Gambino Family

Gambino crime family

John Gotti, who served as the boss of the family from 1985–2002
Founded by	Salvatore D'Aquila
Named after	Carlo Gambino
Founding location	New York City, New York
Years active	1910s–present
Territory	Various neighborhoods in New York City, New York. Territory in Long Island, New Jersey, Tampa, South Florida, Ohio, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles (as well as Palermo, Sicily)
Ethnicity	Men of Italian descent, and other ethnicities as "associates"
Membership	180–200 made members approx (2015 estimate), 1,500–3,000 associates approx
Leader(s)	Frank Cali
Criminal activities	Racketeering, extortion, fraud, illegal gambling, money laundering, prostitution, murder, robbery, drug trafficking, and fencing
Allies	Bonanno, Colombo, Lucchese, Genovese, Trafficante, DeCavalcante, Patriarca, Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Velentzas crime families, Inzerillo Mafia clan, The Westies
Rivals	Various gangs over New York City, including their allies

The Gambino crime family (pronounced [ɡamˈbiːno]) is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia (or Cosa Nostra). The group, which went through three bosses between 1910 and 1957, is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963, when the structure of organized crime first gained public attention. The group's operations extend from New York and the eastern seaboard to California. Its illicit activities include labor and construction racketeering, gambling, loansharking, extortion, money laundering, prostitution, fraud, hijacking, pier thefts, and fencing.

The family was one of the five families that were founded in New York after the Castellammarese War of 1931. For most of the next quarter-century, it was a minor player in organized crime. Its most prominent member during this time was its underboss Albert Anastasia, who rose to infamy as the operating head of the underworld's enforcement arm, Murder, Inc. He remained a power even after Murder, Inc. was smashed in the late 1940s, and took over his family in 1951—by all accounts, after murdering the family's founder Vincent Mangano.

The rise began in 1957 of what was the most powerful crime family in America for a time, when Anastasia was assassinated while sitting in a barber chair at the Park Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan. Experts believe that Anastasia's underboss Carlo Gambino helped orchestrate the hit to take over the family. Gambino partnered with Meyer Lansky to control gambling interests in Cuba. The family's fortunes grew through 1976, when Gambino appointed his brother-in-law Paul Castellano as boss upon his death. Castellano infuriated upstart capo John Gotti, who orchestrated Castellano's murder in 1985. Gotti's downfall came in 1992, when his underboss Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano decided to cooperate with the FBI. Gravano's cooperation brought down Gotti, along with most of the top members of the Gambino family. The family is currently headed by Frank Cali.