That's what I've been hearing...That they've been silently growing again and are about as powerful and as numerous as they were in the 1980s...Supposedly the Families average 200-250 made guys now. True or false?

Definitely no. The Gambinos in 1991 had 21 capos. Now them and genoveses could arrive to 200 made men when the other families range is 100 to 150 made men and even the colombo maybe don't come to 100 made men.
In the 1980s the mob ruled on las vegas and Atlantic city but the Feds kicked them off and 7 families died.
So no. For sure after 9/11 the fed gave a break to the mob and most family was stabilized but the old day will never come back.

Definitely not 1980s. The fact that the feds downsized their squads and the relative silence means that they at the very least have room to recover or stabilize. With less brains they have to make smarter moves than 50 years ago. Tough position to be in but they've well proven to be resilient and adaptable.

One could make the postulate that 1970-1990 "heyday" was bad for business and that LCN's goal should be to attain and maintain that profitable yet quiet level of prospering. In that respect, maybe they're as good as they've been since the early 90's.

We hardly hear about the mob anymore which usually means good news for them. They will never be a strong as they were in the 80's and before BUT I do believe that have reorganized and gotten somewhat stronger after being pretty much dismantled in the 90's. A good example is the Bonannos. after the wholeDonnie Brasco fiasco they were kicked off the commission and the FBI didn't pay much attention to them That gave them time to rebuild their infrastructure

It definitely takes decades of building and older guys to teach younger and also to build decades of people in legitimate jobs to do the bidding for the gangster.

Without that they are dead like in the 90's when many senior men were away and hardly any to train and pass down rackets and knowledge.


Obviously we know what the Feds were able to do .

But if left alone they will get to people in regular jobs and Government and that's when they are able to do real damage in Industry .

Good points serp. The 90tys were a disaster for all the families in the east except for massinos whose time came rite after 9/11.

there is any chance that in the future they will be as strong as they were ?
alot of guys saying that there is a recruit of zips and that cali and bellomo are the rising stars, so no chance of the old days to be back someday in the future ?

No. But it will go on. I think. There so entrenched in modern society in the northeast is a good thing even with all the turncoats breaking omerta. Its there show in alot of illegal activity if they let it go away like they let the herion pipeline go to the hispinics in tthe northeast they die out.

Not as strong as the 80s but definitely on the rise. With the feds focusing more on terrorism since 9/11 it has definitely helped them climb back.

No way as strong as the 1980's.

Several reasons:

1. Not as much influence in unions
2. Snitches live in the open with no fear of retribution
3. Murders are way down. In the 1980's murder was normal for the mob
4. Who is the bench for the mob? It was deep in the 1980's. Seriously, who is the Boss of the Columbo's when The Snake dies? Slim pickings...

as for 3. i think that there is a no body's on the street rule, so that's the reason there is not so much murders on the streets these days.

Good points except for the second one which imo isn't valid. I think the mob still has plenty of hitters, but the risks outweight the benefits of killing a snitch, especially after the damage has already been done. They could still kill people if they want to, but it brings unnecessary heat on them. Everyone in and around the mob knows that they can still be killed if it's warranted.

Not to mention the fact that turncoats are protected and difficult if not impossible to trace once they're in the witness protection program.

Fair enough. I just pulled these from the top of my head. You have to admit the murders of the 1980's are the opposite of now where there are not murders.

Ofcourse, and it brought government crackdown upon them. But it was also a sign that the mob still felt strong. Now they know better it seems.

Stronger yes, because they are smarter less violent.. more violent is not stronger ,some may feel the mob always needs to kill..not so, starts with good men earning and taking care of guys that are not earners..money is honey,

FBI's priority being terrorism has helped them regroup as everyone has made mention to. There's also less rackets but more competition from other OC groups that weren't as prevalent in the 80s. You also have less of a recruiting crop thanks to changing neighborhoods. There aren't nearly as many predominantly Italian American neighborhoods.

Less labor racketeering but they've compensated over the years at least in NYC by getting involved in Wall Street/white collar schemes but they no longer have even maybe 25% of the influence in unions that they did in the 80s.

Bookmaking is still the prominent money maker in LCN, followed by drugs. But things like hijacking, murder for hire and even loan sharking can't be considered anywhere close to the level it was in the 80s.

LCN was a billion dollar enterprise in the 80s.

Well said bronx. If its quiet its more worrisome for LE more difficult to investigate and nobody cares without violence.

thank you. Hollander..