That story always pissed me off. I would have preferred he just shoot Hydell himself.

He got around to that, too .

Nothing compared to the look on his face when Casso got hold of him!

You know… I gotta say I'm interested about this Generation. Think about it… the up and coming generation is about as Americanized as anyone I went to college with, save for maybe a vowel at the end of the name. Times are more paranoid than ever. This current generation of made guys, captains and bosses came up in "the generation of the rat". Now more than ever, assholes go on the internet and post about these guys… watching their every move, stalking them like celebrities… it's crazy. TV shows realistically portray them, showing off to the world actually how they operate. And while all this attention is on these guys, they still have to earn. The union shakedowns of the past are being swapped for Wall Street "Pump and Dump" scams. Street crime is getting harder to get away with (and arguably less lucrative). I'm interested to see if this (in my opinion) truly American subculture goes the way of the Cowboy, or if it alters it's shape and appearance which would surely be to the chagrin of the FBI and US Attorney's Office.

+1

It will be interesting to read about today's "Mafia history" ten years from now.

It seems like many years after the fact we hear the details of how the ins & outs of the scams pulled resulted in millions of dollars.

That's right BIG +. I thought about it many times,15-20 years from now,reading about today's mafia...

I also agree. Your position assumes that the mob is getting smarter to pull the white collar, intelligent crimes. IMO, the LCN of the future will be dominated by the more intelligent criminals, and the traditional street crime will be a smaller piece.

I think were moving more and more towards cyber OC, where its less about being a tough guy more about being smart. Today you can rob millions online instead of having to hold up a bank with guns.

To be honest, this is exactly what today's LCN is the least interesting to me. The pieces aren't there. Murders are committed, but we don't know why, and scams are as well, but we don't have details. The less you know, the less interesting, I say. Which is why my most fascinating mob times are...

60's-80's Chicago.
Frighteningly brutal, rackets everywhere, and the murder toll of the entire outfit has been compiled several times.

30's-70's LA Family.
The image of the Mickey Mouse Mafia always left me wanting to know more. Research raises so many debates that I always go back for more. Did Frank DeSimone rape the wife of his Underboss, or was that rumor? Was Nick Licata even weaker than DeSimone? Was Jack Dragna a weak Don or was he respected, but doing things differently? And finally, the most interesting questioon of all. If Jimmy Frattiano was the first to realize that the image of the LA Family was a poor one, could he have succeeding in making them respected once more? It's especially interesting to me because the whole history is very cohesive, much more so than the other families. One boss follows the other follows the other, and the same few guys stick around.

50's - 80's. Russell Bufalino Family.
What can I say, it's my favorite subject really. It makes a good story because they were involved in non-traditional rackets that really give you a feel of what Northeastern Pennsylvania was like. It also gives perfect examples of how the mob never misses a beat when it comes to making money. There's a lot of history with coal union corruption, including all out war, but Russell Bufalino held things down well and made a lot of money. When the coal mines drowned up, he seamlessly transitioned to garment industry racketeering, and gave all his men front jobs as managers in his dress businesses. Also, something we should all know, Russell Bufalino lieutenants were manufacturing our nuclear warheads in Vietnam. By the end of it all, he was so respected he served as acting boss for the most powerful family in the United States. The Genovese.

Maybe that's why I find today's LCN the most interesting. Because I've been documenting every case I can find since 2000. So, I'm aware there is actually a lot going on. Granted, a lot more was going on years ago but we've all read those books.

I'm fascinated with the Genovese family from the time Chin took over (around 1980) until today. The families current success should be directly attributed to him. He promoted the right people and enforced strict policy. I would really enjoy a detailed book on him. Problem is, I don't think anyone with that kind of info would ever give it up.

Sure. There's a lot to be said for keeping word files on what you can find, and I would be proud if I had gotten as far as you with the modern stuff. But when I create a timeline from this decade and a timeline from the 70's, I'm a lot happier with a lot less questions. That's just me, though.

Strongly disagree. When there's an element of mystery there, it's a hell of a lot more intriguing to me. This is also true of the best crime fiction. And when something isn't known well, it's more "rewarding" (for lack of a better word) when you manage to hunt it down. (I've had a blast over the past year searching for Youngstown stuff, because it's a lot harder to find.)

On a somewhat related note, another thing I like is when stupid myths about the mob get shot down by people who know what they're talking about.

Right. That's why I research the relatively obscure areas above. Youngstown is a good example too. I just like that in the end, I'll find everything. In the end it's all there.

Another thing. Guys like Tony Mirra, Gaspipe Casso, Felix Alderisio all had larger than life personalities. I'm sure plenty of the mob leaders today do as well, but I don't feel like I can know until 10 years from now.

Joey Merlino is the most recent over-the-top larger-than-life character I can think of, and he went away about ten years ago.

Some of the guys in Family Secrets were pretty distinct characters, but they were from another era.

Yes, but a lot is known about Joey already. I think what Barrett is referring to is the fact that information usually isn't learned about many mobsters until the are in jail for life or dead, if we even find out then. Look at the most powerful members of the Genovese family, not much is known about them and they are the most powerful mobsters in the country. Time may or may not tell who these guys actually were.

70's and 80's. Castellano, Dellacroce, Carallo, Persico, Salerno, Galante, Scarpa, Chin, Gaggi, DeMeo, many more. A lot of modern day LCN bigshots were in there prime then. Alot are dead too. The books were reopened. Pizza connection. RICO was born.

You could not have said it better Dapper - a psychopath, a narcissist, an upstart, a fat rat and a nutty genius running the 5 families. Talk about a can of mixed vegetables.

It is interesting to reflect upon the "talents" of these 5, compared to their predecessors. Only one, Chin, can be regarded as a strong leader. The rest of them bear responsibility for weakening their families.

Your right but i think if Orena won the war the colombos would of been in a lot better shape.I mean they had guys Like cutolo and scopo who could of lead the families and they were whacked all so persico and his blood relatives could still be running things even from behind bars.Any colombo guys who took persicos side in that war are idiots

i completely agree with you on the colombos and orena.

For me is anything pre-Gotti. The best mafia times!

I prefer the 80s since it's only then that the mafiosi had finally started to get arrested.


I know it's a little off-topic, but the can of mixed vegetables comparison reminds me of the Sicilian boss Vincenzo Di Carlo who was at the site time a school teacher, a justice of peace, the secretary of the local Democratic Christian Party, a police informant and a mafia boss. That's really a can of mixed vegetables too.

Its almost like the cowboys of the old west they will probably soon only be the legend of the Italian mob.

I would say Cleveland 40's to the 90's.
Since I am from there

but how can you not like phili pretty crazy shit going down there at least after the Bruno hit until merlino was busted its pretty interesting.

Modern times. This stuff is going on all around us!

so many to list. begin with the luciano era where he whacked maranzano etc. scarfo's mad years then merlino war with stanfa. obviously the gotti years when he whacked paul. the nino and roy years. the casso and amuso years. vincent gigante pretending to be a nutter as boss era. colombo war with gallo and then the one with vito arena. after the comission trial when these old bosses make toasts. paul ricca years before he stepped back. pizza connection. carmine galante getting out of jail blowing costellos grave up/donnie brasco times with the 3 capos rubbed out. bill bonanno marrying rosaline profaci in the 60's if im correct? carlo years as the boss of america list goes on and on.

*victor arena

quite ironic how the majority of the years found most fascinating where the crap bosses eg casso amuso, scarfo, gotti, merlino, galante etc - all way too murderous and/or media hungry limiting their years of power. i would include luciano in this list. after researching the guy extensively he was way too available to the media and way too flashy to be a long term boss. still its lucky the legend!

the pizza connection days, scarfo era in south philly, chin's reign,skyball scibell/early al bruno era in springfield, and right now for the rizzutos/calabrians in montreal