NYM, I would say it's because on one hand, they seem to be largely dead in the water, then on the other hand, something happens to where my jaw drops and I'm like, how the hell did they manage to pull that off in today's world. I think we should avoid speaking in absolute terms. What I'm saying, there's the one extreme, where people say that it's anything like it was, then there's the other extreme, where we say that it's completely dead.
If history proves anything to us and allows us to compare between the volume of "mobsters" still active on the streets today, as well as the amount of criminal rackets still available to them, compared to yesteryear, it proves one thing... without a doubt - proof positive - the number of participants still involved in Italian organized crime has dropped a lot and the "quality" of member is almost a joke at this point. But more importantly, the overall volume of the rackets they once ran compared to today, had dropped down to almost zero!!! And thats a hard fact that cannot be disputed by any serious student of organized crime worth his salt.
Do they still make a good "score" on occasion. Yes. A rare few of them (a very rare few of them.) But is the overall majority of their membership still earning well and banging' out profits on a steady basis like they did several decades ago? No way! No How!...Not even close.
In fact, the majority of guys still operating on the streets of NYC nowadays are, for the most part, in tremendous financial hardship. Most are broke, or just eking out a bullshit living at best...and thats another fact!
