Unfortunately, in 2024 civility and politics don't really go hand in hand. It is what it is. If you can keep it civilized, good on you. I personally think politics should be left off this forum, if possible. But when the conversation comes to name calling and stupid back and forths, it needs to be squashed.

I think thats correct and I agree with you...10,000%

Polarisation is a bitch right and left both have good points.

I posted back in this thread what most likely would happen to Skinny with NY families because of his constant appearance and running his mouth on You Tube .

Now I don’t know if its true what Scott Bernstein has posted all over social media about the Westside & Gambinos and most likely the Lukes & Bonannos are / did shelf or order Philly to be cut off from doing any business what so ever .

Now i have no clue if this is coming from the top of the NY families but” i am sure if there is anything left of the commission or if the heads of the families are still communicating in any way then you bet this did happen or will happen.

And if it comes out in the future that Philly is still in good graces with NY then everyone now knows that the commission is dead !

If Philly was being cut off you would have to assume he is still the boss? If there is a different boss I would expect NY to be getting them involved to speak on why his guy is on youtube and what he's gonna do about it

I dont know if or why NY would care about what Merlino says on youtube considering he only talks about sports, food, amd every now and then he mentions rats.
Its absurd that NY would even care. He went to Rao’s which is a well known mob hang out and no one cared. He is 100% retired amd has a good show. He does make good money with patreon and youtube. Good for him.
If you think about, what does NYC have to even gain by partnering with Philly ? Zero ! There is no one in Philly that is making any kind of money that would interest NYC. If NY wants to expand into Philly, there is no one there to block them. Philly is done and Merlino did a smart thing by stepping away.

Yeah I don't believe Joey is the boss anymore. Also, boss of what? 10 guys? I have no idea what NY is thinking, but I can imagine that they find him ridiculous

I think more than anything New York is just annoyed by him and just can't stand what he's doing. They think hes a joke and don't want to associate with him just like if there was a kid that annoyed you in class you wouldn't associate with them either.

In general there is no retiring so unless he's been shelved or they've allowed him to walk away he is a member of that life. Are we aware of anyone to have resigned their membership who wasn't a cooperator? Many guys get old and "retire" but even then they are still made men. NY and anyone who is a member is going to have an opinion about a boss or former boss being on youtube.and you would imagine characters like Bellomo and Mannino are hardly going to be impressed by this.

Merlino somehow always managed to overcome this.

He was not recognized by The Lucchese family and Lucchese members were told not to associate with him, yet he has been around the Pernas, Big John Castelluci, John Pennisi...

The FBI is also watching social media/podcasts “Never wake a sleeping dog.”

Exactly! You can't help but wonder if Joey has actually thought this through. Does he want to be the next Keefe D? They used to say these guys were smart, but this is what happens when ego overrides intelligence

Haha I also thought of Keefe D!

It appears he is broke-ish ! He is doing things that he would criticize others ten years ago or worse .

Philly guys since late 80’s had a rough time getting money making associates and guys that would move up to get made … but instead they slowly fell apart and even stooped for the dollar.

So far Skinny didn’t fall for guys with wires on or offering rackets to good to be true . The people that have been keeping him afloat must be getting tired of supporting him because he is slowly looking vulnerable and it making him reach !

But as far as NY is concerned if there is any structure left they are and will keep all there guys away from Philly …. Because even in NY the rackets are probably slim and don’t need Philly guys blowing there shit up .

I bet we will find out that NY is unified with keeping Philly away from everyone … it may take a year or more but it will come out .

You are right that Joey is broke. A lot of people seem to have trouble believing that, but I can tell you for an absolute fact that the people in Florida can attest. He literally asks people for money!!

You wanna know who has money? Georgie Borgesi is a millionaire. If Philly has a boss these days, it would probably be him

George B has done it very quietly ! But the feds must be all up in his business “ because he was in the joint for sometime and comes out and legitimately becomes a millionaire and has businesses to support that income . If not the feds will be knocking .

Without someone close flipping we will never know how it ended with Skinny giving up the seat and some of the money to die in his bed ( if he did ) and the envelope he settled for doesn’t appear to be enough.

If you look at the top ten made guys at the top of that family how do they look financially ? Could all of them gotten lucky enough to build legitimate business enough for them and there families to live comfortably in this day where everything cost triple then it did just a few years ago .

Because the indictments on that family doesn’t support these guys making money and living like they do without it being legitimate it seems.


And if Scotts information has credibility people are going to say that NY has no say over Philly or something similar … well can’t be far enough from the truth … in that life it’s all about networking ! And not a little bit … it’s almost all of what they do in legal business or in the family’s business… and when you can’t network it cuts you even more and they don’t have much let alone much to lose especially in the north jersey area but if any of you know the life these guys work with all families and associates and maid members and fringe members … so time or a rat will tell sooner or later.

i just want to say thank GOD for this forum. lurking around and not 1 stupid Sopranos quote

Merlino is obviously retired.
Merlino probably needs money to support his luxurious lifestyle.
Merlino has a very good podcast.
Merlino does make decent money with his podcast.
Merlino is the furthest thing from a rat.
Merlino never talks about any tough guy stories.
Merlino never bad mouths current guys except rats.
The rats who are on YouTube are insanely jealous of Merlino.
I say Good for him !!!!!

How did his side kick get the name " snuff "? anyone know?

There is no retiring lol. If he is “inactive” he is still a made man unless he’s been shelved which is what makes the situation interesting/controversial

That’s how I understand it anyway. You’re a made man til death regardless of whether you’re kicking up or retired to Florida. So if he is still a made guy would you expect families to be supportive or against what he’s doing? If he’s shelved then he’s essentially dead to that life anyway though they may fear what he might say

Dumb question.. who has the power to shelve a boss? Is this an area where leadership in the family can agree to do such a thing?

My question? If so I got no issue being dumb but why’s that?

The commission could no longer recognize him and the family could vote him out and shelve him. If NY no longer recognizes Joey Merlino that's a big deal. It was a big deal when the Luccheses refused to recognize them.

Can anybody imagine Chin Gigante doing football picks on YouTube ??

He's an embarrassment !!!

Stanfa had the backing of NYC and Caccamo he's 83 now but true cosa nostra.

My opinion is the Chin was an embarrassment walking around pretending to be retarded