Nonos, can you tell me how you know there is zero violence in Chicago today?

who was it exactly that says they dont use violence?some o.c. author?

No one did. That's why his post made no sense

^^^^
I think he just meant that they haven't committed a murder since 2006. And the truth is, without the threat of murder, their strength diminishes exponentially. But it's just too hard to get away with today.

i have heard others on here claim something similar.im not arguing,it just sounds over-exaggerated to me.

It's widely acknolwedged by people like Howard Abinsky (sp.) and John Binder that the Outfit stopped using violence after Pendorf and Gambat, as well as the other federal indictments against them that basically saw the leadership decapitated. Not "stopped" but using it only in extreme cases. The example always given is that if you failed to pay a bookie in the past you get your legs broken. These days, they just cut you off.

Pizzaboy is correct, the fact that they haven't committed a murder since 2006 speaks volumes. I suppose you can believe they are still out there breaking arms and legs without it making the news if you want to, but frankly I haven't heard anyone ever say that, even the "pro Outfit" guys on ANP.

I personally have been scouring the news daily, incluing a dedicated feed, on the Outfit for abbout eight years, and I haven't seen anything indicating they are still roughing people up.

The only thing I think you can make a case for is the piece Fosco did on those two guys who he contends may have known Gianchinno. One was found stabbed to death in his apartment, the other missing. He said (if I remember) that he had heard they were pushing pills for GIanchinno. You can read all about it on that site if you want to. There's about a million posts on it.

On the other hand, consider that those two geriatric thieves, Reichel and Scalise, were going to break into Angelo la Pietra's old home under his daughter's nose (I think she's married to Kurt Calabrese) and try to rob it.

Considering what happened to the last people who tried to rob a Chicago mob boss, (infamous Accardo robbing) it's hard to imagine that those guys had any fear of a healthy Outfit, even though La Pietra is long gone.

Food for thought....

Is that the same Don Scalise who's allegedly a made man and "Replacing" Rudy Fratto, Hes listed as a street boss on the later charts, what's that guys deal NoNose?

Well if you mean murder then I agree. When you said violence I thought you meant beatings.

I don't know who Don Scalise is, although I think I remember Fosco saying he was not a mob guy.

No, this was Gerry Scalise... he was an old Outfit thief most famous for stealing a famous diamond in London. He and another geriatric named Alfred Reichel got busted by the FBI for trying to break into Angelo LaPietra's Bridgeport fortress last year. They thought he must have had money hid in the walls etc. Both are now in prison.

Like I said, it could be happening, but I haven't heard any word of it anywhere, not even on boards like this one, and definitely not in the mainstream news.

A lot of the Outfit's rackets were cut into by technology and changes in the law... there are casinos around here now, you can bet on line, instead of a juice loan you get a legal payday loan, porno is legal... and on and on.

I know you believe otherwise but my contention is that it is nearly dead and I will continue to believe so until someone shows me otherwise.

Even in Family Secrets, none of the crimes that were discussed took place any later than the very early 2000s, though the trial took place in 2007.

Probably the best evidence I can think of that the Outfit is still going strong was the fact that James Marcello was paying Nick Calabrese's family $4K a month for him to keep quiet right up until the trial.

But, again, I don't maintain that it's entirely defunct, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was very close to that.

If people believe otherwise, great, but I have seen no evidence supporting that position.

It's not like when the mob beats someone up that it gets reported and makes the news.

Good post. And they just legalized video gaming, I believe. Which seemed like a huge money maker for them.

Also for porn and paydays loans, I wouldn't be surprised for the Outfit to be heavily involved in those legit business's.

There were also all those rumors about guys with mob ties being involved with the bids for those casinos in Rosement and else where.

Rumors about them being involved in unions at O'Hare.

I have no idea how strong or prominent the outfit is. I just find it hard to believe in a big city like Chicago, with lots of Italians and the level of corruption in the city and especially in the suburbs, that the outfit would just completely disappear. Would make no sense to me.

I don't believe it was ever confirmed that Anthony "Little Tony" Zizzo is dead. He "disappeared" in August of 2006 and has never been seen since. I know there are many theories of his "disappearance" but he may still be alive?.. I seriously doubt that but it still may be possible. Has there been any wire taps or rumors of anyone taking "credit" for his "disappearance"?

I don't believe the Outfit is "dead" so to speak. I think they are the most viable family out there besides New York. I'm getting the impression that DiFronzo and the older guys aren't making a huge effort to keep it going since they are mostly legit and are friggin millionaires. I feel like one of two things will happen: it will die out like no nose said or it will break off into small sub gangs doing small scale gambling, extortion, loansharking etc.

I agree with you and think the outfit will basically be a bunch of different crews doing different rackets all under the umbrella of the "outfit"- which when you think about it is basically what it is now anyway.

Most mob hits today are just disappearances. Not public like they used to

Don Scalise is part of Marco's bookmaking enterprise. I don't know how active he still is though.

Nicky, if people involved in the Outfit were disappearing, a la Zizzo, you would still hear about it,

Mark I don't think they ever got anything on it.

PP there are not any Italian neighborhoods left. Bridgeport is it in the sense of a neighborhood like Brooklyn or he Bronx and I would guess its less than 10 percent Italian. There are a lot of Italians in the suburbs but they re ll third, fourth generation. They aren't gonna be any more inclined to go break some dude's kneecaps than a fourth generation Irish person is to join the IRA.

I meant most mob hits were throughout the u.s.
There's still Italian neighborhoods like elmwood, melrose, norridge, ect

Melrose Park is 60 percent Hispanic.

thanks for the answer johnny,my apologies if you read my post the wrong way.i wasnt disagreeing with you personally,just the source of information.

definitely not like it used to be but still a quarter italian

also on grand avenue and harlem

Grand Avenue on the near west side around Ogden where all the old mobsters come from is at very best 10 percent Italian.

Sure thing!

I see what you're saying, but my point was more that there are tons of italians in Chicago. For the outfit to just disappear would be strange. The italian hoods in NYC are disappearing, but OC is still strong there.

Well, yes, but is Hoffa still alive? I forget what I read, but IIRC, Zizzo was seen arguing with Sarno the day before he disappeared.

I'll look around, but I believe something was posted on ANP about what happened with Zizzo. IIRC, Zizzo was believed to be moving in on D'Amico's book making and D'Amico had Sarno take him out?

I'll look into, read something about it a few months ago can't remember exactly.

From what I read on ANP this is sort of what happened. That the outfit has turned into 2 separate groups. North/south. That the north-DiFronzo has basically gone legit, to some extent. They have there millions and they haven't made guys in 20 years or so. And that the South side is much more blue collar. Gambling/loan sharking/video poker/etc.

Will probably become more so as the years go on.

Great reading on ANP about the outfit if anyone is interested. Learned more there in a month than reading books for ten years.

I don't think it's strange. Considering the ratio of members who have wound up dead or in jail you'd have to be retarded to join the Outfit in 2012. The worlds changed a lot. I think most young men of Italian heritage these days would find the idea of throwing on a gold chain and walking around in a trench coat trying to shake down pizza parlors nothing so much as comical.