Selwyn Raab is a great author and a knowledgeable guy, but I do agree he is overplaying this a lot. Although, he isn’t claiming the LCN is relinquishing power to Zips, but morseo I think he’s referring to the top Gambino guys who have strong connections to Sicilian Mafia and Zip factions.

I see that there’s two sides to this – because on one hand, I could see this word being spread around on the street – as a threat – to deter guys from ratting, because nowadays, it seems like there’s almost no repercussions for it. So it could be to deter from creating a culture of guys who would be apart of the life but they second they get pinched they can just rat and retire to Florida, worry-free.

On the other hand, at the peak of LCN, they didn’t even condone this type of brutality, and that was one of the big differences between LCN and the Sicilians. Even Fat Tony called off the contract on Pistone and said something like, “We don’t kill cops or judges; we kill each other.” And currently, the LCN is less violent than it's ever been.

So, I can see this word being spread in certain Zip-linked circles, but to claim the Americans have "adapted it" is a huge stretch imo.