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Luciano drew vast power from his trusting relationships with such non- Italian criminals as Hollywood gangster Bugsy Siegel and moneyman Meyer Lansky, the founders of Las Vegas. Luciano's gang was years ahead of most Mob families in labor racketeering, with tentacles stretching from Detroit's car industry to Hollywood's stagehands' union to textile locals in New York City. His successors -- Frank Costello, the most prominent gangster of the 1940s, and Vito Genovese, whose name the family adopted -- consolidated the empire by taking a page from business-management textbooks: they decentralized control and gave senior members more decision-making authority.
In later years, a key to the family's success has been its ability to shield its true leadership. Beginning in the mid-1960s, the family was secretly run by Philip (Cockeyed) Lombardo, also known as "Benny Squint." Lombardo held power until 1981 -- an astounding fact that until very recently was kept hidden from other Mob bosses, the FBI and even most Genovese members. Under Lombardo, who had a string of "bosses" fronting for him, the family expanded even further into labor unions. In 1987 he died of natural causes in Miami at 79. To date, unlike in most Mob families, not a single Genovese chief has been rubbed out.
When Gigante took over in 1981, he chose comrade Anthony (Fat Tony) Salerno as his front man. Like Lombardo, Gigante has an intense desire for secrecy. In / 1987 he ordered the death of John Gotti because he felt the publicity- conscious Gambino boss was bringing heat on the Mafia. The hit was canceled after the FBI was tipped off. "When we warned Gotti that Gigante had a contract out on him, he believed us," recalls FBI agent Ross. "This guy fears Chin." The bathrobe-clad Gigante has no patience for Gotti's $2,000 Brioni suits and fancy restaurant meals.
The Genovese gang's penchant for privacy has permeated its corporate culture. "You'll catch Genovese guys driving Chevys instead of Cadillacs," says one G-man. They're also more careful about recruiting: two members must vouch for every rookie's trustworthiness with their own lives. Even so, Genovese members are much less trigger-happy than their brethren, perhaps owing to the gang's higher number of high school and even college graduates. "Most other families have the IQ of an ashtray," says investigator Coffey.
The Genovese family has lost a dozen key men since 1986, thanks to tougher racketeering laws, stiffer sentences and a squeal of defectors. This would paralyze the average brugad, but Luciano's clan has always shown remarkable resilience. A prime example is the waterfront. Since the 1930s, the family has had a stranglehold on the 1,500 sq. mi. that constitute the New York-New Jersey harbor, largely through control of the International Longshoremen's Association. In the late 1970s the feds believed they finally loosened that grip through a probe called Operation UNIRAC (for union racketeering), which led to the convictions of more than 130 businessmen, union officials and mobsters.