CHIN'S CRAZY ACT. WAS IT WORTH IT?

So, I'm reading the CHIN book and I have to think was the 'nut' act worth it.
He barely left a 3 miles radius for 20 years.
He had to wear raggedy ass clothes on the street. Not even clothes, dirty bathrobes.
Had to look like a tramp, basically.
All this whilst in charge of the premier mob family.

Pros:
stayed out of prison longer
What you think?

Yay, I made a poll. Didn't think I could do it with my crap*y skills.

But would of preferred it at the very top. Maybe, that's possible.

Well he lived with his elderly mother for years and died in prison so probably not

I don't think he would have done it if he didn't truly love the power. Chin was clearly a guy who didn't take any shit and he definitely didn't need the money after a certain point so I have to assume he valued power more than anything else, and he kept that power for longer than most.

Would I have enjoyed it? No

But he was the most powerful criminal in his city for years and more importantly set his family up for generations. I think he still has relatives in high paying jobs on the docks.

Totally agree. It's not for everyone but I believe it was Chin's choice and he didn't have any problem with it so it was worth it to him to maintain power.

I just read it too - not the best-paced written mob book I've ever read but seems to be a good summary of the Chin.

Was it worth it? Are you kidding??? I'm sure if you asked Carmine Persico, Philip Rastelli, Vic Amuso or John Gotti whether they'd rather shit into a steel toilet two feet from their pillow or whether they would rather be free but wear a ratty old bathrobe the answer would be obvious. Certainly compare the strength of the Genovese family to any of the other four (whose leaders at various times are all mentioned above) he was on the street even if he was pretending to be crazy, running things and keeping that family strong and powerful. The Genovese family has benefitted greatly from having him on the street, acting crazy or not.

Sure he may have barely left a 3 mile radius but in those years, that was essentially his kingdom. Where else did he need to go? The above mentioned imprisoned bosses barely left a 70-square foot radius once they were locked up.

Besides, the vast majority of street guys stay close to home, its kind of the nature of that game. Gotti was hanging around the Ravenite or upstairs in that old lady's apartment, so it's not like he was living large out cruising the Norwegian fjords or on an African safari - Boss is the kind of gig where you got to be around close to home, otherwise you risk not being the boss for long.

And while he may have *looked* like a tramp, I doubt he was concerned with trying to impress you, me, or anybody else!

Chin's mother once told investigators that he was the "boss of the toilet."

I wonder why gotti decided to hold court in Manhattan.? Was it because his rival did? Carlo was content in Brooklyn. Wonder where tony ducks headquarters was in the 70tys. Was he up in east harlem

I would say that he is a rare case. To me Chin was a criminal mastermind, he tricked several psychiatrist (hopefully, thats not a spoiler). some might say they were paid off, but I believe he had to convince at least one he was crazy and that would make him a criminal genius. He was Genovese all the way. It was worth it.

Don't some of his younger relatives have decent jobs with unions and what not? I'm sure they appreciate it. Although I'm reluctant to give him the benefit of the doubt that he had them in mind and wasn't just saving his own skin, nonetheless it's something long term he got out of it.

According to Selwyn Raab who interviewed the guys who surveilled Tony Ducks, he didn't have a HQ. He would meet with his top guys in parking lots or restaurants chosen at the last minute.

Tony lived out on LI for decades so he wasn't exposed to many social clubs except when he went to Harlem or the Bronx. He didn't run one himself. Chin was born, raised, hung out, and had his Triangle Social Club within several hundred feet apart on Sullivan Street his entire lifetime. The furtherest he ever went was uptown to his comare's townhouse, and out to Tappan, NJ where he had his wife and kids. That WAS his life. Pretty stupid if you ask me. He seemed like the shrewdest guy ever born until he got pinched and thrown in jail to die. Plus he did the 7 years with Vito in 1959.

So WTF did he really accomplish in his whole life? I'll answer my own question if you guys don't mind ok. ZERO!!

He lived like stumble bum. Dressed like a hobo, and never went anywhere. Never saw shit; Europe, Bahamas, Caribbean, or even Italy to see where his ancestors came from.

Never went to top nightclubs or fancy restaurants, no vacations, never spent 4 cents on clothes, jewelry, or a good time. He was a multi-multi millionaire but never enjoyed his money.

He spent his days, every day, in a ramshackle tin-roofed, 120 year old rat-infested social club with an expresso machine, a few wooden card tables and hard wooden chairs, and a little TV.

He lived like a mutt, just so he could say he was the "boss"!

He rode in trunks of cars to avoids surveillance. He dressed in a smelly old bathrobe and slippers every day. He pissed in the street daily and mumbled incoherently just so FBI investigators would maybe think he was nuts.

He didn't spend much time with his kids and family. He lived solo a lot with his elderly mother Yolanda in a little smelly, rathole of an apartment up on Sullivan Street.

All for what?...... in the end he still died in the can.

Not everyone lives for material things. Not everyone needs things to be happy. It's obvious that you do, but the majority of the people who lasted in that life and made it far did not care about owning the biggest house or having the fanciest cars. During his reign, The Chin had more power than anybody. It's also not true that he never enjoyed the fruits of his labor. He just didn't do it openly.

ny mafia, you made a strong point..... with all he did, he died in the joint. end of story

Gigante loved the life that he lived.He was content.And the fact he stayed out of jail as long as he did and how he stayed out was genius.in the end just too many sorry ass snitches

I do agree that Chin was probably content with his lifestyle, even though he was extremely oppressed in his own way. But did he really stay out of jail for so long? If took a few years longer to get him, and because his crazy act was so well publicized it seems like he lasted forever. But he really didn't. Within a few years of really harping on him, chin fell too!

It was all for naught..... and when you look at what he gave up for those few years, you gotta wonder how he felt about having "acted" all those years for that end result. I don't imagine he was happy or considered himself a "winner"

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The truth is 99% of the guys who go into that life do so because they wanna make a better and easier life for themselves and their families. They want big money or power. And most seek out both to a lesser, or greater degree. Fact. You don't become a bookmaker, shylock, or racketeer, let along a top racketeer like Chin because you DON'T want money and power ok.

You wanna live in a nice home (maybe not a mansion, but at least a nice home), drive a nice high-end car, have a fat knot of C-notes in your side pocket, beautiful broads fawning over you, and recognition on the street with people..... only the old "Zips" and first immigrant mafiosi kept a low profile, and most of them did so because they didn't have big money despite what the general public wants to believe.

If you're a Joe Bonanno, Joe Profaci, Vito Genovese, Lucky Luciano, Tommy Brown, Joe Colombo, etc, etc, you wanna buy things, absorb things, grow in wealth and ENJOY! Just look at their lifestyles and it proves my point out very well. Hell, even Carlo Gambino, admittedly one of the lowest-keyed true Sicilian minded bosses ever owned a beautiful, all-brick home in Brooklyn, a million-plus home on the oceanfront in Massapequa, all kinds of real estate, a ton of legitimate business interests he clearly had ownership in, and lived very well.

Even second string guys like a Jimmy Nap, Gentleman Johnny Masiello, Mike Sabella, etc., lived very well with shows of wealth. Otherwise, why in the hell would you risk you very life and liberty in jail every single day of your life. And why would a guy like Chin clip a ton of guys around him over the years if he thought they were fucking him for a quarter? Because he DIDN'T like money? Wasn't in it for the wealth?

Get real already! ..... No, in my book Chin took it to the umpth degree because he was a little fruity. A criminal mastermind for sure. But he also had to have a screw loose upstairs to have lived nearly forty years like a hermit. He was better off being a shoemaker, or a barber.

They live a better lifestyle than he did. He was a zillionaire, but lived like a hobo. He was a powerhouse, but hid himself away everyday of his life like a hermit. Nah, he was a bit screwy for sure. Thats NOT genius for me. Thats called lunacy! Lol

What kind of life did Gigante have? Did he eat at the best restaurants? Did he go on vacation?
He would of lived much better working in a factory.

Hey guys do you know that Provenzano,the last capo dei capi lived for years in a shepherd's hut with the only company of a donkey that he called helicopter?

Buscetta a famous womanizer mocked Riina because for the power he fucked only with his wife Ninetta.

Paolo di Lauro when at his peak his clan earned 100- 150 milions euro a years lived as reclusive and even the old people in his hood never saw his face and so one.

At the high levels if you want to conserve the power can't act like a Gotti or a Scarfo.
Dont believe me?

El mayo zambada the real boss of sinaloa live as a simple ranchero in sinaloa,doesn't sleep in the same place for more than a couple of days, and sometimes has to hide in a tent in the countryside to escape the drones of the Americans.

That is the power!

Italy and Sicily is a different animal. The Italian state drives mafiosi underground. They DO NOT live that way because they like to emulate groundhogs or squirrels, they do so because to do otherwise would lead to their immediate capture in minutes! Understand Furio?

Most of the fellas you mention have had arrest warrants drawn out on them for decades, and the Carabiniere hunt them daily! THAT IS WHY THEY LIVE UNDERGROUND!

It is NOT by choice I assure you!

its not true,there are fuggitives that go to the football matches,on the beach on walk on the streets and only in the extreme cases go to the bunkers,what I wanted to say is that if you're the boss of a strong oc gruop,every LE agency will try to arrest you so or live few years like gotti and a life in prison or stay under the radar.

Every intelligent mafioso tries to stay under the radar. That is a given. Only bananas like Gotti or Scarfo act belligerent and brassy. And they typically pay the price for their stupidity quickly. But Chin was next level. He was a hermit. Completely. THAT is not living, that is existing! That is not winning! Because if that is winning, I'd rather lose!

It wasn't about the money with Chin. It was about power and position. I believe it was Gravano that said Chin only took money from a handful of his captains. Most kept what they earned and didn't have to kick up. That creates a lot of content captains and soldiers that are happy to let Chin sit at the top. I don't know of any other boss or family with that kind of arrangement.

If he was happy then i guess for him it did.
Like what's the purpose of this life ? Money ? Respect ? Power ? Attention/luxury lifestyle (?)
I guess everyone choose something...
So he wanted the power

You can compare Gotti and Chin all you want. One lived one way and the other lived another way. There is a saying about money and you can't take it with you when you die. That's a selfish way or thinking. Both Italian kids, grew up poor as shit, reached the top in their profession, yet both died in the can. Know what else they did? They made sure generations of their family would be wealthy for many many years to com e.

agreed.... that is a fact

This is an interesting question. On the one hand, what good is being a Don if you have to spend your life wearing ratty pajamas and bathrobe, talking to trees, pissing in the street, traveling in the trunks of cars, never going more than 50 miles from home? On the other hand, what good is being a Don if you have to spend your life in a Supermax?

Moral of story: Crime Doesn't Pay.

Or third opition: stay in Boca like Joey Merlino while someone run your family for you.Plus Merlino run philly from the 1990s made prison time but its still young and free,in NY apart Mancuso the other boss is still in jail.

IN the end he confessed it was just an act.. so no

I hope pissing in the street and acting nuts was worth it to him, always wondered why he didn't use the ex boxer with brain damage defense instead? That would have been easier to believe than the straight up nutjob act he did.