We've talked about it time and time again but its true.
Look at every single documentary on any mob guy and they all start out the same:
" i grew up around it, they were the guys with the money and the guys that were respected. They hung in the clubs on the corner".
Who says that anymore ? No one ! There arent really any big italian hoods left with clubs on each corner. Italian kids today are in the suburbs surrounded by starbucks and Panera Bread. We keep hearing guys are more low key now and they dont want violence.. Truth is, there is no one really left to kill.
I was just in bensonhurst and almost everything is gone. Lots of chinese and some russian, a few italian left but its totally different. I remember 86th street as the guido capital of the world, it was funny. I loved it and had a lot of good times cruising back in the day.
Just killing some time but i doubt you will see another mob war in our life time.

I think certain areas of staten island could be considered somewhat of a hub for mob crime or just general criminal activity amongst the residents. Specifically the south shore and great kills, a lot of drug activity in the area, people getting busted with guns. This happened recently.
3 stabbed outside great kills bar

Unfortunate what has become of LCN in America.

Remember that the mafia is a changing organization that can adapt from the time changing. In Sicily they say "calati juncu ca passa la china" which means "decline cane, until the storm passes". I think some of them mobsters learned from the big indicments of the 80s and 90s and are more secretive. That is why the mafia still lasts today, because they can adapt and change.

In the homeland and canada it's going on, as far as here "you think philly might be next?"

That's a good thing. But there will always be young guys who can't or don't want to earn their life honestly, who want to make a lot of money right away. Especially with this economical crisis going on. In Italy most people work, but aren't declared. That is why it seems that there is a lot of unemployment. But most young guys can make a lot more money by being criminals.

If history has taught us anything.... it is that everything that was new loses its novelty and that the old eventually becomes new again. IMO Organzied crime will never disappear, 50 years from now the GBB crew will be talking about the latest scams and schemes of the OC/LCN, it will look different but it will still be going on. I was digging through some old pictures with my Mom on Sunday looking for pics of some of the men my Grandpa worked along side in the Black Hand. Each time I would pull out a pic with one of these guys my Mom, who is 94, would look at me and take her right hand index finger press it against the tip of her nose and push it to the left, then she would say in Italian, "The Mafia is my Protector". I'm afraid as each generation passes away that we will get that much further away from our heritage, both the good and the bad and I have to say I'm very sad to see it slipping away. On a positve note I got a Franklin on the Italians kicking everybodys ass all over again during the next OC Renaissance, anybody want in?

PB,

Not the Mafia but the italian traditions of strong family ties and neighborhoods, also good pasta and italian bread, this shit in Florida sucks.

Thanks for the restaurant tip PB. Your right about the water, this restaurant on Atlantic way out west near 441 at the Delray Marketplace, I think its called Renzi's or Ricca's something like that, I heard their advertisement on the radio and supposedly they ship their water down from the City to use in making their breads, heard of a couple other places doing the same thing. One can hope!

PB,

You have your finger on the pulse of what is going on in the old neighborhoods and I would guess with the older generations in and outside of that life as well. What are they saying about how the mafia has transformed and imploded from within over the years? While I don't share my Mom's view on the Mafia I can understand why she feels that way given what was happening during that time period 00's to 30's. My Grandpa and His Father being what they were shielded us from the crime and violence that they were committing against other ethnic groups and Italians associated with the life, but more importantly to my Mom the discrimination that was taking place at that time against the Italians and other immigrant groups that made life very difficult for all of us. My Mom will occasional talk about how the Mafia helped the community but rarely mention that my Great Grandpa was tossed out of a window in the Hotel Syracuse by a rival for not sharing the wealth and on two occasions rivals tried to kill my Grandpa.I really enjoyed how well that family dynamic was portrayed in the Godfather. Just wondering what your thoughts are and what hearing up there from the really old timers that are still around?