYC organized crime was chosen. BTW, in this family's case naming Mangano as the founder seems particularly dubious as the article itself states that he was simply installed (replacing Frank Scalice) by fiat by Luciano. Of course, the family was long in existence before his ascension to leadership.

Thanks much.HistoryBuff14 (talk) 15:12, 16 July 2019 (UTC)


 * Those people may have founded an early predecessor of each of the Five Families, but not the family itself. The founding bosses are taken from accounts of Joe Valachi from the Valachi hearings. Vaselineeeeeeee★★★ 15:25, 16 July 2019 (UTC)


 * Thanks and okay. I don't really have strong feelings about the issue and I know you contribute much to such articles.  In fact, you were very helpful to me on a prior occasion in making an edit on another Mafia article, which is remembered and appreciated.  Best to you, as always.HistoryBuff14 (talk) 15:48, 16 July 2019 (UTC)

Status of Andrew Campos
According to recent news items Campos is currently a capo, but the article has him as a soldier. Not sure how to resolve this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Magil8216 (talk • contribs) 20:58, 7 December 2019 (UTC)
 * ✅. Vaselineeeeeeee★★★ 02:43, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Thomas Gambino
Thomas Gambino arrested in July 2019 ( age 47 ), is not the same person as Thomas Gambino ( born 1929 )mentioned earlier in the article. Should this be made clear to readers, and if so how? Magil8216 (talk) 20:10, 9 December 2019 (UTC)
 * I see. Thanks - restored age 47. Vaselineeeeeeee★★★ 20:36, 9 December 2019 (UTC)