was John Gotti the last known American monster to be active. Things really seemed to go downhill from there after. There's a few guys that were around but seemed like they got into small time rackets and were not as big during the 30s ,40s ,50s,60s,70s,80s,90s.

Almost every mobster YouTuber supports the right side and talks shit on the left. They said the left were more simple to control back in the day and won't quit going on and on about how they're fucked up and how the right side is the "only side". The fuck is with mafia people and being conservative?

https://reddit.com/link/1gi7mjm/video/2sxuxv169kyd1/player

So watching older now I realize they don’t really get into how the men/ their families made money. Rather their charges and who rats on who.. In this episode big Ang stated how guys bought her jewelry, cars, and houses. How were they able to afford such nice houses etc??

Hey looking at the five families can you guys list out how many crews each family has and where they operate , I seen that Colombo’s had guys up in Massachusetts but do they got a crew up there ?

The new podcast is Called Law & Order- Criminal Justice System. Some of the episodes have much of what we have heard but the Massino episodes and the Gigante had some good interviews with Various LE. I could have done with out Gigante's daughter talking.

Also, The OG Podcast on Rizzuto Family and Canada's HA with Ken Pereira was really good. I feel like every name person named is dead today. And we find out how Montagna arrived in Montreal and how he connected with Desjardins. Seems that the Bonanno Family was not the connect.

And Gangland Wire, the episode on the Cleveland Mob was a good listen.

The effects of Joseph Pistone's infiltration of the Bonnano family was cippling. It took out the leadership of the entire crew which 10-20 years down the road, Massino is boss and eventually turns state evidence. The end... But for conversation purposes, how powerful was Sonny Black? He was in on whacking the boss and had direct link to Phillip aka Rusty. Let’s say events kept Pistone with the Columbos. Does Sonny Black end up boss in 90's?

Or did he really start dressing up after he killed Paul and thus had more money coming his way?

Ok, disclaimer - I know Hollywood does its thing, and I know most rappers just regurgitate what they see on the silver screen. I know, I'm just wondering with this next bit, alright?

Anyway, watched some Night Falls on Manhattan (Sidney Lumet's street-and-legal shit seems to always hit, watch this and Q&A) and Across 110th Street (you can skip it) after work today. Both prominently feature Harlem, so in keeping with that theme, I listened to some old Cam & Mase songs while making dinner. One of the throwaway lines I heard mentioned crucifixion, which is "wop shit" according to the black boss in Across 110th Street. So, here we are.

Was "crucifixion" the name of a particular execution method by LCN in the 70s-90s, especially by whatever group ran in Harlem? In general, were there any "send a message"-/signature-type killing styles LCN used? I know Vincenzo Cotroni and his people were big on castrating rivals (...if anybody wants to get into that, feel free), but like Varese says in his Mafia Life, being so brazen is a high-risk strategy. Here's some sneaky shit he puts up as contrast:

In New York City, the crew led by Roy DeMeo lured their target to the apartment on the top floor of their headquarters, at the Gemini clubhouse. Once there, the victim was shot in the head with a silenced pistol, and immediately the wound was wrapped in a towel to halt the blood flow. Another member of the crew stabbed the target in the heart. “That stops it from pumping blood,” Roy DeMeo explained to a new member of the team. The scene must have been surreal: the killers were in their underwear because they did not want the blood to spill on their clothes. With the man dead for sure, the body was stripped and put into a bathtub. It took some forty to forty-five minutes for the blood to congeal. So they waited. They had a drink

or got a pizza. Dismemberment was the next step: the body was placed on plastic sheets and cut up. The parts were then put into garbage bags, placed in cardboard boxes and sent to the Fountain Avenue dump in Brooklyn, where tons of garbage were dropped each day.

BONUS QUESTION: Another throwaway line in one of the Cam songs mentions Germans doing a hit in the 90s! Any truth to that, or is this purely 1930s-inspired fantasy?

A rough overlay of the organisation as headed by the twins and their brother in the 60s. Included associates and more obscure members.

Here’s a short list, just on top of my head of things that make me said that Castellano is super underrated :

• He was officially acting boss since 1967, so from 1967 to 1976, the death or Carlo Gambino, are some of the years people perceive as the « Golden years » of the Gambino crime family, he was the one responsible for that, not Carlo Gambino.

• He infuse a « business » mind to the family, expanding their rackets throught the meat business, chicken, construction, unions, carting, JFK airport etc … He maintained their power over the Garment district with Tommy Gambino. The Gambino’s didn’t lose any business in any area during his reign, contrary to Catena with the Genovese and the whole Copacabana incident, you can’t say the same for Paul.

• The whole « Blue collar - White collar » thing is BS propaganda from the Gotti faction.

• The Gotti faction only take him out, because of the tapes, and the fact that Gotti feel him and Ruggierro where about to get killed. No joke ! You’re dumbass friend was caught on tape airing all the drugs business that you were specifically order to not get into, and plus he was talking down on the boss ! Of course Paul wanted to see them ice cold in the back of a trunk !

• People here who loved use the Gotti propaganda about Paul, what do you think Gigante would have done to guys from his family caught on tapes not only talking about him, but insulting him. Please tell me. And those same people also praise Gigante …

• The reason Castellano is so underrated is because of all the comments Gotti made on the tapes, and then Gravano talking super bad of him just to justify him killing Paul (the usual Gravano way of murdering someone). But we never had the other side of the coin, we never heard about the Castellano faction opinion about those events. We don’t have tapes, books, interviews, testimonys (cause they didn’t rat!) with Jimmy Brown, Bilotti, Tommy Gambino, Patsy Conte, Nino Gaggi etc … Talking about what they think of the Gotti crew, and does they think Paul wasn’t real GOZAAA NOSTRAAA BRO ! (In my Sammy Gravano’s voice).

At the end of the day, I think his mistake was to keep his position when clearly, he was tired of it. He was out of patience for the bullshit the so called « street guys » where giving to him. Having sitdown with capos and other families about why you’re guy beat up my guy for 100$, all the headache, he got enough. He only wanted guys with a clear mind and with business and money scheme, the rest bother him. That’s why I think, he let Dellacroce handled this side of the family.

On a side note, I don’t hate Gotti at all, he was a man’s man and even if they gave him a million years to do on one leg, he would have done it, he was unbreakable. But that don’t mean we have to take his word, and even worst Gravano for granted on Castellano.

Let me know what you think, and sorry if it was too long !

I've heard a lot of varying reports and opinions on Kansas City as a whole. From people saying it's an incredibly weak family now, saying it was very strong in its peak, saying it was never very strong. And for Saint Louis I'm generally uneducated (would appreciate some reading if you have recommendations)

But what im curious which family was larger in their peak? And what was considered their peak membership? (I'm fine with rough guesses too)

I was just thinking about a scenario if Salvie Testa had of lived.

Would he have eventually phased into a legitimate path?

Would the situation in Philadelphia been calmer?

Would Joey Merlino have been on his team or seen him as rival?