In light of the recent Colombo bust, my observations.

[TallGuy19]

strange times

legalizing gambling in NJ has been a jackpot for bookies ( didn’t expect that ) and a bookie in NJ will also likely never get jail time ever again. Does anyone know the last NJ gambling bust ?

legalizing weed in NJ has been a jackpot for crews and now no one will ever see the inside of a jail cell for weed

Oddly the pie is getting bigger for criminals in NJ with no threat of jail time now

The stuff they are pinching wise guys for are pretty pathetic IMO

head count will certainly shrink ( oddly like any USA company today lol ) but I’m not certain the pie shrinks ( as is )

I can’t think of a better time in history to be a wise guy with a package and selling weed in the side. Without bail / lawyer $, it must be Google type profit margins lol . Why even mess around with loan sharking today

I have to wonder how much legalized bookmaking is really going to benefit them. I know a lot of people were speculating that it would, but I'd like to know if that has really been the case. I know that the mob lets you bet on credit, but I don't see how a regular Joe who likes to bet football but doesn't have any cash on hand is going to get connected with a mobbed-up bookie.

[Wiseguy]

strange times

legalizing gambling in NJ has been a jackpot for bookies ( didn’t expect that ) and a bookie in NJ will also likely never get jail time ever again. Does anyone know the last NJ gambling bust ?

legalizing weed in NJ has been a jackpot for crews and now no one will ever see the inside of a jail cell for weed

Oddly the pie is getting bigger for criminals in NJ with no threat of jail time now

The stuff they are pinching wise guys for are pretty pathetic IMO

head count will certainly shrink ( oddly like any USA company today lol ) but I’m not certain the pie shrinks ( as is )

I can’t think of a better time in history to be a wise guy with a package and selling weed in the side. Without bail / lawyer $, it must be Google type profit margins lol . Why even mess around with loan sharking today

I have to wonder how much legalized bookmaking is really going to benefit them. I know a lot of people were speculating that it would, but I'd like to know if that has really been the case. I know that the mob lets you bet on credit, but I don't see how a regular Joe who likes to bet football but doesn't have any cash on hand is going to get connected with a mobbed-up bookie.

Outside of anecdotal info, I haven't seen anything that says legalized sports betting has benefited the mob. I've seen one or two accounts of it possibly taking a moderate amount of business away as some players prefer to bet legally now that the possibility is there. Some have theorized that legalized sports betting will create more gamblers and some of those will become addicted gamblers that, sooner or later, will have to bet on credit and look for a bookie that provides that option. But that remains to be seen.

Unless I'm overlooking something, the last bookmaking bust out of New Jersey was the October 2014 bust of Chuckie Tuzzo's crew. The last one overall was a Bonanno bust out of Brooklyn in December 2019 (shortly before Covid).

[Nick Prango]

Its not about how long the CN organization survived but instead its about being something "more"...i want to know what "more" really means...if "more" means the long survival of the organization, than ok....but if its the other way around, means that we're going to start glorifying these fellas and maybe even feel sorry for them and justify their actions?

Personally i think that Italian Mafia has and always will be more organized than other ethnic eastern european, asian, hispanic etc criminal organisations in the United States . It’s not just structure, it’s the entire organization of LCN. The power of the Russian mob in USA is a semi-myth.The so called Russian mafia in USA is really divided and different. There are Russian, Ukrainian, Chechen, Azerbaijan, Armenian,Georgian, Polish crime groups etc. People tend to lump together these different Eastern European crime groups and call them the 'Russian mob' in a way that's very misleading and makes them out to be far more organised and structured. These varied criminal organizations which are generally lumped together as being the “Russian Mafia” are not native born Americans in the same manner as the LCN members. They are usually foreign nationals, or recent immigrants, who simply view the United States as a large target to plunder. They aren’t looking for “territory” as it is portrayed in films and television; they are looking for opportunities to make legal and illegal profits. In reality the so called Russian mob in USA got bigged up about 20 years ago by organized crime experts and the media as the next big thing in the underworld but it never really materialised. Even in 2021 no other organised crime group in United States is as structured as LCN, and none have as much influence.

[Nick Prango]

Its not about how long the CN organization survived but instead its about being something "more"...i want to know what "more" really means...if "more" means the long survival of the organization, than ok....but if its the other way around, means that we're going to start glorifying these fellas and maybe even feel sorry for them and justify their actions?

Our people from the Balkans Serbs, Macedonians, Albanians, Montenegrins, Turks, Romanians, Bulgarians, Croats, Bosniaks also view the United States as a large target to plunder. They are looking for opportunities to make legal and illegal profits. Even in 2021 you can't compare these immigrant crime groups to LCN. Albanians from my town who have family members members living in New York and New Jersey told me that Albanian crews mostly work for the Italian crime families in Northeastern United states. Some of them are even bragging that their relatives are with the Gambinos or Genoveses. They told me that Albanians don't really have any big syndicates in the US, just some small crews. From what Albanians told me Albanian crews in USA are not involved in traditional organized crime rackets. They are heavily involved in drugs and mostly work for the Italian crime families in Northeastern United states.

Italian crime families are still the dominant group in Northeastern USA and Chicago and Detroit to a degree out but have lost their stranglehold on many parts . The New York 5 families had (and to a certain extent still have) sections of the city carved up as being parts of their “spheres of influence.” While this declined drastically in the last 30 years due to declining membership numbers and issues with federal prosecutions, they are a still potent force and their members can still evoke fear in both criminals and civilians alike. I am confident they do not control all the gambling like they did in the past. I still believe they have their ties in unions, construction and garbage industry.

[Villain]

Its not about how long the CN organization survived but instead its about being something "more"...i want to know what "more" really means...if "more" means the long survival of the organization, than ok....but if its the other way around, means that we're going to start glorifying these fellas and maybe even feel sorry for them and justify their actions?

Our people from the Balkans Serbs, Macedonians, Albanians, Montenegrins, Turks, Romanians, Bulgarians, Croats, Bosniaks also view the United States as a large target to plunder. They are looking for opportunities to make legal and illegal profits. Even in 2021 you can't compare these immigrant crime groups to LCN. Albanians from my town who have family members members living in New York and New Jersey told me that Albanian crews mostly work for the Italian crime families in Northeastern United states. Some of them are even bragging that their relatives are with the Gambinos or Genoveses. They told me that Albanians don't really have any big syndicates in the US, just some small crews. From what Albanians told me Albanian crews in USA are not involved in traditional organized crime rackets. They are heavily involved in drugs and mostly work for the Italian crime families in Northeastern United states.

Italian crime families are still the dominant group in Northeastern USA and Chicago and Detroit to a degree out but have lost their stranglehold on many parts . The New York 5 families had (and to a certain extent still have) sections of the city carved up as being parts of their “spheres of influence.” While this declined drastically in the last 30 years due to declining membership numbers and issues with federal prosecutions, they are a still potent force and their members can still evoke fear in both criminals and civilians alike. I am confident they do not control all the gambling like they did in the past. I still believe they have their ties in unions, construction and garbage industry.

I dont know who are your Albanian friends, my Macedonian brother, but the shiptars i know or knew (since some of them are deceased) didnt give a fuck if the Gambinos or Latin Kings held a "monopoly" around NY and they dont work for them. Especially some of my Serbian friends. Same thing goes in Rome and Palermo, and Spain and Germany.

You are right about everything you said about CN and i think you are wasting words for something that i already know, but you still didnt answer my previous question....whats "more"? They are "more" than a crime organization? If so what does that mean? Does it mean that they really care about the civilians around them and the Mafia is good for our society or is it something "more"? Lol thats the thing i want to know. Its a simple question which resulted from other "members" post.

As you can see most of my previous questions are ignored by some forum members out of obvious reasons, except for you and Pogo. So let me hear your answer....as I already said, if "more" means the long survival of CN, than ok....if it something else, pls explain in to me...im eager to learn.

Also for me its hard to believe that Italian OC is still dominant in the US, especially Detriot and Chicago. If you count the legitimate and political ties, than i believe that the Irish mob won the "mob war" way before Prohibition Lol

[Nick Prango]

Its not about how long the CN organization survived but instead its about being something "more"...i want to know what "more" really means...if "more" means the long survival of the organization, than ok....but if its the other way around, means that we're going to start glorifying these fellas and maybe even feel sorry for them and justify their actions?

Our people from the Balkans Serbs, Macedonians, Albanians, Montenegrins, Turks, Romanians, Bulgarians, Croats, Bosniaks also view the United States as a large target to plunder. They are looking for opportunities to make legal and illegal profits. Even in 2021 you can't compare these immigrant crime groups to LCN. Albanians from my town who have family members members living in New York and New Jersey told me that Albanian crews mostly work for the Italian crime families in Northeastern United states. Some of them are even bragging that their relatives are with the Gambinos or Genoveses. They told me that Albanians don't really have any big syndicates in the US, just some small crews. From what Albanians told me Albanian crews in USA are not involved in traditional organized crime rackets. They are heavily involved in drugs and mostly work for the Italian crime families in Northeastern United states.

Italian crime families are still the dominant group in Northeastern USA and Chicago and Detroit to a degree out but have lost their stranglehold on many parts . The New York 5 families had (and to a certain extent still have) sections of the city carved up as being parts of their “spheres of influence.” While this declined drastically in the last 30 years due to declining membership numbers and issues with federal prosecutions, they are a still potent force and their members can still evoke fear in both criminals and civilians alike. I am confident they do not control all the gambling like they did in the past. I still believe they have their ties in unions, construction and garbage industry.

I dont know who are your Albanian friends, my Macedonian brother, but the shiptars i know or knew (since some of them are deceased) didnt give a fuck if the Gambinos or Latin Kings held a "monopoly" around NY and they dont work for them. Especially some of my Serbian friends. Same thing goes in Rome and Palermo, and Spain and Germany.

You are right about everything you said about CN and i think you are wasting words for something that i already know, but you still didnt answer my previous question....whats "more"? They are "more" than a crime organization? If so what does that mean? Does it mean that they really care about the civilians around them and the Mafia is good for our society or is it something "more"? Lol thats the thing i want to know. Its a simple question which resulted from other "members" post.

As you can see most of my previous questions are ignored by some forum members out of obvious reasons, except for you and Pogo. So let me hear your answer....as I already said, if "more" means the long survival of CN, than ok....if it something else, pls explain in to me...im eager to learn.

Also for me its hard to believe that Italian OC is still dominant in the US, especially Detriot and Chicago. If you count the legitimate and political ties, than i believe that the Irish mob won the "mob war" way before Prohibition Lol

Bro most Albanians work with Italians. Albanians are some of the larger human trafficking sources. They traffic woman and children to the 5 Italian mafia organizations in Italy and further into eastern Europe and of course a lot of these women end up in the USA as well. Let's not forget how they strapped bombs to women and kids during the Kosovo war too.

[Wiseguy]

Also for me its hard to believe that Italian OC is still dominant in the US, especially Detriot and Chicago. If you count the legitimate and political ties, than i believe that the Irish mob won the "mob war" way before Prohibition Lol

A case can be made for the LCN still having that position in the greater NY metropolitan area, since that's where the five families (with 80% of the national membership) are. Nowhere else though.

[Nick Prango]

Its not about how long the CN organization survived but instead its about being something "more"...i want to know what "more" really means...if "more" means the long survival of the organization, than ok....but if its the other way around, means that we're going to start glorifying these fellas and maybe even feel sorry for them and justify their actions?

Our people from the Balkans Serbs, Macedonians, Albanians, Montenegrins, Turks, Romanians, Bulgarians, Croats, Bosniaks also view the United States as a large target to plunder. They are looking for opportunities to make legal and illegal profits. Even in 2021 you can't compare these immigrant crime groups to LCN. Albanians from my town who have family members members living in New York and New Jersey told me that Albanian crews mostly work for the Italian crime families in Northeastern United states. Some of them are even bragging that their relatives are with the Gambinos or Genoveses. They told me that Albanians don't really have any big syndicates in the US, just some small crews. From what Albanians told me Albanian crews in USA are not involved in traditional organized crime rackets. They are heavily involved in drugs and mostly work for the Italian crime families in Northeastern United states.

Italian crime families are still the dominant group in Northeastern USA and Chicago and Detroit to a degree out but have lost their stranglehold on many parts . The New York 5 families had (and to a certain extent still have) sections of the city carved up as being parts of their “spheres of influence.” While this declined drastically in the last 30 years due to declining membership numbers and issues with federal prosecutions, they are a still potent force and their members can still evoke fear in both criminals and civilians alike. I am confident they do not control all the gambling like they did in the past. I still believe they have their ties in unions, construction and garbage industry.

I dont know who are your Albanian friends, my Macedonian brother, but the shiptars i know or knew (since some of them are deceased) didnt give a fuck if the Gambinos or Latin Kings held a "monopoly" around NY and they dont work for them. Especially some of my Serbian friends. Same thing goes in Rome and Palermo, and Spain and Germany.

You are right about everything you said about CN and i think you are wasting words for something that i already know, but you still didnt answer my previous question....whats "more"? They are "more" than a crime organization? If so what does that mean? Does it mean that they really care about the civilians around them and the Mafia is good for our society or is it something "more"? Lol thats the thing i want to know. Its a simple question which resulted from other "members" post.

As you can see most of my previous questions are ignored by some forum members out of obvious reasons, except for you and Pogo. So let me hear your answer....as I already said, if "more" means the long survival of CN, than ok....if it something else, pls explain in to me...im eager to learn.

Also for me its hard to believe that Italian OC is still dominant in the US, especially Detriot and Chicago. If you count the legitimate and political ties, than i believe that the Irish mob won the "mob war" way before Prohibition Lol

I never said that all Albanian criminals in USA work for Italian crime families. But there are Albanians who are associates of LCN families. Even John Pennisi had a dispute over a woman with Albanian Gambino associate. These Albanians from my town were bragging that their relatives are working for Italian gangsters in New York.

I don't doubt that Serbs,Albanians,Macedonians, Montenegrins etc don't give a fuck who has a monopoly in american cities. We (people from the Balkans) are tough, ruthless, stubborn and resilient, but these Balkans crime groups are smaller and more disorganized than the Italian crime families. We can't compare them to LCN. Despite their weakened state, Italian crime families still form the largest and most organized crime syndicate in the USA.

Have you heard of this guy Joco Ninja. He is a Macedonian guy from Struga. His name is Jovan, his nickname is Ninja because he was obsessed with Ninja movies as a kid. In the late 80's/ 90's he was the most notorious street thug in the Ohrid/Struga region. He was ruthless. He was beating up people for no reason on a weekly basis. Even Albanians feared him. Albanians feared him yet a Macedonian shot him. In late 1998 this guy Slave chased and shot the Ninja in the center of Struga. The Ninja was badly injured, but he survived. Slave threatened that he is going to finish the job. Ninja was legitimately afraid for his life, so he fled to New Jersey. There he formed a small criminal group of Macedonians. His small criminal organisation was active in the early/mid 00s and involved mostly with drugs, loansharking, illegal gambling, dog fights and extortion. Do you want to know who he extorted? Other Macedonians. People from Ohrid and Struga who were in Jersey at the time told me that the Ninja didn't give a fuck about the Italians. He was not afraid of them. He did what he wanted. Eventually in the mid 00's he was indicted and convicted for drug trafficking. He wind up doing 12 years in American federal prison system. After he got out he returned in Macedonia. He lives in Skopje now. Can we compare this Joco Ninja crime group to Italian crime family, just because he didn't give a fuck who had a monopoly in Jersey at the time and did what he wanted?

My point is that comparing these other ethnic crime groups to LCN crime families is like comparing apples and oranges. They are essentially loose knit collections of small ethnic criminal organizations in USA. For the most part they operate within their ethnic communities. These groups are more about particular scams than taking over huge pieces of territory or whole industries. I am not glorifying the Italian crime famillies, but personally i think that even in 2021 they are something "more" compared to these other ethnic criminal oraganisations in USA

[Shellackhead]

I thought you was American this whole time

[Nick Prango]

I thought you was American this whole time

I am from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Macedonia brother

[Shellackhead]

I thought you was American this whole time

I am from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Macedonia brother

Isn’t that. Fake country? Bootleg Greece I heard.. Makedonia

[Nick Prango]

I thought you was American this whole time

I am from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Macedonia brother

Isn’t that. Fake country? Bootleg Greece I heard.. Makedonia

It's a long and complex history, but both countries are modern creations, except Greece is about 100 years ahead of us with the nation building process, basics; Politically in Greece the language is called greek and nationality is greek. In Macedonia the language is Macedonian and nationality Macedonian. We have a shared history like many other Balkans nations. There are a lot of genes and culture overlaps between Greeks and Macedonians (Other balkan nations too).

That said there is a thing called Aegean Macedonian refugees, Aegeans for short. They are around 100k in total, of whom 30k were children refugees. They came to then communist Macedonia fleeing the terror of the winners of the greek civil war of 1949. The terror was a time we learned in history. Short story, greek civil war, conservative vs communist. A lot of Aegean Macedonians joined the communist side becouse of the recognition they got as Macedonian greeks. And they payed the price for it.

The point of this story is that people look only at the geo location of the country of Macedonia and don't know that there was and still is a sizeable minority of slavic macedonians who live in the greek region of macedonia. They btw, became a minority in said region in the 1920s after the population swap between turkey and greece. They are a valid contribution for the ancient Macedonian heritage bid. There are more bids but i really don't want to get into this rabbit hole.

Why nobody knows this? Because the fyrom agrement of 1995. Macedonia dropped the minority rights, sold them out, also its name and history and the greeks dropped the 2 year embargo and they promised not to block our country in any future aspirations to join nato or eu. That worked out really well for us, right? Btw, Bulgaria also claimed this minority but dropped it because of the fear of greek retaliation. Funny how people cherry pick historical facts that only work toward the approved narrative.

Today, in Macedonia, the most hard line nationalists are those of Aegean Macedonian heritage.

[Ivan]

While the NY families are in better shape than the predictions 30 years ago (early 1990's), I do agree we will see a big change over the next 30 years. While I don't necessarily think NY LCN families will be gone in 2050, given the "demographic winter" the mob is facing, they'll likely be significantly smaller by then. Perhaps half of their current size. Maybe some merging will take place, something some have theorized, albeit prematurely. By 2050, you will probably be able to count on one hand the number of living mobsters outside the Northeast corridor.

Yeah in 2050 the guys born before 1970 will be 80+ years old. And if you look at the indictments etc. it seems like once the millennial generation gets started (1980) their representation in terms of numbers just falls off a cliff. You get the impression that just about everyone involved in 2021, made guys and associates alike, is 40+ except for some rare exceptions, and when Gen X and older fade from the scene, that'll be pretty much the de facto end of the mob. Of course there's no way to really predict what will happen, the families could get totally taken over by young zips between now and then or something, who knows.

[CabriniGreen]

@ Chris... the latest from Pennisi.... this is why you cant exempt Cosa Nostra from the drug trade, also..... there is a lot of info on this, in the article about Sicily I posted....


https://sitdownnews.com/cosa-nostras-soldati-children/

[Nick Prango]

Its not about how long the CN organization survived but instead its about being something "more"...i want to know what "more" really means...if "more" means the long survival of the organization, than ok....but if its the other way around, means that we're going to start glorifying these fellas and maybe even feel sorry for them and justify their actions?

Have you read the latest Colombo crime family indictment brother? It takes a lot of sophistication to do a scheme like this that separates La Cosa Nostra Families from other black, hispanic, asian, white/ biker etc gangs and eastern european/ asian ethnic criminal organizations in the United States which seem to infatuate people these days. I think people just have a really short memory here of what a scheme like this could yield if the bud is not nipped right away.

In 2018, Vincent Esposito, son of the late Vincent Gigante and other members of the Genovese Crime Family were nabbed for extorting UFCW Local 2D. When Vincent pled guilty, he admitted to making millions with members of the Genovese Crime Family by extorting payments, demanding kickbacks, committing fraud, and installing fear. He personally extorted over ten thousand dollars a year from the senior union official leading Local 2D. He had to forfeit over $3.8mn to the United States government which shows what kind of money you can make with prolonged control of a union local. For all of that, he got 2 years in prison! This is why union racketeering is so lucrative, you can pilfer a lot of money, gain a lot of influence and still only receive a short prison sentence. The Colombo Crime Family would have similarly made millions in ill-gotten gains if the Government didn’t catch on to this scheme quickly. Their big mistake was getting the administration involved in overseeing this scheme as opposed to keeping it more insulated like the Genovese Crime Family and letting the soldiers take the pinch. So yes, this is impressive. It’s beyond the capabilities of any of the more “fashionable” gangs and criminal organizations people like to rave about online. And when they plead out, they are not going to get drug-type sentences too. IMO this type of criminal activities is what makes American LCN "something more".

It is sophisticated because it blends the legitimate and illegitimate business world and is only something American LCN has been able to do. First, you can't benefit from union racketeering if you don't own a business that can pursue contracts/jobs that the union works with. So this involves being capable/smart enough to own businesses and organize employees etc. Once you have the construction company that the union can steer jobs too, then that's the most lucrative part of the scheme. You get more contracts and more work, therefore you are getting more money. Typical gangs and other eastern european/asian/hispanic OC groups have not demonstrated to be able to do that.

Then there is the direct health care fund pilfering - you need to own/control benefit companies with licenses etc. that can take place skim and get kick-backs. Then you need money laundering capabilities to cycle that money and make it look clean. There are a lot of moving parts. Plus there is sub schemes within union racketeering like the Coffee Boys scam the Colombo's were doing with Local 6A. As I have shown with the Genovese example, these schemes can yield millions and millions of dollars and he only got 2 years in prison. Compare that to a drug charge where you are looking at double-digit years minimum. If this scheme was going for as long as the Genovese, the Colombo's would have received millions in ill-gotten gains.