Barzini family

Barzini crime family

Founded by	Giuseppe Mariposa
Founding location	New York City, New York
Years active	1920s-Present
Territory	Various neighborhoods in New York City, including Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens and Staten Island; Long Island in New York; North Jersey and Atlantic City in New Jersey; Reno and Las Vegas in Nevada; Miami in Florida and Los Angeles in California
Ethnicity	"Made men" are Italians, Italian-Americans, the associates are of other ethnicities
Criminal activities	Racketeering, bookmaking, counterfeiting, narcotics trafficking, murder, corruption, gambling, labor unions, fraud, extortion, loan-sharking, labor unions, money laundering, robbery, bootlegging, prostitution, thief, skimming, fencing and weapons trafficking
Allies	Corleone, Stracci, Cuneo, Tattaglia, Forlenza, Chicago, Falcone and Drago crime families
Rivals	Some street gang in New York City, and sometimes their allies

The Barzini crime family is one of the Five Families operating in New York and created by Mario Puzo in the his novel The Godfather and feature in the film of the same name.

History

Early history

The Barzini family was founded by Giuseppe Mariposa in 1920s and replaced by Emilio Barzini in 1934, who expanded his territories apart from Brooklyn areas included areas of Manhattan and Queens, while completely controlled Staten Island. They had business interests in Sicily, Cleveland, Miami, Cuba, Las Vegas, Reno and Hollywood. In New York, the Barzini family ran some of the gambling, sports betting, drug trafficking and prostitution. They were even rumored to have a toehold in Wall Street.

The slaying of Sonny Corleone

Barzini lures Sonny Corleone in a trap to kill him with the help of his shifty brother in law Carlo Rizzi at the Long Island parkway toll booth, Barzini hitmen shoot him more than 90 times with Tommy Guns, The trap was for Carlo to beat Sonny's sister Connie Corleone and get him to the Long Island Parkway. Sonny had already beaten Carlo to a pulp upon learning that Carlo was abusing Connie. Sonny's death does not go unavenged, however. Vito realises, during a meeting with the heads of the other crime families, that Barzini was responsible, and following Michael's ascension to power, Michael orders the deaths of the other Mafia dons to cement his position as the most powerful Mafia don in New York. Michael also has Clemenza kill Carlo after getting him to confess by falsely promising him exile instead of death for Connie's sake.

Don Barzini death

Corleone enforcer Al Neri, disguised as a police officer, shoots and kills Barzini, his bodyguard, and his driver on the steps of the New York Supreme Court courthouse at Foley Square, crippling the Barzini family.

Historical leadership

Bosses (official and acting)

• 1920-1934 - Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Mariposa (murdered)
• 1934-1955 - Emilio "The Wolf" Barzini (murdered)
• 1955-unknown - Paul "Fat Paulie" Fortunato

Underbosses (official and acting)

• 1920-1934 - Tomasino "Five Hands" Cinquemani (degrade to capo)
• 1934-195? - Ettore Barzini (probably deceased)
• 195?-1955 - Paul "Fat Paulie" Fortunato (became boss)

Consiglieres (official and acting)

• 1934-unknown - Unnamed consigliere (seen in the film)

Influences

The Barzini crime family is based on the Genovese crime family, because as the Genoveses, the Barzinis was the most powerful of the Five Families and are most influential in Manhattan and in all United States, with bases in Atlantic City, Las Vegas, Reno, Los Angeles and Miami.