Whats the latest from Philly?

Any new updates on the street. GA and Dave say the new regime has been very quiet.. Since that Video of Mazzone going nuts on ligambi and borgesi, we havent heard anything new.. Have you guys seen them around? Lance, Mazzone, Chang? Im suprised we have only seen that video as far as news from the Merlino guys since the Ligambi crew went down..

Interesting thing will be when the Scarfo-era guys will come out...they've been in the can for 15-20 yrs and I know that they will want back in.

Does anyone knows how many of them? I heard around 12.

I agree , I'm waiting for one of those guys to start a power grab

I know one of the recently released Scarfo guys (wont mention the name) he is currently in a half way house and wants no parts of it now. Times have changed and the money out there now isnt what it used to be.

With all the changing ways since he last went away its not worth the aggravation to him. Back during the Scarfo days there was so much money to be made. From the way he talked he made it sound like a low level Scarfo associate during that era made much more than a present day boss would now.

Good point, I guess the piece of pie everyone was picking from is much smaller now.

I think we spoke on here recently about Joseph Pungitore who is out, I wonder if he went back into the game.

I think he is in Florida, so is his brother Anthony. I could be wrong.

Well, really?
I doubt that a low level associate made THAT much.
I mean how much is Ligambi worth? He's gotta be a mil.

There isnt much out there anymore, which is why during the Ligambi run you had guys like him Stanio, Lance, ect more hand on in aspects like loan sharking, gambling, poker machines than before because not as much as kicked up their way anymore.Back in Scarfos days and certainly Bruons the boss would just sit back and only handle certain aspects of the LCN.

Gambling is still the major source of income but that isnt what it used to be now that they have online gambling to compete with and the illegal card game racket has died out now that Harrahs in Chester and other newly built casinos now hold card games legally. Street numbers are done, and now with modern technology with GPS tracking on trucks highjacking stolen goods is a thing of the past, years back before tracking, trailers had numbers painted on the tops so if a truck was hijacked a helicopter can spot it. The way around this was they would bring the trailer to a barn of somebody they knew and paint over the numbers or just have it stored there before unloading all the swag.

Union corruption is long gone around here. Scarfo controlled the bar and restaurant workers unions, it was big money not just for the casino area in AC but many other restaurants elsewhere, major money for the associates involved.

Modern times have also crippled extortion. Flashback to that sopranos episode where Patsy goes in trying to extort a Starbucks, wont work when you have all these corporate chains engulfing the whole Phlly area. Youre not gonna be able to go into a TGI Fridays, a Best Buy, some bagel shop based out of Ohio etc and extort protection money from a faceless owner.

In addition to the money he gets as boss, it came out during the recent bust that Ligambi also had interests in a trash hauling business and a towing company.

I know that it's hard to say:
But how much is he worth? 1 mil? Less? More?

Well the mob never really went after those national chains anyway. Unless you're talking about the indirect extortion of all businesses through inflated prices in the mob-controlled garbage industry up through much of the 1990's.

But, as recent cases in New York, Chicago, and New England have shown, adult business like strip clubs and porn shops are still favorites to be extorted by the mob. And in New York, extortion of companies in certain industries, like construction, the waterfront, etc., through the unions is still a problem.

No they didnt go after those places in the Scarfo days because they didnt exist. Today these places are popping up all over South Philly. What was once a hardware store is now a Dunking Donuts, What was once a building with a corner store is now demolished to make way for a Wallgreens, CVS, Burger King or whatever you have it. In Scarfos days South Philly was nothing but mom and pop type stores which were easy targets.

Forget about New Jersey, the cost of a liquor license is so high that no private owner can own them anymore. Somebody posted a few months back a report on how much of a hand Scarfo had in bars. Knowing the Jersey area myself I know what those bars are now, they are Ruby Tuesdays, Demolished and made way for a TGI Fridays, ect. Even if you do manage to squeeze something out of a private corner bar times have changed with the way liquor sales are monitored, bars are under such a microscope now since the Clinton administration that profit margins in the food and drinks biz have went down thanks to certain taxes he levied back in 97-98 (if there is anyone here that is or was in the bar/restaurant biz they know what im talking about)

As for unions in construction, here in Philly at least that is squashed. Most of it is controlled by politicians so the once lucrative practice of bid rigging is almost lost now that a certain number of jobs have to be allocated to minority firms.

Strip clubs also, sure the mob might have a hand in some of them but even here now we have chain strip clubs like Penthouse club and Rick's. Porn stores were a great score in the 80's but we are all on the internet now, when was the last time any of us paid for porn lol? We can get it free online now so that cash machine has died out as well.