The Gambino's are still major players when it comes to drug trafficking, I don't even think it's debatable.

I know two elderly ex teamsters, with 30 plus years in. they both got their pensions, and they were good pensions, however the medical insurance depended upon the company you worked for.

the two guys I know have no medical from the teamsters because their former employers went bankrupt, it really did't matter to them as they have medicare.

but, if you retired without medicare, and your employer goes broke, you don't get any medical insurance from the IBT.
this is the understanding I have about the teamsters retirement.
correct me if im wrong.

It depends on the local, not the job itself. But it doesn't matter if your employer goes bankrupt after you retire. Vested money is vested money. It can't be touched.

But it's true that most pensions don't carry medical for life. If you want that deal you take a civil service job or do a three year minimum in the armed forces.

Much of what you said, though often repeated by many, is false. First, "half the mob" are not stoolies. People just get that image because those that do flip get so much attention. But even today the number of guys who turn is relatively small compared to those that don't. Second, the fact that the families in New York have been able to keep their membership totals relatively steady for the last 20+ years demonstrates there are still plenty of willing guys who want to be made.



The lack of quality in the new members, as compared to the old, is certainly true. Though not necessarily across the board. But the idea that most of the street rackets would be taken over by newer immigrant groups (the "ethnic succession" theory in organized crime) that got it's start 40 years ago has been proven largely untrue in New York. One of the earliest to float this predict this was Franic Ianni, who believed that blacks would take over the mob's rackets at the street level. Fast-forward through the years and, with each new ethnic group, you'd have OC experts and even some in law enforcement predicting they would "take over." - the Hispanics, Chinese, Motorcycle Gangs, Russians, Albanians, etc.

One of the more interesting books on this subject is The New Ethnic Mobs by William Kleinknecht. Through most of his book he tries to build a case for the new groups supplanting the Italian mob. Yet, in the last chapter he almost does a complete 180. The Chinese are the #1 group he pushes but, in the end, he admits that - except for the drug trade - they will probably never go beyond the rackets of their own insular communities. One thing he does point out, and I give him credit for it because it goes against the cliched thinking, is that many people underestimated the tenacity with which the Italian mob would maintain it's presence in many of it's traditional street rackets. Wherever there is still a viable mob family left, it remains the dominant force when it comes to bookmaking and loansharking. The mob has been marginalized in the drug trade but the New York families are still big players in narcotics.



While I agree with you about the overall decline in mob influence in the unions, as well as the decline of the union movement in general, there are still some IBT Locals in New York that are interesting to watch; even in recent years. From 2000 to the present, I've counted at least 20 former Local 813 officials and/or members who were booted for their ties to the the LCN, corruption, etc. There's also been several booted from Local 295 at JFK since 2000. Local 282 has continued to have problems in recent years. Local 812 and 1181 are others.



You'll notice that article says the Gambinos control the piers in Brooklyn and Staten Island. That's traditionally been their territory while the Genovese had Manhattan and New Jersey. All of the New York families, except for the Bonannos, are still deep into construction and related fields. Unlike the wholesale food markets, the Javits Center, or even waste hauling, the government was never able to institute the same kinds of industry reforms in the construction trades. It's simply too big and too diverse to remove or at least weaken the mob like they did in other industries.

As far as younger guys, alphonse truccio is an earner. Unfortunately by the time he gets out of prison, the only italian living in Queens will be him..lol

He just got knocked down anyway.

Well, that makes sense due to all the power now being in brooklyn.
He was an earner, is doing a 10 piece, and is still young. Maybe he is being temporarily demoted?
Then again, the same thing happened to a lot of the brooklyn Lucchese guys who went away and realized all the power went back to the bronx.

It would be more interesting if there was some more information on wannabe mobsters of the 90's generation.

I'm sure that trucchio is not the only young good earner in nyc

And with the mob being less territorial than in the past, shifting demographics are not that big of an issue

Besides wasn't his crew's operation reaching beyon howard beach?

And it was said to be filled with young guys...