It absolutely is Cosa Nostra. There is so little known about how things operate within the inner circle that people jump to ridiculous conclusions like the one above. When you look at the top half of the organization, all the last names read Italian, that's all you need to know. The feds also consider them a Cosa Nostra syndicate & have always & will continue to do so.

The current Outfit can certainly strike fear under the right circumstances. You just won't find gangsters here mingling with black/Latino street gangs like I'd imagine you would in NY. That sort of stuff was prevalent here at the height of their powers (late 50s-70s), but they just no longer have the numbers to be in a position to do something like that.

With any crime syndicate, numbers will always be what makes or breaks the fear element. NY families have numbers. The Italian population there is vast. Immigration is still happening over there. They've also become to overbearing that they can now draft recruits from surrounding states' families' respective areas. Italians stopped coming to Chicago during the 40s. The Italian community here gets smaller & more diluted with each passing year.