Many other American cities have Italian mafia families. These include Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Los Angeles
There are many other groups like the Italian mafia all over the world. Here are some:
There are others as well, like the mafia groups in Russia that make money from drugs and weapons. All these groups operate in the United States, Canada, Australia, England and other Western countries and cause many problems in those countries and the countries they are from.
Just like in a company, where people have a boss and workers, the Italian-American mafia, or La Cosa Nostra (LCN), has a hierarchy. Everyone has a job to do. Some people are bosses and some are workers. However you can always work your way up the ladder of power, and respect. Below is the hierarchy of an American mafia family.
Each family will have a number of associates. These are people that work with them or for them but are not official members. ("see below; Becoming a member")
The mafia in New York began when thousands of Italians moved there in the late 1800s and early 1900s to find a better life. At this time many Irish and Germans also moved to the US for the same reasons. Many of these people set up businesses or worked for businesses that were already there. Most earned very little money and some, who were tired of being poor, decided to earn money from crime, which was easier than earning money by working. There were many Irish and Italian criminal groups in the city who would steal, extort and murder for money. These groups were known all-together as "the Black Hand" but they did not actually work as one group called "the Black Hand"; there were many groups and they each worked on their own and the term "Black Hand" actually was the name of what these gangs did (extortion), not their names.
In 1920 alcohol (or liquor) was made illegal in the US and the gangs had a new way to make money. They brought in illegal liquor from Canada and sold it in clubs. They bribed police into letting them sell liquor (which is also illegal) and made millions of dollars from this because they were the only ones who had liquor and so could sell it at extremely high prices. Around this time the gangs in New York became one large gang (the Mafia) as leaders of the gangs realized that more money could be made if all the gangs worked together. A man named Giuseppe Masseria and a man named Salvatore Maranzano both wanted to become the boss of the newly made New York mafia. Fighting, known as the "Castellammarese War", broke out between the two men and many of their soldiers were killed. Giuseppe Masseria's underboss was a man named Lucky Luciano who also wanted to control the New York mafia. He met with Masseria's enemy Salvatore Maranzano and plotted to kill Masseria, his own boss. Masseria was shot to death in a restaurant in New York by Maranzano's soldiers; one of them was Vito Genovese - a man who would later become boss - this was also the end of the "Castellammarese War". With the death of Masseria, Maranzano appointed himself the boss of the New York Mafia, in Italian language called the "Capo di tutti Capi" meaning "Boss of all Bosses". He called a meeting with the other "mafiosi" (plural: Italian language for Mafia members) from all over the US and made the rules that are still used today.
The bosses of the five families, particularly Luciano, began to grow tired of Maranzano's arrogance and the way he ran the mafia. Maranzano realized this and planned to have Luciano and his "consigliere" and "underboss", Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, as well as others, killed. Maranzano did not act quickly enough and was killed by men dressed as police officers, on the orders of Luciano and his friend, a Jewish gangster from Florida named Meyer Lansky. Luciano then became the head of the New York mafia, but not in the way Maranzano was; he helped the five families run their business but he did not control them or call himself the "boss of bosses". The five families were kept.
The Profaci family (named after the first boss Joseph Profaci) went on to become named the Colombo crime family after a later boss, Joseph Colombo. The Mangano family (named after the first boss Vincent Mangano) went on to become named the Gambino crime family after a later boss, Carlo Gambino. The Gagliano family (named after the first boss Thomas Gagliano) went on to become named the Lucchese crime family after a later boss, Gaetano Lucchese. Frank Costello became the boss of Luciano's old family which later went on to become named the Genovese crime family after Vito Genovese became the boss and tried to kill Frank Costello. The Bonanno family (named after the first boss Joseph Bonanno) kept its name as Joseph Bonanno was the boss for a very long time.
A chart of the bosses of the five families of New York since the "Castellammarese War" would look like this:
Bonanno crime family
lucy reed
Colombo crime family
(Note: In more recent years the leaders of the Colombo crime family have been Carmine Persico, Andrew Russo, Alphonse Persico, Jr., Joel Cacace, Thomas Gioeli, John Franzese, Vincent Aloi and Paul Bevacqua - though not necessarily as bosses.)
Gambino crime family
(Note: In more recent years the leaders of the Gambino crime family have been Peter Gotti, Arnold Squitieri, Anthony Megale, John D'Amico, Domenico Cefalu, Joseph Corozzo and Nicholas Corozzo - though not necessarily as bosses.)
Genovese crime family
(Note: In more recent years the leaders of the Genovese crime family have been Liborio Bellomo, Dominick Cirillo, Matthew Ianiello, Frank Serpico, Ernest Muscarella, Mario Gigante and Daniel Leo - though not necessarily as bosses.)
Lucchese crime family
(Note: During the 1990s the leaders of the Lucchese crime family were Vittorio Amuso, Anthony Casso, Alphonse D'Arco, Salvatore Avellino, Anthony Baratta, Domenico Cutaia, Frank Lasterino and Joseph Defede - though not necessarily as bosses. More recently the leaders of the family have been Louis Diadone, Aniello Migliore, Nick Beale and Leo Madden - Leo and Nick were bosses.)
Many movies have been made about the mafia, particularly the American Mafia. Here are some of the most popular movies about American gangsters.
The television series The Sopranos is about the mafia in New Jersey and stars James Gandolfini, Steve Van Zandt, Tony Sirico, Michael Imperioli, Vincent Pastore, David Proval and Joe Pantoliano among others.
Metalocalypse
Metalocalypse is an animated comedy television series directed by Jon Schnepp. It is a part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. It is about a heavy metal group called Dethklok, who are the most famous and richest band in the world. The band is a very dangerous force to the people who like it and to world governments. Even though their fans often die or are hurt in the series, they still remain very popular. There is also a secret group of people who work for the U.S. Government who secretly spy on the band and plan to kill them.
Cartoon Network released a DVD of the first season of "Metalocalypse" and an album of Dethklok's songs in the summer of 2007. The album has songs that are played during the series.
St. Lucia Day
St. Lucia Day is a holiday that is held on December 13 in several countries in Europe. Those countries include Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland. The holiday is in honor of Saint Lucy. On this day, young girls (mostly the oldest daughter of the house) dress like Saint Lucia in a white robe and a crown of candles. There are parades, pageants, and the girl playing Lucia serves cakes. They also sing special songs. Here is one of the songs:
<poem>
The night treads heavily
around yards and dwellings
In places unreached by sun,
the shadows brood
Into our dark house, she comes,
bearing lighted candles,
Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia.
</poem>