Again, it's all hypothetical for the point of debate. My last question, this time for some of the guys I know that are in the know about Pittsburgh: do you think Pittsburgh would have remained more viable had "Jo Jo" Pecora not been imprisoned, and taken over after LaRocca's death instead of Genovese? I've heard that LaRocca had Pecora tagged as his successor, but then he went to prison and Genovese basically became the boss by default. Also, had it not been for Chucky Porter, do you think Pittsburgh would have remained active longer than they did? I've heard that Genovese loved Porter simply for all the drug profits he was bringing in - such a shame, because that's not true LCN, and it brought the downfall of the family, just like the old time gangsters predicted about drug trafficking decades ago.
IMHO, along with most others from those days with first hand knowledge, things would have been very different and much better with Jo Jo running the show.
It was no secret that Joe's time in Lexington forced John to name Michael. Although Michael was more of a businessman, Jo Jo was "old school, no drugs, and a man of the people.
Joe was, without question, John's first choice.
Personally, I do not believe it would have made a difference if Jo Jo was named boss as Big John originally wanted to. Keep in mind that Jo Jo died in April of 1987 and Michael Genovese lived until October of 2006. So even if Jo Jo took over in December of 1984 for Big John, Michael still would have been made boss by 1987 after Jo Jo died.
Now, if Jo Jo had lived well into his 80's, I believe it would have been an entirely different landscape. Some of it for the better, some of it for the worse. Nobody earned with Jo Jo, he kept it all to himself...Mike Genovese let eveybody eat...and that went a long way with the members.
