New York's Original Five Families
Joe the Boss Masseria For most aficionados of America's Cosa Nostra, the starting point is always the war between Joe "The Boss" Masseria, pictured above, and Salvatore Maranzano. Much about the early Mafia seems open to debate. For instance, we'd thought Maranzano created each crime family's boss, underboss, consiglieri, capo, solder and associate pyramid structure, based on the Roman Legionnaires, though recent research suggests these positions were already in place. Maranzano, however, named himself Boss of Bosses and it was his doom. Lucky Luciano did away with that title after doing away with Maranzano. It was agreed no one man would ever hold that title, though over the years, some bosses seemed to fit the bill on an informal basis nevertheless. Carlo Gambino was definitely one of them. According to First Family: The Birth of the American Mafia by Mike Dash , the Morello family was the first Mafia family -- Mafia as in the criminal organization based in...