No need to, Mikey. You're very astute in these matters. We may be from different locations, but the mindset is always the same with mopes like this. You hit the nail right on the head in your assessment.

The only thing I'll add, and I've posted this in the past, is that the Meldishes never "ran" the Purple Gang. And for all of their balls--and I'm not denying that they were both intimidating and ballsy because they were scary as fuck--and I don't say things like that lightly. They were shit scared of Danny Leo and the Priscos (Angelo and his cousin Patty, who died very young).

The closest they ever came to "running" anything was when guys like Angelo, Danny and Barney started getting made and moved on up. But by that time, Easy Harlem was 90 percent Puerto Rican and the Purple Gang was a memory. They got left behind. And even if they had been Italian, they were both too fucking crazy to get made. Never in a million years.

Pizza,

Are you sure Meldish isnt italian? (I knownit doesnt sound like it) but what about John Scalish boss of cleveland?

Can anyone explain the scalish surname?

Cheech your counter trolling sucks. Sorry.

My best guess is that "Scalish" is derived from Scalice, which is a surname found in Sicily.