Gangland - 8/16/18

[HairyKnuckles]

Jiggs, what s the story behind at least one Mafia informant back in the early 1980s saying that LCN is having serious trouble with the Purple Gang? Was there something brewing between the two groups?

[Stroccos]

Thanks for posting chucky

[Cheech]

Jiggs, what s the story behind at least one Mafia informant back in the early 1980s saying that LCN is having serious trouble with the Purple Gang? Was there something brewing between the two groups?

can you snip that here?

[UTC]

They were from East Harlem - 116th Street area back in the day. They were also big out in Detroit

I know about the Detroit gang but I've read conflicting posts on here about this Harlem Purple Gang. I think JIGGS just recently posted in one thread about how it was basically make believe. Is there a thread on it already? I'll try to search for it.

Some guys that knew each other got bunched up together with other guys that knew each other and were all happened to be involved in the drug trade and had Italian surnames, plus the two Pollocks Mike and Joe "Il Ruso." Some part time journalist took an incident with Caserta and others and made up a conspiracy known as Purple Gang. After the Prohibition era gang, because the drug trade was being likened to Prohibition. They were getting credit for hits ( .25 caliber murders) they had nothing to do with. Murders that decades later were SOLVED pointing it in the right direction. But these motherfucks in media and the wikimafia want to keep running the Purple Gang myth. Now it's out of control. Anyone with a link to East Harlem and drugs was Purple Gang. Okay Have fun.

JIGGS

I got ya thank you. Were there ever any specific cases involving any of these guys together JIGGS?
I asking in the direction of was there ever a Purple Gang indictment?

Never. I ain't never heard or read about a Purple Gang trial or indictment. All you have are individual crimes being committed with the perpetrators being referenced as former Purple Gang leader. For the record, it's only now that Mike Meldisch is getting tagged with the Purple Gang leader title. They wasn't saying that 20-35 years ago. It's all newspaper gimmick shit to hype the story and make the whole story more dramatic than what it actually is.

The closest thing to a federal investigation was a 1976 DEA Report. I first became privy to it when it was first cited in a newspaper article with the same sensational sentence that continued to be referenced in those wacky Mafia encyclopedias. That the PGN was 127 Italian American youth from East Harlem who did contract killings, extortions, moved "H" and were associated with the Genovese, and Lucchese families. (They even had them doing deals with the Contras in Nicaragua. GMAFB!) They were all supposed to be the children of wiseguys. They took one example (Jimmy Caserta) whose old man was in the life and converted that into the PGN's autobiography. But if anyone reads the DEA report it conveys an organized gang on its last legs. In other words the report was capturing them in their decline. But then the faccia brut' phony journalism reporters concocted some sort of PGN renaissance post-1976. Making them out to be the Sixth Family. Claiming unnamed sources in the NYPD were concerned over a shooting war. When Johnny Cokes got whacked they cited that murder as an example to bolster the NYPD concern. We know that this Jersey hit was committed in-house by the West Side. Mikey Cigars is currently in the clink for that act. But back then it was an unsolved homocide. These motherless fucks exploited the situation and hyped up the Purple Gang angle.

See the 1970s had all this talk about the Mulinyan, the Mexicans, Cubans, Fuckin' Gook gangs, etc. The PRs. They were all supposed to take over the underworld. Based on some scholar's theory about immigrants taking turns at the top of the criminal food chain. Because of the Black Power movement it was supposed to be their turn at the top. What that stupid movie about Lucas was all about. Even Pileggi was pushing that shit. As was Bill Bonanno in his first tell all.. These bastards were going by wherever the wind blew at the time. If the prevailing theory would have been the Micks were emerging as a power in the underworld, they would have had Hugh Mulligan as boss of bosses if they could. And they were going that route too. You could see it. Anyone who was Irish was automatically a Westie. Even though Hugh was a Queens guy. PGN is the same as the Westies. Marketing terms given to individual racketeers and junk pushers, loosely connected to traditional organized crime groups. There was no hierarchy. Jimmy Coonan was the boss of Jimmy Coonan. He had "whoever" on his payroll when he was at his peak. The fact that a Yugoslav was ID'd as the heir to the Westies throne should have been a wake up call to anyone following that story. So while the media was focused on mythical gangs, the zips quietly took over the junk trade. And none of these rags were reporting it. They limited them to being a new breed of soldier for Carlo Gambino (who was reportedly attempting to unify Cosa Nostra. One giant family with him as the boss. Ha!) The media was really going to town in the 1970s after the Godfather films came out. So you really have to take all that shit about there being a Purple Gang, .22 Cailber Hit Squad, and even a Westies, with a grain of salt. Despite what the popular "facts" and "reports" claim.

JIGGS

Hey Jiggs, where do you see Viserto in this picture, if at all?

[HairyKnuckles]

Jiggs, what s the story behind at least one Mafia informant back in the early 1980s saying that LCN is having serious trouble with the Purple Gang? Was there something brewing between the two groups?

can you snip that here?

Purple Gang.png

Jiggs, what´s your comment on that?

[Rocco]

They were from East Harlem - 116th Street area back in the day. They were also big out in Detroit

Two different gangs. No relation same name..

[JeremyTheJew]

They were from East Harlem - 116th Street area back in the day. They were also big out in Detroit

Two different gangs. No relation same name..

Two totally different gangs.
1920s Jewish Detroit gang.

Also interesting that the other gang Jiggs talked about, The Red Wings, could be named after Detroit hockey team.

[Pete]

Why has there been minimal coverage of the Crea case besides gangland? Is it cuz it’s being tried in white plains instead of the city? Usually huge case like this the major papers would have updates often

[newera_212]

Why has there been minimal coverage of the Crea case besides gangland? Is it cuz it’s being tried in white plains instead of the city? Usually huge case like this the major papers would have updates often

hes not much of a personality, and frankly the city papers have ran LCN cases through the ringer...not too many people care anymore. plus for whatever its worth the daily news just laid off half their newsroom. seems like they're focused on the garbage content & clicks game now, online.

crea to the average person picking up a paper for the train ride or checking the news on downtime at work really isnt that interesting. the case is interesting as hell to me, and the reasons why hed be boring to the average person is why id find him interesting. but thats why im here i guess

at least with the Giallanzo case there was the whole angle of his gaudy house to report on, and the deli owner groping that girl. stuff that would make the average person double back and read the article when they see the pic of that house. shit like that...

im curious about this datello guy. seems like a union big wig, all the way back from when he was in his 30s/40s. plus he literally looks like a goddamn monster

[newera_212]

also you gotta remember the news cycle our culture runs these days is insane. the crea case could get covered by every outlet in the country and it could come out that they were conspiring to assassinate mayor deblasio, and within 72 hours max, most people will have forgotten about it and moved on to the next crazy thing...because they make crazy shit happen multiple times a day now