Members refer to the organization as the Lucchese borgata ; borgata or brugard is Mafia slang for criminal gang, which itself was derived from a Sicilian word meaning close-knit community.
The family originated in the early s; Gaetano Reina served as its boss until his murder in Known as the Gagliano crime family under Gagliano, the family kept their activities low-key, with their efforts concentrated in the Bronx, Manhattan, and New Jersey.
The next boss was Tommy Lucchese , who had served as Gagliano's underboss for over 20 years. Lucchese led the family to become one of the most powerful families to sit on the Commission. Lucchese had a stronghold on the garment industry in New York and took control of many crime rackets for the family.
When Lucchese died of a brain tumor in , Carmine Tramunti controlled the family for a brief time; he was arrested in for funding a major heroin network and died five years later.
Corallo was very secretive and soon became one of the most powerful members of the Commission. He was arrested and convicted in the famous Mafia Commission Trial of For most of its history, the Lucchese family was reckoned as one of the most peaceful crime families in the nation.
