Editing Sammy Gravano (section)

===Castellano murder===
Gravano's first choice to become boss after Castellano's murder was [[Frank DeCicco]], but DeCicco felt John Gotti's ego was too big to take a subservient role.<ref name="Underboss"/> DeCicco argued that Gotti's boldness, intelligence, and charisma made him well-suited to be "a good boss" and he convinced Gravano to give Gotti a chance. DeCicco and Gravano made a secret pact to kill Gotti and take over the family as boss and underboss, respectively, if they were unhappy with Gotti's leadership after one year.<ref name="Underboss"/> The conspirators' first order of business was meeting with other Gambino members, most of whom were dissatisfied under Castellano, to gain their support for the hit.<ref name="robinson"/> They also recruited longtime capo [[Joseph Armone|Joseph "Piney" Armone]] into the conspiracy. Armone's support was critical; he was a respected old-timer in the family, and it was believed he could help win over Castellano supporters to the new regime.<ref name="Raab, p. 375"/>

The next step was smoothing over the planned hit with the other families. It has long been a hard and fast rule in the Mafia that killing a boss is forbidden without the support of a majority of the Commission. Indeed, Gotti's planned hit would have been the first off-the-record hit on a boss since [[Frank Costello]] was nearly killed in 1957. Knowing it would be too risky to approach the other four bosses directly, the conspirators got the support of several important mobsters of their generation in the [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]], [[Colombo crime family|Colombo]] and [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno families]].<ref name="Raab, p. 375">Raab, pg. 375.</ref> 

Gotti and Ruggiero then sought and obtained the approval of key figures from the Colombos and Bonannos, while DeCicco secured the backing of top mobsters aligned with the Luccheses.<ref name="Underboss" /> They did not even consider approaching the [[Genovese crime family|Genoveses]]; Castellano had especially close ties with Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante|Vincent "Chin" Gigante]], and approaching any major Genovese figure, even one of their generation, could have been a tipoff. Gotti could thus claim he had the support of "off-the-record contacts" from three out of five families.<ref name="Raab, p. 375" /> With [[Aniello Dellacroce|Neil Dellacroce]]'s death on December 2, 1985, the final constraint on a move by Gotti or Castellano against the other was removed. Gotti, enraged that Castellano chose not to attend his mentor's wake, wasted little time in striking.<ref name="trutv" />

Not suspecting the plot against him, Castellano invited DeCicco to a meeting on December 16, 1985, with fellow capos [[Thomas Gambino]], [[James Failla]], [[Johnny Gamorana]], and [[Daniel Marino|Danny Marino]] at [[Sparks Steak House]] in Manhattan. The conspirators considered the restaurant a prime location for the hit because the area would be packed with bustling crowds of holiday shoppers, making it easier for the assassins to blend in and escape.<ref name="robinson" /> The plans for the assassination were finalized on December 15, and the next afternoon, the conspirators met for a final time on the [[Lower East Side]]. At Gotti's suggestion, the shooters wore long white [[trench coat]]s and black fur [[Russian hat]]s, which Gravano considered a "brilliant" idea.<ref name="Underboss" />

Gotti and Gravano arrived at the restaurant shortly before 5 o'clock and, after circling the block, parked their car across the intersection and within view of the entrance.<ref name="Underboss" /> Around 5:30, Gravano spotted Castellano's [[Lincoln Town Car]] at a nearby intersection and, via [[walkie talkie]], alerted the team of [[hitman|hitmen]] stationed outside the restaurant of Castellano's approach.<ref name="miller">{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=91571&page=1|title=Gotti, A Mob Icon|last=Miller|first=John|publisher=ABC News|access-date=July 9, 2009|archive-date=August 22, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822232705/http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=91571&page=1|url-status=live}}</ref> Castellano's driver, Thomas Bilotti, pulled the car up directly in front of the entrance. As Castellano and Bilotti exited the Lincoln, they were ambushed and killed in a barrage of bullets.<ref name="miller" /> As the hat-and-trench-coat-adorned men slipped away into the night, Gotti calmly drove the car past the front of the restaurant to get a look at the scene.<ref name="trutv" /> Looking down at Bilotti's body from the passenger window, Gravano remarked, "He's gone."<ref name="miller" />