The Corporation

[outfit guy]

If you are not yet aware of T.J. English's new book release, I'd acquaint yourselves. The book tells the story of the Cuban Mafia in the U.S. And no, it is not the Albanian crew that is decimated with one sweep arrest. Instead, you'll read of a highly organized and ruthless organization that challenged the Lucchese and Genovese Crime Families and fire-bombed both out of the most lucrative of Bolita operations in central Harlem, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Wiretaps are translated with a Cuban "manager" warning two Bonanno men, paraphrasing: you send ten, I'll send twenty. We already beat you once. This holds for me that Italian OC is a tool of a politicized law enforcement, and as one victim's relative of the Chicago Outfit proclaimed, "a glorified street gang." Regardless, Read This Book if you are a passionate consumer of all things OC.

[Wiseguy]

What do you mean "This holds for me Italian OC is a tool of politicized law enforcement" and "a glorified street gang?"

I'm always a little sceptical of tales of some new group pushing aside the LCN because they have so often been blown out of proportion. You can go back over the years and see the media and certain scholars in love with the new overthrowing the old idea. In the 1960s it was the blacks. In the 1970s it was the Cubans and Colombians. In the 1980s it was the Chinese. In the 1990s it was the Russians. In the 2000s it was the Albanians.

I haven't read the book yet but some of which I have read about the Corporation seemed a little overhyped, specifically the number of members it had and how many numbers outlets it had. Also, from what I've read, Battle and his organization usually had a good working relationship with the LCN. He used his LCN contacts to get established, first in Florida and later in New York and New Jersey. Early on, the Corporation paid tribute to the LCN as well as needed the LCN's help to collect it's gambling debts before it was eventually able to do that on its own. And they usually seemed to respect each other's territory. The Corporation had control of the gambling within Hispanic communities but there doesn't seem to be much about conflicts between them and the LCN. I know there was a break off group from the Corporation that called itself The Company that had some brief hostilities with the Luccheses, at least before the LCN had one of their leaders killed.

Anyway, while the Corporation was big into gambling and eventually diversified into other crimes, it never rivaled the LCN in terms of overall power.

[JeremyTheJew]

only big in gambling?? not drugs??

the thing that usually makes LCN the upper hand is that they are not just in one or two rackets like a lot of these other groups who run drugs and maybe little things here and there.

but i dont get what u mean about the politicals

[Wiseguy]

only big in gambling?? not drugs??

the thing that usually makes LCN the upper hand is that they are not just in one or two rackets like a lot of these other groups who run drugs and maybe little things here and there.

but i dont get what u mean about the politicals

Later on the Corporation expanded into other forms of gambling like bookmaking and video poker, as well as narcotics, stolen goods, etc but their primary racket was always the numbers/bolita. But its presence really didn't go much past the Hispanic areas it operated in and it (nor any other group for that matter) had the labor union influence and involvement in legitimate industries the LCN did.

[Wiseguy]

Excerpts from the hearings on Organized Crime and Gambling in 1985 -


Battle, a former Havana vice cop, also served in Batista's army, was a member of Brigade 2506, the Bay of Pigs landing group. During Batista's reign, Cuban gambling casinos were influenced by U. S. Underworld figures, including Meyer Lansky and Santo Trafficante, who is the head of a La Cosa Nostra Family in Tampa. After the failure of the invasion force, Battle was made a lieutenant in the U.S. Army by an Act of Congress, then returned to the Miami area and became deeply involved in the establishment of this country's first Cuban-controlled gambling operation. His organization has grown steadily with the migration of Cubans to other areas of the country. Battle is noted for his organizational genius and toughness, but his empire expanded initially, mainly through police and political corruption. Battle moved to Union City, New Jersey in the late 1960s and established his gambling operation in the Northeast, with the help of traditional organized crime members, such as Joseph "Bayonne Joe" Zicarelli and Santo Trafficante. Battle soon became the Cuban Godfather mainly by taking over existing policy operations by means of homicides and arsons.

It is believed that in the early 1970s the Battle gambling operation established a strong foothold in the New York City area. Policy operations sprung up in almost every Cuban or Spanish bar or bodega. The success of the Cuban gambling operations did not go unnoticed by elements of La Cosa Nostra operating in Northern New Jersey. The result was a kind of mutual assistance pact between "The Corporation" and La Cosa Nostra whereby "The Corporation" paid a percentage of the action and laid off some bets with Mafia. Zicarelli and James Napoli, identified by the New York City Police Department as a "Capo" in the Genovese Crime Family, were instrumental in negotiating this alliance.

In New York, as in New Jersey , a "marriage" had to be made with the already established organized crime faction, the Mafia. You will hear that there have reported meetings between Battle and various members of New York organized crime families of La Cosa Nostra such as Carmine and Sonny Lombardozzi, and that as in New Jersey, "The Corporation" pays tribute to the Mafia in New York City.




HARMON: A final few questions, Mr. Witness. How can The Corporation operate in a city like New York where the Mafia has such an influence?

THE WITNESS: They send envelopes every week.

MR. HARMON: Who sends envelopes to whom?

THE WITNESS: The Corporation sends them.

MR. HARMON: To the Mafia?

THE WITNESS: Uh huh.

MR. HARMON: So is it correct, then, that the Mafia has given The Corporation a kind of license to operate in New York City?

THE WITNESS: Yes.

[Slumpy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uui869yDoX0

here's Tj English on the Joe Rogan podcast with Joey Diaz (who I guess grew up in that neighborhood at that time) discussing the Cuban mob. They go into a ton of detail about Bolita.

[JIGGS]

What do you mean "This holds for me Italian OC is a tool of politicized law enforcement" and "a glorified street gang?"

I'm always a little sceptical of tales of some new group pushing aside the LCN because they have so often been blown out of proportion. You can go back over the years and see the media and certain scholars in love with the new overthrowing the old idea. In the 1960s it was the blacks. In the 1970s it was the Cubans and Colombians. In the 1980s it was the Chinese. In the 1990s it was the Russians. In the 2000s it was the Albanians.

I haven't read the book yet but some of which I have read about the Corporation seemed a little overhyped, specifically the number of members it had and how many numbers outlets it had. Also, from what I've read, Battle and his organization usually had a good working relationship with the LCN. He used his LCN contacts to get established, first in Florida and later in New York and New Jersey. Early on, the Corporation paid tribute to the LCN as well as needed the LCN's help to collect it's gambling debts before it was eventually able to do that on its own. And they usually seemed to respect each other's territory. The Corporation had control of the gambling within Hispanic communities but there doesn't seem to be much about conflicts between them and the LCN. I know there was a break off group from the Corporation that called itself The Company that had some brief hostilities with the Luccheses, at least before the LCN had one of their leaders killed.

Anyway, while the Corporation was big into gambling and eventually diversified into other crimes, it never rivaled the LCN in terms of overall power.

For once I have to agree with Wiseguy. I lived that whole era when they were firebombing the "daily" spots in the '80s and LCN was not the target. That would have been Justice dept. priority if it were true and not left to the keystoner task forces on the ground to solve the case. The Cubans (which included Dominicans, the 'ricans and other spanish folk) were going after independents all along upper Broadway and Lenox. That was typically Marquez family territory, who were spanish AND black. And who were not paying anybody. Not the West Side, no one, for "protection" up there. I also know that 9 out of 10 Cubans weren't "Corporation." Just like no Irisher in the kitchen was a so called "Westie." NO Italians in the drug biz were so called "Purple gang." Even with a DEA report confirming it all coming out of Pleasant ave. It's all bullshit. Randolph Hearst got the ball rolling and it mushroomed from there. Government takes a page from the press because you gotta have your ducks in a row to prove RICO. Brand names move it along. Book authors are no different. The story sells more. I noticed Mike Meldisch is being identified as a "former Purple Gang leader" now. Give me a break! When the hell did that happen? Disorganized crime is being portrayed as LCN-like. Skepticism is an ally when it comes to crime and media.

Bye,
JIGGS

[JIGGS]

only big in gambling?? not drugs??

Yes drugs. Big time. Like EVERYONE else.

JIGGS

[JIGGS]

Excerpts from the hearings on Organized Crime and Gambling in 1985 -


Battle, a former Havana vice cop, also served in Batista's army, was a member of Brigade 2506, the Bay of Pigs landing group. During Batista's reign, Cuban gambling casinos were influenced by U. S. Underworld figures, including Meyer Lansky and Santo Trafficante, who is the head of a La Cosa Nostra Family in Tampa. After the failure of the invasion force, Battle was made a lieutenant in the U.S. Army by an Act of Congress, then returned to the Miami area and became deeply involved in the establishment of this country's first Cuban-controlled gambling operation. His organization has grown steadily with the migration of Cubans to other areas of the country. Battle is noted for his organizational genius and toughness, but his empire expanded initially, mainly through police and political corruption. Battle moved to Union City, New Jersey in the late 1960s and established his gambling operation in the Northeast, with the help of traditional organized crime members, such as Joseph "Bayonne Joe" Zicarelli and Santo Trafficante. Battle soon became the Cuban Godfather mainly by taking over existing policy operations by means of homicides and arsons.

It is believed that in the early 1970s the Battle gambling operation established a strong foothold in the New York City area. Policy operations sprung up in almost every Cuban or Spanish bar or bodega. The success of the Cuban gambling operations did not go unnoticed by elements of La Cosa Nostra operating in Northern New Jersey. The result was a kind of mutual assistance pact between "The Corporation" and La Cosa Nostra whereby "The Corporation" paid a percentage of the action and laid off some bets with Mafia. Zicarelli and James Napoli, identified by the New York City Police Department as a "Capo" in the Genovese Crime Family, were instrumental in negotiating this alliance.

In New York, as in New Jersey , a "marriage" had to be made with the already established organized crime faction, the Mafia. You will hear that there have reported meetings between Battle and various members of New York organized crime families of La Cosa Nostra such as Carmine and Sonny Lombardozzi, and that as in New Jersey, "The Corporation" pays tribute to the Mafia in New York City.




HARMON: A final few questions, Mr. Witness. How can The Corporation operate in a city like New York where the Mafia has such an influence?

THE WITNESS: They send envelopes every week.

MR. HARMON: Who sends envelopes to whom?

THE WITNESS: The Corporation sends them.

MR. HARMON: To the Mafia?

THE WITNESS: Uh huh.

MR. HARMON: So is it correct, then, that the Mafia has given The Corporation a kind of license to operate in New York City?

THE WITNESS: Yes.

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!

Just sayin',
JIGGS

[outfit guy]

I'll respond to Wiseguy "This holds for me Italian OC is a tool of politicized law enforcement" and "a glorified street gang" in another post. (It truly should have another thread and consider starting.)

With regard to JIggs, that payment cited is a token Christmas present to Fat Tony along with a promise not to establish a bolita operation within 2 blocks of any existing operation; the 2-block rule. The lion's share of profits remained with the Cubans until Battle (Batlle) determined he could win in a conflict. Despite Fat Tony's admonition, the Bolita Wars ensued mostly in Manhattan and the Bronx of which the Cubans prevailed and the payments ceased. Additionally, the Corporation then began moving directly in Italian-administered policy all over the boroughs. Hence, my comments with regard to the "politicized" LE. An organized multi-state lottery business administered through murder and war of 90 bombings did not deter the FBI pursuing an over-dressed, average gangster that did not even control a borough, no less a city.

I'll restate that this is not the Albanian-American "crew" (albeit tough and lucrative) that "ran" - or took - lucrative gambling rackets for less than ten years. The Corporation was - and is - very structured and organized and administered the most profitable Bolita/Policy rackets in the north and south-east. Spanish Raymond's operation was small and in East Harlem. Spanish Raymond himself joined La Compania - a consortium of bolita bankers formed to defend against the Corporation - for protection.

[JIGGS]

With regard to JIggs, that payment cited is a token Christmas present to Fat Tony along with a promise not to establish a bolita operation within 2 blocks of any existing operation; the 2-block rule. The lion's share of profits remained with the Cubans until Battle (Batlle) determined he could win in a conflict. Despite Fat Tony's admonition, the Bolita Wars ensued mostly in Manhattan and the Bronx of which the Cubans prevailed and the payments ceased. Additionally, the Corporation then began moving directly in Italian-administered policy all over the boroughs. Hence, my comments with regard to the "politicized" LE. An organized multi-state lottery business administered through murder and war of 90 bombings did not deter the FBI pursuing an over-dressed, average gangster that did not even control a borough, no less a city.

Part of the narrative that may not be in the book report is the reason why the Cubans thought they could get away without paying. "Spanish Bob" and "Spanish Raymond" had policy going up there for decades. The Marquez went back to the days of Joey Rao and Mike Coppola. They dealt with the father who owned a supermarket and printing press. The 2 block rule didn't apply to them. It wasn't out of initimidation or that they were equals to the West Side by any means. They simply had that privilege under Genovese and later Funzi Tieri. Why? No idea. That's just the way it was. The Cubans dispatched a hothead named Conrado Pons to move in on the Marquez locations. The beef was between them. If the Ricans weren't paying off, why should they? Picking off the Marquez spots was strategically easier. I'm talking about the 80s. There were no tough guys, and were mostly senior citizen types in those hair salons, bodegas, video stores that had no inventory and were literal fronts for announcing the daily at 9pm on a blackboard. Usually by some old coot. Despite what the report alleges (and the intel is exactly that. An allegation. The sentence starts out by stating "It is believed...". That's speculation.) no way do they challenge the West Side in the early 1980s. No way. That would have been suicide. The Cubans don't knowcwhat their numbers are. Gigante would have had them all converted into mulch. It was no secret where Battle lived or had his residence at (Union City) just like everybody knew where Bob (82nd & Riverside dr.) and Raymond (E. Islip, L.I.) lived. But this was a street thing between the spanish. Whoever comes out on top is who the West Side would recognize. (Or so it was said). In the end, the ckps did their job and a nuisance was eliminated. I don't know what the book by English relates but if its another "the Cubans are coming" takeover of LCN rackets, it's just another Melvin von Peebles flick. That's about as believable as Mickey Featherstone and the 10th avenue "Westies" going up to 115 and Pleasant to spray the dePalma boys club with machine gun fire. Another fable of true crime novel lore.

I'll restate that this is not the Albanian-American "crew" (albeit tough and lucrative) that "ran" - or took - lucrative gambling rackets for less than ten years. The Corporation was - and is - very structured and organized and administered the most profitable Bolita/Policy rackets in the north and south-east. Spanish Raymond's operation was small and in East Harlem. Spanish Raymond himself joined La Compania - a consortium of bolita bankers formed to defend against the Corporation - for protection.

Now it's "The Company." Which is this one? The Dominican guys? That scenario you describe all sounds like a chapter in a book written by Carl Sifakis. Rhymes with siFAKEis. Mr. Raymond Marquez had a small operation? I mightily disagree. 20 million a year reportedly in 1969 on just bolita. And he was in prison then. And his game was not East Harlem my friend. Part of it was WEST Harlem (West of Fifth Avenue), all across Upper Broadway into the Washington Heights area. And that was just the numbers. There's a reason Raymond Marquez was tight with Genovese. The Marquez family go back to the 1930s. Ray himself goes back to the late 1940s. Over 50 years and active on the street running a multi million dollar empire. He had one of the biggest poker games going on the Upper West Side that no regular mutt could get into and was working in tandem with Hugh Mulligan from Queens (some clown will refer to him as a "Westie" no doubt), and LCN, among others. This game was legendary and featured a steel door with bolts and the sliding peep hole with enough distance to see who was on the other side but not make out who was behind the door. Raymond Marquez owned properties along riverside drive, columbus avenue, broadway and amsterdam (back when the UWS was a shit hole of course) from 72nd to 110th street. He was also involved in narcotics, as well as girls. He had a place in Fort Lee. He owned multiple motels in the Florida area, as well as another residence. He had shy on the street. He was about as made of a guy with the West Side without being made. Surveillance had him meeting with made people. Shot callers. Antonio Ferro. Funzi Tieri. Anthony Salerno. Meeting at the Colonial Inn. Ben Turpin's social club. He had lawyers (a real notorious "mob lawyer" who wound up being murdered in the 1970s), crooked assemblymen (Angelo and William del Toro), and even a judge on his payroll (all documented my friend, if the media counts for something). That's no exaggeration. The real people that were around know what I'm saying is true. I've no rhyme or reason to bullshit or enhance the reputation of a Puerto Rican numbers, junk and skag peddler. But the books only talk about one thing. Bolita. He was on the FBN radar early on before the Rockefeller laws took hold. His partners, the Angelet brothers (who no one talks about), were HUGE once upon a time. Drugs, hijacking trucks, drugs, swag, drugs, cigarettes, drugs. All the grunt work the crews affiliated with the mob were into. And like LCN, they had staying power. Marquez's entire family was literally a crime family in the traditional Sicilian sense. His father. All his uncles. His brothers. His nephews got involved in the life. He had a brother with a couple of gambling spots in Queens now that I recall. This is all out there so it ain't just the word from the street bullshit.

Battle was "grandfathered" into Union City because a Cuban american community was already established there before and after the Revolution. Same with Miami. There was no effort there to set up shop. But Harlem and New York in general was another story. It took them 25 years (1962) to stand up to LCN in NYC? And what happened if that scenario was really true? That this incredibly well oiled and structured organization took on LCN? You know what happened? Nothing happened. LCN continued to chug along their merry old way, even after the rise of RICO. Raymond Marquez and his family was still being indicted for running a multi-million dollary policy game, the largest in the city, in the early 1990s and later at the tail end of the century. Battle Sr. died in a prison cell in North Carolina. Raymond Marquez is still alive in N. Hialeah, Florida, saying "Fuck You" to the $1,000,000.00 he owes in fines to the city after his last arrest. An amount he has repeatedly stated he will never pay off. In the end, THAT is what counts. Not what Wikipedia says or the 6th Family type hype.

Corporation was 2,500 members? I'll bet 750 of them, at least, were grandmothers. Don't believe the sensationalist hype they give these organizations. A good chunk of Battle's life outside of Cubar was in prison or on the lam. Those guys in Canadia did the exact same thing with the Rizzutos. Little Joe Shots and them guys. Making them into the family above all families. They had them being connected to the Colombians, the Mexican cartels, the Yakuza, Hell's Angels, Jamaican Shower Posse, Al Qaeda, Venezuelan Guerillas, Haitian Mafia, the JDL, "Black Mafia," P.E.T.A., YMCA, anybody who had defcon 3 capability. On top of their sicilian, calabrian, neapolitan and brooklyn connections. As if they could all be summoned at the snap of two fingers. And what happened after all was said and done? No Russian nuclear submarine owned by Boris came to the rescue. They all got shot in the forehead by a french guy. Give me a break.

Corporation was just another glorified crew. The task forces really go to town on those numbers to justify their budget. Again, Corporation sends a sociopath to NYC to muscle in on the Marquez territory, he firebombs a couple of places, gets busted, convicted and sentenced... and that was it. You never heard from these people again in NY. If they got in and Battle benefited they were one of hundreds of operators in the city. Marquez had the biggest game at that point. Supposedly, some Dominicans who used to be controllers in the Marquez network started their own thing when the old man went to jail and retired for good. Newspapers said they had the biggest operation in nyc history. They say that about everyone they bust. Promotions and book sales are at stake.

Btw nice to meet ya. Don't be put off by my post. That's just how I express myself. It ain't a personal attack on you. My beef is with the true crime industrial complex that make decent operations into these all powerful entities. All I'm saying is don't misinterpret a wiretap of a bunch of Cubans threatening one guy. LCN works in the shadows and don't reveal themselves too much. They also know a war is bad for business. Inaction doesn't mean they're afraid of these guys. Look at how they deal with each other. When they are TRULY challenged and real money is at stake, they respond. Like Manna with the Gottis. Or the other extreme. They would have flipped and cooperated out of fear, if the Cubans were really that much of a threat. It was business as usual and still is.

JIGGS

[outfit guy]

Very interesting and informative. Battle spent maybe the last 18 months of his life in prison. He truly escaped justice. Battle also violently took control of the Miami bolita business. I'd suggest the book to everyone. T.J. sticks to the crime theme without overly documenting the Bay of Pigs. Much is not written on The Corporation and La Compania so he has to rely on certain second-hand interviews. Robert Hopkins is on Facebook; he's also on YouTube singing at Studio 54. (He's the Lucchese associate implicated in a murder.) Think of it: in the mid-1980s the son was stopped at the airport with $450K (net) for a week. Another wiretap picked up Cuban associates covering a $250K sports bet without "lay-off": That's a large operation.
I believe there is a lot to write on this subject and hope we can keep the thread open.

[Wiseguy]

I'll respond to Wiseguy "This holds for me Italian OC is a tool of politicized law enforcement" and "a glorified street gang" in another post. (It truly should have another thread and consider starting.)

If you want to start a thread about how "Italian OC is a tool of politicized law enforcement," go ahead, but it will probably end about as well as Joe Colombo's movement on the same subject.

As for the LCN being a "glorified street gang," you'll have to expound on that. Was that relative of an Outfit victim referring to the Chicago mob today, the LCN overall, what time period, etc? And are you trying to argue the Corporation was a more powerful crime group than the LCN? Or is this just about the feds going after Gotti (the "overdressed, average gangster" you mention below?)

With regard to JIggs, that payment cited is a token Christmas present to Fat Tony along with a promise not to establish a bolita operation within 2 blocks of any existing operation; the 2-block rule. The lion's share of profits remained with the Cubans until Battle (Batlle) determined he could win in a conflict. Despite Fat Tony's admonition, the Bolita Wars ensued mostly in Manhattan and the Bronx of which the Cubans prevailed and the payments ceased. Additionally, the Corporation then began moving directly in Italian-administered policy all over the boroughs. Hence, my comments with regard to the "politicized" LE. An organized multi-state lottery business administered through murder and war of 90 bombings did not deter the FBI pursuing an over-dressed, average gangster that did not even control a borough, no less a city.

I'll restate that this is not the Albanian-American "crew" (albeit tough and lucrative) that "ran" - or took - lucrative gambling rackets for less than ten years. The Corporation was - and is - very structured and organized and administered the most profitable Bolita/Policy rackets in the north and south-east. Spanish Raymond's operation was small and in East Harlem. Spanish Raymond himself joined La Compania - a consortium of bolita bankers formed to defend against the Corporation - for protection.

Again, I haven't read the book yet, but I've seen very little over the years that supports this idea that the Corporation made a direct, widespread assault against the LCN's numbers operations. As I posted earlier, Battle had close ties to the LCN from early on and, according to that witness in the report I posted, his organization was sending weekly payments to the LCN at least up to the mid-1980s. Of course, that was around the time of the Bolita wars but those were largely between competing Hispanic groups for control of the gambling rackets in their areas. Again, the only thing that's ever come up is conflict between Robert Hopkins (a Lucchese associate) and La Compania (an offshoot of the Corporation) after negotiations had failed. And there aren't many details about that other than the murder of Pedro Acosta. The article below mentions how the fighting was largely between between Cubans and how Acosta was part of La Compania, though it mistakenly says it was Battle's organization.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/1986/03/15/n ... -seen.html

There is another book called The New Ethnic Mobs by William Kleinknecht, from which pretty much revolves around the new groups-overthrowing-the-Mafia theory. He devotes a chapter to the Corporation and he only mentions that Battle's group and the LCN respected each other's territory and followed the 2-block rule. If there really had been an attack on the Italian mob by the Corporation, I imagine Kleinknecht would have been all over that.

Perhaps there were some tensions between the Corporation and some LCN numbers operations along the way but this idea that "the Corporation then began moving directly in Italian-administered policy all over the boroughs" doesn't seen to be found anywhere outside English's book. If that's what he actually says. Anyway, be careful about arriving to a conclusion based on his book alone.

[JIGGS]

I haven't read Willy K's book and never will. But what proof does he offer that the Corporation had operations in areas where the West Side, who implemented that rule, held sway over? No book about Bolita or the numbers that doesn't have the Marquez in the equation can be taken seriously. Battle, his son, Pons, and the rest, had no impact in NYC. Their fortunes were made outside of it.

JIGGS

[Wiseguy]

I haven't read Willy K's book and never will. But what proof does he offer that the Corporation had operations in areas where the West Side, who implemented that rule, held sway over? No book about Bolita or the numbers that doesn't have the Marquez in the equation can be taken seriously. Battle, his son, Pons, and the rest, had no impact in NYC. Their fortunes were made outside of it.

JIGGS

It's been a while since I read it (it's from the early 1990s) but he doesn't go into many details about how this 2 block agreement was established. Maybe he had just heard about it and assumed it was the situation between the LCN and Battle's group.

The funny thing about the book is that it builds up the idea throughout that these new groups are taking over. At least a third of it is on the Chinese who Kleinknecht ranked only behind the Italians in New York at the time. But at the end of the book he almost does a 180, maybe to hedge his bets, and admits that the Chinese are "an Eastern people in a Western nation" and so will likely never have the reach the Mafia did. And that proved true. How often do we hear about the Ghost Shadows or Flying Dragons anymore?