May 22, 2025 • 9 mins
In this episode of Mobstercast Chronicles, we delve into the life of Venero “Benny Eggs” Mangano—a quiet but powerful figure in the Genovese crime family. From his rise in the Bronx to his legendary silence in the face of federal pressure, discover how Mangano became a symbol of old-school Mafia loyalty and discipline.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know, when you think about the mafia, the image
that probably comes to mind is like the flashy guys, right,
the ones always in the papers.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Yeah, the loud ones, the godfathers we see in movies exactly.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
But what if the real power, you know, the serious influence,
wasn't with them. What if it was with someone totally different.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Someone like Venero Mangano, Benny Eggs. Even the nickname sounds
well quiet, right.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Not exactly a household name, not like a Gotti or
a Capone. And that's kind of.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
The point, it really is, And that's what we're diving
into today, the story of Benny Eggs, the underboss of
the Genovese crime family. We've got some great material that
really peels back the layers on him.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yeah, our goal here isn't just a rehash old mob stories.
It's more about figuring out how this guy who actively
avoided the spotlight became so so powerful, and.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
What his story tells us about the inner workings, especially
of the Genovese family, which was famously secretive.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Totally And that nickname Benny Eggs, we've heard it might
be from his family's old egg business.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Uh huh. That's one theory.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
But I leaned towards the other idea that it was
about him being so unflappable, you know, always calm.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
What do you think, Well, it's interesting, isn't it how
a nickname can stick like that. Both stories kind of
fit in their own way. But his calm, his discipline,
that definitely seems central to who he was.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Okay, so let's start at the beginning. Where did he
come from?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Finero Frank Mangana born September seventh, nineteen twenty one and
born in the Bronx, New York.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
The Bronx early twentieth century. You can just imagine the setting, right, Yeah,
big Italian American community.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Lot's going on, absolutely, and it was also a time
and place where organized crime was well, really taking root,
becoming part of the landscape in some neighborhoods.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
So growing up there in that environment, how does someone
like Mangano get drawn into that life? Was it inevitable? Almost?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It's hard to say inevitable, but the path was certainly
there for a lot of young guys in those communities.
The mob offered well, it offered structure, a sense of belonging,
maybe even respect, and definitely a way to make money
outside the usual channels. It probably wasn't like a single decision,
more like a gradual drift into that world.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Okay, so he gets involved, but what's really striking is
how he operated. You compare to others who seem to
love the attention.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Right, he was the opposite. Our sources consistently point to
him being quiet, strategic thinker.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Not a headline grabber.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Definitely not. And as law enforcement got more sophisticated, as
the Oshiko laws came in, that kind of low profile
become incredibly valuable. Being discreete, avoiding public fights, staying out
of the papers. That was smart.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
It seems almost professional in a weird way, less.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Impulsive exactly, and that fit the Genevese family perfectly. They
were always seen as the ivy league of the mob,
if you will, very structured, very disciplined, very secretive, compared.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
To other families like the Gambinos under Gotti, who are
much more public.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Much more the Genevese, going back to Luciano and then
Vito Jenebes himself, they valued operating in the shadows. Mongano's
style was completely in tune with that. It made him reliable,
trustworthy within that structure.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So for listeners who might not know all the details.
What was the Genevese family's whole deal?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
What made them such a powerhouse, Well, think structure and silence,
a strict hierarchy from the boss down to the soldiers,
and the absolute rule of omegtah, the code of silence.
Break that and you were done. And their business they
were into everything racketeering, which is sort of a catch
all for organized crime schemes, but specifically they had huge
influence in labor unions, the construction industry, gambling, loan sharking,
(03:37):
you name it. Their power was less about flash and
more about a deep, quiet control.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Like a hidden government almost our source used that phrase
shadow government.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
That's a good way to put it. And Mangano thrived
in that shadow. He rose steadily quietly until the nineteen
eighties when he became underboss.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Underboss evinced the chin Jagante. Now there's a character.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Oh absolutely. Gigantu was famous for his crazy act right
wandering Greenwich village in his bathrobe, muttering to himself supposedly
mentally ill.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah, trying to dodge prosecution, a very public, very strange performance.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Very but while Gionte was doing that, playing that role,
who was actually running the family day to day, Bennyix.
That's the picture that emerges. Mangano was the behind the
scenes operator, managing the captains, overseeing the rackets, settling disputes,
the COO.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Essentially, so was Gigante's act maybe like a deliberate smoke screen,
allowing Mangano to work even more effectively because everyone was
watching the chin.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
It's a fascinating possibility, isn't it. While the Feds were
focused on Gigante's sanity, Mangano could just get things done,
keep the machine running.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Makes sense. He'd be the one keeping things stable, resolving
conflicts because that world must have been full of paranoia and.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Backstabbing constantly, so having someone calm, rational, respected that would
be crucial. Mangano seems to have provided that stability for
the Genevie's family during a pretty turbulent time.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
And speaking of the rackets he oversaw. Let's talk about
the windows case, because this wasn't some small time grift, no,
not at all.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
This was huge. Basically, the mafia several families figured out
how to control the contracts for replacing windows in New
York City's public housing projects.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
We're talking millions right over one.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Hundred and fifty million dollars in city contracts between roughly
nineteen seventy eight and nineteen ninety. It was a massive scam.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
And it involved more than just the Genevies.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, the sources say four of the big five families
were in on it, Geneviz, Gambino, Luches and Colombo, a
real joint venture. You could say, how did they.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Even manage that level of control and cooperation?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
It shows you their reach back then. They controlled the
unions doing the installation, They controlled the company's bidding for
the work, They rigged the bids, and they apparently had
connections political leverage to make sure the contracts went where
they wanted them to go.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
And Mangano's role in all this.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Prosecutors alleged he was right in the middle of it
for the Genevies side, orchestrating the scheme, making sure the
money flowed back to the family coffers. It really highlights
how deep their tentacles went into legitimate industries and city operations.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Which eventually led to his downfall. Legally speaking, he was
indicted and convicted in nineteen ninety one.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
That's right, he got a fifteen year sentence for his
role in the Windows case.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
But the conviction itself isn't the whole story, is it.
It's what he didn't do afterwards exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
This was the era when prosecutors were getting really good
at flipping mobsters, offering lighter sentences in exchange for testimony.
Sammy the Bull Gravano turning on Gotti is probably the
most famous example, right.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
But Benny Eggs didn't flip no way.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
He absolutely refused to cooperate, faced that long sentence and
just stayed silent, stuck to the code.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
There's that quote attributed to him, something like I've been
in this life forty years and I've never given anybody up,
and I'm not going to start now.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Something very close to that.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Wow, Regardless of what you think of the life he led,
that's that's a statement of principle in its own way.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
It is and within the underworld that cemented his legend.
He became the embodiment of old school loyalty of Omerta
while others were saving their own skin. He stood firm.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Did that earn him respect even from the other side
from law enforcement.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Reports suggests a kind of grudging respect? Yeah, not for
his crimes, obviously, but for his discipline, his refusal to
make excuses or betray his associates. He wasn't playing games.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
And apparently he carried that same quiet discipline into prison,
kept his head down.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Did his time just like on the outside. No trouble,
no interviews, no drama. He just served his.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Sentence until he gets released in two thousand and six.
He's eighty four years old. You'd think, Okay, that's it, retirement.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
You would think, But incredibly, the story doesn't quite end there.
Our sources suggest he actually maintained some level of status
and involvement even after his release.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
At eighty four, after fifteen years inside. How it just.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Speaks to the immense respect command it. Apparently, even in
his later years, younger guys in the life would seek
him out for advice. He wasn't trying to reclaim his
old position, it seems, but he was seen as this,
this elder.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Statesman, a living link to the old ways.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Exactly in a world where guys were getting arrested or
turning informant all the time, he was this constant figure,
someone who had seen it all and never broke.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
And he lived to be quite old passed away in
twenty seventeen.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
At ninety five years old. Died a freeman, reputation intact
within his world. No tell all books, no deathbed confessions.
He took his secrets with him.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
His death really felt like maybe the end of a
certain kind of mafia figure.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
It did feel like the closing of a chapter. Yeah,
that old school code he lived by, it seems much
rarer now.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
So how do we sum up Benny Eggs Mangano.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
He's complicated, obviously extremely On one hand, he was a
career criminal involved in schemes that corrupted industries and cost
taxpayers millions. Let's not romanticize that, definitely not.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
But on the other hand, on the other.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Hand, within the context of the mafia, he represented loyalty, discipline, silence,
the core tenets of their code. He was seen as
a professional, a strategist, not just a thug.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
A different kind of power compared to the more flamboyant types.
He's a reminder maybe that the mafia wasn't monolithic. There
were different styles, different approaches.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Absolutely, his legacy is tangled, but it forces us to
look beyond the stereotypes.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
So the final thought for you listening Benny Eggs built
a lifetime of influence by avoiding the spotlight, by valuing
silence and loyalty above almost everything else.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Yeah, it makes you wonder, doesn't it. In our world today,
so focused on visibility and personal branding, is there still
power in discretion, in quiet competence.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
What does real influence look like when it doesn't chat
its own name? Maybe Benny Eggs, in his own complex way,
offers a glimpse something to think about.
You know, when you think about the mafia, the image
that probably comes to mind is like the flashy guys, right,
the ones always in the papers.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Yeah, the loud ones, the godfathers we see in movies exactly.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
But what if the real power, you know, the serious influence,
wasn't with them. What if it was with someone totally different.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Someone like Venero Mangano, Benny Eggs. Even the nickname sounds
well quiet, right.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Not exactly a household name, not like a Gotti or
a Capone. And that's kind of.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
The point, it really is, And that's what we're diving
into today, the story of Benny Eggs, the underboss of
the Genovese crime family. We've got some great material that
really peels back the layers on him.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yeah, our goal here isn't just a rehash old mob stories.
It's more about figuring out how this guy who actively
avoided the spotlight became so so powerful, and.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
What his story tells us about the inner workings, especially
of the Genovese family, which was famously secretive.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Totally And that nickname Benny Eggs, we've heard it might
be from his family's old egg business.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Uh huh. That's one theory.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
But I leaned towards the other idea that it was
about him being so unflappable, you know, always calm.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
What do you think, Well, it's interesting, isn't it how
a nickname can stick like that. Both stories kind of
fit in their own way. But his calm, his discipline,
that definitely seems central to who he was.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Okay, so let's start at the beginning. Where did he
come from?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Finero Frank Mangana born September seventh, nineteen twenty one and
born in the Bronx, New York.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
The Bronx early twentieth century. You can just imagine the setting, right, Yeah,
big Italian American community.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Lot's going on, absolutely, and it was also a time
and place where organized crime was well, really taking root,
becoming part of the landscape in some neighborhoods.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
So growing up there in that environment, how does someone
like Mangano get drawn into that life? Was it inevitable? Almost?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It's hard to say inevitable, but the path was certainly
there for a lot of young guys in those communities.
The mob offered well, it offered structure, a sense of belonging,
maybe even respect, and definitely a way to make money
outside the usual channels. It probably wasn't like a single decision,
more like a gradual drift into that world.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Okay, so he gets involved, but what's really striking is
how he operated. You compare to others who seem to
love the attention.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Right, he was the opposite. Our sources consistently point to
him being quiet, strategic thinker.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Not a headline grabber.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Definitely not. And as law enforcement got more sophisticated, as
the Oshiko laws came in, that kind of low profile
become incredibly valuable. Being discreete, avoiding public fights, staying out
of the papers. That was smart.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
It seems almost professional in a weird way, less.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Impulsive exactly, and that fit the Genevese family perfectly. They
were always seen as the ivy league of the mob,
if you will, very structured, very disciplined, very secretive, compared.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
To other families like the Gambinos under Gotti, who are
much more public.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Much more the Genevese, going back to Luciano and then
Vito Jenebes himself, they valued operating in the shadows. Mongano's
style was completely in tune with that. It made him reliable,
trustworthy within that structure.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So for listeners who might not know all the details.
What was the Genevese family's whole deal?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
What made them such a powerhouse, Well, think structure and silence,
a strict hierarchy from the boss down to the soldiers,
and the absolute rule of omegtah, the code of silence.
Break that and you were done. And their business they
were into everything racketeering, which is sort of a catch
all for organized crime schemes, but specifically they had huge
influence in labor unions, the construction industry, gambling, loan sharking,
(03:37):
you name it. Their power was less about flash and
more about a deep, quiet control.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Like a hidden government almost our source used that phrase
shadow government.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
That's a good way to put it. And Mangano thrived
in that shadow. He rose steadily quietly until the nineteen
eighties when he became underboss.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Underboss evinced the chin Jagante. Now there's a character.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Oh absolutely. Gigantu was famous for his crazy act right
wandering Greenwich village in his bathrobe, muttering to himself supposedly
mentally ill.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah, trying to dodge prosecution, a very public, very strange performance.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Very but while Gionte was doing that, playing that role,
who was actually running the family day to day, Bennyix.
That's the picture that emerges. Mangano was the behind the
scenes operator, managing the captains, overseeing the rackets, settling disputes,
the COO.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Essentially, so was Gigante's act maybe like a deliberate smoke screen,
allowing Mangano to work even more effectively because everyone was
watching the chin.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
It's a fascinating possibility, isn't it. While the Feds were
focused on Gigante's sanity, Mangano could just get things done,
keep the machine running.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Makes sense. He'd be the one keeping things stable, resolving
conflicts because that world must have been full of paranoia and.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Backstabbing constantly, so having someone calm, rational, respected that would
be crucial. Mangano seems to have provided that stability for
the Genevie's family during a pretty turbulent time.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
And speaking of the rackets he oversaw. Let's talk about
the windows case, because this wasn't some small time grift, no,
not at all.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
This was huge. Basically, the mafia several families figured out
how to control the contracts for replacing windows in New
York City's public housing projects.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
We're talking millions right over one.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Hundred and fifty million dollars in city contracts between roughly
nineteen seventy eight and nineteen ninety. It was a massive scam.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
And it involved more than just the Genevies.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, the sources say four of the big five families
were in on it, Geneviz, Gambino, Luches and Colombo, a
real joint venture. You could say, how did they.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Even manage that level of control and cooperation?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
It shows you their reach back then. They controlled the
unions doing the installation, They controlled the company's bidding for
the work, They rigged the bids, and they apparently had
connections political leverage to make sure the contracts went where
they wanted them to go.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
And Mangano's role in all this.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Prosecutors alleged he was right in the middle of it
for the Genevies side, orchestrating the scheme, making sure the
money flowed back to the family coffers. It really highlights
how deep their tentacles went into legitimate industries and city operations.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Which eventually led to his downfall. Legally speaking, he was
indicted and convicted in nineteen ninety one.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
That's right, he got a fifteen year sentence for his
role in the Windows case.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
But the conviction itself isn't the whole story, is it.
It's what he didn't do afterwards exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
This was the era when prosecutors were getting really good
at flipping mobsters, offering lighter sentences in exchange for testimony.
Sammy the Bull Gravano turning on Gotti is probably the
most famous example, right.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
But Benny Eggs didn't flip no way.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
He absolutely refused to cooperate, faced that long sentence and
just stayed silent, stuck to the code.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
There's that quote attributed to him, something like I've been
in this life forty years and I've never given anybody up,
and I'm not going to start now.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Something very close to that.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Wow, Regardless of what you think of the life he led,
that's that's a statement of principle in its own way.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
It is and within the underworld that cemented his legend.
He became the embodiment of old school loyalty of Omerta
while others were saving their own skin. He stood firm.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Did that earn him respect even from the other side
from law enforcement.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Reports suggests a kind of grudging respect? Yeah, not for
his crimes, obviously, but for his discipline, his refusal to
make excuses or betray his associates. He wasn't playing games.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
And apparently he carried that same quiet discipline into prison,
kept his head down.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Did his time just like on the outside. No trouble,
no interviews, no drama. He just served his.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Sentence until he gets released in two thousand and six.
He's eighty four years old. You'd think, Okay, that's it, retirement.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
You would think, But incredibly, the story doesn't quite end there.
Our sources suggest he actually maintained some level of status
and involvement even after his release.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
At eighty four, after fifteen years inside. How it just.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Speaks to the immense respect command it. Apparently, even in
his later years, younger guys in the life would seek
him out for advice. He wasn't trying to reclaim his
old position, it seems, but he was seen as this,
this elder.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Statesman, a living link to the old ways.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Exactly in a world where guys were getting arrested or
turning informant all the time, he was this constant figure,
someone who had seen it all and never broke.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
And he lived to be quite old passed away in
twenty seventeen.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
At ninety five years old. Died a freeman, reputation intact
within his world. No tell all books, no deathbed confessions.
He took his secrets with him.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
His death really felt like maybe the end of a
certain kind of mafia figure.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
It did feel like the closing of a chapter. Yeah,
that old school code he lived by, it seems much
rarer now.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
So how do we sum up Benny Eggs Mangano.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
He's complicated, obviously extremely On one hand, he was a
career criminal involved in schemes that corrupted industries and cost
taxpayers millions. Let's not romanticize that, definitely not.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
But on the other hand, on the other.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Hand, within the context of the mafia, he represented loyalty, discipline, silence,
the core tenets of their code. He was seen as
a professional, a strategist, not just a thug.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
A different kind of power compared to the more flamboyant types.
He's a reminder maybe that the mafia wasn't monolithic. There
were different styles, different approaches.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Absolutely, his legacy is tangled, but it forces us to
look beyond the stereotypes.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
So the final thought for you listening Benny Eggs built
a lifetime of influence by avoiding the spotlight, by valuing
silence and loyalty above almost everything else.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Yeah, it makes you wonder, doesn't it. In our world today,
so focused on visibility and personal branding, is there still
power in discretion, in quiet competence.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
What does real influence look like when it doesn't chat
its own name? Maybe Benny Eggs, in his own complex way,
offers a glimpse something to think about.
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