he's about to have two great grandchildren playing in the nfl(Joey and Nick Bosa).

There is another Hired Truck Scandal-type investigation that will blow the Outfit open again on the horizon. They are more about bid-rigging these days than much else. They still control a lot of schemes and right now you have two Outfit crews fighting over the movie studio production in Chicago. The Ferriola-Crew backed Studio City (John Credidio's son owns and employees Dino Marino, the Inendino boys along with a host of others) vs. Cinnespace, which is run by Alex Pessios and has the daughter of James Banks in the #2 seat and is said to be also controlled by John Matassa. They are fighting in a public way - news articles, lawsuits, etc. then you have John Coli being indicted for extortion and see how the labor rackets are still controlled.

This was an Outfit indictment blatantly in 2017 - the word "Outfit" just is not used:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...inespace-studios-met-20170817-story.html

John Coli's father was Eco "James" Coli who was a prime lieutenant for Aiuppa, Glimco and a host of other bosses.

I also believe the Outfit is similar to Camorra - and not just bc Campagna/Capone/Ricca and early founders were all Neopolitan. They literally intermarry at every turn and the kids control the businesses their fathers built on blood - they still are involved in illeagal activity - just not nearly as blatant as it once was.

Thank you all for your inputs.

Does anyone have any recent image of Vena?

What’s Nicholas Cataudella’s status?

I know this image is not that clear, anyone knows who the second guy from the left is? One caption on Pinterest listed him as Frank Damato.

How much of these legit jobs are front operations? Because they could be legit gigs completely unrelated to illegal activities. This grey area is what makes the Outfit hard to tackle. This being said, I believe that most of them are not mobbed up.

I assume you mean from the viewer’s left. We all know who second from the left is from the subjects vantage point.

Regarding the post below, the people who have an interest in making it seem like the Outfit is thriving comple every single vaguely related crime committed by anyone who ever knew or was distantly related to anyone. Similarly they come up with enormous lists of every single tangentially related person however spuriously connected to a former Outfit associate who is in a union, city job, etc., and advance it as evidence they are still exerting control over these unions et al.

Obviously there is no real way to know. Everyone knows what I think. But you can’t disprove an unknown, so it will likely continue like this indefinitely.

Here’s what Aleman had to say before he died.

But he adds that the increasing number of mob informants is one of the reasons "no new people [are] coming into the mob.

"The reporters and newspapers have to keep it alive, but there ain't nothing in Chicago, no street tax, no extortion, no nothing," Aleman says. "There might be some old guys languishing around, but it's moot.

"The younger generation doesn't want no part of the mob; it's over." Aleman adds that young men would rather go to college and not take a risk they'd end up like him.

"There's no dice games, no card games, no bookmaking, if there's any bookmaking, it's just with the Jewish people on the North Side," he says, adding that even if that's happening, there's no street tax on the money changing hands.

"There's nobody who wants to do the job; this isn't the '30s or '40s," he recalls. "Is there a mob running over, putting people in trunks? . . . No, nobody wants to be part of it because of the feds. ... And these guys don't want to go to no jail like Harry.

"Whoever they locked up recently, they locked them up for their past performance, because they haven't been doing anything for the past 10 or 15 years."

Harry Aleman said this?

You assumed correctly.

So, Frank Damato. Is that his real name or it’s a “Paulie ‘Stripes’ DeMarco” situation where some outfit fanboy made it up to make crime buffs go crazy?

The Chicago metropolitan area has nearly 10 million people, no way the feds know everything that is going on.

Yes in an interview shortly before he died. Just google "Harry Aleman interview" and it will come up.

Now, obviously he is a gangster. It's not like he is beyond lying LOL. In the same interview he denies killing anyone and refuses to talk about certain living people. But I think it's an interesting quote.

It's also worth pointing out Aleman could have meant in relation to the mob when he was participating. ie, if the Outfit is at 10-20% of where it was when he was in prime, to someone like him, it might mean it's essentially over for all practical purposes.

While I tend to think it's almost over and could potentially be completely over, it's certainly not unreasonable to think that Cicero, Grand Ave. and Chinatown still have some stuff going on.

Back in the American News Post days there was some really good posts on structure. The conventional wisdom there was that Elmwood Park was definitely gone.

But didn't a guy got locked up a few years ago that was a active member of elmpark???

Elmwood park inactive? I dont believe that. Elmwood park and neighboring Melrose park are traditional mob hotbeds, ive heard from guys with reputable knowledge on gangs in chicago that they are active. One that lives in elmwood was asked what set or gang were people repping in elmwood park, and he said the outfit is still dominant there and very little gang crime occurs. Im gonna see if i can fin that video and link it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbInwbbDuZw

Here. Hes some young guy and who knows if he actually knows, but its an interesting opinion from someone who appears to know about criminal stuff in chicago, especially in his own neighborhood.

You can scroll the ANP forums. There was like a year where some really knowledgeable guys went deep into structure with Fosco.

That is basically as far as I know how it got into the public consciousness that Cicero was calling the shots, through those threads. Those same threads concluded that Elmwood Park was done.

I obviously don’t know but the logic advanced and knowledge on the topic was the best I’ve ever seen.

Its very possible that Cicero is calling the shots, (although with Vena and all that, Grand ave could be competing). I just highly doubt that Elmwood park is done as a crew. Sure, its a more mixed neighborhood now, but i have a couple of buddies that are italians that live there, and its an old school neighborhood from what i understand, relatively safe compared to other parts of older chicago. Neighboring Melrose park still has alot of italians and italian businesses too.

Yeah they just mean from a mob crew perspective. The north side crew was absorbed into Grand Ave. at some point. According to the conventional wisdom at ANP the Elmwood Park was shuttered.

The Outfit now consists of Cicero calling the shots with Grand Ave. and Chinatown still active.

There are some problems with that theory, such as that Grand Ave is primarily populated by yuppies and Bridgeport is probably less than 30% white these days, but they just mean the ways the crews are organized.

As an Irishman I don’t know and will never know for sure!

I didn’t listen to the whole thing but I wouldn’t put much stock in what this person says.

* Chicago never made non-Italians; it’s a matter of debate when “making” became a thing here, but the CW is if I remember right is the 60s. It wasn’t really regarded as a good thing, more like giving you a title at work and more responsibility without more money

* I don’t think most people think Accardo was the most powerful boss ever. The argument for that position would be Gus Russo’s book The Outfit. It uses a lot of horrible sources. He might have been but I think people who really know the mob would always tell you at least two of the NYC families were always bigger.

* DiFronzo didn’t live in Elmwood Park; he lived in River Grove. I never, ever, heard anyone express the belief he was a billionaire

* His nose didn’t get cut breaking into a factory, it got cut breaking into a fur coat store on Michigan Avenue

* Multiple reporters didn’t accost DiFronzo outside his breakfast spot. Chuck Goudie did, once.

Those are just a few things I caught listening to the video for a few minutes.

I agree, he doesn't have his facts straight. Lots of errors. I just find it interesting that he says that Elmwood park is still mob run, considering he's more into gangs and stuff. Maybe this is due to rumors and speculation he sees and hears in the neighborhood since he lives there, who knows.

If what you’re suggesting is correct it’d show how demographics are often overestimated. Cicero is largely Mexican, while Elmwood is around 25% Italian.

harry aleman is not a turncoat everything he claims is not valid

Do you think with the proximities of Canada and especially of Ontario where the Ndrangheta is very well implanted they could replace the Outfit or the Detroit Family in some time?
Does Ndrangheta have a presence on the American border in Illinois, Michigan ...

ndrangheta in ontario is overrated

When I say people think Elmwood Park is shuttered it just means the Elmwood Park branch of the Outfit. The branches are just identified by physical geography, which, yes at least at one point coincided with actual physical territory, but certainly does far less now as whatever they’re doing is far less reliant on street crime than, say, 60 years ago.

Elmwood Park was the more old-school, Godfather-type faction where the leadership was based. DiFronzo, D’Amico, etc. The heirs to Giancana, Accardo and Cerone.

I can’t compleyely remember but I think the belief was that at one point DiFronzo just called it a day. Why? Because he made the decision that he was not going to spend his golden years in prison.

Even if it’s true it doesn’t mean that gangster type activity doesn’t take place there. I think Rudy Fratto was part of that crew and he’s always still in trouble, though I think some people think he’s basically a BS-er.

Many accounts say that Sam Giancana thought making ceremonies were stupid, and didn't care who was made. If you could make money and keep your mouth shut, you were on his level as far as he was concerned.

What about Pete DiFronzo, the Cassano brothers and all those guys?

The theory was that the whole thing had just been closed. If you're interested you can go to ANP and read the threads...there are literally books and books full of them.

Pete DiFronzo is 85 years old.

I wouldn't say they are overrated. On a national level, I would say they have more power than most lcn families. Although on the local level, I would say the bigger families have more control and interests simply because they have more manpower.

Crazy talk.

They don’t have enough men, nor willingness, to run a serious organization locally.

How do you expect them to be a top-tier entity nationally?

Ndrangheta got guys all over Canada, that's easy to find information.

I thought you were talking about the Outfit.

Na i was responding to mw2 saying that the Ontario ndrangheta is overrated. But on a side note, it's safe to assume that the outfit still does have interests in other states than Illinois. Indiana, and Wisconsin being two close ones, and possibly other, farther ones.