Rarely do I post. That being said I am a long time member/lurker. I also go way back to forums like the heyday of americanmafia etc. It has been completely frustrating to watch posts going on where people (who claim they know stuff) try and compare power in terms of street level gang members going against LCN. Modern day American LCN exists in a COMPLETELY different sphere than street gangs such as the Bloods (UBN or West Coast), GDs etc. To compare American LCN to ANY other STREET criminal entity is to compare Burger King to a fine French restaurant. Yes one will have more customers and employees over a fractured group of franchises but the other will have long term customers and long term employees making money over generations and In a cleaner and more refined way. This is not a video game or a bad movie where a gang takes on the mob for control of the city. It won't happen. Street gangs could care less about mafia gambling operations or union racketeering and LCN could care less about a street corner in the ghetto pumping out crack or heroin. For example there will never be a "war" between the Bloods and the Gambinos over ANYTHING. The amount of gang members in a given city where LCN has presence has a minuscule to absolutely zero impact on any LCN activities in that given area. There is no overlap in terms of rackets or even aspects of the drug trade. In isolated instances there is an overlap where mutual associates (in terms of street gangs and LCN) rub shoulders. This is isolated and not a fact of the life. There are even instances where relatives of made or connected guys become street gang members however these are so rare they don't even factor in. Made guys rarely, if ever, care about street gang politics and street gangs have absolutely zero clue about anything going on LCN racket-wise. This may be different in Canada and other areas as I don't claim to be an expert about those areas. Power in modern day American LCN doesn't come from the amount of soldiers or members (as it would pertain to street gang versus street gang) nor the amount of guns etc. Power in modern day LCN comes from brains, connections in various industries and trades, political connections (more within businesses and amongst families than amongst actual politicians). In the American LCN, one 70 year old man has more earning power than entire neighborhoods of pistol packing gang member driven rackets. So for those guys on these forums who insist on these "GD vs Mafia What ifs".... It's simply not true.
PS: this even extends to the cartels etc.... American LCN really does occupy its own unique niche. There is rarely an overlap.
PPS: it is an indisputable fact that the Mafia families in the Northeast are the pre eminent and most dominant LCN groups in the USA. This is not up for debate.
