Why the media glamour rise lcn and not minority or

For example we know who holds most of the top positions in lcn, but we're in the dark when it comes to groups like the Latin Kings, gangster disciples etc. I for one would love to see a movie about Felix Mitchell and the old "69" mob

Antonio 'King Tone' Fernandez, former Supreme Inca of the New York Latin Kings is an interesting character. He is now a paid public speaker.

The rumor is the leaders in Chicago kicked him out because e bought too much attention to the organization

He got beaten up by the Chicago Latin Kings because he went to Chicago and wanted to stop drug dealing and crime in general within the Latin Kings. They can't kick him out of anything, the Chicago Latin Kings are separate from the NY Latin Kings, they have a separate command structure.

In my opinion the mob is glamour because (thanks to the godfather) was seen as someone better that simple street gang. In the 1971 the mob controlled las vegas and Atlantic city and was high in the heroin traffick. I think that Godfellas movie show what I mean: a young boy that made fast money,women ecc while the gangs are portrayed as thugs that sell drug on corner, die in a drive by shooting ecc.

you can find out who the higher up guys are the same way a lot of guys here find out about mob guys, by reading indictments.

imo american street gangs of all races are glorified to some extent, through movies, music, etc. outlaws of all sorts will always be popular in america.

@ neo...I thought new York answered to Chicago, if they are separate organizations then why would he care what Chicago did?

@ furio_from_naples...that's not true, back in al capone time his outfit was considered a gang at one point and they still wrote articles, books and made a movie loosely based on him

@ Rollin bones...I understand your point but thier still not glamorized in the media, we simply have to go to wiki to find out who the boss is of most families. The media coverage of both entities gives the impression to some people that Leo puts more pressure on the Mafia then they do street gangs

well most major street gangs don't have a single leader like a mob family has a boss. they tend to be nationwide, but for the most part loose-knit at best. if you wanted to find out leaders of certain sets, you could do that. the short answer is that it's not as cut and dry or as simple as a mob family. plus, there's always the possibility that some of these gangs just haven't had their leaders exposed like mob families have due to rats.

as for leo pressure, the mob really only has pressure in the east and chicago, street gangs are much more numerous and have a nationwide presence.. so what you're getting is exactly what you said, an impression.. impression does not always equal reality.

as for being glamorized in the media.. maybe you're not in tune with parts of the media that glamorize street gangs? there's a lot of it. arguably more than there is mafia-related media.

They are two different factions from the same group. They are ultimately all Latin Kings and mostly latinos/ hispanics so King Tone thought he'd be okay in Chicago but he couldn't have been more wrong

First thing to comes to my mind when i hear street gangs, dirty poor 20 years old individual who is most likely do get shot by his 30's. There are a few powerful and intelligent individuals i am sure,but majority are...

Most of people do not find it "fascinating",also the movies like The Godfather etc etc

Lol “dirty” WTF? Well actually a lot of people do find street gangs fascinating. But IMO there’s not that many people that really understand street gangs very well and the media certainly doesn’t, so lots of misunderstandings and of course there’s no Godfather like movie to help romanticize . There’s movies but not high enough quality.

LCN was much more organized, controlled unions, pension funds, various industries, and blended in with society.. they were much more sophisticated than gangs. Gangs have an almost immature,unsophisticated connotation associated with them by how they conduct themselves.
You ever see how a gangbanger dresses? They look ridiculous. Gangs are basically viewed as neighborhood cancers that victimize innocent woman and children. LCN always kept their neighborhoods safe.

Wiseguys respect black and Latino gang members more than they respect civilian wiseguy groupies.

Yeah the LCN did all those things way back before law enforcement had the the tools to combat them. So what’s left of them right now?

Another difference is LCN seems to be mainly about making money, extorting, intimidation, etc. I really hate this idea that the mob is somehow morally superior than street gang members. That’s total BS. Wasn’t it the mob that extorted small businesses in their own communities? What’s so moral about threatening to break someone’s knee caps if they don’t pay up? That’s what I mean about romanticization of the mob.

“how gang members dress.”? Gangs Across the country are pretty diverse. You’re likely going off a media stereotype. Where I live active gang members don’t dress how you think they do. I’ve seen how modern day LCN guys dress and how they look though. Morbidly obese fat slobs that look like they just rolled out bed before they get to court. Now those guys look dirty and disgusting.

The media makes people believe all mobsters are smart and all gang members are dumb

There's successful criminals of all races

They should make an authentic movie about the gd's, blackstones or vice lords

this is the case with all criminal organizations

I think the first leader luis felipe was a much scarier figure. It was almost like a cult underneath him.

Can you imagine a black gangbanger or latin king trying to control a union or a pension fund ?? That would be amusing.
As far as how they dress?? Their pants hangin down. A 40 year old gang member wearing is hat side ways with a a blue sports jersey. Who the hell takes them seriously. They look ridiculous. They act like a bunch of twelve year olds.
Yeah, they are dangerous but so is a drunk blind man holding a loaded hand gun.

You can’t base your opinion off rap music and movies. You sound ridiculous. A 40 year old gang member with a hat sideways? Are you living in 1992?

Hence why it's difficult to have a worthwhile conversation with this and the other typical characters on these subjects. They simply let their ignorance speak for themselves.

The mob in NY in the 1980s had a monopoly on garbage,construction,union ecc I never heard of a crips or ms13 that control the garbage or the unions in a great city but only crips or ms13 arrested for murder,drug trafficking ecc the mob glamour was that a mobster can do whitecollar crimes and made more cash that gang members.

A thoughtful question.
Furio and Aces got it right: LCN is involved in higher-profile criminal activities than street gangs. Everybody's heard of Gotti, Columbo and Scarfo, and lots know who Skinny Joey is. How many know King Tone and the rest? And how many care--to them, street gangs prey on each other, and they ignore the big businesses (like drugs) that street gangs run and that have a major impact on crime throughout society.

You can readily infer bigotry here: Most reporters are lazy and biased--hear Italian names and think organized crime. Blacks and Hispanics don't even register with them--they think they're too dumb to do anything big.

Yep.

Ever consider that most minority gang members don't want to control businesses, unions, or large scale rackets?

It’s not just that though. Yes plenty of street gang activity crosses over into what what be considered organized crime today, but the original purpose of most street gangs wasn’t to do white collar crimes. If you join LCN, then you’re basically signing up to be a career criminal, and that’s how you make a living. When you join a street gang, you’re usually a teenager and you can end up being a career criminal if you choose to, or you may straighten out in a few years, start a family and work a regular job. Gangs are more like tribes and it’s not all about making money through illegal activity and trying to control unions and running scams. Yes, some of that exists in the gang world especially for those that choose to take that path. But it isn’t the core mission for everyone involved.

Also I notice the Irish nor Jewish syndicates were able to maximize on the labor racketeering.

Very rare anyone of them straighten out , as i said before most likely they got killed by their 30's,some of them leave that life and start washing dishes at local restaurant. Classic low-life

They clearly lack the sophistication and intellect to do so. Its not that they dont want to, its that they couldnt even if they wanted to. First , you would need to let them know what a pension was, then what a union was, then explain why a union is profitable. Lets not even go into textiles and construction. They will be killing each other and ruining neighborhoods for another hundred years unless we send in the national guard.
I also doubt some knucklehead with dreadlocks and a hoodie will one day walk into a casino and start a skim.

The Jewish were. LCN learned how to racketeer from Arnold Roethstein and other Jewish gangsters. Also shouldn't be overlooked that around the time the Jews in the syndicate all died off, LCN began to go down the tubes.

I don't know, Aces. What are you saying here? That black people are simply genetically unintelligent and incapable of handling sophisticated tasks, by way of their racial DNA? It seems like this is your overall point. Do you believe this?

It’s not rare. It’s actually been the norm for decades. You don’t know what you’re talking about. I also don’t see how career criminal crooks involved in LCN are somehow not low life’s simply because they’re life long crooks.

I never said that. Why dont we evaluate the evidnce first and then draw some conclusions. Perhaps we can compare black neighborhoods and italian american neighborhoods and then make an few comparisons.

I did not say LCN members are not low-lifes,classic thieves, murderers, same shit,just on higher level.

For what reason? What point are you trying to demonstrate?

Most gang members go on to working class jobs. And no, not dishwashers. Most would rather stay in a life of crime than do undignified work. Typically work that involves physical labor, or maybe sales.

Oh that’s fair then. The only difference is that most street gang guys out grow this behavior by a certain age, while classic OC groups continue to be crooks well into middle aged years and beyond.

Washing dishes is not undignified work,its a job like any other,expect you don't need any education or skills to do , same thing goes for physical labor. I just said that as example,they end up doing low-paid jobs that require minimal to none education

To former gang members, it's undignified.

Most go on to jobs where there's some sense of accomplishment, that a man could brag about, despite the pay being crappy. Outdoor work, mechanic, auto body etc. Or sales, where you can dress professionally. It's difficult to go onto the kind of job that people laugh at. They came out of a life where any slight on their reputation was cause for violence, or at least the threat of it. It's difficult for a gang member to just go work at McDonalds. They'd rather not work at all. Most are able to find jobs in some type of outdoor work or sales.

Yup. Construction type jobs, electricians, plumbers, mechanics, small business owners etc. I know so many in so many different types of normal jobs. I’m not saying they go on to be big CEO’s or work for NASA but many do well enough for themselves. If they all were killed by their 30’s then none of the men in my extended family would still be alive today.

Well if by "gang member" you mean teenage kid who goes around selling drugs with his friends and goes around with same group of friends acting tough,oh well i done that too,most of people i know had that period in their lives. For me that's not gang member.

You don't see Father Boyle trying to get these guys trained for restaurant work. He knows they'll never do that kind of work. He tries to get them into those blue collar union jobs. Those are the only kinds of jobs that will keep them away from the life.

I wanted to state more on the difference activity wise. You have to remember history at play as well. Mainly East Coast & Midwest crime families were substantial in the labor racketeering before these current street gangs except a very few. Like SoCalGangs mentioned discrimination played a role in it as well. As time went by and feds applied more crackdowns to LCN related Unions , street gangs were expanding out through various means. Chicago having such a unique underworld is the closer case of a street gang related union in the process via Mickey Cogwell aka Chief Mick ( Mickey Cobras). By the time Crips/Bloods/Latin Kings/GDs/BPS made they're presence in NYC it's too late to be involved in that racket due to the years of LCN involvement. Presently the only unions I could see being involved with street gangs are predominantly minority base ones.

It's not only the mafia, drug traffickers also Scarface glorified that life style.

Do you ever seen Sons of Anarchy, Oak? There a character Damon Pope that control all the rackets in Oakland exspecially the gangs like the Niners; he is like a Godfather,wear like a lawyer. I don't know if ever existed in real life a black gangster so powerful,but maybe in the west coast exist.

I'm sure Pope is a composite of the '80s cocaine Godfathers like Felix Mitchell and Darryl Reed, but they weren't anything like the syndicate bosses. Nor do I think they wanted to be. That's what some people here don't understand.

Gambling is the only real racket in the bay area and I'm sure it's mostly Russians and Asians running it today. Oaks Card Club in Emeryville, started by Frank Costello associate Elmer "Big Bones" Remmer (pictured in my profile pic), is run by Asians today, and they've been subjects of investigations in recent years.

Lanza and Cerrito families were mostly into legitimate business, they'd carry out favors for families back east, like whacking Patriarca associate Joe "The Animal" Barboza.

Police in the bay area were always adverse to east coast racketeers. The only exception was Emeryville in the early 20th century, which at the time was as mobbed up as Nucky Johnson's Atlantic City, and that's not an exaggeration. Literally all of Emeryville's city council was on the take, and Remmer was the defacto mayor of that town. Obviously, there was no way a black person could be a racket boss in these days.

You'd be surprised when you dig into those scenarios.

it's probably also worth to mention that the lcn was founded by italian immigrants, who carried on a tradition from a country where racketeering was and to some extend still is just the way society worked - and that their succes was heavily boosted by the money and power they gained during prohibition.

Latin and black gangs started out of poverty stricken neighborhoods heavily infested with drugs and these people were generally not accepted in circles where real political and economic power could be earned. How do you think society would have reacted if a black guy tried to sell everyone on a bunch of casinos i a desert in the 40's? And by the time black and latin people reached a point where they were taken more seriously by society, the rules had started to change and it wasnt that easy to bribe your way in to the mainstream society unless you like the lcn had a solid base of power in the first place.

Very true and overlooked.. There weren't many black folks in tammany hall.

Oak, where did you hear that the SF LCN had Barboza killed? I've always heard that JR Russo from East Boston pulled the trigger on that.

You're right. I would.

You're right. The Lanzas helped locate him for New England hitters, as he was hiding out in the city. Only further illustrates my point. The Lanzas were scarcely involved with illegal activity by this time. Thank you.