You guys all seem pretty knowledgeable about Philly. I just read Leonetti's book again, for the 2nd time.

What do you think about Joey Merlino, in terms of his credibility with LCN? He appears to care less about LCN rules and more about his friends in South Philly. And alot of them are sons/brothers/nephews of old school guys. So, it's easy to understand how he and the chang's and a few others would stake a claim. It was their family members who made the rackets in the Philly area what they were; not NYC people. So, why should they have input on who controls them? The only reason would be respect of tradition, and the former relationships of previous bosses.

But, Leonetti makes a point of saying a few times that NYC commission picks Philly's boss. And, Stanfa was put there by Gambinos. I think he was the last commission-chosen boss in Philly?

I have read on here that Ligambi was having meetings with other families to iron out territorial issues, meet and greets, etc. And I have also read that the NYC families were under a ton of heat for their own shit when Stanfa was warring with Merlino.

But, NYC gave Stanfa ZERO support. And, Scarfo still had friends on the street and was gathering powerful friends (Amuso) in jail such that NYC knew what was going on in Philly and had to be interested in the outcome. And to say that they would let the war play out and pick up the pieces is 1 answer, but it's a weak answer. You know Scarfo wanted Joey Merlino dead, especially after his son was shot. And he had the connections to get it done.

Finally, to my point/question (make a long story longer lol), is it possible that NYC were interested in Merlino as boss? If NYC appointed Stanfa, all of the guys he made would/should have been investigated by the NYC families BEFORE they got their button. Did Stanfa get commission approval of guys he was going to make? If so, they had Joey Merlino on their radar. And it's very likely that everyone in NYC knew Scarfo and Chuckie and Yogi were haveing problems because Scarfo took them both down.

Leonetti's book and Blood and Honor book make it pretty clear that at the end of the reign, Scarfo wanted to kill Chuckie, Yogi, and Joey Merlino. Then, all of sudden Stanfa inducts him? Sure, it could have been a slap in the face, but Stanfa just went on and on and on about tradition and the right ways in LCN. And then he gives buttons to guys who may/may not have put in work, or worse yet, may not even spent any time as an associate.

Who was Merlino's captain? Who was his sponsor to get him in? Leonetti nor any other book mentions when that Joey was an associate but he is mentioned in Leonetti's book and I think in Blood and Honor. How exactly did he come into so much power in Philly? And did NYC encourage it? It just seems to contradict so much of what was going on in Philly LCN at the time; it is truly mind boggling.

The time but I am speaking of is around 1989-1994; Merlino's rise. NYC took Scarfo down, and put up Stanfa. So, they must have had knowledge of who Stanfa was around. Or, by this time was it just so bad in Philly in terms of structure?

Is the PHiladelphia mob is considered LCN, if it doesn't report to NYC, like it did since it's existence?? Or, is too much credit given to NYC in terms of their hold on Philly? Is there too much placed on the credibility of Philly being true LCN measured by relationships in NYC?

It seems that currently, there is really not much of a relationship between any of the families in NYC and Philly, compared to the past.


thanks.