Does the mafia still exist?

In Italy, particularly the south, yes. Unfortunately.

I hate to say it, but Mafia men could sometimes be very hot.

Wasn't some mafia connected guy killed in front of his house on Staten Island either earlier this year or last?

Can we use this thread to post hot pics of mafia men? I'm not well-versed on the mafia life.

1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is the new headquarters.

OP is a high-functioning illiterate.

Yes and no. The legal lotteries killed the numbers racket, legalized gambling wrecked illegal gambling, and the Russian,s Asians, and Latinos over most of the other street level stuff like prostitution and drugs, so the Mafia isn't what it used to be. They still have some influence in the unions, construction in big cities, loan sharking, and a bunch of tother stuff, but it's not very sexy.

Like in Vegas they no longer run the casinos, but they do have companies that distribute the meat, do the laundry, wholesale the liquor, and provide all the other goods and services for a fee. It's mostly legal, at least on the surface, and they do a good job.

Do Crips and Bloods exist? You have your answer.

R7, Also who do you think collects the markers of high rollers who lose big and then mistakenly believe that they can hide in their home countries?

Don't forget about the trucking industry and the shipment of goods internationally.

Where you find the CIA and corrupt LE you'll also see others as enforcers, especially when dealing with certain foreign countries and other places many don't want to travel. OP needs to visit a few Parishes in LA, cities in FL, etc.

Absolutely. At least here in NYC. It's ostly loan sharking stuff.

Umm thanks @R6

Are there any homosexuals among the mafia?

Before they broke up the Italian mob in Boston, about 1981, I was in a cheese shop in the Italian North End. I was buying supplies for a restaurant in PTown where I worked. While I was waiting for my order, a guy rushes in and says:

[Italic] Vinny, you gotta protect me, Vinny! They’re coming for me! Vinny, you gotta help me....” [/italic] and he repeated himself many times, as Vinny tried to “sush” him. I turned my back to the commotion, and decided to study a can of tomato paste I saw displayed on a shelf. Then, I got my order and ran out of there!

I met a connected guy once in Antigua. He was nice, to me. Very stereotypical. Hated Blacks, devote Catholic, good to his parents, ran a corrupt dollar store. He had some funny stories about his extortion racket.

R12, Homosexuality isn't OK in the hyper-masculine culture of the mafia. That certainly doesn't mean there aren't those on the down-low despite having the expected a wife, mistress and kids. Think of all of the time spent together in dark, male-only environments. Well known that the mob ran many underground gay bars in big cities, and had "arrangements" with LE and government powerful.

I think all bathhouses have to pay the mafia to stay open.

There are great Italian tv shows about organized crime today. The best is about the Camorra in Naples. It's called Gomorrah. It's the best tv series I've ever watched.

It's still very big in Canada

Here's the thread about Frank Cali getting killed in front of his house by an unconnected retard.

Thank you for posting, R7. The most measured and knowledgeable post I've seen on DL in days.

They have to exist.

Who else would continue this... Sicilian THING that's been going on for TWO THOUSAND YEARS!

Russian and Chinese mafias certainly exist. Eventually they buy their way into govt appointments and contracts and well, here we are.

They run the olive oil biz.

They run the Olive Garden biz too, R23.

Lots of involvement in international drug smuggling. Plenty in Canada.

[quote] They run the Olive Garden biz too,

They run my garden biz, too, if you know what I mean.

How are the mafias connected to the unions?

Let's say some immigrant wants to open a restaurant in Chicago, maybe a pizza restaurant. Well, no bank is going to loan him a dime, too risky. So he talks to the owner of the restaurant where he works, and the owner puts him in touch with some nice Italian guys. They can help wth the lease, they have a friend in the used restaurant equipment business who can hook him up with a good used pizza oven and everything else he needs, they have cousins in the plumbing and electrical business to get the store ready, and any permit or inspection problems magically disappear as soon as their Italian friends make a phone call. All they want in return is weekly payments until the loan is paid.

Well, that and the guy buys all his ingredients from their wholesalers, uses their company for the jukebox, their printer for the menus and the boxes, their sign guy, their liquor distributer for the beer they sell, and on and on and on. Oh, and maybe one of their girlfriends needs a job, so she's the new hostess.

They basically take 10-15% right off the top forever, but the guy is living the American Dream with his restaurant and there's no way he would have done it without them. To be fair, in a place like Chicago you're going to pay somebody--it's a heck of a lot easier to pay your local mob guy than it is to pay every health inspector, fire marshal, cop, and building inspector that comes through the door, and your Italian friends can make those pesky landlord tenant disputes go away a lot faster than some lawyer charging you $200/hour.

My point is, they do provide value. If you buy a Dominos Pizza franchise they're going to charge you an upfront fee, make you buy your supplies from them, and demand a royalty on your sales every month. What's the difference? If you're that immigrant someone's out to fuck you regardless, and they probably get more attention and better value for their money from the local Mafia guy than the Dominos owner does from some wanker at Corporate Headquarters 1000 miles away.

I used to call on dozens of guys like that, and not all of them were successful, but a lot of them were, they raised families, put their kids through college, and lived a good life thanks to the opportunities they had. I know one guy who had a very successful chicken restaurant. It was a local landmark. He got in serious trouble gambling, first with the bookie and then thanks to a trip to Vegas. For 3 months there was a nice Italian gentleman who sat at the counter next to the cash register. He kept track of every dime the restaurant took in. At the end of the evening they would sit down, and the Italian gentleman would count the money. He would give the owner enough cash to pay the expenses and keep the operation going. Whatever was left he kept. As soon as the money was repaid he was gone. You think fucking Citibank would have worked with him like that?

R12, R15, the connected guy I knew said he was acquainted with a made guy who was known to frequent Gay bars, and not to collect protection money. He had a wife and family, and everybody knew about the Gay thing, but because he was “made”, nobody could mess with him. I imagine he came out, as much as he did, after he was made.

In the old days, pre-Stonewall, the Gay bars in the big cities all paid protection money to the mob. Particularly to keep the police from raiding the bars.

I recall something about the mob controlling a huge number of pizza restaurants in New England, New York, and New Jersey. I think there was a big bust involving all this in the 80s, or so. Oh, I see Wikipedia says the pizza joints were for drug distribution and money laundering.

I'll tell you another Chicago Mob story from my days working around them 40 years ago. Back then it was whispered that Ray Kroc started McDonald's with mob money. They financed his first few stores, and they rode his coattails through the go-go years It was the mob bakery that supplied all his buns, and the mob meat company that supplied the hamburger patties. They got rich off Ray Kroc, I mean, they never dreamed of making as much money as they made off Ray, and rode it right through to the IPO where they got piles of McDonald's stock.

So when you watch that movie, The Founders, or read a history of McDonald's and you get to that part that never really makes sense, where the McDonald brothers start causing trouble, and they regret doing the deal, and they claim that Ray Kroc fucked them out of their franchise fees, and they're owed a zillion dollars they never got paid, but all of a sudden they do a deal and quietly walk away for a relatively modest sum of money--ask yourself why they would do that. The rumor was that someone made them the famous "offer they couldn't refuse" and they were smart enough to accept it.

I was never a big shot gangster. I was never a big shot nuthin'.

Knew at least 3 people who went through the initiation ceremony which they described to me. Only 1 was born into a Mafia family. Said all LE, anything related to the police, government at most levels, etc is Mob related even to this day.

Once you're "in," you can never leave. Every time you move, you're required to send a post card updating them with your new address. A few times a year they will be contacting you to check up on you, whether or not they have a need for you. Yes, until you die. Occasionally they'll ask a small favor like to pick up something at the airport and then to deliver it somewhere. Never are you to ask any questions.

Read the book re the man who's actually DB Cooper. Said the Mob, CIA, and the upper echelon of the unions are all the same, and that he felt like a hamster running around a wheel working with them.

NYC is loaded with mafia or mafia types. You don't get construction done without the approval of the mafia bosses. They will arrange for their union boys to do t he work. If you refuse you get other union boys visiting. DeBlasio is hooked in with them somehow.

Our government is proof enough for me.

Our President has a "Fixer" to take care of his problems....

[quote]devote Catholic,

Oh, dear!

R34, Every POTUS have lots of fixers to take care of any problems, and arrange for desired "entertainment." No one expects POTUS to be very moral anymore either.

The connected guy I knew was married to the daughter of the head of a NY crime family. He got drunk one time and started. Mouthing off about his father-in-law. He was told to move from NY to Florida, or else.

This is what he related to me. While I have no doubt that he was indeed a connected guy, I question the accuracy of the above. He left his wife and kids in NY. Maybe he hit his wife, something like that. Who knows.

In the United States? Mexican Mob. All kinds of rackets, but dealing and distribution are obviously the top money maker.

They’re highly organized, are in cahoots with MAJOR corporations, and operate pretty damn freely in rust belt and Bible Belt towns, with the full cooperation and protection of law enforcement.

If these people didn’t do what they do, these towns would be in complete tatters. So be thankful for some organized crime. Better it be organized than unorganized, right?

Italians? Nope. Not like in their heyday.

As my connected friend told the story, non-PC and all::

When my connected friend was young, he drove a garbage truck for the mob. There was a “Chinaman” who opened a new laundry. My friend went to the laundry, and gave him a sticker. He told him to put the sticker on the front window. It indicates that his company picks up the laundry garbage, and that it’s $100 a week (or whatever). The Chinaman wanted to save money and declined the service, saying he’d do it himself. My friend says that’s ok, but it’s still $100 a week. But the Chinaman refused.

My friend called his boss to ask what to do, and he was told. The next morning, very early, he backed up his garbage truck through the glass front of the laundry. Later, after open-hours, my friend went back. The Chinaman had his hands on his head and was exasperated as he surveyed all the damage. My friend said, “After you replace your front window, put this sticker on it, and it’s $100 a week.”

I think NY has a big Russian mob now. Also a Jewish mob.

My theory is that the further a group gets from their impoverished roots, the less ruthless and effective as mobsters they become. This would be true of the impoverished Sicilians that started the Italian mob. The Irish mobsters from the Boston projects. Their great grandchildren probably aren’t as inclined towards violence, routine law breaking, and prison time.

It also applied to the leaders of the Soviet Union. At its beginning, the leaders were impoverished thugs who grew up with violence. By the time Gorbachev became leader, the leadership had grown up with wealth and was less enthusiastic about gunning down citizen protesters to maintain control. Same with East Germany and Poland.

That’s my theory.

Following up from R40, the wealthy European countries led the world in abolition of the death penalty. I think for the same reason.

R37, I absolutely believe that story re his complaints of his father-in-law. When I asked just a few questions of those I knew in the Mob their answer was, "Do you want to get me killed? This isn't the Boy Scouts we're dealing with here." Keep in mind there was absolutely no one else in the car besides the 2 of us at the time, so obviously no one else could have overheard our conversation.

Additionally everyone I knew who was associated with the Mob, even at an extremely low level, had a constant state of anxiety especially when talking about the organization. Also true of those who've authored books re their experiences. Initiation means you have to witness and participate in the murder of someone. Keeps people loyal.

R42, money is what keeps people loyal. That’s it. Well, that, and common sense.

R38, Knew a Hispanic who owned a very small restaurant in LA. Whenever the local gang members who were clearly affiliated with the Mexican Mob came by, he always stopped everything to give them free food. No questions asked.

Exact same thing happened with the Chinese restaurants in LA China Town and the local Chinese mob. Anything they wanted, and at anytime.

Government in Los Angeles County has always been extremely corrupt. So is LAPD, and the Beverly Hills Police Dept I was told that fact by a retiring detective long ago. See OJ Simpson being declared not guilty as one example that I was given, as well as the reasons why. Ronni Chasen's murder was pinned on a totally innocent man.

All dictatorships are a form of mafia. Very similar dynamics. Monarchies and aristocracies are basically just mafias with a veneer or ancient tradition and respectability, with violent tendencies bred out.

My connected friend was illiterate, info just for color.

Speaking of color, his sister married a Black man, and his parents disowned her and stopped speaking to her. My friend didn’t like or respect Blacks, but he thought his parents were being self-destructive.

He asked me how I can be Gay and be a Catholic. I didn’t really feel like discussing it with him, so simply said “well, that’s my cross to bear.” He shook his head as if to say he completely understood. That’s a Catholic expression meaning a difficult responsibility or burden that someone must handle on their own.

My friend and I were talking about mob boss John Gotti. There was a civilian laborer on Long Island, I think he was a house painter, but whatever, who accidentally hit and killed Gotti’s child with his car. It was clearly an accident, but a few weeks later, the painter disappeared.

My friend absent mindedly said “That’s the only thing I disagreed about with him. It was just an accident...” I thought it interesting that he seemed to have some personal familiarity with Gotti.

R44, almost everyone has a number, no matter where they live.

I realize this. As did, and does, any mob, anywhere.

The big boys play in big pharma, and healthcare. The most dangerous, depraved pieces of shit alive, who pretend to want to see all of us better, and healthy.

If Americans truly want democracy, or something pretty damn close, they are going to have to change the way they do business, in regards to how they pay for their healthcare. The fact that so many people have been scammed into believing otherwise, just proves how much power these specific sectors hold.

Everyone works for them, including us.

R46, Norwegian Mob member told me in his East coast home neighborhood if a woman seemed too friendly with a Black man they'd forcibly shave her head. Extreme racism prevailed. Also extreme sexism.

Another Mob member from a Mob family told me that no one would dare to admit to anyone that he was gay, as that was considered to be very taboo even today. He refused to meet a gay friend of mine who I offered to introduce for business reasons. No, he never made derogatory remarks as he knew I would have dropped him. Just avoided the issue.

Yes the entire Trump clan

R48, Wonder how the Mob will respond if robot take over from truck drivers. Mob friend told me how truck drivers were periodically robbed, as a way the Mafia collected extra fees. The innocent drivers were relatively well treated, and knew what was going down. They were told in advance never to resist or to argue, as their submissiveness would be rewarded with cash to get home. Also they were never, ever to contact LE about a report of damages.

R51, AI changing how trucks transport goods, is the least of our concerns.

In the next 30-40 years, AI will put almost any and every occupation that his driven by human resources, in their grave.

Even the way that we experience consciousness will be changed by AI. Drugs like cocaine, meth, heroin, etc., will no longer be necessary. If you want to FEEL high, an AI will provide that for you in ways you never imagined. Or perhaps you have. Oh, & legally, btw.

As I type, computer scientists are creating AI that will run AI. The AI that runs AI, out-runs us.

The United States government is currently working with leaders in their fields, and R & D teams from MIT, in order to work out how to transition day to day life from what we know now, to what will most likely be our future. This is not a conspiracy theory. All factual, and all in black & white. Just google it. It’s on MIT’s website, last I checked.

What will we do then? Who will we exploit?

Any smart mob boss knows this, makes and cleans as much as they can, right now, in order to invest “wisely”, as they say.

I make it a point to learn about this on a daily basis. I set aside time for it, because it’s HAPPENING.

Mobs will be dinosaurs, because mobs are human.

R51, what was the point of your post, btw? Something as errant as AI, truckers, and illiterate goons?

I’m puzzled as to why you would read my previous posts on this thread, and extrapolate them into: truckers, enforcers, and AI, along with a detailed story about “dos & don’t”, according to Tony $oprano?

R53, Like the other posters on this thread I was relaying how the MOB's still widely involved in everyday life even for those who don't buy drugs or escorts. Recall the title of this thread? Obviously not everyone reading DL knows what you do about the world. Many watching The Sopranos and similar mafia-type movies falsely assumed it was only about major East Coast cities.

R53, I could relay stories about the transportation industry and especially the cab companies in Vegas. Guess you think that I shouldn't do so? I do find others tales very interesting.

R52's post was extremely fascinating, and I will definitely take the advice to check out MIT's advances on AI. So I'm pleased that I said what I did or otherwise I wouldn't have learned R52's info re the future of AI.

R50, At what age do you think the Trump offspring were invited into the Mafia? Just curious, as I never have heard anything about children being initiated.

Huge analhounds, Big Madonna and Child supporters

The Mother’s And Father’s Italian Association?

Of course it exists.

Va bene.

R54, spill your stories about Vegas. I too, enjoy the tales of others.

AI is one of my favorite topics, by the way. I am also fascinated by it, and I dedicate about an hour a day, in order to learn where we are going, in such a short time. From Nikola Tesla, to the parting of the atom, to the fusion of the atom, to the not too distant future of where AI will be leading us.

This is where to invest our resources, because we so close to our lives being changed dramatically, and most of us don’t even realize it.

Anyhow, I’m glad you enjoyed my post. Have a wonderful weekend.

[quote] because we so close to our lives being changed dramatically,

And for 99% of us, not for the better.

R59, it can easily be argued that this is already the case, today.

Nope. No such ting. Fuhgeddaboudit!

I found this sicilian mafioso hot.

[quote] it can easily be argued that this is already the case, today.

It can always get worse, R60, and it will.

These guys popped up a few years ago flaunting their wealth on a boat somewhere off the coast of Italy.

Instagram whores cant resist even ones on the Mafia.

R63, please explain how you think it will get worse? Genuine question.

Look at us right now. Most people are doing so hot, and only very few, own the world. How can 99% of people living in never ending debt, poverty, constant war, climate change, overpopulation, lack of natural resources such as food, and mass human migration, get exponentially worse, due to AI?

For the nerds:

They are all in jail OP, so we had to go to work for a living. Furs, high heels, and harsh looks are not cheap you know.

I think some of the "protection" in this vid are mob guys. Just sayin.

If you are interested in the mafia, or more broadly speaking organized crime, I highly recommend the books by Roberto Saviano. Gomorrah, which inspired a movie and TV series, is about the Neopolitan Camorra. Zero Zero Zero is about Latin American drug cartels. His work is excellent and he's very brave for what he's done. The TV show, as I mentioned, is the best I've ever seen.

I miss Big Ang

The yakuza in Japan

In Italy the biggest mafia is not in Sicily, it in Calabria, the 'Ndrangheta. This guy married his son into a Colombian drug lord family to strengthen the bond. Crazy shit. Surprised this guy didn't get more media attention.

this is a story from the 70's but things haven't changed much.

I moved to very small town where you wouldn't think any of the mob would be. I met a couple and the man told me he was in a bar one night and he was joking about mobsters. The next day at his job he got some visitors who told him someone wanted to see him. He would be blindfolded which he was and taken somewhere. They took off his blindfold and a man asked him if he thought mobsters were funny. He told them no he was just joking around. He was told to quit it and if he did it again he wouldn't be doing any more joking. It scared the Crap out of him.

There may not be as many around but one is better off to just walk on by. r4 be careful what you ask for as you may get way more than you ever wanted. There are some things you just don't mess with.

R73 HAS to be a parody post.

There was an italian restaurant in chicago with 1 star yelp reviews. I pass by and peek in the windows in the evenings and lunch and I never see anybody eating there. It was there for a couple of years. The yelp reviews were all questioning how the place was actually making money, if it was actually a restaurant or a front for something. most of the reviewers were those who didnt live in the neighborhood and just happened to pass by and were underwhelmed by the experience.

r74 wrong. I have more stories but will not bother sharing them now.

The saga of the Philadelphia Mob post-Angelo Bruno is as fascinating as any (ultra-violent) soap opera.

....

R76, we bust chops here on DL. Just like back in the old neighborhood.

R73, Obviously what you wrote is definitely not a parody post.

Re Vegas & the Mob, Until Lyft & Uber arrived there were very few transportation and cab companies. Locals were so frustrated with the constant long hauling, and indeed many told me they were instructed to do it to all passengers, that a man decided to start his own competitive business. Fees for the necessary licenses were outrageous. Application process was unreasonably long. He gave up when the windows of his home were blown out and he was repeatedly threatened with the life of his family.

Used to take the local cheap tour bus between Vegas & Laughlin. One company's drivers always drove across the bridge past Laughlin into AZ, quickly circled around, and then came right back. parking at the pre-arranged Laughlin casino.

Why? So the tour bus co could legally claim to be interstate rather than intrastate and avoid a huge fine. Transportation companies operating within Southern NV were permanently restricted to those with long term licenses. East Coast passengers would always then joke about the power of the MOB and start telling stories of how it always was, is, and will be in their home cities.

R76, Please join me in sharing more stories. Don't let the totally powerless, insignificant DL Trolls stop you from your reveals.

Watch "Molly's Game". Not so long ago.

The Gotti's and the wanna-be Trump spawn are poor imitations of television (Sopranos) and film (Goodfellows, Godfather Trilogy). Crime families from Russia and Ukraine have moved into Seattle and Tacoma in recent years. These people are highly intelligent and brutal. They import sex slaves in cargo containers and work a number of rackets. If you think psychopaths are sexy, well, they could be your cup of tea. But its rough trade with a chain saw and no safe words.

There are all sorts of “mobs.” Even the Mormons (video game gambling) and Amish (meth) have “mobs”(an illegal group or enterprise). The Sicilian Mob mostly deals in unions (which are dying), waste management, payday loans, and very high interest credit cards. Almost all “mobs” deal in illegal drugs, prostitution, and human trafficking. Human trafficking is the real money maker for all concerned.

R83, R84, The Port of Long Beach, currently owned by the Chinese, has been a major source various shipping containers enter the US en route to other locals. Pay-offs to the right people mean inspections and records are never thorough.

Vegas is just one of the spots for high end human auctions to certain players. Note the underground tunnels and secret entrances ie like at Mandalay Bay which we know about from what really happened 10/1.

r7, they are still in Vegas. I have a relative who is with a woman who used to manage call girls and she left NYC and tried to run her operation in Vegas and Mafia made it clear that there wasn't room for her.

R48, they need to legislate a replacement for Citizens United that is written so as to pass SCOTUS scrutinyl

To R55, Trumps formed their own mafia, are you kidding?

[quote]I have more stories but will not bother sharing them now.