Does anyone here who lived through the times when the mafia ruled wish it could go back to those times? I was born in 81 so I missed those days. I want to know what it was like on the street. Was it better?

I wouldnt no either born a year after you. The lcn should just change there rules which i think they have and be some type of club. Every fucking federal trial they put at rat on the stand wgo says you have to kill or be ready to to apply. And they all said that rule is bullshit. So just change it in there secret ceromony. So when the next lcn made guy rats he says i just made good money and kicked up i wasnt asked to hurt anyone and i never did im sure theres some guy who trains mma and he can do all the ass whooping for a crew of us.

Yea I agree pmac. The state has too much power nowadays. And with forensics and cameras everywhere it's tough for these guys to commit crimes like they used too. From what I've seen with my own eyes it seems like the smart guys are semi-legitimate today.

I guess I'm old I was born in 73 and although I was young I do remember not "mafia"but a time when a criminal could make a lot of money in things other then drugs.It seems drugs are all thats really left.
Big corporations own everything now.Theres no way a person could own a casino now.The fucking bakery used to be owned by a baker now who the fuck owns duncan doughnuts. You can't extort corporations or even loan them
money.
It would be easy to make those guys more glamorous then criminals today but they are all the same

You need someone atleast 80-85 years to answer that question.

Ask Christie Tic, Albert Gallo
or Stephen Grammauta if you wanna know everything l.

I am 55, In my early years in Gravesend Brooklyn. You always had some guy selling merchandise out of their car's trunk. No PC Richards. Even the Butcher sold swag.."I'll take 4 pork chops and 2 TV's"..lol.Everyone knew who was connected. Neighborhood was protected and you could walk the streets at 2am..Walk into your corner candy store (Sweet Shop) and you could hear the phones ringing in the backroom which was actually a numbers joint. Most of the wiseguys drove Cadillacs or lincolns. No Leasing back then. Drugs were sold in certain areas. Prostitution and drugs were big in Coney Island. Every now and then you would hear or read in the NY Daily news of a hit. A rat would be killed before they testified. The Good old Days..

For starters I'm not saying that I grew up in a mobbed up area.

But I've been a full time musician for over 40 years in the south florida area. Back then nearly all the nightclubs I worked were crawling with wiseguys.

In a few words.....They treated us great, whatever we wanted to eat or drink was on the cuff (just so long as it didn't look like you were taking advantage of their hospitality. Doing stupid shit like ordering lobster all the time or bringing a bunch of your friends around expecting them to drink for free)

AS long as you gave them a good solid set (no cheating on the time) you almost never had a problem.

How I wish it were that way today. You could be working in one place on a steady Saturday, and hit another club and say "so and so sent me" and generally you'd pick up a steady Friday or a Sunday.

There was no corporate bullshit, you dealt with the boss or the owner of the club. They always made sure on busy nights that the valet guys saved a few spots for you.

And the owners were some of the biggest tippers.

Those old school joints had real class. There are still a few around , but not like the old days when there were 200 clubs with live music between Ft. Lauderdale and North Miami.

I'm not a cement contractor or a builder so I don't give a shit. Working in those old wiseguy clubs were some of the greatest times of my life. Yes I did see a few guys get roughed up, but they asked for it. You know how they always are saying in the movies "This guy don't show the club no respect", or "He disrespected the club". Thats exactly what these guys did to catch a beating.

Sal