Fateful 1976 NYC mob Commission vote to admit new members marked a Mafia turning point in retrospect
The late, legendary Gambino crime family boss Carlo Gambino saw the future of organized crime — and the threat posed to its illicit empire by mob snitches.
A long-buried FBI document details the 1976 vote by New York’s ruling mob Commission to admit new members for the first time in two decades despite Gambino’s on-the-record worries of informants infiltrating their secret society. The heads of the Genovese, Colombo, Lucchese and Bonanno families overruled the 73-year-old "Boss of Bosses,” whose fears proved quite prescient.
In that same year, FBI undercover agent Joe Pistone slipped inside the Bonanno family under the alias “Donnie Brasco” and the Gambino family inducted Sammy (The Bull) Gravano — who became a government witness 15 years later, bringing down infamous boss John Gotti and another 38 mobsters.
“Source states Gambino adamantly opposed new membership for fear of informant penetration,” says the Feb. 17, 1976, memo sent directly to FBI Director Clarence Kelley about the top-echelon sit-down. "However (he) was outvoted 4 to 1 and reluctantly agreed go along with the proposal of 10 new members each for the five families.
“Source speculated that if Gambino had been able to persuade one other LCN (La Cosa Nostra) boss to oppose the proposal he would have been in a position to delay or prevent implementation.”
The mere existence of the report indicates the the feds already had a mole inside the Mafia. The Daily News received a copy through a federal FOIA request.
Mob experts suggested Gambino, who rose to prominence by orchestrating the 1957 murder of Albert Anastasia and died peacefully at his Long Island estate eight months after losing the 1976 vote, opposed the membership drive due to his skepticism about American-born gangsters and a desire to benefit his own crime family.
“Some of the old-timers didn’t like the new guys, the Americans, when people got made,” said Bruce Mouw, once head of the FBI’s Gambino Squad. “They didn’t trust the new generation. They liked the old paisans. It’s the dinosaur theory: They didn’t like anything new.”
Selwyn Raab, author of the definitive New York mob book “Five Families,” agreed while offering a second, more selfish motive.
“He had the largest family,” said Raab. “What does he care about the Bonannos, the Colombos and the others? But the ‘Mustache Petes’ had to make room. Every generation distrusts the upcoming Mafia members. The idea was Gambino felt the whole school of wanna-bes couldn’t be trusted.”
While reports at the time indicated the opening of the books was approved by a national mob board, the FBI memo indicates the decision was made strictly by the heads of New York’s five families at a meeting convened by Gambino.
The Colombo family, on the rebound from a long internecine battle pitting its leadership against the insurgent “Crazy Joey” Gallo faction, quickly inducted 10 men on Feb. 5, 1976, the report indicated. Among the new recruits was Thomas (Shorty) Spero, killed four years later by a Genovese family associate who would eventually testify against his boss Vincent (Chin) Gigante.
“All of the above-named individuals are now ‘good-fellows’ (members of LCN) and recognized as such by all ‘families,’” the memo added.
A handwritten note with the paperwork describes the content as “extremely sensitive and not to be disseminated outside Bureau under any circumstances at this time to prevent compromise of sources.”
