Gigante quickly rose to power during the 1960s and 1970s. By 1981 he was the de facto boss of the Genovese crime family while Anthony Salerno served as front boss during the 1980s. He also ordered the failed murder attempt of Gambino crime family boss John Gotti in 1986 which killed underboss Frank DeCicco instead. With the arrest and conviction of Gotti and various Gambino family members in 1992, Gigante was officially recognized as the most powerful crime boss in the United States. Dubbed "The Oddfather" and "The Enigma in the Bathrobe" by the press, Gigante often wandered the streets of Greenwich Village in his bathrobe and slippers, mumbling incoherently to himself, in what Gigante later admitted was an elaborate act to avoid prosecution. The act worked for over 10 years and Gigante wa