I've always thought it was highly exaggerated as well.

The demeo crew is only overhyped as much as the mob in general is. What is a crew besides a group of crooks who were violent enough and sleazy enough to be 'a criminals criminal'. The same guy who puts together a big gambling operation will be the same guy who breaks through a store window and steals some goods. They aren't mythical beasts. And it wouldn't be as easy as someone in a previous post said to take them all out. Gotti would have loved to wipe that crew out but who's gonna give their lives to make it happen? People who think that a boss is able to get to anyone at any time have seen that Godfather horse head scene too many times

I agree the number of victims is probably exaggerated but they were still feared. Also Gotti wouldnt have "loved" to wipe them out. The truth was Gotti was scared shitless of the crew and basically begged Paul not to give him the contract, he was able to duck out of it.

That's kinda where I was going with my post. Nobody can make a claim that gotti liked those guys, and hits were discussed, but gotti wouldn't go near it cuz demeo had an army of killers. It's not that he didn't want them dead, it's just that nobody would do it, including gotti himself

I think I've seen a thread on here where someone posted all the murders linked to Demeo's crew (mostly from the car racket) they had plus a few mob murders

It was a legit list and came up to around 50 victims I think it was. But yes no where near 200

Why didn't just Castellano give the order to Demeo's crew to whack him? He's the boss so they have to carry out the hit.

Also makes me wonder if Gotti was actually scared of Demeo's crew, if the order comes from Castellano then he has no fear of repercussion right?

To me as a mob novice the genovese jersey crews headed by Tino and others are the most feared bc they make people disappear and largely got away with it..tho their numbers may be a little less the fact that they had corrupt cops, tons of hitters and people that pissed them off disappear and nothings ever found or done would scare me more..just my humble opinion..but from what I read no one fucked w those crews in their day, people stayed in line or they vanished and they werent flash in the pan crews like the Demeos..they had power and were feared for decades

Well in the end he basically did give the order to is crew. However it was Nino Gaggi who was clsoe to aul and caried it out. Secondly Gotti was in act scared of Demeo it has been pretty much confirmed. Gene Gotti was caught on a big saying that Gtti wanted no part of taking out demeo

Why would he be scared though? Castellano gave the order, so there would be nothing Demeo's crew could do in retaliation to Gotti. Maybe I got my mob politics twisted here I don't know.

Why would he be scared? Because Demeo was one of the biggest kilelrs in NYC a that time and had a bunch of killers around him. Gotti was a tough guy but wasnt a hitman or anything like that

Just because Castellano gave the order, doesn't mean that DeMeo would go down without fighting back. Gotti risked dying himself while doing what he was told.

Well isn't that mob rules? Demeo's own crew or "army of killers" can't do anything as they know that the order comes from upstairs. Proven by the fact that they were the ones who eventually killed Demeo in the end.

Demeo's crew, yeah. But do you think Roy Demeo would just tell John Gotti: "Go ahead, John. Do what you gotta do."

Not a lot of guys are like that, only a few. Many of them would(if they saw it coming) go down in a hail of bullets. At least that's what I think.

Put yourself in Gotti's shoes. Testa and Senter aren't made. They're killers who were brought up by Roy. He can't be sure they will not seek retaliation. And not just them, Borrelio, kids in Canarsie looking to make their name. If you can avoid it and you have no love for Paul why take the risk?

What about the 26th Streew Crew of the Chicago Outfit? Throughout the history one of the major "work crews", often assigned with the heavy stuff.

"The guys from Chinatown have always been heavy hitters, the ones you went to when you needed som serious work done", said former FBI agent Jack O'Rourke according to "Family Affair - Greed, Treachery and betrayal in the Chicago mafia".

Having that reputation even within the Outfit I guess you can say the 26th Street Crew was pretty feared.