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The Five Families Still Control NYC (FBI Confirms They Never Left)
Sep 20, 2025
🔥 SHOCKING TRUTH REVEALED 🔥 You thought the Mafia was finished after John Gotti? Think again. The Five Families of New York - Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese, Bonanno, and Colombo - are STILL operating in 2025, and what they're doing now will blow your mind. 💰 What You'll Discover: • How 5 Italian families built a $2 BILLION criminal empire • The SECRET meeting that created America's shadow government • Why the FBI admits they're "impossible to eliminate" • The modern crimes they're committing RIGHT NOW ⚠️ WARNING: This video contains information law enforcement doesn't want you to know about organized crime's current operations. 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more shocking true crime stories that mainstream media won't cover! 👍 SMASH THAT LIKE if this opened your eyes to the truth! 💬 COMMENT: Do you think the Five Families will ever be completely destroyed? What's the most shocking fact from this video? 📱 SHARE this video - your friends need to know the truth about who REALLY runs New York!
View Video Transcript
0:00
How can five Italian immigrant families
0:02
control an entire city's underworld for
0:05
over a century? Operating a shadow
0:08
government more powerful than the actual
0:11
mayor's office. The five families of New
0:14
York didn't just run organized crime.
0:17
They were organized crime in America.
0:20
From the 1930s to today, the Gambino,
0:23
Genevies, Lucizi, Banano, and Columbbo
0:26
families have generated billions in
0:29
revenue, corrupted thousands of
0:31
officials, and created a criminal empire
0:34
so sophisticated that the FBI needed
0:37
decades just to understand how it
0:40
worked. What most people don't realize
0:43
is that these weren't just street gangs.
0:46
They were multinational corporations
0:48
with their own courts, laws, and death
0:51
sentences.
0:53
So, get ready to dive into the most
0:55
powerful criminal organization in
0:58
American history. The birth of an
1:01
empire. The story of the five families
1:04
is, how can I put this? One hell of a
1:07
mystery wrapped in blood, betrayal, and
1:10
billiondoll schemes.
1:13
You hear so many conflicting accounts
1:15
about how it all began. Some say it
1:18
started with Lucky Luciano's vision.
1:20
Others claim it was inevitable once
1:23
prohibition hit. The truth, as always
1:26
with the mafia, is far more complex and
1:29
brutal than Hollywood ever dared to
1:31
show. According to former FBI agent
1:35
Joseph Piston, who spent 6 years
1:38
undercover as Donnie Brasco, the
1:41
families didn't emerge overnight.
1:44
People think the mafia just appeared in
1:46
America fully formed, Piston recalls.
1:49
The reality is it took decades of
1:52
violence, negotiation, and pure cunning
1:56
to create what became the commission.
1:59
It all began in the tenementss of Little
2:02
Italy where Sicilian immigrants brought
2:05
with them an ancient code of silence
2:08
called Omeatar and a deep distrust of
2:11
government authority.
2:13
These weren't your typical immigrants
2:15
seeking the American dream. Many were
2:18
fleeing blood feuds, poverty, and a
2:21
justice system that had failed them for
2:23
centuries. The catalyst came during
2:26
Prohibition in 1920.
2:28
While most Americans saw the ban on
2:31
alcohol as a moral crusade, men like
2:34
Josephe, Joe the boss, Maseria, and
2:38
Salvator Maranzano saw something else
2:41
entirely. The greatest business
2:43
opportunity in American history.
2:46
Prohibition didn't create the mafia,
2:48
explains organized crime historian
2:50
Thomas Rapetto, but it gave them the
2:53
capital and connections they needed to
2:56
evolve from neighborhood gangs into a
2:58
national syndicate.
3:00
But before the five families could rule
3:02
New York, they had to survive the
3:05
bloodiest gang war in American history,
3:08
the Castella War. The year was 1930 and
3:13
New York's Italian underworld was about
3:15
to tear itself apart. On one side stood
3:18
Joe Miseria, a crude but powerful boss
3:21
who controlled much of Manhattan's
3:23
rackets. On the other was Salvatorei
3:27
Maranzano, a Sicilian traditionalist who
3:30
believed in the old ways and saw Maseria
3:34
as a peasant unworthy of respect.
3:37
What happened next would reshape
3:40
organized crime forever. The war began
3:43
over territory, but it was really about
3:46
two different visions of what the
3:48
American mafia should become. Maseria
3:52
wanted to work with other ethnic groups,
3:54
Jews, Irish, anyone who could make
3:56
money. Maranzano insisted on Sicilian
4:00
purity and traditional hierarchy.
4:02
According to FBI wiretaps from the era,
4:05
the violence was unprecedented. Bodies
4:09
dropped weekly across Brooklyn,
4:10
Manhattan, and the Bronx. Restaurants
4:14
became battlefields. Barberhops turned
4:17
into execution chambers. But there was a
4:20
young left tenant in Maseria's
4:22
organization who was quietly planning
4:24
something that would shock both bosses.
4:27
His name was Charles Lucky Luciano and
4:31
he was about to pull off the most
4:33
audacious double cross in criminal
4:35
history. On April 15th, 1931, Luciano
4:40
invited his boss Joe Miseria to lunch at
4:42
Nova Villa Tamara Restaurant in Coney
4:45
Island. They ate, they talked business,
4:48
they played cards. Then Luchiano excused
4:52
himself to use the bathroom. The moment
4:55
he left the table, four gunmen walked in
4:58
and pumped 20 bullets into Maseria.
5:02
When police arrived, they found Luchiano
5:05
washing his hands, claiming he'd heard
5:07
nothing from the bathroom. "I was in the
5:10
can," Luchiano told detectives with a
5:12
straight face. "When I came out, Joe was
5:15
gone." "But Luchiano's betrayal was just
5:19
the beginning. 5 months later,
5:23
Maranzano, who had declared himself boss
5:26
of all bosses after Miseria's death, was
5:29
gunned down in his Manhattan office by
5:33
men posing as federal agents. What
5:36
happened next would change everything.
5:40
The commission is born. With both oldw
5:43
world bosses dead, Lucky Luchiano called
5:46
a meeting that would create the
5:47
blueprint for organized crime in
5:49
America. According to former Banano
5:52
family member Bill Banano, who heard the
5:55
story from his father, Joseph Banano,
5:58
Luchiano's proposal was revolutionary.
6:02
No more boss of all bosses, Luchiano
6:05
declared to the assembled crime leaders.
6:08
We're going to run this like a business,
6:11
not a kingdom.
6:13
The plan was brilliant in its
6:15
simplicity. New York would be divided
6:18
among five families, each controlling
6:21
specific territories and rackets.
6:24
Disputes would be settled by a
6:26
commission, essentially a board of
6:28
directors for organized crime. Violence
6:31
would be regulated, territories
6:34
respected, and profits maximized. The
6:37
five families were the Luchiano family,
6:40
later Genevvesi, led by Luchiano
6:43
himself, controlling the docks and much
6:46
of Manhattan. The Profi family, later
6:49
Columbbo, run by Joseph Profhati,
6:52
dominating Brooklyn's olive oil and
6:54
legitimate businesses. The Mangano
6:57
family, later Gambino, headed by Vincent
7:01
Mangano, controlling Brooklyn's
7:03
waterfront. The Galliano family, lateri,
7:07
led by Tommy Galliano, specializing in
7:11
labor raketeering. The Banano family,
7:14
run by Joseph Banano, the youngest boss
7:17
at just 26, controlling parts of
7:20
Brooklyn and the Bronx. As former
7:23
prosecutor Rudolph Giuliani later
7:26
observed, what Luchiano created wasn't
7:29
just a criminal organization. It was a
7:32
parallel government with its own laws,
7:34
courts, and enforcement mechanisms.
7:38
The commission's first major test came
7:40
immediately. Each family had to prove
7:43
they could control their territories
7:45
without starting wars that would bring
7:48
unwanted police attention. The solution
7:51
was as elegant as it was ruthless. They
7:54
would infiltrate legitimate businesses
7:56
and labor unions, creating a criminal
7:59
tax on the entire New York economy. The
8:03
golden age of crime. By 1935, the five
8:08
families had achieved something
8:09
unprecedented in criminal history. They
8:12
had made crime boring,
8:15
not because it wasn't violent or
8:16
profitable, but because it had become so
8:19
systematized, so business-like that it
8:22
operated with the efficiency of a
8:24
Fortune 500 company. According to FBI
8:28
estimates from the period, the families
8:31
were generating over $100 million
8:34
annually, equivalent to nearly $2
8:36
billion today. They controlled the
8:39
docks, the construction industry,
8:41
garbage collection, and dozens of labor
8:44
unions. If you wanted to build in New
8:47
York, ship through New York, or work in
8:50
New York, you paid the families. Vincent
8:54
the Chin Gigante, who would later become
8:56
head of the Genevese family, once
8:59
described the system to an associate. We
9:02
don't steal, we tax. Every truck that
9:06
moves, every building that goes up,
9:08
every worker that gets hired, they all
9:11
pay us. It's better than being the
9:14
government because nobody votes us out.
9:16
The families had learned something that
9:19
legitimate businesses were just
9:21
beginning to understand. Diversification
9:24
was the key to long-term success.
9:28
The Luces family controlled the concrete
9:30
industry. The Gambinos dominated the
9:33
docks. The Colombos ran olive oil
9:36
importing.
9:38
The Bananos specialized in narcotics.
9:41
The Genevesei family led by Veto Genovi
9:44
after Luchiano's deportation controlled
9:47
the numbers racket and labor unions. But
9:50
it wasn't just about money. The families
9:53
provided services that the legitimate
9:55
government couldn't or wouldn't provide.
9:58
They settled disputes, enforced
10:00
contracts, and maintained order in
10:03
neighborhoods where police were either
10:06
corrupt or absent. As former Gambino
10:09
associate Sammy the Bull, Graano later
10:12
testified, "In our neighborhoods, people
10:15
came to us before they went to the cops.
10:18
We were the law. The system worked so
10:21
well that by 1940, the five families had
10:25
achieved something remarkable. They had
10:28
made themselves indispensable to New
10:30
York's economy. Construction companies
10:33
needed them to avoid labor troubles.
10:36
Shipping companies needed them to
10:38
prevent dock strikes. Even legitimate
10:41
businesses found it easier to pay the
10:43
mob tax than deal with the chaos of an
10:46
unregulated marketplace.
10:48
The Appalachian disaster. But success
10:51
bred complacency. and complacency led to
10:55
the biggest mistake in mafia history. On
10:58
November 14th, 1957,
11:01
over 100 mafia leaders from across the
11:04
country gathered at the rural estate of
11:07
Joseph Barbara in Appalachin, New York.
11:10
The meeting was supposed to be secret, a
11:13
chance for the commission to address
11:14
growing tensions within the families and
11:17
discuss the future of organized crime in
11:20
America.
11:22
Instead, it became a public relations
11:24
disaster that exposed the mafia's
11:27
existence to the American public for the
11:29
first time. According to New York State
11:32
Police Sergeant Edgar Cwell, who
11:34
stumbled upon the meeting, the scene was
11:37
almost comical. "We saw all these
11:40
expensive cars with outofstate plates
11:43
parked at this farmhouse in the middle
11:45
of nowhere," Cwell recalled. When we
11:48
started checking license plates, we
11:50
realized we'd hit the jackpot. The
11:53
moment police appeared, panic ensued.
11:57
Elderly crime bosses in expensive suits
12:00
fled through the woods, ruining their
12:02
clothes and their dignity. Veto
12:05
Genevvesi was found hiding behind a
12:07
tree. Joseph Banano claimed he was just
12:10
visiting a sick friend. Carlo Gambino
12:13
insisted he was lost and looking for
12:15
directions. The arrests made front page
12:18
news across the country. Suddenly,
12:21
Americans learned that organized crime
12:23
wasn't just a few neighborhood gangs. It
12:26
was a national syndicate with its own
12:28
hierarchy, rules, and annual meetings.
12:33
As FBI director Jed Gahoo was forced to
12:36
admit, prior to Appalachin, we didn't
12:39
even know these people existed.
12:42
The fallout was immediate and
12:44
devastating. Federal investigations
12:47
intensified. New laws were passed
12:50
targeting organized crime. The family's
12:53
carefully constructed wall of secrecy
12:55
had been shattered in a single
12:58
afternoon.
12:59
But the worst was yet to come. The
13:02
Velace papers. In 1963,
13:06
the unthinkable happened. For the first
13:09
time in mafia history, a maid member
13:12
broke the sacred code of Omar and
13:15
testified publicly about the inner
13:17
workings of organized crime. Joseph
13:20
Falachi, a low-level soldier in the
13:23
Genevese family, had been marked for
13:25
death by his own boss. Facing a life
13:29
sentence and fearing assassination,
13:31
Valashi made a deal with federal
13:34
prosecutors that would change
13:36
everything. According to former FBI
13:39
agent James Flynn, who debriefed
13:41
Valachi, he didn't just give us names
13:44
and dates. He gave us the entire
13:47
organizational structure, the rules, the
13:50
ceremonies, the business operations. It
13:53
was like getting the employee handbook
13:55
for organized crime. Velace's testimony
13:59
revealed secrets that the families had
14:01
guarded for decades. He described the
14:04
initiation ceremonies complete with
14:07
burning saints cards and blood oaths. He
14:11
explained the commission's structure and
14:13
how disputes were resolved. He detailed
14:16
the family's business operations and
14:18
their methods of corruption.
14:21
Most shocking of all, he revealed that
14:23
the organization called itself Lacosa
14:25
Nostra, our thing, not the mafia, as
14:29
newspapers had dubbed it. The impact was
14:32
immediate. Valashi's testimony led to
14:35
hundreds of indictments and gave law
14:38
enforcement a road map for dismantling
14:41
organized crime. More importantly, it
14:44
shattered the family's greatest weapon,
14:47
the myth of invincibility.
14:49
As Genevie's family member Anthony Fat
14:52
Tony Seno reportedly said after Velach's
14:56
defection, the guy broke the one rule
14:59
that kept us alive for a 100red years.
15:02
Now every two bit punk thinks he can
15:05
make a deal. The Goty era by the 1980s,
15:09
the five families faced their greatest
15:11
challenge yet. a new generation of
15:13
prosecutors who understood their methods
15:16
and weren't afraid to use the same
15:18
tactics against them. Leading this
15:21
charge was a young federal prosecutor
15:24
named Rudolph Giuliani, who would later
15:26
become mayor of New York. Giuliani's
15:29
weapon of choice was the RICO Act,
15:32
racketeer influenced and corrupt
15:34
organizations, a law specifically
15:37
designed to target organized crime. But
15:41
the families had their own secret
15:43
weapon. John Goti, the charismatic head
15:46
of the Gambino family, who had seized
15:48
power by orchestrating the assassination
15:51
of his predecessor, Paul Castayano.
15:55
The hit took place on December 16th,
15:58
1985 outside Sparks Steakhouse in
16:02
Manhattan. According to FBI surveillance
16:05
reports, Castellano and his under boss
16:08
Thomas Bellotti were gunned down in rush
16:11
hour traffic by four men in identical
16:14
white trench coats. Goty, who was
16:18
supposed to be at the meeting but
16:19
arrived conveniently late, watched the
16:22
assassination from a car across the
16:24
street. Within weeks, he had declared
16:27
himself the new head of the Gambino
16:30
family. What made Goty different from
16:32
previous bosses was his love of
16:34
publicity. While traditional mafia
16:37
leaders avoided attention, Goty courted
16:40
it. He wore $2,000 suits, held court at
16:44
the Ravenite Social Club, and gave
16:46
interviews to reporters. The media
16:49
dubbed him the Dapper Dawn and the
16:51
Teflon Dawn after he beat three major
16:54
prosecutions in the late 1980s.
16:57
To many New Yorkers, Goti became a folk
17:00
hero, a workingclass guy from Queens who
17:03
had beaten the system. But Goty's
17:06
flamboyance was exactly what law
17:09
enforcement needed to finally bring down
17:11
the families. The fall of an empire.
17:15
Goty's downfall began with his own ego.
17:18
Despite warnings from other family
17:20
leaders, he continued to hold meetings
17:23
at the Ravenite Social Club, apparently
17:26
believing that his previous legal
17:28
victories made him untouchable.
17:31
What he didn't know was that the FBI had
17:34
planted listening devices throughout the
17:36
club and was recording every
17:38
conversation.
17:40
According to former FBI agent Bruce Mao,
17:43
who led the Gambino Squad, Goti was a
17:46
prosecutor's dream.
17:48
He talked constantly. He bragged about
17:50
crimes. And he did it all in a place we
17:52
had completely wired. The recordings
17:56
were devastating. Goty was heard
17:58
ordering murders, discussing bribes, and
18:01
planning crimes. Even worse, he was
18:04
recorded criticizing his own underboss,
18:08
Salvator Sammy the Bull Graano, in terms
18:12
that made it clear he was planning to
18:14
eliminate him. When Gravano learned
18:17
about these recordings, he made a
18:19
decision that would destroy not just
18:21
Goti, but the entire structure of the
18:24
five families. He agreed to cooperate
18:28
with the government. Graano's testimony
18:31
was unprecedented.
18:33
As Gotti's underboss and closest
18:35
confidant, he had intimate knowledge of
18:38
the Gambino family's operations.
18:41
More importantly, he was a maid member,
18:44
a man of honor whose defection shattered
18:47
the myth that real mafiosi never
18:49
cooperated.
18:51
On April 2nd, 1992,
18:54
John Goti was convicted on multiple
18:56
charges, including murder and
18:58
rakateeering. He was sentenced to life
19:01
in prison without the possibility of
19:03
parole. But Goty's conviction was just
19:07
the beginning. Graano's cooperation led
19:10
to the convictions of dozens of other
19:12
family members. More importantly, it
19:15
inspired other mafiosi to break their
19:18
oaths of silence.
19:21
As former Columbbo family member Michael
19:23
Franesi observed, "Once Sammy flipped,
19:27
it was open season. If the underboss of
19:30
the Gambino family could cooperate,
19:32
anybody could." The modern families.
19:36
Today, the five families still exist,
19:38
but they're shadows of their former
19:40
selves. According to current FBI
19:43
estimates, the families have fewer than
19:46
1,000 maid members combined, down from a
19:50
peak of over 3,000 in the 1960s. The
19:54
Gambino family, once the most powerful,
19:57
is now led by Lorenzo Manino, a
20:00
low-profile boss who learned from Goti's
20:03
mistakes. The Genevese family,
20:06
considered the most traditional,
20:07
continues to operate under a complex
20:10
leadership structure designed to
20:12
insulate the real bosses from
20:14
prosecution.
20:15
The Luiz family has been decimated by
20:18
prosecutions and internal warfare. The
20:21
Banano family was actually expelled from
20:24
the commission in the 1980s due to the
20:27
chaos caused by an FBI undercover
20:30
operation. The Columbbo family has been
20:33
torn apart by a series of internal wars
20:36
that have left dozens dead, but reports
20:39
of the mafia's death have been greatly
20:41
exaggerated.
20:42
According to former FBI organized crime
20:46
chief Lewis Shaliro, they're smaller,
20:49
they're more careful, but they're still
20:51
there. They've adapted to law
20:53
enforcement pressure the same way any
20:56
successful organization adapts to
20:58
challenges.
21:00
The families have moved away from
21:01
traditional rackets like labor
21:03
racketeering and into more modern crimes
21:06
like cyber crime, stock manipulation,
21:09
and healthcare fraud. They've also
21:11
expanded internationally, forming
21:13
alliances with Russian organized crime,
21:16
Mexican cartels, and other criminal
21:19
organizations.
21:21
Most importantly, they've learned to
21:23
operate below the radar. Gone are the
21:25
days of flashy bosses like John Goty.
21:29
Today's mafia leaders are businessmen
21:31
who avoid violence when possible and
21:34
publicity at all costs. The eternal
21:37
question. As I finish this story, one
21:40
question remains. Are the five families
21:43
finished or are they simply evolving?
21:46
According to former prosecutor John
21:48
Gleason, who helped convict John Goti,
21:52
every generation of law enforcement
21:54
thinks they've delivered the knockout
21:56
blow to organized crime. But these
21:59
families have survived for over a
22:00
century by adapting to whatever
22:03
challenges they face. The truth is that
22:06
the five families represent something
22:09
deeper than just criminal organizations.
22:11
They represent an alternative system of
22:14
power and justice that appeals to people
22:16
who feel abandoned by legitimate
22:19
institutions. As long as there are
22:21
neighborhoods where the police can't or
22:24
won't go, as long as there are
22:26
industries where corruption is easier
22:28
than competition, there will be a place
22:31
for organizations like the Five
22:33
Families, they may never again wield the
22:37
absolute power they once held over New
22:40
York City. The days when a nod from a
22:42
family boss could shut down the docks or
22:45
stop construction across the city are
22:48
probably over. But in the shadows of
22:50
legitimate business, in the gray areas
22:53
where law enforcement can't reach, the
22:56
families continue to operate. Recent FBI
22:59
investigations have uncovered new
23:02
schemes. Cryptocurrency fraud, online
23:05
gambling, even infiltration of the legal
23:08
marijuana industry. The methods change,
23:11
but the fundamental approach remains the
23:13
same. find a profitable business,
23:16
control it through violence or
23:18
corruption, and tax everyone who wants
23:21
to participate. As former Gambino
23:24
associate Michael Dillonardo testified
23:27
in 2004,
23:29
"People think we're dinosaurs, but we're
23:32
not. We're like sharks. We've been
23:35
around forever because we know how to
23:37
survive." The five families created a
23:40
criminal empire that lasted longer than
23:42
most legitimate governments. They
23:44
survived prohibition, the Great
23:46
Depression, World War II, the civil
23:49
rights movement, and the digital
23:51
revolution. They've outlasted dozens of
23:54
police commissioners, prosecutors, and
23:56
FBI directors who swore they would
23:59
destroy them. Perhaps that's their
24:01
greatest achievement. Not the billions
24:04
they stole or the politicians they
24:06
corrupted, but their simple refusal to
24:09
disappear. In a world where corporations
24:12
rise and fall in decades, where
24:14
technologies become obsolete overnight,
24:17
the five families have endured for over
24:20
a century by following the same basic
24:22
principles: loyalty, secrecy, and the
24:26
willingness to use violence when
24:28
necessary. They remain what they've
24:31
always been, a shadow government
24:34
operating parallel to the legitimate
24:36
one. Invisible to most citizens, but
24:39
always present, always watching, always
24:43
ready to step in when the official
24:45
system fails. The five families may be
24:49
weakened, but they are far from
24:51
finished. And as long as there's money
24:53
to be made in the shadows of American
24:55
capitalism, they'll find a way to take
24:58
their cut. After all, as Lucky Luchiano
25:02
once said, "We're bigger than us,
25:05
steal." He may have been right. What do
25:08
you think? Are the five families truly
25:11
finished, or have they simply learned to
25:13
hide better? Have we seen the last of
25:15
the American mafia? Or are they quietly
25:18
rebuilding in ways we haven't even
25:20
discovered yet? Let me know your
25:22
thoughts in the comments below. And
25:25
don't forget to subscribe for more deep
25:28
dives into the hidden history of
25:31
organized crime. The truth about what
25:34
these families are doing today might be
25:37
more shocking than their bloody past.
25:39
And that's a story for another time.