Hey, I'm just one of many (mostly) nice trees that have taken root in this fertile ground.
What got me into the Mafia was the famous Profaci War of 1960-61. As I mentioned in other threads: the NY Daily News ran an unforgettable photo of Larry Gallo (Crazy Joe's older brother) with a big red mark around his neck, after a cop happened by and broke up an attempt to garrot him in the back of a bar on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn. Then (long-defunct) Look magazine had a feature on the Gallos on the mattresses in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The reporter came across a dwarf named Armando (Punchy) Iliano among the Gallo thugs on the mattresses. He asked Crazy Joe what Punchy was doing there. "He's our dwarf," said Larry, as if to say, "Doesn't your employer have a dwarf? Doesn't everyone?" I was hooked after that.