New York has been a hub for criminals and mobsters since the early 1900s. Italian-American immigrants primarily controlled the organized crime syndicate. 

The original Five Families were formed after the Castellammarese War of 1930-31. Salvatore Maranzano succeeded in taking out his rival Joe Masseria on April 15, 1931. He eventually went on to form the Five Families headed by himself, Joe Profaci, Lucky Luciano, Vincent Mangano, and Tommy Gagliano.

1) Maranzano

The Maranzano crime family was founded by Italian-American gangster Salvatore Maranzano. 

Salvatore was born in Sicily, Italy, on July 31, 1886. He immigrated to the US in the early 1920s. 

Maranzano was a rival to Joe Masseria and declared war against him to save his empire. He became successful in eliminating Joe through Lucky Luciano on April 15, 1931. 

After Masseria's death, Maranzano formed the Five Families and declared himself the "boss of bosses." This move convinced Luciano that Salvatore was a worse boss than Masseria. 

Further, Luciano also found out that Maranzano planned to kill him. So, he decided to act first and take out the boss. On September 10, 1931, with the help of four Jewish mobsters acting as government agents, he eliminate Salvatore. 

Joseph Bonnano succeeded Salvatore as the head of the gang. It was later renamed as the Bonanno family.

2) Mangano

The Mangano crime family was named after its former boss Vincent Mangano. 

Vincent became the head of the syndicate in 1931; he remained in power until his disappearance in 1951. 

During his later years, Vincent got into a feud with his underboss Albert Anastasia. He had grown suspicious of Anastasia due to his friendship with Frank Costello and Lucky Luciano. The two often had heated arguments and almost fought physically on several occasions. 

On April 19, 1951, Vincent went missing, whereas his brother Philip Mangano's body was found at Jamaica Bay in New York. Mangano was declared dead more than 10 years after his disappearance on October 30, 1961.

After Mangano's death, several mobsters ruled the family, including Albert Anastasia, Carlo Gambino, Paul Castellano, John Gotti, Peter Gotti, Domenico Cefalu, and Frank Cali. 

The Manganos were renamed the Gambino family after Carlo Gambino took power in 1957.

3) Profaci

The Profaci crime family was started by Joe Profaci. He headed the criminal enterprise from the 1920s until his death in 1962.

Joe ran a series of illegal businesses during his reign, including bookmaking, loan sharking, narcotics smuggling, and more. Additionally, he owned over 20 legitimate businesses, including the Mamma Mia Importing Company. 

He remained neutral during the Castellammarese War, but some sources mentioned that he was an ally of Salvatore Maranzano. 

Profaci remained in power until he passed away on June 6, 1962. He was 64 years old at the time of his death. After his demise, his brother-in-law Joseph Magliocco became the boss.

However, his title was stripped by The Commission in 1963 after a failed attempt to assassinate other family heads. Joseph Colombo took over in 1963 and ruled for the next 10 years. 

In 1973, Carmine Persico was named the official head of the family. The Profaci crime syndicate was renamed the Colombo family after Joseph Colombo came to power. 

4) Gagliano

The Gagliano crime family was started by Italian-American immigrant Tommy Gagliano. 

Tommy started his career in the criminal underworld as a lieutenant for mobster Gaetano Reina. He plotted to kill Reina with Joseph Masseria in return for being named the head of the family.

However, after Vito Genovese killed Reina, Gagliano was sidelined by Masseria, and Joseph Pinzolo, also known as Fat Joe, became the boss. Tommy finally took over on April 15, 1931. 

Tommy remained in power until 1951. Reportedly, he died on February 16, 1951; however, the date is yet to be confirmed. 

Following Gagliano's demise, Tommy Lucchese rose to power as his underboss. His reign lasted for around 16 years from 1951 to 1967. He passed away at the age of 67 on July 13, 1967.

Several mobsters succeeded Tommy in the business, including Carmine Tramunti, Tony Corallo, and Victor Amuso.

5) Luciano

The Luciano crime family was formed by Lucky Luciano. Luciano started his career in the mafia as a member of the Five Points Gang. 

Born Salvatore Lucania in Sicily, Italy, on November 24, 1897, he moved to the US with his parents in April 1906. 

In 1929, Lucky was kidnapped by three men at gunpoint. He was severely beaten and had his throat slashed. Fortunately, he survived the attack, which might have earned him the nickname "Lucky". 

Luciano became a prominent figure in the New York underworld when he masterminded the fatal attack on Joe Masseria. His power further grew after Maranzano's killing. Lucky became a popular figure in the underworld for his willingness to work with non-Italians, a concept his predecessors had frowned upon. 

During his reign, Luciano controlled illegal businesses like gambling, bookmaking, extortion, narcotics smuggling, and more. He also formed the Commission after eliminating his former boss Maranzano. 

On June 18, 1936, the deceased mobster was sentenced to serve between 30 to 50 years on pandering charges. In 1942, he struck a deal with the government to use his allies to stop illegal Italian and German immigrants from entering the US through the waterfront in New York. 

For his cooperation, his sentence was pardoned in exchange for deportation back to Italy. He agreed to the deal and was subsequently deported to Italy in 1946. 

However, the same year, he traveled to Cuba with the objective of remaining as close to the US as possible and resuming his control of the mafia. 

After learning of his visit, US authorities pressured the Cuban government to exile him. He was eventually shipped back to Italy in 1947. Lucky remained in Italy until his demise on January 26, 1962. 

In New York, Frank Costello took over the family after Luciano's deportation to Italy. His reign lasted until 1957, which was followed by Vito Genovese.

Under Vito's rule, the syndicate was formally renamed the Genovese family. After his death, mobsters like Philip Lombardo, Vincent Gigante, and Liborio Bellomo ruled the enterprise.