The decaying steel towns and old industrial centers of the Great Lakes region were the perfect settings for Mafia families. Though at one time the gangsters were attracted to the area due to its thriving union-based economy, as the jobs left, the mob simply took advantage of the situation. The Mafia families in these cities may have been small potatoes, but they brought in big money.

Rochester, New York

Rochester, a small city in upstate New York, was under the thumb of the Buffalo crime family for over forty years. It broke away in the 1960s courtesy of the ambitious Valenti brothers, Frank and Stanley. As in all Mafia breakups, the parting of ways was not an amicable one. Through the 1970s and early 1980s a war for control of the family led to a series of murders, indictments, and the complete implosion of the crime family. Though there have been a few members released from prison in recent years, the family is no longer functioning.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Stefano Monastero was the first Mafia boss of Pittsburgh. He was whacked, as was his successor, Giuseppe Siragusa. The longest running boss of the family was John Sebastian LaRocca. LaRocca didn't have the deep political connections that other mob bosses enjoyed. But his family controlled gambling, narcotics, loansharking, and extortion. The Pittsburgh family was even involved in the pre-Castro Cuban casinos. Like many Mafia families in smaller American cities, the once powerful family has contracted to a much smaller organization. While they still run some rackets, their ranks are dwindling. The last official boss, Michael Genovese, died on October 31, 2006, at the age of eighty-seven.

Detroit, Michigan

The Motor City is home to a small but tightly knit Mafia family that's still thriving. Gaspare Milazzo established the Detroit family in 1921. He was retired in a shower of bullets in a hostile takeover by a rival named Gaetano Gianolla in 1930. Gianolla remained in charge until 1944. Joe Vitale took over and had a twenty-year run as boss. He was followed by Joseph Zerilli and later by Jack Tocco. Tocco often picketed city hall with the audacious charge that the persecution of the Mafia was based on anti-Italian prejudice. The hierarchy of the Detroit Mafia was ravaged by a series of indictments and convictions in the late 1990s. Despite the efforts of law enforcement, the family remains active, with Jack Tocco still reigning.

Jack Tocco

Cleveland, Ohio

The Cleveland Mafia was originally led by Joseph “Big Joe” Lonardo. His adversaries were the Porellos. While waiting for the Porellos to arrive at a summit to smooth over their differences, Lonardo was killed. The Porel-los were succeeded by Frank Milano. Milano fled Cleveland in the 1940s and was replaced by John Scalish. During Scalish's thirty-year run as boss, he failed to make many new members, and the family's numbers began to dwindle. And a car bombing war with Irish mobster Danny Greene brought a lot of law enforcement heat on the small family. After a series of setbacks and bosses, John “Peanuts” Tronolone, owner of a travel agency, took over the Cleveland mob, but he opted to lead the remnants of the family from sunny Florida. The last recognized boss of a much-diminished Cleveland mob was Joseph “Joe Loose” Iacobacci, though it is not known if he is still in charge.