The Commission is a ruling committee mentioned in Grand Theft Auto IV, established to oversee all Mafia activities in the United States and serve to mediate conflicts between families.
Description
The Commission is the Mafia families' means of discussing any problems between them; their meeting place is in Little Italy, Algonquin. During the events of Grand Theft Auto IV, the Alderney based Pegorino Family are trying to gain a place on the Commission (by, for example, granting favors to the Pavano Family and waging a low-scale war against the Ancelotti Family), but they are apparently looked down upon by the existing five Liberty City families, and their ascension to Commission status seems unlikely, particularly after the events of GTA IV. They carry Pistols, Combat Shotguns, and SMGs, and are dangerous when fighting on the streets.
Some of the families are also known to have dealings with other gangs: the Ancelotti Family employ the services of the Albanian Mob as hired muscle, and have partnered with the Russians in cocaine distribution, and in 2009, one of the mob families, likely the Messinas, used the Jaoming Family to smuggle their contraband into the city.
Known Families with Commission Seats
- Gambetti Crime Family led by Jon Gravelli
- Pavano Crime Family led by Mary Valvona
- Messina Crime Family led by Harvey Noto
- Lupisella Crime Family led by Mark Lupisella
- Ancelotti Crime Family led by Giovanni Ancelotti
Influence
The Five Families
The five Liberty City families are based on the real-life Five Families in New York City. Below is a list (including the Alderney/New Jersey crime family) of the families and the real-life family they are based on. This is ordered from the strongest family to the weakest family.
- Gambetti Crime Family • Gambino crime family
- Pavano Crime Family • Genovese crime family
- Messina Crime Family • Bonanno crime family
- Lupisella Crime Family • Lucchese crime family
- Ancelotti Crime Family • Colombo crime family
GTA IV also features the Pegorino Crime Family, which is based on the DeCavalcante crime family.
Trivia
- Various families on The Commission are known to have had conflicts with each other over the years. A Liberty Tree article in Grand Theft Auto IV states that "In the old days it was the Pavanos vs. The Gambettis or the Ancelottis vs. the Lupisellas in a bloody war for control of various rackets within the city".
- In The Lost and Damned, before fighting them in gang wars, Clay will sometimes say, "Let's teach those mobsters it ain't the seventies anymore".
- In The Ballad of Gay Tony, the Messina Family are also seen to be at war with the Ancelottis, despite no notable instance of animosity between the real-life Bonanno and Colombo families.
- In Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, their favorite radio stations are Deadmau5 and Truth & Soul.