Fear City: New York vs The Mafia

Thanks for posting this Hollander. Looking forward to it. Hadn't heard of it before now but I'll be sure to check it out!

Appears to be a rehash of the same old, same old. I believe everyone tiring of 1980s/90s NYC mob lore.

When is the Premier??

Next week hoodlum.

Thanx my Danish friend.

Dutch, but whatever we are all euro trash.

Oh Hollander, dont disrespect ur self..ur a good human being.

I agree !!!
Holla is one of the best posters here in this forum !

Just kidding we are not trash, Europeans are beautiful, diverse people.

I agree it looks like rehash, which is ok to do a little but this doc looks to be all rehash.

It's on Netflix now three parts seems to focus mainly on the commission case

Excellent and well done documentary. Good info on the Commission case and wiretaps by the FBI.

Indeed, highly recommended. Typical Netflix documentary.

How many episodes is it? It's on my list but I've got a few things taking priority over it at the moment.

3 episodes 48 minutes long.

Oh wow, that's short! Guess I can fit it in sooner rather than later. Thanks Beans.

I saw a different documentary years ago with a different fbi guy taking credit for putting in the Castellano bug. A ret fbi that looked like a cheesy Ric Flair. Both stories I believe involved tv repair.

But the older doc the guy said that he BS’d his way into getting it in a cabinet near a kitchen table. On this one a different fbi dude says that Billoti held a flashlight for him as he put it in a tv.

These stories always change a little.

I have netflix.. but it cant 4 some reason have this when I vocal it ...i'll keep trying..

I was disappointed. Any regular visitor/poster to our OC Boards will find nothing new here. Only two former Mafiosi (Michael Franzese, John Alite) are shown. Not enough material in it for three episodes, so they padded each one with a lot of extraneous and repetitive stuff.

Two fun-filled facts they should have included:

1. Giuliani got the idea for the Commission case after reading Joe Bonanno's autobiography, "A Man of Honor" [sic]. Giuliani thought Bonanno's description of the Commission made a good fit for a "Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization" under the RICO Act.

2. The Snake served as his own lawyer during that trial.

Right on Turnbull. It's the same stuff over and over again. There's no other informants after all of these years. John Alite speaking on a documentary about the commission. Get out of here with that. I want those transcripts that the jury had to read and listen to.

I suppose they want it to remain simplistic for the casual viewing audience, but (so far) I've noted no reference to Gigante as it pertains to the Genovese Family.

It was interesting to hear some of the tapes though.

Yup, seen it all before. Don't think I learned a single thing from this. It was a good re-hash...good production value, but nothing new.

If someone wants to break new ground on this subject, there's one white whale still to be caught; somebody has got to get Big Joey on screen.

He's already a rat, why not tell his side of the story and try to justify it to the TV audience?

Forget his name but would love to see the filmmaker who did "Fog of War" do the Joey story in that style - just Joey on screen being asked questions from off screen interspersed with archival footage and re-enactments.

I'd watch.

Doesn't even have to be Joe Massino. They could get Sal Vitale. It would be interesting to hear his side of the story. A similar one to that told by Phil Leonetti, except it hasn't been run in to the ground yet. Here's a guy who was forging a respectable career for himself as a corrections officer working with drug offenders. Still an impressionable young man, he's led astray by his older brother-in-law and becomes a mobster, rising to the rank of underboss under Joe's tutelage. After a while, Vitale becomes frustrated with his lack of autonomy, having plateaued while Massino entrusts other men as his eyes and ears. The feds close in on the Bonanno leadership in the early 00s and Massino grows suspicious of Vitale becoming an informant, putting a hit on his wife's brother. Vitale does indeed flip and is soon followed by Massino himself.

It's a fascinating story. The boss and underboss both flip. Both men are free. As far as we are aware, Massino is still married to Vitale's sister. What is their relationship like now? Assuming they still have one.

There have been books written about Basciano and Massino and even Basciano's disciple, Dominick Cicale. But we've yet to hear directly from one of the main players in what was a tumultuous period in the Bonanno crime family's history; probably the last period of bloodshed and intrigue in contemporary mafia lore, following on from the Gambino power struggle in the 80s and Lucchese and Colombo bloodshed in the early 90s.

I'm sick of Gravano and Leonetti and Alite and Junior. But this is something that would definitely pique my interest again. Massino seems like he'd be a charismatic and interesting guy to listen to as well.

I'll agree with you 100% there, Moe. Either Massino or Vitale would be compelling - both would be compelling in different ways. Contrasting both stories while likely predictable would be interesting as well. As I read your post, it occurred to me that given the choice, I'd take Massino over Vitale precisely because of what you hit on with Leonetti and Gravano: we've already heard the story about the jilted Underboss who betrayed the leader. Hearing Massino's take might be one of the last "firsts" in Mob lore; hearing from a Boss who's a rat.

Wonder what the odds are that it might ever happen?

Anybody know what Massino's relationship was to Mancuso? Would his disregard or esteem for him make it more or less likely that he would tell his story?

Such a documentary would be the capstone of mafia related canon!

This has been on my list since I first heard it announced and finally got around to watching it today. Pretty underwhelming. Definitely could and should have been longer than 3 episodes. There's so much here, I have no idea why Netflix didn't attempt to stretch it out further? A real shame as there was potential.