Boo! Soxside < Northside

You can put it on the boarrrrrd - yes! Outstanding! I am now not alone here.
Okay - back on topic... I'm sure the decades old restaurant/neighborhood bar on West Vernon Park Place has a lot of connected "characters" that hang around. I've seen a lot of "fellas" as well as Cadillacs and Lincolns out there! I don't want to post the name publicly because it really is a great neighborhood place and the family that runs it is terrific and totally legit.

I am outgunned here by Cubs fans... Bam, GrandAve and now Montague! Sheesh!

alittle off topic, but have any of you chicago folks ever been to david burke's primehouse? if not what is another great steakhouse?

yeah i dont wanna post the names of some places too

The Rosebud is another good italian steakhouse which is supposedly owned by joe "the builder" Andriachi

Never been there, FF but Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse and Mike Ditka's cook a great steak. Of course there is always the great Gibson's as well.

You know the one I'm talking about? Don't post the name.
They got great fried calamari - deelish!

no i dont know im saying i dont wanna post the names of same places. But if you say it id probably know

I hear you - some things are better left not said. I'm glad things turned around here after the rough patch. Well done, all.

"But -- that aside -- let me say that I swear -- on the souls of my children -- that I will not be the one to break the peace that we have made here today..."

Agreed, unless someone brings up this White Sox nonsense again. If so SC is gonna have to put on some ear muffs for the ensuing name calling

Lol! That is great! My guy - Little Tony Campana! BTW - I do like the Cubbies... just not as much as my beloved Sox!

Well, it just shows humour and irony don't work well when they are written.

But more or less on topic and maybe also not a very funny story but it reminded me of NickeyEyses1 story:

I've never been in Chicago but I remember a posting from an Internet forum more or less like this from a long time ago and I'll try to rewrite it.
I don't recall the details, but anyway, this 'Chicago mob historian' wrote that he recieved the proof of W.Roemers newest book, they were pals. The proofreader went to a coffee-shop known to cater to some Chicago shady types and Outfit gangsters to read the manuscript and make suggestions or corrections. Apperently it didn't take long to catch the attention of the local crowd: 'Wow, you got the new Roemer, lemme see (Jagoff)'.
And after franticly flipping through the pages everyone was truly dissapointed that there where no photographs in the manuscript. Disenchanted the proof was returned. They're not bookish types, those gangsters.

I suppose you should have been there or read the original posting. But: true story!

Is this not considerednot "flaming" a poster? The wqy you all are talking to my.man Nicky?

No, it's not. You wanna spew your shit go back to Real Deal. Don't start fucking with me.

If SC has a problem, then I have a problem.

So listen to him and act accordingly. Please.

^^^Isnt this some sort of snitching?

is bensonhurst still mobbed up?

Yes, but the Italian American population in general has become somewhat depleted. Most of the Italians left are older and somewhat isolated, and most of the small stores on Bay Parkway, 86th Street and even 18th Avenue are Chinese owned today.

Pizza boy is it safe to say the mobsters in Bensonhurst extort a lot of the Chinese that have moved in the are now?

A lot of Russians and Mexicans have also moved into Bensonhurst in the last ten years, or so.

I doubt it. Most extortionists prey on their own kind. And there's strength in numbers. Like I said, the Italian American population has dwindled significantly in Bensonhurst. A lot of Chinese, and like SC said, a lot of Mexicans and Russians.

Why should a Chinese or Russian shopkeeper fear some Goombah when they outnumber them? And the immigrants of today aren't nearly as afraid to call the law as they were fifty years ago.

Extortion rackets are becoming a thing of the past anyway. Go try to extort a Starbucks. With the amount of taxes they pay the government, you'll have everyone from the FBI to Homeland Security on you in ten minutes.

i dont get why all the italians left bensonhurst

If they were to extort someone, it would be a small shop keeper or local business not a multi-million dollar company that's certain. Plus it's not a lucrative racket compared to other scams and things like gambling.

There's not many small shop keepers or local businesses left in some of these areas, many have been put out of business by these big companies.

Because we've assimilated and moved to the suburbs. We've bettered ourselves and fulfilled the dreams of our parents and grandparents who came to this country with that goal in mind.

I don't want to sound like a commercial for Ellis Island, but if the price that's paid for Italian Americans moving up in society is the Mafia losing its strength in neighborhoods in the Bronx and Brooklyn, that's a good thing, not a bad thing.

It's a never-ending cycle in NYC. As the older immigrant groups prosper they move to nicer neighborhoods or the suburbs.

Pretty much what I said in my reply, too, SC .

You replied faster than me. No fair picking on the old guy.