I was thinking, within the last 2-3 years things have been fairly quiet for families in NY such as Gambino's, Lucchese's and of course Genovese. The talk on here in that time is that some new guys have been made, leaderships established. A few guys arrested here or there but nothing major that decimates the ranks.
I'm no fan boy or want to say that suddenly these families are like they were in the 70s but seems things for the minute are going pretty good. Are we beginning to see the effects of the FBI downsizing their squads for the families? It seems groups like ISIS and other islamists are much more the priority atm (rightly so), so I guess there is some breathing space.
Also it was only 10 years ago the media and Feds were declaring Joe Massino 'the last Don' but we are calling Crea and Cefalu bosses of families today, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Genovese do have an official boss known only to members also. Thoughts?

9/11 saved them, sick as that sounds. And they're doing better now than they were doing post-Gotti thru 9/11. But they're only as big and strong as the Government allows them to be. If bodies were to start dropping in the street again, the Feds would shut them off like a light switch.

If they're happy with the status quo, and they should be GRATEFUL for it, they'll leave things just the way they are. If they try to get too big, the Feds will shut them down faster this time than they did in the '90s. It's all relative. But if you're looking for "Goodfellas" or "Donnie Brasco," those days are gone and NEVER coming back.

But if that's the case with the Italian-American Cosa Nostra, is there anybody else who has taken their place as the n.1 crime syndicate in the USA? I mean, is there somebody who is as powerful now as the Cosa Nostra was in the 30s-70s? The Mexican or Colombian cartel representatives maybe? Or is the organized crime generally weaker than before in all ethnic groups in the USA?

In my opinion organized crime in general, of any kind in any developed country, is currently far weaker than it still was in the 80s and 90s.

I am not so sure, for example about Mexico, Russia and Japan. Mexico is almost a war zone, in Russia since the 90s the mafias have been becoming stronger due to the collusion with the state, even though they don't kill so much anymore as they did in the 90s because the most violent ones have been all whacked long ago, and in Japan, even though the street crime rate is considered low, the Yakuza isn't even illegal, it's no crime to be a member and there is no RICO or anything similar.

I wouldn't call Mexico a "developed country"
The Yakuza is on the decline. Japan has been passing anti-organized crime laws and it's beginning to see its effects. They're still very much active and will continue to be for quite some time, but the Yakuza's membership and their grip on society is steadily declining.
When you take a look at countries like Italy, Russia, the UK, the Netherlands,...all developed European countries that have been the scene of a healthy amount of organized criminal activity, there seems to be less coverage on the topic now than there was in the 80's up to the early 2000's. It's not for nothing. Criminals have evolved and operate less in the open nowadays? Sure. But it's also because law enforcement has learned to deal with the pervasiveness of the criminal activities committed by the different groups in these countries. Organized crime is far from dead, but the pervasiveness of it, the grip it had on society, its visibility, is nothing like it was back in the days.

Just a couple of points. Yes the FBI has downsized somewhat and their big focus is now terrorism,so don't think for a minute that they have forgotten about organized crime. They still monitor it.
The organized criminals aren't throwing dead bodies all over the street as in the past- apparently they have learned something. You get another guy like Gotti in there who struts around rubbing it in their faces, the FBI will go into action again. If we get a Republican in the White House, I believe they will spend more money on law enforcement and maybe loosen some of the restrictions now face.

That was EXACTLY my point, BigBoy. They're as big as the Government allows them to be. If they're smart (and to their credit, the sitting bosses in at least three of the Five Families seem to be pretty intelligent), they'll be content with the status quo: They don't go around killing people, or placing monopolies on entire industries (like garbage, construction, and trucking), and the G will let them earn.

It's almost as if they have an unspoken agreement right now. But the minute the extreme violence starts up again, especially if it's an honest sanitation owner who catches a beating for stealing a stop, the G will shut them down faster than they did twenty years ago. Anyone who believes otherwise is either naive or outright rooting for the wiseguys.

Question is, though, do you think they'll go through another violence period?

Not of they're smart. If they do, they'll just be fucking themselves. The FBI WILL NOT STAND for LCN type killings, whether or not their main focus is on terrorism or not.

Engaging in more violence or "Killing Sprees" would be very, very, very, counterproductive. If nothing else has been learned, OC should have "wised-up to the liability of unnecessary killing. Discretion is the "order of the day" when it comes to violence. Killing and violence are necessary in criminal organizations, but times have changed and LE will simply not look the other way. Violence brings heat and heat can result in life sentences.

A lot more white collar crime. That and Gambling will always do them good. They'll be alright this decade!

Wonder if the FBI was watching rizzutto just cause he was a american lcn member and the guy was killing like Juarez mexico except in Justin beiber land were its 99 percent white people. Around Boston FBI probalg have a inducted memeber cause the acting boss gets indicted every 6 months. But there shit won't ever go away.

no bodies, not big H or other major drugs, pizza is right ..they will have a great run

You really think they are not running H, coke, and pot?

Always have, always will.

And now with the feds shutting down their dominant labor racketeering type activities and they dont have the stranglehold over certain industries or unions like they used to... so a lot have to resort to drugs cuz its the only way they can earn. or the only way they know how.

They probably have enough to arrest a dozen guys on racketeering right now. Maybe they hold a semi-annual drawing style lottery with guys that havent been busted in a while and pick a few to show they are still watching lol

not pizza connection stuff, maybe some guys in on a lower market..with all the guys that flipped in 10 years nobody has said major drug dealing going on.., only some cases from italy. to states..not american CN..

pot , i don't even count.

Gambino zips are heavy in drugs.

There's a difference between being involved and controlling the market.

From a strictly law enforcement approach, the 5 NY families are nearly indestructible. Prosecutions and defections help the process along but only attrition (in both quantity and quality) will see the eventual end.

No doubt a lot of pressure was taken off post-9/11 but there have continued to be plenty of cases against the mob since then. One can argue that the FBI has downsized their resources against the NY mob too much but, at the same time, they probably don't need the amount they did decades ago to simply keep it in check.

One thing that's interesting was some comments Robert Blakely made. He, of course, is the guy who helped come up with the RICO act to target the mob.

In 1990, following many mob busts in the 1980's, he said "They are dead or finished almost everywhere. Their strongholds in Boston, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Cleveland, New Orleans, Chicago and New York are all gone or under siege. They are virtually gone. If the sun is not set on all of them, it surely is twilight time."

While certainly true about some of those areas, others - particularly New York - were very premature. I suppose he realized that later on because in Raab's 2006 Five Families book, Blakely is quoted as saying "We don't win the war against the Mafia. All we can do is contain it and control it."

Back in the 1990's you had Giuliani and others in law enforcement or government predicting there wouldn't be a Mafia in 5 or 10 years with all the prosecutions. Well, that was 20 years ago now.



The answer to your question is no. Even if the Mexicans ended up dominating the drug trade from coast to coast, times have changed. They don't have the systemic political and police corruption the LCN benefited from. Or the feds ignoring their existence like Hoover did with the mob. The Mexicans and Colombians have made a lot of money from the drug trade but they have not been diversified or in a position to control the lion's share of various criminal rackets in multiple cities like the mob did at it's peak. Much less be able infiltrate the labor unions and legitimate industries. Nobody will be able to "take the place" the mob once held. It really doesn't exist anymore. Now, rather than one dominant crime group on a national scale, you have several big time ones.

That's correct. When CN in America really took off, they were able to take advantage of a perfect storm (prohibition, Tammany Hall politicians, zero attention from Federal Law Enforcement, etc.). That set of circumstances will never occur again individually, let alone simultaneously.

ivy league, im glad you noted that with hoover ignoring the mob, just how greatly they benifited because of his intentional ignorance.

now, joe coffey comes right out and says that hoovers turning a blind eye, makes him responsible for a great deal of organized crime.

with the peak years of lcn hoover had 1 fbi agent in new York. the dog was almost a co- conspirator.

They'd be hypocrites for doing so. It is their job to battle organized crime, but why bother if mobsters kill each other? Mob wars have a disastrous impact on the families, even house cleanings thin out their ranks. They would be doing the feds a favor, because the less mobsters the better, right? Ofcourse, this isn't really the case because the feds need the mob to be there. Before 9/11 it was their bred and butter and when the terrorism hype cools down it will be their bred and butter again.

And this would be the first time the Feds were hypocritical?


Personally, I doubt the terrorism hype will ever cool down. But if it does, and the Mob grows themselves too big for the Government's liking, they'll shut them down faster than they did twenty years ago. Sick as it sounds, 9/11 did the Mob a favor.

If they keep it right where it is--and there are plenty of street guys still making real money right now without the extreme violence--they'll be around for a long time.

They don't have to kill a lot of people to instill fear. Because even if they only kill one guy every five years (which is hyperbole, by the way), no one wants to be that one guy.

This isn't Sicily (where it's ingrained into the psyche and a part of the cultural fabric)--or even Canada (where there are rarely sentences of more than ten years). This is America. And you're right, this is a hypocritical country in a lot of ways. But it is what it is. The Feds play dirty to win, and there aren't too many guys willing to do twenty-year stretches here anymore. And if you lose at trial in a mob-connected Federal murder case, that's exactly what you're going to get.

Let them earn, but there's no need for stupid murders anymore.

Once wiseguys knew about this damn stingray device or whatever it is called where they can just tap into any line they want without accessing the phone company they REALLY should have learned to never talk on the phone. Set up an in person meet in code only and discuss in a walk and talk with phones left far away from them

Think about how many man hours of surveillance that stingray eliminates.
With all the time reduced by other technologies, the FBI doesn't need as many agents as it used to.
As is well known, the days of yesteryear are long gone. How many bullshit 'filler cases' can they keep pursuing in between the occasional halfway decent ones before someone realizes they're bigger criminals than the people they're arresting?
When the United States Government's branch of law enforcement is viewed as what it is; a corporate ladder to be climbed with the hopes of bolstering ones wealth and hopefully some notoriety along the way. You begin to realize the game is rigged often enough to make you sick. Just squeeze a few solid, worthwhile cases in there every now and then, and the lemmings will trust.
The flavor of the month used to be LCN. Because they prey on the good hard working citizenry of this United States of America.
Now they (the feds) have a much better racket going, and they don't want it to go away. People get bored quick around here. They get tired of hearing Al Queda, Osama Bin Laden, over and over. What to do? Exit stage left Al Queda... enter ISIS, MOTHAH-FUCKIZ!!! Yeah! Now we're talkin! Let's get ISIS!
I'm not a tinfoil hat, false flag waver. But you all get my drift. Giulianni was the Grand Master King Poobah of the highest fame. He would have become president if he didn't have so many skeletons. Everyone wanted him. That's their motivation. Just like young mob guys idolize the ones before them. These suits are no different, except they wear a badge or possess a title. They have an uncle with an unlimited bank account to lock your ass up, no matter what. And they will never admit they were wrong, and never reverse their stance.

I don't intent to come off sounding like a lunatic...but I just spent 7 months listening to the same things I just said coming from the mouths of men ranging from billionaires to brokesters. From Harvard graduates to graduates of the school of hard knocks. It tends to open ones eyes. Mine were partially shut, prior.
Reduction in agents, my ass. Nobody wants to work mob anymore. Not enough glory, no promotions, no gain.

You know me personally, you know my background, and you know who my uncle was. And how long have I been saying it?

The only people who don't see it, are the guys who either don't want to see it or haven't spent a day in the streets in their lives. It's not "over." But they will never be able to be able to build it back to even close to what it was. Ever. And if they're smart, they won't attempt to.

The status quo is fine for the guys who are already established and making money. They can continue doing what they're doing for years. But if you're not well established and you're not making any money, you might want to consider a career change.

Hey PB, are your pm's open now?

No, but I'll open it later and send you one, Nicky. You know how busy I've been with my Pop. But I'll open it, send you a pm, then keep it open long enough for you to reply.

who was your uncle pizzaboy?