Michael "Mickey Z" Zaffarano

Plenty of guys have earned big over the years dabbling in the pornography business. But few ever reached the heights, or power, of Mickey Zaffarano.... here is his story.

https://thenewyorkmafia.com/michael-mickey-z-zaffarano/

And listen to the story on Button Guys podcast - Mob Fireside Chat - where we bring Mickey's story to life.

https://youtu.be/bNLXS7HNZsI

Bonanno Family - Michael Zaffarano
Genovese Family - Matthew Ianniello
Colombo Family - Anthony Peraino
Gambino Family - Robert DiBernardo
Lucchese Family - Joseph Brocchini

These men were the five top mafiosi in control of the pornography rackets, smut industry for their respective borgatas.

I have written in-depth bios for each. They are available on our website if anyone cares to probe further into the mobbed-up flesh rackets,

Honorable mentions pulling up the rear in porn activities in these crews are as follows: (Gambino) Eddie DeCurtis, (Colombo) Gus Caggiano, Joe Gentile, Joe and Louie Peraino, and for the (Lucchese) the Borello brothers.

Great article as usual.

Uncorroborated informations suggest that Zaffarano was involved with some Yakuza clans in the Pornography business. It is often mentioned as an example of the connection between Cosa Nostra and the Yakuza. DId you find anything on it ?

Hi MV, that I cannot speak to. I didn't come across anything connecting the two. Only connection to Japan was that supposedly Mickey shipped "product" to Japan.

Anyone knows the details of the pornography business? Step by step how do they operate such business? I'm interested in the details of day to day activity of this business.

There is NO MORE porno business. Period! Everybody who was in the trade got out once everything went online. WTF would anybody pay for films, books, etc., when they can log on for free. So this biz went the way of the Model-T Ford in the early 1990s.

Starting in the 1940s and 1950s there was decent money to be made. By the mid-1960s with the change in obscenity laws by the Supreme Court the industry exploded. And all through the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, guys made tons. But no more. Finito as they say!

The only guy who I believed still made millions in recent years was Richie Martino with his online porn sites. The guy was a genius.

i wonder if he was on the hit list with alot of the guys who surported galante trying to take over the family. he had alot of relitives in the life so it would have been a bad look. but he wasnt demoted from capo...