A Genovese captain from Bensonhurst who ran the family's Greenwich Village Crew, Canterino was a regular at Sullivan Street's Triangle Social Club, the defacto headquarters of the Genovese family. FBI surveillance regularly spotted Canterino at 3:00 am, driving Genovese boss Vincent Gigante to a friend's townhouse in Manhattan. Canterino once told the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that he worked as a dockworker, foreman, and once "did time as a thief." An FBI report also notes, "Canterino discussed the problems of being married and having a girlfriend on the side, which included having to split time between the two on holidays.