Merlino Will Reign Again In Philly, Skinny Joey’s A True Force Of Nature & Could Easily Be Back In Power Soon

December 14, 2024 — The devil on his shoulder is working overtime these days.

Don’t expect Philadelphia mafia supernova Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino to be down for long. In fact, I can totally see him to be back on the throne again as boss of the Bruno-Scarfo crime family before the end of the 2020s.

That’s my bold prediction as 2024 is on the verge of becoming 2025. Doesn’t matter how much of a hole he’s dug for himself and upset people in “The Life” with his podcasting endeavors, the Skinny Joey Era 2:0 may very well be on the horizon in the next few years. Especially if history is any indication. Joey Merlino is by far the luckiest, most resilient and relentlessly authentic American mafia figure ever. Period. Facts. There’s no debating it, Merlino defies odds, over and over again. Literally any other mobster of his ilk would either be dead or serving a life prison sentence right now. Like our former and soon-to-be-current President of the United States, the bullet-proof Donald J. Trump, every single thing Merlino’s enemies and detractors do to try and stop him, somehow boomerangs back in their faces and inadvertently winds up helping him, re-energizing him and propelling him forwards instead of backwards.

It’s uncanny. And by now, frankly, it’s undeniable and possibly written in the stars that his comeback, much akin to Trump and the MAGA movement, is inevitable.

The man has dodged murder contract after murder contract, multiple homicide cases and fed assaults and now allegedly a hurricane of drama and rebukes by the New York mafia and portions of his own borgata in the Philly and North Jersey areas. Gangland News reported he was forcefully removed from his boss’s perch and put on the shelf. GR described the situation as a “restructuring” at the top of the Bruno-Scarfo crime family prompted by the podcast ordeal.

However, all that hasn’t stopped the Merlino freight train one bit. One iota. One scintilla. He goes wherever he wants, whenever he wants and meets with whoever he wants, wherever he wants. This includes NYC, the same place that his recent drama was reportedly seeded by upsetting Godfathers in the Genovese, Gambino and Bonanno organizations with his influencer brand and increasingly public antics that they deem unbefitting of an LCN boss, even if that LCN boss has been in place for three decades and had his unconventional rise to don in the 1990s blessed by some of the very same bosses taking issue with his antics. What we know for sure almost a year and a half into his brand-building journey is that he shies away from nobody and posts wherever he goes on social media in what basically amounts to real time.

Furthermore, he has his own hashtag: #Wecangoanywhere. The fact that word was sent out at the beginning of this year for button men around the country to keep their distance, has not made a dent in his movements or interactions, Some aren’t even hesitant to allow photos of them together to be posted and shared on-line. Consequences be damned.

I mean are there really any consequences to fear anyway? Is Merlino costing anyone money, the ultimate equalizer in the world of LCN? That answer would be no. Hence, what’s an edict that has no real blowback or just gets you a few cross words from somebody above you in the pecking order but no actual punitive measures levied against you for the infraction? Is it even an edict?

Skinny Joey is calling everyone’s bluff. And telling them all to go fuck themselves in the process. As he once famously told people in the thick of leading a shooting war for control of the Bruno-Scarfo clan when he was barely 30 years old, the devil really is on his shoulder looking out for him.

A few days ago, he brought his entourage into the belly of the beast of the NYC mafia landscape, enjoying a holiday meal at Rao’s in Harlem a 10-second walk from Genovese mob street boss Danny Pagano’s headquarters and telling everyone about it on his Instagram. Nothing happened. Nobody said a single word. His personalized hash tag never made more sense or rang truer than it did this week at Rao’s. He goes anywhere he desires and says fuck you to anyone who dares question it. Love him or hate him, you got to respect that in his line of work.

So, when and if, all these presumed RICOs land in NYC and possibly, old-school shot callers such as Danny Pagano are off the streets, who would in theory prevent Merlino from returning from his quasi-exile and reclaiming the Philly mafia for himself?

Easy answer: Nobody.

He is only 62 years old. Too young to retire and why he would do?
The today mafia is a joke! A boss that made podcasts! But hey he is the Joe Gallo of the 1990s and have childhood friends that what its back.
So he's a lucky motherfucker.

Does Scott have schizophrenia by any chance?

Lol he really wrote this like it's some kind of political op-ed.

No way will he go back to the life, he doesnt need to nor would he want to. Everyone wants a high profile mob boss in 2025, its not going to be Merlino.
By the way, with all the bs about the 5 families being upset with him, Merlino just had a huge dinner at Rao's , a well known mob hang out. I think the notion of putting Merlino on the shelf is rather ridiculous considering he isnt involved. How do you shelf a man thats not part of the life? He walked away the same way as JR Gotti did, they both walked.

Don't say that, you'll embarrass schizophrenics with the comparison.