I don't think it was the likable part..More Mystic and Security he gave to his community..Older people would feel very safe around his club. As long as you had no dealings with him, You were fine..lol. They loved his 4th of July Parties. They loved the way he thumbed his nose at law enforcement not so much the beat cop but the Feds..I think now we can say it's "The Trump mentality" to a point. I'm the Boss,Ya have a problem with that...?
The 4th of July parties weren't out of benevolence for the "neighborhood", it was part of a perfectly orchestrated PR campaign to get people on his side against the Feds. It's common knowledge that nothing came out of his own pocket, it came out of the proceeds of organised crime and drug dealing and extortion from his own "people".
He was never caught dealing drugs, and the parties dated back years before he was known to the public, so it was not a PR gimmick. He never extorted his own people, whatever you mean by that.
Well he damn well knew his crew was dealing drugs and he was profiting from it. Plus the main reason the crew had to resort to drug dealing was because gotti pissed away their profits because he was a degenerate gambler. Also the 4th of July parties were for HIS benefit. Having the neighborhood on your side to give you info on cops/fbi watching him was his goal. So lets not proclaim him a saint just yet lol
