Genovese crime family

Genovese crime family

Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was boss from 1931-1946
Founded by	Giuseppe Morello
Founding location	New York City, New York
Years active	c. 1890s–Present
Territory	New York City, New York, New Jersey, South Florida, Las Vegas.
Ethnicity	Made men (full members) are Italians or Italian-Americans. Criminals of other ethnicities are employed as "associates."
Membership (est.)	250–300 made members, over 3,000 associates
Criminal activities	Racketeering, Murder, Labour Unions, Extortion, Illegal Gambling, Loansharking, Bookmaking, Truck Hijacking, Fraud, Bribery, and Assault.
Allies	Gambino, Colombo, Bonanno, Lucchese, DeCavalcante, Philadelphia, Patriarca, Chicago,New Orleans, Cleveland,Pittsburgh,and Buffalo
Rivals	Various gangs in New York City, including their allies

The Genovese crime family (pronounced [dʒenoˈveːze]) is one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City as part of the Mafia (or La Cosa Nostra). The Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime. They are rivaled in size only by the Gambino crime family and are unmatched in terms of power. They have generally maintained a varying degree of influence over many of the smaller mob families outside New York, including ties with the Philadelphia, Patriarca, and Buffalo crime families.

The Genovese crime family is the largest of the "Five Families". Finding new ways to make money in the 21st century, the Genovese family took advantage of lax due diligence by banks during the housing spike with a wave of mortgage frauds. Prosecutors say loan shark victims obtained home equity loans to pay off debts to their mob bankers. The family found ways to use new technology to improve on illegal gambling, with customers placing bets through offshore sites via the Internet.

It is the oldest of the Five Families, with roots going back to the Morello crime family. The current "family" was founded by Charles "Lucky" Luciano, and was known as the "Luciano crime family" from 1931 to 1957, when it was renamed after boss Vito Genovese. Originally in control of the waterfront on the West Side of Manhattan and the Fulton Fish Market, the family was run for years by "the Oddfather", Vincent "the Chin" Gigante, who feigned insanity by shuffling unshaven through New York's Greenwich Village wearing a tattered bath robe and muttering to himself incoherently.