Cleveland

[NothingNew44]

Would anybody mind telling me about the current state of LA, Cleveland, and Kansas City? Most are defunct from what I’ve read, but curious to hear others insights who are much smarter than I. Thanks

[gohnjotti]

Defunct as a doorknob, all three. The Gangster Report alleges that no more than five KC mobsters are still running what the Gangster Report called a "glorified gambling ring for the elderly," but that's it.

[SDO]

Handful of People left in Cleveland but the family is all but dead.

[Stroccos]

Handful of People left in Cleveland but the family is all but dead.

welcome aboard

As long as joe loose is around cleveland is alive imo
Everyone is old it comes down to do you want to die in jail ? The floating Barbot game doesn’t even go any More , the player pool is shrinking
The mobs MO, is to put up the cash and have someone else run the operation , a good gambling machine location can bring in some good money

[NothingNew44]

I figured as much. Obviously a lot goes into this, but why do you think these locations couldn’t sustain? Do you think lack of interest from the streets plays a part?

[FriendofFamily]

I will be moving this out to the Mafias Forum from the Chart Area - where it is deemed more appropriate and may reach a wider audience.

[Wiseguy]

Would anybody mind telling me about the current state of LA, Cleveland, and Kansas City? Most are defunct from what I’ve read, but curious to hear others insights who are much smarter than I. Thanks

All defunct.

There are five crime families that make up the LCN in New York City: the Bonanno, the Colombo, the Genovese, the Gambino, and the Lucchese families. There is also LCN operational activity in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and the Miami\South Florida area but much less so than in New York.

This excerpt is from a report on the LCN to the U.N. in 1999. Despite being 20 years old now, you couldn't find a better summation of the LCN today.

I figured as much. Obviously a lot goes into this, but why do you think these locations couldn’t sustain? Do you think lack of interest from the streets plays a part?

Attrition, first and foremost. Not enough of a recruiting pool to keep the families going. And this process was only sped up by law enforcement.

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

Would anybody mind telling me about the current state of LA, Cleveland, and Kansas City? Most are defunct from what I’ve read, but curious to hear others insights who are much smarter than I. Thanks

All defunct.

There are five crime families that make up the LCN in New York City: the Bonanno, the Colombo, the Genovese, the Gambino, and the Lucchese families. There is also LCN operational activity in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and the Miami\South Florida area but much less so than in New York.

This excerpt is from a report on the LCN to the U.N. in 1999. Despite being 20 years old now, you couldn't find a better summation of the LCN today.

I figured as much. Obviously a lot goes into this, but why do you think these locations couldn’t sustain? Do you think lack of interest from the streets plays a part?

Attrition, first and foremost. Not enough of a recruiting pool to keep the families going. And this process was only sped up by law enforcement.

I wonder how long it will be before all we have to talk about here on the BHF is purely historical information
as opposed to new, current LCN related events? Things have slowed a bit since we first started on the old
Real Deal 10 years ago. The Buffalo article gave us many pages of discussion, and Canada seems to be active.
But aside from NYC, all is very quiet.

[Wiseguy]

I wonder how long it will be before all we have to talk about here on the BHF is purely historical information
as opposed to new, current LCN related events? Things have slowed a bit since we first started on the old
Real Deal 10 years ago. The Buffalo article gave us many pages of discussion, and Canada seems to be active.
But aside from NYC, all is very quiet.

That's to be expected when about 80% of the remaining membership in the U.S. belongs to the NY families. One article from 2007 talked about how the mob was in steep decline everywhere except New York. I've said before that, while I'm not prepared to give a time frame prediction, I do believe the day will come when the LCN will only be found within the extended New York metropolitan area.

We still see cases in those "operational activity" areas, i.e. small families, mentioned above but they're becoming fewer and further between.

And, from time to time, we see what I consider to be residual activity here and there. Like former associates or descendants of past mobsters getting charged with video gambling in Pittsburgh. Or we see anomalies like that weird "assassin van" thing in New Orleans a few years ago.

The point is to not get to hung up on that stuff in relation to general trends and the overall state of things.

[JCB1977]

http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/ ... nd_of.html

[NothingNew44]

Would anybody mind telling me about the current state of LA, Cleveland, and Kansas City? Most are defunct from what I’ve read, but curious to hear others insights who are much smarter than I. Thanks

All defunct.

There are five crime families that make up the LCN in New York City: the Bonanno, the Colombo, the Genovese, the Gambino, and the Lucchese families. There is also LCN operational activity in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and the Miami\South Florida area but much less so than in New York.

This excerpt is from a report on the LCN to the U.N. in 1999. Despite being 20 years old now, you couldn't find a better summation of the LCN today.

I figured as much. Obviously a lot goes into this, but why do you think these locations couldn’t sustain? Do you think lack of interest from the streets plays a part?

Attrition, first and foremost. Not enough of a recruiting pool to keep the families going. And this process was only sped up by law enforcement.
[/quote


Thanks for responding. Do you think the individual character of Italian Americans today plays a part in the decline? What I mean is when you research different sources it seems like there was a general consensus across the country from LCN membership was that the talent had dried up. For example the old timers of the 30s-70s felt these new guys who came in and were interested in the life not having the same guile and gumption as previous generations.

[Wiseguy]

Thanks for responding. Do you think the individual character of Italian Americans today plays a part in the decline? What I mean is when you research different sources it seems like there was a general consensus across the country from LCN membership was that the talent had dried up. For example the old timers of the 30s-70s felt these new guys who came in and were interested in the life not having the same guile and gumption as previous generations.

I think as Italian-Americans assimilated into the mainstream, this reduced the talent pool in terms of both quantity and quality. Less guys wanted to go into that life, since they had more legitimate options and it became less attractive as the prison sentences got harsher. And, being more Americanized, the later generations didn't have the same old world values the early guys did.

All this together some here, including myself, refer to as general attrition. And it's been the #1 reason for the decline of the American LCN. More than law enforcement, more than other crime groups, or anything else. It's why we still see families in the Northeast, where the most Italians are, and not in places like Dallas, Denver, or San Jose.

[eboli]

It should be noted if we exclude the general attrition and law enforcement pressure the juice simply is not worth the squeeze anymore. You can get an education and make more money than half of the active made guys. You can become a crook on your own and still make money. Cosa Nostra today is a far cry from the feared shadow that once loomed over the criminal world. These days it's like painting a target on your back if you're involved with it.

[Wiseguy]

It should be noted if we exclude the general attrition and law enforcement pressure the juice simply is not worth the squeeze anymore. You can get an education and make more money than half of the active made guys. You can become a crook on your own and still make money. Cosa Nostra today is a far cry from the feared shadow that once loomed over the criminal world. These days it's like painting a target on your back if you're involved with it.

Well that plays into one of the reasons for the attrition i mentioned above. Most will recognize there are better options and forego the mob route. As a result, the mob not only gets less recruits, the ones they do get 1) don't have better options, 2) have a desire to be involved regardless of the risks, or 3) go into the life because they have family members in it.

[NothingNew44]

It should be noted if we exclude the general attrition and law enforcement pressure the juice simply is not worth the squeeze anymore. You can get an education and make more money than half of the active made guys. You can become a crook on your own and still make money. Cosa Nostra today is a far cry from the feared shadow that once loomed over the criminal world. These days it's like painting a target on your back if you're involved with it.

Well that plays into one of the reasons for the attrition i mentioned above. Most will recognize there are better options and forego the mob route. As a result, the mob not only gets less recruits, the ones they do get 1) don't have better options, 2) have a desire to be involved regardless of the risks, or 3) go into the life because they have family members in it.

Do you think the status of being “made” holds any weight in circles external to LCN as say it did 25-30 years ago? Where street gangs or other ethnic groups understood that these individuals were not to be trifled with.