@ Ivey

See this is what I mean Ivey, I actually DID have reason to doubt Tieri as the biggest loan shark, and gave you all kind of reasons why, but it was, no you are stupid, and wrong. And the thing was, my choice was Salerno, ( or Catena) not a Midwest guy, who was said to have 80 million on the street, based of 20 years of running Harlem, the big money crews. How would Tieri have 90 million on the street in Brooklyn? Why wasn't he higher on the Forbes list? He would have to dominate there, but how could he when there are three other families based there? How many capos is that? 20? 25?And the Genovese base is Manhattan? That to me seemed off, not some damn fanboy obsession, but by that point it was like you made up your mind...
I posted a link naming Jiggs Forlano as the top shark in NY, and referenced his Connection to Ruby Stein, another huge shark. Jigs operated in Brooklyn, Colombo territory. So where was Funzis status when Jiggs was tops? I mentioned the part in the Demeo book, where Tieri wanted to know what happened to Ruby Steins book, that was stolen by the Westies. So it was pretty clear, anyone associated with this Stein, benefited from HIM being a huge shark, Tieri probably "inherited" the guy somehow after Forlano died. I mean, can you explain that? I would love to hear that, not some bullshit about how I'm a fanboy lol...


On the Gus Alex nephew thing, when you guys say, there aren't that many young guys, there is no narcotics involvement, you gotta understand, I don't know HOW MANY there are, but you are wrong there, point blank period, I know cause I KNOW AT LEAST ONE LOL, and this guy, like I tried to tell you before, operates like a NY guy, with shit all over the place. Now my point was where there was smoke, there is probably fire, if there is one, there might be more, don't tell me it's impossible, that's ridiculous..



Also, Chicago is as corrupt as Wall Street is greedy, the mob may not control it, but it is an entity unto itself, it's never going away. You guys forget, the Mayor of NY ran Costello out, and Dewey put the biggest boss there in jail for 50 years. AT A TIME WHEN THEY WERE POWERFUL AS HELL. Cermak tried the mob, and got WACKED OUT, if you don't think that had some lasting effect on the succeeding generation of politicians, well.....




This is what I meant by you guys don't get how corrupt it is here, but you may have a point in that it's hard to tell if it's the mob, or just ingrained dynastic nepotism in say for example, the unions, but that's what I mean, the lines are blurred.




It's why I get so annoyed by threads like the "Are the rizzutos Lcn?" If you were to look at the Partinico faction from Detroit, you would see that they set up the transatlantic drug trafficking mafia family blueprint that is the cutting edge of organized crime today. That Bonnano tried to emulate and Gambino dismantled and then copied for himself. Don't tell me it's not, you yourself posted an article about the ndrangheta families controlling Australia recently. If you looked at history, the present wouldn't even be confusing at all, you'd say, ooh, it's one of THOSE families, not bogged down by charts and numbers.
And THATS why it annoyed me the most Ivey, cause it's a big part of MAFIA HISTORY, like it's interesting, but you made up your mind that it isn't, without even looking at it.

And Ivey, I honestly think YOU don't understand how big NY is. Like I think you think a restaurant in NY will absolute beat one in say, Iowa. But you don't take into account the nature of NY. The density, the competition, the cost, of doing business and staying competitive. Liscenses, all that shit. You take a 5 star restaurant in NY, it's a dime a dozen, it could be outta business within a year. You put the same restaurant somewhere much smaller, it might be the most happenin, chic thing in the city, and make more money. I was reading an article about carting in NY, and how some big carters said collecting trash in NY was more expensive than anticipated, ( even though it clearly has like, the most trash, it COST MORE TO PICK IT UP)they are now moving into recycling and turning trash into energy. You check out that show Billions? There is a cute scene where they talk about a guy has a food cart and his brother undercuts him by selling the same food at 50 cents cheaper, RIGHT NEXT TO HIM, THATS BUSINESS IN NEW YORK FOR YOU.... Like I have a friend, she lives in Hanoi now, teaching English, she moved to NY thinking it was going to fulfill her or some shit, it CRUSHED HER, she wasn't prepared for the intensity of it. Her sister graduated from like Yale law or some shit, she had to move back in with her parents cause the comp was too intense for jobs.... Same deal here in the Chi, Jimmy Johns moved to like Florida or some shit cause the City, though a bigger market, cost too much more to operate in...



Again, I'm not knocking your research, more like your need to be the smartest guy in the room at all times, your need to win the argument.