I disagree, he’s a know-it-all who thinks he’s better suited to label them than the FBI, Italy’s Anti-Mafia Police Force, Canada’s RMPC, Interpol, etc...
Implying that they’re just like any other criminal subculture is incorrect since most of those we bring up on this blog (Albanians, Mexicans, Black Americans, etc...) lack the folklore, shared history and century-old rituals that make the Mafia.
Matter of fact that’s the argument used by mafiosi in order to beat Mafia-association charges in Italy and elsewhere.
The recent “Mafia Capitale†trial in Rome saw many being left off the hook (or receiving shorter sentences) because the judges didn’t see them being linked by a common criminal culture made of affiliation rituals and the like. They were deeply meddled with politics around Rome and elsewhere, but that’s not what the Mafia is exclusively about. At least according to the actual judges and laws.
Not to mention that they are still the most influential in the greater NYC according to local law enforcement agencies:
https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/the-five-families?ampAllon Lifshitz is the perfectly coiffed deputy chief of the office’s criminal division. His colleague Kristin Mace is the gutsy chief of the Organized Crime And Gangs Section, tasked with prosecuting the mob.
Forget the Russian mafia, the Albanians, the Japanese Yakuza or Chinese Triads: the Italian-American mafia still rules the roost in New York. “It’s a significant presence and no less than in the past,†Mace told me. “I don’t think there’s any other organised crime group that has surpassed it in influence in New York City.â€
All five families exist and are thriving. Every time one boss is convicted, another steps in, they said.
So, even if I were to agree with Vaccara’s point, their influence must also be political, since we know that other criminal subcultures are undeniably wealthier than them (ex. Mexican cartels).
Politics-wise they’re still relevant then.
Meaning that he’s simply devoted to underplay them, for what ever reason.
