I've had interactions with a few Rochester associates and know two personally. Mostly gambling figures and enforcers. They're all either dead or ancient now and don't talk about the life, but you can tell by the way they carry themselves that they are still and always have been street guys. No nonsense guys who command more respect than they show. Pretty racist too (the N-word flies around like crazy), but nice enough to me (I'm Italian) and very loving to their families. They're pretty generous with their cash also and tip very well.

I'm a bit young to have known the top players though. Most of my knowledge comes from second hand stories told by older friends/family that were alive during they heyday. My hometown of Rochester, NY was a huge mafia city and is small enough that nearly every Italian-American born between 1910-1960 was touched by the mob in some way if they grew up in the inner city. Per capita, there were probably more men connected there than most other American cities.

Like the above poster, I've dealt with some Turkish OC players. Ukrainians too.

Elsewhere, there was a Utica guy in the 1970s who was close to my family and allegedly offered to wack a neighbor who was giving a relative of mine problems. From what I've been told it was shocking how blunt he was especially since the dispute was somewhat minor. This offer was declined.

I also had a cousin who was murdered in Sicily by Cosa Nostra. No idea why though.