$50,000 over a period of almost a decade. For a boss it does seem he came in at a shitty time.
Almost reminds me of Ligambi. I don't follow Philly too closely, but I've heard from some of the more knowledgeable Philly guys that he doesn't have much money (for a boss, anyway).
Keep in mind that this is probably one extortion target among several.
As for Ligambi, it appears he's comfortable, for lack of a better word. Besides whatever tribute he was getting as underboss/acting boss, he reportedly had interests in a real estate, a towing company, and not to mention the 50k a year from that garbage company for doing nothing.
I've always said, at least from what I can tell, that mafiosi are mostly middle-class. But it seems too many are caught up in the fantasy where, if a guy doesn't have that "Don Corleone money" (to quote
The Sopranos) he's somehow doing it wrong or doesn't have as much money as he "should."
A lot wrong with that. Or at least pure speculation.
The gambino's and genovese still dress up
Sure, some of the older guys still take pride in how they dress. But the Genovese are the wrong example. As a rule, they NEVER flaunted their appearance like the other families. Fat Tony used to wear fucking overalls on 116th Street
.
There are exceptions, of course. But to this day the Westside will reprimand their guys for living over their heads and putting on a show with luxury cars and fancy clothes. But they dress down for a reason, to deflect attention from themselves. When guys in the other families dress like slobs, it's not a charade. They're just fucking slobs.
I think too much is read into what kind of clothes a guy is wearing. You see photos of a lot of these guys and they dress up when the occasion calls for it - a high level meeting, a wedding, a wake, etc. But it's like people (who once again have been watching too many mob movies) expect them to be walking around in $2,000 pin-striped suits 24 hours a day.
I remember when a reporter caught Dom Cirillo on the street back in 1997 after it came out he was the acting boss. He was wearing jeans and an old t-shirt. When Nick Corozzo was arrested back in the late 1990's, he was wearing a track suit and cap. So what?
