The
Gambino crime family (pronounced ) 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.