A thoughtful question.
Furio and Aces got it right: LCN is involved in higher-profile criminal activities than street gangs. Everybody's heard of Gotti, Columbo and Scarfo, and lots know who Skinny Joey is. How many know King Tone and the rest? And how many care--to them, street gangs prey on each other, and they ignore the big businesses (like drugs) that street gangs run and that have a major impact on crime throughout society.

You can readily infer bigotry here: Most reporters are lazy and biased--hear Italian names and think organized crime. Blacks and Hispanics don't even register with them--they think they're too dumb to do anything big.