For a criminal of Chicago, the outfit still inspires fear? or now that is reduced to only 28 made men, no longer strike fear to anyone?

I don't think so as there are articles showing cartels moving into Chicago and about all the gang violence. And I don't think LCN at this day and age kills as easily as those gangs and cartels do.

Maybe in some suburbs, but throughout the whole of Chicago? Not so much.
I mean, can you picture a white criminal giving it large in the South Side? Or going about extorting a Puerto Rican neighborhood somewhere in West Chicago?

As for the cartels, they themselves don't really form a threat for any other criminal organization operating in any American city, be it the Mafia or a street gang. Mexican cartels move their drugs out of Mexico and from there on other US-based gangs handle the rest. They're not like the Colombians in the 80's that for instance in Miami had Colombian gang cells locally pushing drugs on the streets, extorting Colombian businesses, pimping out South American prostitutes and taking contract hits all over the USA. As far as the US goes, the Mexican cartels move the dope and for the rest connected American street gangs take over.

There are still people who refuse to be jurors in oufit trials out of fear, so atleast on a subconcious level in the chicago area they are still feared. Plus if you have read about the Pk street crew bust from last year the Outfit doesnt seem worried about robbing cartel stash houses. They have all been in jail since july and there has been no retribution by anyone, and they have plenty of people in jail with these guys.

In it's heyday that's exactly what they did ; google Teddy Roe.

Today, they probably don't have need for much business down there. But who knows.

I was talking to a couple from Chicago the other day who would of been in their late 20s on holiday down here. They didn't even realize there was still a mafia in Chicago lol. Doubt that would of been the case 30 years ago.

Actually it's always been the case here.

Post-Giancana, the major Chicago news publications have gone out of their way time & time again to not cover the local Mafia. It's odd but it's the way it is.

The reasoning could be speculated upon ad nauseum, but the Mafia culture here isn't like the east coast. Outside of the Mooney/Accardo era, the Outfit has never been a flashy/enticing entity. It's ugly, cold, tight-lipped, clannish, and culturally it's a very gritty/nasty in comparison with it's east coast counterparts.

Guys like John Gotti and that wigger kid Joe Merlino, even someone like Basciano wouldn't have ever made near the top in Chicago.

Chicago also threatened Mob Wives Chicago and weren't happy about it, it was said.

I do believe we agree on this one. Two names synonymous with crime in Chicago, and maybe throughout the country, are Al Capone and Sam Giancana. Many people ( outside of Chicago) probably have never heard of Paul Ricca or Tony Accardo. I became interested after reading about the burglary at Accardo's home. I thought it was just some fictitous crime story. Long story short, I found out it actually occurred. I became interested and backed up to the post- Capone era and started reading. I was "hooked." I do think the Ricca, Accardo and Giancana era is the most interesting. I'm certainly not endorsing crime, but it is amazing how those guys were able to corrupt public officials and operate with impunity.

Once the FBI came to town, things changed and the Outfit would never be quite the same.

This is probably the best description of the post-Giancana era Outfit I have seen. The reasons you discussed above were a major influence on why I began to concentrate more on the Outfit than the East Coast - there really was(/is?) nothing else like it.

To address the OPs curiosity: in what capacity are we talking about? Did you borrow money from one of these guys? Are you on bad paper with a street crew? If you were lent a few thousand dollars to open up an auto body shop, agreed to pay back the loan with interest & hand over a percentage of your profits to your investors (the Outfit), then proceeded to drive your business into the ground, and were subsequently unable to produce your tax....well then yeah, these guys will hurt you. They'll take everything you've got.

If you're an independent bookie/drug dealer & a particular street crew wants some street tax, I'd be very wary of violence. Or at the very least, a drastic decrease in overall business.

So it's the same old shit, just on a tremendously smaller scale. But in order to even be in a position to need to be afraid of the Outfit, you need to really be operating some down & dirty shit out of some of the trashier suburbs in the Midwest. Those are the types of people they prey on today. The Outfit no longer has a presence within Chicago city limits. Operation Gambat destroyed their ability to do that.

The Mafia in America will never strike fear the way they once did. Chicago is no exception.

Even pre-Mooney/Accardo. That era was the exception to the rule here in Chicago.

The only Outit-RELATED things we've heard about in eons has been along Grand Ave.

Geeze I thought I was a skeptic...you don't think there is even a few card games in Chinatown left?!

Not surprising, Nicky. Heck, there is an entire generation that doesn't have a clue about how many Italians were in Cicero just a few years ago.

The outfit is still out there and still working.
But they've become more sophisticated and less violent.

The reassessed their risk/reward ratio and found that it was lucrative enough to convince a restaurateur that he might not get timely shipments of vegetables if he didn't also use their waste hauler or laundry.
It's a less profitable protection racket, but it's a lot less risky than chucking a Molotov cocktail through his window.

Agree with Snakes this is a great way to put it. I'm curious what you mean by "culturally its very gritty/nasty in comparison"? I agree...would just be interested in your elaboration.

I think that statement plays along with what Huron said about Gotti and Merlino. To "succeed" and advance in the Outfit you needed to be nasty and gritty; flashy and outspoken were things that could get you killed.

I sold food in college for a local Italian distributor (NOT LCN connected). And if some wise guy tried that shit with me, I would call Sysco or US Foods and that.. as they say.. would be that. That's some TV stuff, even 40 years ago.

Great thread.

Stayed in Chicago for 6 months back in 2006 and was surprised by the citys unwillingness to reckognize its past regarding OC. Had a few drinks at some bar on Taylor Street, near the old Genna headquarters - the only time I felt the history. Never saw any wiseguys hanging around, and if they did - they looked nothing like the guys in the Sopranos.

Yes, but what I asked is: if a criminal (black, biker or Latin) take a loan from a Outfit loanshark and doesn't want to return the money, if go to his gang for protection, what will make the outfit, with only 28 made men will scare the Outlaws MC or the latin kings?

Realistically probably not much, but what made the Outfit so dangersous was it's capacity for corruption.

Potentially the Outfit could pull the trigger on a few police raids, etc.

But, these days, it's probably not likely.

Based on what's been discussed on the forum, I doubt if anything could be done. I just wonder if the current Outfit members would even lend money to a motorcycle or street gang member? Possibly, if they knew the individuals. I would think most lending would be to people who gamble and from whom the Oitfit could collect, or at least think they could collect.

John coli jr is the one who pushed for this
You know the guys who's father was a made guy in the chicago mob
Oh and glimco jr

well, the outfit certainly had a colorful and violent past. what was so surprising to me from reading so many books about the outfit, [the outfit, gus russo being the latest] was how much money, and power they had, I mean in their heyday they ruled Chicago absolutely.

and they had so many cities under their control, that in spite of what some people may believe, they rivaled the five families in new York city

never have mobsters controlled a city like the outfit controlled Chicago.

That's why Chicago has stayed below the radar for quite some time.

I'm not trying to dampen the mood because I do agree to most extents and view them more of an American syndicate then a Cosa Nostra family. But absolute is kinda of exaggerated.

It absolutely is Cosa Nostra. There is so little known about how things operate within the inner circle that people jump to ridiculous conclusions like the one above. When you look at the top half of the organization, all the last names read Italian, that's all you need to know. The feds also consider them a Cosa Nostra syndicate & have always & will continue to do so.

The current Outfit can certainly strike fear under the right circumstances. You just won't find gangsters here mingling with black/Latino street gangs like I'd imagine you would in NY. That sort of stuff was prevalent here at the height of their powers (late 50s-70s), but they just no longer have the numbers to be in a position to do something like that.

With any crime syndicate, numbers will always be what makes or breaks the fear element. NY families have numbers. The Italian population there is vast. Immigration is still happening over there. They've also become to overbearing that they can now draft recruits from surrounding states' families' respective areas. Italians stopped coming to Chicago during the 40s. The Italian community here gets smaller & more diluted with each passing year.

I know they are a cosa nostra family just doing their earlier years of Torrio to Capone they were just different in set up to some degree. Wasn't just last year that those 2 members or were they associates that did the false police raid on stash houses ? And they received information through a street org? There's still a little association with these two groups.

Am I correct in saying they don't actually have a making ceremony, they just tell the guy he is now with them and that's it?

Huge thread about them only having 28 members, surely that cannot be true?

Seriously, what is worth reporting in chicago? Name something tat occured in the last five to ten years.

It's hard to report on something when there is no story there.