The Pescatore Family was founded in a blood-oath on the docks of Sicily in the late 1890's, as a cover to the extensive drug-dealing and smuggling operation of the recently deceased Hugo Pescatore. Originally no more than a fleet of a dozen small boats sailing back and forth to Egypt with cheap African heroin, the Pescatore family's ease of income allowed them to increase their control over much of Italy's southern shores for years until Italy's gradual rise to fascism made their business increasingly difficult. In turn, the family moved to New York City, founding their base of operations in the strikingly less scenic South Bronx Harbor, founding Pescatore & Sons Fishery in 1934. They have since controlled The Bronx and Upper Manhattan, dealing primarily in racketeering, drug-dealing, smuggling, and prostitution. They are the wealthiest of the groups -- with the remaining Pescatore family being known for their fixation on the family's cultured history -- though they are also under the most investigations, and tread more lightly than other families. In mafioso codes, they are frequently referred to with nautical terms such as "blues" or "fishes".
The Lombardi Family hails from Queens, the borough they have fiercely defended since their inception by Don Alfredo Lombardi following his son's return home from the Great War. In lieu of a corporation, their base of operations is thei walled-off Queens mansion, known as "Castello di Lombardi". They primarily deal in illegal document forging, counterfeiting, stolen goods fencing, and assassinations. They are associated with yellow -- Castello di Lombardi being painted extensively in it, and gold being their precious metal of choice -- as well as the rook chess piece and beehives, both for their connotations of fortification and unity. As a group, they are known for being a family of "thinkers", who are honorable if a bit reclusive and clannish.
The Corno Family originated in New Jersey during prohibition, gaining a leg up on solo bootleggers by way of executing the first few to start making "real money", and then rapidly expanding in the face of their moonshine monopoly. The group became known for their ruthlessness and use of terrorism and psychological warfare during gang disputes, to the point that mailing the body parts of hostages is known colloquially in Brooklyn as a "Corno Delivery". After dominating the eastern half of the small state's illegal alcohol distilling businesses, they moved their base of operations across the Hudson river to Little Italy in the early 30's, fronting their dealings under the guise of a meatpacking warehouse. Since then, they have controlled Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, primarily dealing in extortion, gambling, and hired killings. They are associated with red and horned animals for their reputation as killers, and are seen by the other two families as somewhat disreputable.
