The Street Tax Today?

[furiofromnaples]

Leonetti in his book said that he collected 3 milions as street tax during his uncle was in prison.
Now the mob isnt was in the 1980s but there are still cases today which mobsters was able to impose a street tax to bookies,drug dealers ecc

[gohnjotti]

Independent bookmakers/loansharks/card games, particularly of Italian-American descent, will be extorted by the Mafia if they come into the Mafia's orbit. This is why it is crucial for independent criminals to find a suitable Mafia representative to be "on record" with - typically, this independent criminal is looking for someone who will tax him the least and support/advocate for him the most.

Recent examples from the Colombo family include the attempted extortion from the Amato crew of the Bosco family gambling operation, the takeover of rival L.I. card games by Michael Uvino in the 2000s, Bill Cutolo's extortion of other independent loansharks like John Floridia in the 1990s. The Cutolo example is a little bit dated but I can't think of many other recent examples of independent loansharks; Dom Ricigliano was a special case because he actually took on Tom Scorcia and the Colombos first.

This is not limited to bookies/loansharks/card games. Any illegal racket that the Mafia discovers, they will try and muscle-in on if they can bully and intimidate the other party.

There is less of a culture around taxing drug dealers as far as the Mafia goes in NY, partly because drug-dealing is still frowned upon and there are other criminal organizations that are more invested than the Mafia in the drug supply.

Another example of a "street tax" like you're referring to, Furio, is what Greg Scarpa Jr.'s crew had going on the late 1980s in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, and surrounding neighborhoods as far as Staten Island. Larry Mazza's book details how the crew enforced a street tax on any dealers they discovered.

[furiofromnaples]

Thanks gohnjotti.

[aray22]

Recent examples from the Colombo family include the attempted extortion from the Amato crew of the Bosco family gambling operation,

Maybe I'm remembering this wrong, but I don't recall they were extorting them. I believe the situation was that one of Amato Jr's friends placed a losing bet with them and refused to pay and Amato and his crew basically told the Bosco's they weren't getting that money.

[Uncle Pete]

Recent examples from the Colombo family include the attempted extortion from the Amato crew of the Bosco family gambling operation,

Maybe I'm remembering this wrong, but I don't recall they were extorting them. I believe the situation was that one of Amato Jr's friends placed a losing bet with them and refused to pay and Amato and his crew basically told the Bosco's they weren't getting that money.

Good point. Isn’t this how they usually get their foot in the door to extort bookmakers? They place a bet, don’t pay and when the guys come to collect, they give them “do you know who we are” routine which then leads to a tax or an agreement to layoff action with the mob?

[gohnjotti]

Recent examples from the Colombo family include the attempted extortion from the Amato crew of the Bosco family gambling operation,

Maybe I'm remembering this wrong, but I don't recall they were extorting them. I believe the situation was that one of Amato Jr's friends placed a losing bet with them and refused to pay and Amato and his crew basically told the Bosco's they weren't getting that money.

Good catch, you're right.

[CabriniGreen]

Recent examples from the Colombo family include the attempted extortion from the Amato crew of the Bosco family gambling operation,

Maybe I'm remembering this wrong, but I don't recall they were extorting them. I believe the situation was that one of Amato Jr's friends placed a losing bet with them and refused to pay and Amato and his crew basically told the Bosco's they weren't getting that money.

Ah, they Caramandi- Joey Merlino-ed em...huh?

[aray22]

Recent examples from the Colombo family include the attempted extortion from the Amato crew of the Bosco family gambling operation,

Maybe I'm remembering this wrong, but I don't recall they were extorting them. I believe the situation was that one of Amato Jr's friends placed a losing bet with them and refused to pay and Amato and his crew basically told the Bosco's they weren't getting that money.

Ah, they Caramandi- Joey Merlino-ed em...huh?

Basically. It sort of proves why it's valuable to be "with someone" in that life. If the Boscos were on record with another made member it wouldn't go down that way. The mafia is pretty good about collecting money.

[johnny_scootch]

Basically. It sort of proves why it's valuable to be "with someone" in that life. If the Boscos were on record with another made member it wouldn't go down that way.

Everybody needs a friend sometimes.