How did the mafia work with some of these billionaire construction businessmen exactly? It was always said that no building could be put up in New York without the mafia’s approval(specifically the Gambinos). Did the mafia benefit from this more than people who had to go through them such as someone like Trump? Or were they just seen as little pests that the big money construction heads had to go through to get their building under construction?

And despite what the feds say on tv, the mob still has power in the unions...The Business agents are mobbed up, the construction companies still have to pay people to be on jobs that do nothing !!

^ shhhhh!

What are you crazy!?!

Do you wanna get sued by 100+ Italian-American Civil Right Anti-Defamation Societies & Bocce Clubs?

It is worldwide, not just America. The Concrete Club had four of the five families involved in it. Gambino and Genovese families were and are the biggest influences in the construction business. Any building costing 1 million or more, the bidders had add an additional 2% in their overhead that was kicked up to the mafia families. Today the families still have influences in construction, despite the government trying to kick them out. They might get kicked out of carpentry and framing, but they could control the electrician and plumbers for example, which means they still have their fingers in a major project going on. Dont be surprised if you see some mobster owning construction companies, or services. Many times they use that as a money laundering business, in they will work on their families and friends houses or property at no cost to them, but write up a bill of sell using unclean money to turn it into clean money so the IRS will not hound them so much.

How were the mafia heads viewed when compared to someone like Durst or Trump. People who were big into construction and real estate? Financially speaking were they ever at the table with heavy hitting billionaires like them?

Also, what was more lucrative the garment district or construction? Tommy Gambino made tens of millions(maybe even hundreds?) from the garment center.

In the old days before Appalachian, they would meet if necessary, or they had a personal relationship. Once the 1960s rolled around, the bosses would put a capo or soldier as their contacts and would handle any problems and if it was serious then it was brought to the boss. When Paul Castellano became boss he was greedy and too hands on, which pissed alot of other family administration members, who were trying to avoid LE.
The mafia did not pay taxes on the deals unlike many of the big members of the construction companies. (I dont think Donald Trump paid taxes some of those years) Construction is more profitable than the garment business, but there is always something that needs to be fixed or a new Construction building, infrastructure. Garment has many aspects but Construction has more, construction has steel, framing, cement, electrical, plumbing, tar, masonry.

Didn’t Trump buy the real estate off Salvie Testa or Leonetti in AC?Casinos and such

Yeah Trump bought the property from Salvatore Testa. The club was owned by both Testa and Frank Narducci jr, but it did not have a liquor license and was such a money trap and burdened that by 1982 Narducci sold his shares to Testa. A year later Trump was interested in the property for a parking lot to his Hotel and Casino. Trump used a third party and got it for around 1 million dollars. If Testa had known it was Trump he would have asked for double or as much as he could.

Gravano lays out how they dealt with them in his book. Sometimes the mob just got a straight-up payoff to keep the union from interfering with the the job. Other times they used the threat of union problems to force developers to use certain companies.

Trump used S&A concrete (owned secretly by Castellano and Salerno) to build some of his buildings. In an interview featured in the documentary "Trump Dynasty", he pretty much just brushed it off as the cost of doing business.

Were there any well known buildings that were owned by the mafia at all?

These big deals that the mafia did not pay taxes on, how much were these contracts and once the contracts were divided who ended up with the biggest piece? Castellano?

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015028778994&view=1up&seq=1
Scroll down to Vincent Cafaro's testimony. He explains how it all worked. When it came to concrete, anything between $2m and $5m was split amongst the Gambinos, Genovese, Colombos and Luccheses. Anything over $5m went to Castellano and Salerno.

Just scroll down to his testimony? There are 1300 pages, that's like trying to find a needle in a hay stack lol

Think in 2008 ernie boy a gambino soldier has colombo street boss ralph deleo who lives in Somerville ma ask peter limone for a sitdown over building a brooks brothers in the back bay. some extortion of the trucks being used on the site. Ernie boy got arrested for that. Pretty sure he was only a soldier .limone was underboss in 07 08. Group effort

If you want to learn about the mob's involvement in construction you've got to work for it!

Very good information. Did the mob continue to make money from the buildings they built?