By the early to mid-1960s, an insurrection would splinter the Bonanno Family’s previously loyal membership into at least three different “factional camps” and turn the streets of New York City into a shooting gallery.
On and off for over three years, many Bonanno members and associates lived life constantly looking over their shoulders for assassins lurking in the shadows. Their routine of daily life became anything but routine.
Many of their street rackets and operations were disrupted with hoodlums leaving their homes, wives, and children to go into hiding to both protect their immediate families from possible violence and save themselves from death at the hands of rival mafiosi.
The estimated 175-200 various capos, soldiers, and key associates of the Family had to live “on the hop,” enabling them to move surreptitiously to avoid teams of rival gunmen hunting them while stalking their adversaries. Left unattended by their absences, racket revenues would dry up, and as time passed, the slow grind of “guerilla warfare” wore thin on the troops.
