Should Gotti have been whacked for being so flashy

Basically as a message, "We don't flash our wealth. Stay low key or die"

What do you guys think?

I can understand him getting away with killing Paul since Paul wasn't the most popular boss ever, but didn't ANY of the guys in his family, or other families wanna whack him for being so flashy and openly taunting the government?

''John is getting too much press, that can't go unchecked..'' - The Chin (Gotti 2018)

Yes. He is among them who are credited with ruining the American Mafia. The fact that he killed Castellano should of resulted in members of his own family killing him

Thats hypocritical considering the chin walked around in a bath robe and getting just as much attention as Gotti. It was the media that gave Gotti all the attention. As soon as the news networks saw gotti after it was assumed he wacked castellano and informants stated he was the new boss, the media had a field day. There is FAR TOO MUCH emphasis on Gotti being high profile, he was going down no matter what. Same with gigante. Same with persico. Same with Tony Ducks. Same with Massino, same with Casso. Same with Scarfo. They all go down. As soon as the feds identify you as a boss, they try to plant bugs in every conceivable location you may talk and they patiently wait for an underling to get a heavy pinch and try to turn him.

Yea gotti was flashy, but whacked? That's a little much especially being a boss there's tons a guys who are flashy , look at Joey Merlino the guys whole lifestyle is flashy but I agree w Belmont in the sense that once your the boss your the main target there gonna do anything they can to take you down whether your in a bathrobe or gucci suit now if we're talking about associates or soldiers and aren't known as much then yea not being flashy and staying low key is the way to go but gotti was flashy and outspoken from day 1 he wasn't going to change when he became boss and everybody knew that if ur low key coming up it's likely you will remain that way even when given a higher position but if your flashy and outspoken from the beginning it's only going to get worse as the money starts coming in more some guys love being That Guy the one that all the eyes are on and some are good living nice and being low key but when word is out your boss it doesnt matter how u live there gonna be on you that's why some don't want the title for the simple fact of the heat that comes with it

I don't even know why people are criticising him for being flashy. He already broke the rules and if he had been dealt with a long time ago I believe the Mob would still have a few more years of secrecy

Who was going to whack him? His own guys? They were probably afraid to, and besides the legend is he was liked more than Castellano. The other families? Didn't they try to, when they blew up Frank DeCicco? I think, as Belmont said, that his days were numbered. Gotti knew it, and enjoyed his time as boss while he could.

well yes his own guys. Nobody thought he would of moved against Castellano but he did. It would of been easier killing Gotti, it was not rocket science. The point here is not a question of "should he of been murdered" but why didn't anybody do it sooner.

and yeah I can understand alot of guys liking him and I'm more than aware he enjoyed his time as boss lol but rules are rules. Look at the Mob today. They all ruined it

He should've been killed after the first trial where his verbosity on tape was used as evidence.
In my book, if you're dumb enough to get yourself bugged talking incriminating shit, you deserve to be shelved or whacked. Reduce the pool on one hand, but it brings out a higher quality of soldier on the other.

Then you would have to whack practically the whole Commission because they all were caught talking incriminating shit on tape around the same time. However, after that fiasco Gotti should have wised up and not held meetings in regular places where he openly talked about murder.

He went out of way to avoid being caught on tape, they had every resource at their disposal. Decalacante was caught on so many tape recordings that a book on it was done. Many other bosses and soldiers were recorded over the years.

Making everyone meet at his social club daily was enough to justify a coup. That was criminal stupidity, with the surveillance then along with the aftermath of the Commission trial.

Thing about Gotti was, he was getting tailed 24/7 hence he figured whoever he meets would get spotted anyway

And another reason was, he didn’t want to be no Paulie hiding away in a mansion- only meeting key players etc again look
how that turned out for Paul. He was going down anyway

U might as well be in a cave some place, but once they have u as boss and your underlings get caught. You’re goin down regardless

He could have met through intermediaries like the Chin. He was showing off.

True, but at the end of the day they would've gotten to him anyhow. All the bosses of that era eventually got locked up, even the Chin, the most secretive boss ever..

You could also see it from the other side and say that Gotti at least enjoyed his time on the streets as boss a little more than a guy like Chin, who never went outside a three block radius for the majority of his life while acting out his elaborate nutcase routine..

Chin went out all the time. Had girlfriends. He had a sharp, realistic sense of what law enforcement was in his final days on the street. He went outside of the box to evade prosecution and it probably bought him an extra decade of life as a free man, and his crime family certainly benefited from it.

Being flashy isn't a capital offense in the Mob--it's just stupid. Whacking a Don without the Commission's approval is a capital offense--and Gotti nearly paid the price for that.

I read or saw on TV somewhere an LE saying the cold inconvenienced Gotti to where he decided to use the apartment .

It can happen too even the smartest wise guy leaders but after getting caught on tape the first time he never should of been so lose
In speaking in that apartment.

Gott was no dummy and apparently I very like able leader but as a boss he was very sloppy.

I do think if he didn’t go away the Chin would of whacked him eventually .

Very strange how there was a war vs the Gambinos but Gotti decided not to retaliate which was another questionable but major decision during his reign.

Outside of Philly it was very rare to have a mob war that resulted in an Underboss , Capo , and right hand soldier to get popped on 1 Side.
Trying to think of another instance of big hits like that and it must have been years

Although he possessed great managerial skills, he was entirely too flashy.

Should he have been killed for it? I don't know... should you be in that life? Probably not...but aren't there worse offenses?

The media followed him, not the other way around. FBI agents or prosectors would tip reporters off on where he was. He never met one one one with media, or granted interviews as old timers like Crazy Joe Gallo did. Vito Genovese gave a writer and publisher an interview in his home.
Gotti never did that, what was he supposed to do, dress ike a bum and hide in his home? It's a myth about him courting media, he would make a comment while walking away at the most.

Whether the media followed him or not it doesnt change the fact that he was being too flashy and idiotic the way he handled himself as boss. He definetly got off on it. If you listen to his prison tapes in 98 he clearly thought of himself as important that people would have the honor of being in his presence

Posters on here and everywhere else on the 'net think they are important and an honor in others presence. How was Gotti flashy? Were his clothes too nice for some people? H never flashed money, or drove a luxury car, he tried to avoid the media, and they followed him, calling him flashy as they did. In those tapes, they are private conversations, and open to interpretation as for if he was bragging or talking. We'll never know.

Weekly

Jace thinks he knows more than Selwyn Raab, Jerry Capeci and every beat journalist in NY.

Most posters are pretty humble so not sure where you got that. Gotti was flashy. Everyone from law enforcement to street guys have said the same thing. As for the tapes in particularly the prison tapes yes he did say he was important and its a honor to say hello to a "person like him". I mean those are his words

Yep, when someone posts stuff like this, I immediately stop any kind discussion with such a guy because it so futile and only creates irritation.

I wonder if it is just ignorance or deliberately trying to derail threads with misinformation..

I never claim to know a lot, I been ask more questions than most people. You start the day by going after me twice.

You just can't take it when a person brings up a point you disagree with.

Chin went out. Had a girlfriend. He went out at night time when he knew the regular agents assigned to him were off work. That was another perk of staying low key. Since he always met through intermediaries and was never directly involved with anything, the hot headed night shift agents didn't bother staking him out. He knew that was the time to step out, visit the goomar. Chin was screwing with everyone. It wasn't dignified but it worked. It's the reason the Genovese are are still the "Ivy League" to this day.

He was also caught on a tapped phone talking to his girlfriend in a coherent way in the same time period as his crazy act.

You need a sense of proportion here... Nobody is a ghost, but the Chin obviously put a higher emphasis on trying to evade and deter surveillance and efforts of law enforcement to gather evidence against him and his family. In the meantime you have Gotti who summons the brass of his family to do walk and talks in plain sight during the day, gets taped giving a guy O'connor's address right before he gets shot, etc. There is no denying he was not nearly as shrewd as the Chin to dodge the law.

I agree w/u there Oak.