Ivy is not a gangster Groupie at all. He doesn't care or root for a home team. He's only presenting the facts given to him by the Feds over the last 10 years.
I think someone could make a better argument against some of the Feds statements from 35 years ago as being off or being exaggerated or really not accurate or misleading. I would be the first guy to say it.
However, within the last 6 to 8 years, the Feds are a lot more accurate than 30 to 35 years ago. They are not stupid.
Ivy doesn't know you, so, if he has to choose between what the Feds have told him within the last 6 years or some unknown blogger, he will always take the Feds word. I do understand him well.
As far as our fat ass friend Sarno, Ivy is correct in saying that Sarno, according to the Feds who are pretty fucking good in 2013, was the 'Acting Boss' of Cicero making him acting Boss of the Street Racket Outfit.
This is all he's saying. It doesn't mean Sarno was the most powerful Outfit guy in Cicero. However, he was probably in the top 3. That's how far down the Outfit has gone from the glory years. They are operating at about 1/4 speed, not even 1/2 speed.
Grand Ave is basically an extension of Elmwood Park. All of the top men in Elmwood Park were born and raised on Grand Ave.
Joey Lombardo and Johnny DiFronzo were very close. Joey Andriacchi is Lombardo's cousin through marriage. There really aren't many active made guys in Grand Ave anymore. I seriously doubt Albie Vena is really doing anything concerning Bookmaking, Poker Machines or Loan Sharking. Show me something.
Are there really very many Poker machines around Grand Ave? Is there really any large scale Bookmaking Franchise being run by Grand ave with a bunch of Street Agents having their players call in the action to an office in the Grand Ave area?
If the Elmwood Park Crew retreated several years ago, don't you think their first cousins on the North Side, the Grand Ave Crew, retreated with them? Don't you think Joey Lombardo, DiFronzo's closest ally before he went to prison, retreated with him? Why would ONLY DiFronzo retreat and not Lombardo?
The Grand Ave Crew, as a once powerful business organization, is relatively small in number with remaining made men and retreated years ago with DiFronzo.
Nobody said the Grand Ave is Crew is defunct, they are just smaller than Elmwood Park and they retreated years ago under Lombardo. When Lombardo got out of prison years ago, the deal was that they would let him out but he could not be seen or associate with any known Outfit members. he could get away with seeing Andriacchi, because he could argue that it was his cousin and they were Family.