r/Mafia
▲ 5 r/Mafia
Franzese on Hannity's podcast. Comes out tomorrow.
I might actually watch it.
u/Training_Actuator_59 — 17 hours ago
▲ 33 r/Mafia
I Love My Mafia Book Shelf.
Mafia Inc. and Gambino: Boss of bosses I have as well … Reading The Outfit atm.
u/SnooSeagulls1891 — 21 hours ago
▲ 21 r/Mafia
Any thoughts on why the mafia never got into meth manufacture in a big way?
I don't think they did, anyway.
Considering the mafia's involvement in construction, commercial property and heavy industry, they could probably have squirreled away a secret Breaking Bad-style superlab with less difficulty than most.
u/Pure-Lime8280 — 1 day ago
Documentary About Vincent Mangano & The Early Gambino Family
youtu.beu/prod_flamethrower — 22 hours ago
Love/Hate, Irish drug drama show with all star was cast made back in 2012
Most incidents based partly on real life, with slight artistic license of course
u/Vivid-Worldliness-63 — 20 hours ago
▲ 14 r/Mafia
16/09/1940 — Kings County Court — Abe Reles, notorious killer-turned-rat, testified against Harry "Pittsburgh Phil" Strauss & Martin "Buggsy" Goldstein, on trial for the murder of bookie Puggy Feinstein. He implicated the boss & underboss of the Mangano family in the murder & admitted to 10 others.
u/thebig_feller — 20 hours ago
▲ 18 r/Mafia
Howard Hughes and the Mob in Las Vegas
I grew up in Houston and was friends with the family that inherited most of Howard Hughes' estate. The story I always heard was that Hughes "kicked the mob out of Las Vegas." Recently I heard Michael Franzese contradict this, bragging about how much money the mob made in Vegas after Hughes showed up. So I decided to look into it.
My conclusion: Hughes did not directly push the mob out. He overpaid for a lot of Vegas assets and did almost nothing to stop the skimming in the short term. But he did help trigger two changes that eventually gutted the mob's position: Nevada relaxing its licensing rules for corporate ownership, and legitimate capital markets opening to Vegas.
The irony is that the mob still had a chance to ride the enormous upside of Las Vegas. They just missed it. They were fixated on extracting cash flow and never understood that the real money was going to be in owning the land. They made millions, but they missed the billions.
Before Hughes: no legitimacy, no normal capital
Before Hughes arrived, Las Vegas had a capital problem. Gambling was illegal almost everywhere outside Nevada and casinos weren't considered respectable investments. Federal regulators effectively kept banks from lending against gaming operations, the big insurers and pension funds wouldn't touch it, and public ownership was nearly impossible because Nevada required individual licensing of every shareholder.
That left a vacuum for the mob to fill. A huge share of Strip financing came through the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund, which became the de facto bank of Las Vegas, with Allen Dorfman (tied to the Chicago Outfit) acting as gatekeeper. Caesars, the Stardust, the Dunes, the Aladdin and many others were built or acquired with Teamsters money. Those loans came at low rates but with strings: influence over management, vendors, and operations. So before Hughes, the mob had power largely because they controlled access to capital.
Hughes arrives and overpays
Hughes moved into the Desert Inn in 1966, refused to leave, and bought it. Then came the Sands, Frontier, Castaways, Silver Slipper, and Landmark. He paid premium prices for aging assets, not brilliantly run businesses, and he was not a hands-on operator. A lot of the existing people and systems (often mob-connected) stayed in place, and he ran the properties remotely through memos. Most lost money.
So from the mob's perspective, Hughes was the perfect buyer: rich, clean, willing to overpay, and then let them stay in charge.
What Hughes actually changed
Where Hughes mattered wasn't operations. It was legitimacy. Because he was too powerful and too reclusive to sit for individual licensing, Nevada bent the rules for him and then formalized the change with the Corporate Gaming Acts of 1967 and 1969, which let publicly traded corporations own casinos. That cracked the door open for legitimate corporate capital (Hilton was in by 1971) and over the next decade it normalized bank lending to gaming.
The mob could thrive in a world where casinos needed hidden money, pension fund loans, and political protection. But once public companies, banks, and Wall Street could finance casinos, the mob's core advantage evaporated. Hughes didn't kick them out. He helped make them unnecessary, and the rest was finished off by ERISA (1974) cleaning up pension fund self-dealing, the Strawman prosecutions dismantling the Midwest families in the early '80s, and Michael Milken's junk bonds financing Steve Wynn's Mirage in 1989.
The mob reinvests poorly
This is the part I find most interesting. The mob didn't leave empty-handed. They made a fortune, and a lot of that money went back into Vegas, most famously the Argent properties (Stardust, Fremont, Hacienda, Marina) funded by Teamsters loans. See the movie Casino.
But their model was wrong. They treated casinos as machines for pulling cash out, which meant they never reinvested properly in the physical assets. Argent was poorly run and lacked vision. While Wynn was building the Mirage as a $600M+ wonder, the Stardust was an aging 1958 property with a dated room product, sitting on the increasingly unfashionable north Strip.
The mob bought the wrong locations, never modernized, never grasped the scale economics of the coming mega-resort era, and got prosecuted out of the business before the big land repricing of the late '80s and '90s even hit.
The Hughes estate sells to Adelson and Wynn
Hughes died intestate in 1976, and his cousin William Lummis led the estate (Summa Corporation, now the Howard Hughes Corporation), which sold off the holdings over the following decades and captured peak land values doing it. The Sands site went to Sheldon Adelson in 1988, who built the Venetian and Palazzo. The Desert Inn site became Steve Wynn's flagship. He imploded it in 2001 and built Wynn and Encore.
The old buildings Hughes bought were never the real prize; most got torn down. The dirt underneath them held the value. That's what the mob missed. They monetized the casinos but never captured the long-term value of the land.
Summerlin
Then there's Summerlin, maybe the biggest example of all. In a 1950 land swap with the federal government, Hughes traded worthless Northern Nevada acreage for 25,000 acres west of Las Vegas, originally hoping to relocate Hughes Aircraft. The plan fell through and the land sat dormant for decades. After his death, his heirs developed it into Summerlin, now one of the most successful master-planned communities in the country and still being built out today.
It had nothing to do with casino skimming. It was just land ownership and patience, and it turned out to be worth far more than anyone pulling cash out of a casino cage could have imagined.
Conclusion
Howard Hughes probably didn't understand everything Las Vegas would become, and he almost certainly didn't arrive with a master plan to build the modern Strip or destroy the mob. But he understood the value of owning assets. His money and reputation pushed Vegas toward legitimacy, which opened the door to corporate ownership, normal financing, and eventually Wall Street capital, and those changes did far more damage to the mob than Hughes ever did personally.
The mob, meanwhile, stayed fixated on short-term cash flow. They made millions skimming and controlling, but they missed the bigger play entirely.
u/Possible_Nobody_8884 — 1 day ago
▲ 0 r/Mafia
Thomas "Ta" Power predicted his own death in a organisational split, somewhat ahead of his time he wrote a document on how to try and avoid the Pitfalls of armed organised groups of men
I think all of those familiar with armed organisations are familiar with his concerns, voiced before his assassination.
The phrase refers to the critique of militant "macho culture" found within the writings of Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) activist Thomas "Ta" Power. In his prison-written dissertation, Power argued against the dominance of secretive, militaristic cliques over open political structures. [1, 2, 3]
The Ta Power Document
While incarcerated in Long Kesh (the Maze Prison) during the late 1970s and 1980s, Thomas "Ta" Power wrote an extensive historical and political critique of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement (IRSM) and the INLA. [1, 2]
The text is divided into two parts focusing on the culture within the movement:
- The Dominance of Group B: Power critiqued the predominance of "Group B" (a secretive, undemocratic, and militaristic structure) over "Group A" (an open, democratic political party).
- Rejection of Macho Posturing: He was particularly scathing of the "macho image", cults of personality, and the tendency of militarism to sideline political education, community engagement, and socialist strategy. [1, 2, 3]
Contemporary Relevance and Impact
- Primacy of Politics: The "Ta Power Document" has had a lasting influence on the modern Irish Republican Left, inspiring members to abandon macho-driven armed struggles in favor of community activism and the primacy of politics.
- IRSP Position: The IRSP uses these lessons to reject sectarianism, cultivate open participation, and focus on social issues within working-class communities. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
For further reading on how this essay reshaped the movement's history, visit the IRSP History Archive or read the essay on The Communist. [1, 2, 3]rd
"Background
Firstly to explain how the Ta Power document came about, we need to outline a little about Thomas ‘Ta’ Power’s background and his political journey. At the age of 33, he was assassinated by the IPLO along with John O’Reilly, at the Rossnaree Hotel outside Drogheda. Ironically, he and O’Reilly had gone to the hotel to reach an agreement with the IPLO. Hailing from from Friendly Street in the Markets area of south Belfast, Ta Power had originally been in the Official IRA but joined the INLA in 1975 while a prisoner in the Cages of Long Kesh. Noted for having later spent the longest time on remand (4 years and 4 months) on the word of ‘Supergrass’ Harry Kirkpatrick, he was also held on the evidence of five different Supergrasses, and had just been released from Crumlin Road prison a short time before he was killed.Thomas Power was widely regarded as a theorist and thinker within republican circles and was highly respected within his community and among Republicans belonging to different movements.
The Ta Power document is part history and part analysis on the Republican Socialist Movement. He also pulls few punches in his analysis and it can be argued he was so bruntly fearless in his critique that he wanted to radicalise the movement into multi-faceted revolutionary political action. "
Ta Power: Marxist Revolutionary
Ta Power was a committed Marxist. He quotes Costello on a number of occasions and points out that his phrase, “I owe my allegiance to the working class” as an example for all comrades to emulate. He also points out that “we must also present our vision of what revolutionary socialist state means. When we say our programme that we want to establish a 32 county socialist state with the working class in control of the means of production, distribution and exchange we must be able to decipher it for the working class to understand what it means.” That is paramount comrades, which basic economic ideology has to be understood by all comrades.Ta Power embraces the notion of a broad front, but it must be lead by the working class.
Analysis of Part Two of The Ta Power Document
In part two, Ta Power discusses, using both historical analysis of the years 1974-1981, in various parts and it’s relevance of the movement. He uses a number of contradictions, most prominent of which is the problems associated with a party/army movement and the predominance of group ‘B’ over group ‘A’. This is a prolonged debate, in which he is fearlessly open and somewhat scathing of the culture then prevalent within the movement. It is deeply argued that his analysis is spot on here
He states that group ‘A’ by its very nature is “democratic, open structures, working openly, have its own priorities, tasks etc” where as group ‘B’ suffers from, “undemocratic, closed structures, working secretly, have its own priorities, tasks, etc.” Ta Power is particularly scathing when the dominance of group ‘B’ is over group ‘A.’ He goes into detail of the various outcomes that can arise. Ta is scathing of the macho image of group ‘B’ in particularly in the periods of 1979-1981 and again from 1982-87.
He also states that every time there was an attempt to shift power from ‘B’ to ‘A’, this has led to failure. Perhaps he is being prophetic here, indeed it was a result of a split and power struggle within the movement that led him to being assassinated fighting the very problems he tried to overcome. Indeed again in 1996 another acrimonious split led to the death of Gino Gallagher who was also attempting to implement Ta Power’s recommendations.
Ta Power argues that a common bond should exist. He also rightly argues that that 1981 Hunger Strike was about brave Volunteers dying so that political recognition of our prisoners was restored and that it would thwart any attempt to criminalise our struggle.
“Our movement played a full and committed role in the history of this period – on the streets, the IRSP mobilised in support of the prisoners, and in the prisons our members stood steadfast and firm. Three of our movement’s finest volunteers, Pasty O Hara, Kevin Lynch and Mickey Devine lost their lives on hunger strike.”
Ta then questions why after the Hunger Strike, why the movement didn’t reach its full potential. To this he noted two short words: INTERNAL TURMOIL
He looks at the B/A relationship and decided that the wrong people took control, were in power and there was a predominance of B over A. Ta argued for proper structure and placed a ten point strategy which he argues is extremely important for the movement to implement. The ten point structure is as follows:
1: Politics in command
2: Internal democracy
3: Absolute legitimacy
4: Collective Leadership
5: Central authority
6: Coherency
7: Accountability
8: Discipline
9: Efficiency
10: Effectiveness
Ta Power argues that there has to be coherence and discipline for the 10 point structure to work, any failures will result in each aspect being affected. Furthermore Ta continues to argue that our politics should be in control, the main concern, not the army. Ta argues that Costello wanted to grow the Party, but others deemed resources be ploughed into the army. Ta cites that as the first contradiction. This led to “loss of coherency and the formation of “power blocks” and factions, loss of politics, the political ideals which make us, as a movement are not being addressed.
Power states in his second contradictions that the party is entrusted with “building a revolutionary class conscious party with a revolutionary programme for development. However, in order for this to be achieved, finances, resources time and above all revolutionary mature leadership (The AC) which understood the importance of such, a party was required.
Ta Power goes on and states that the army stifled political development of the Party and firmly believes that without the proper political vehicle no revolution can be won.
u/Vivid-Worldliness-63 — 22 hours ago
▲ 6 r/Mafia
How powerful are the Cosa Nostra and Bratva nowadays?
Okay listen, recently I started reading a dark romance book ( don't judge me ) and the main character is a mafia that really has me hooked. This entire book basically has urged me to learn more about cosa Nostra and Bratva so here I am.
Okay so in dark romance books, they are generally unstoppable. Everyone fears them and respects them, even the authorities and politicians. Ik it used to be like this back in the day but according to the internet things aren't like this anymore. How much of this is true in the modern age?
I mean my real question is how powerful are these people as of now? Are they still the same old unstoppable kings? Do authorities and politicians still fear them?
I wanted to hear lores from the real sicilian or russian people but they are very sensitive when it comes to this, so here I am. If you are italian or russian then please do drop some lore. (I swear I won't judge)
Lastly, is it true that women are treated like trash in these organisations?
u/SuspiciousCount123 — 1 day ago
▲ 3 r/Mafia
This house in Medford,Mass was affiliated with the mob.
I’m not sure the history but perhaps someone in Boston does. I do know a ceremony was compromised there.
u/BayouBuilder — 1 day ago
▲ 46 r/Mafia
Joe "Butter Ass" DeCicco on Sammy The Bull
There's been discussion about this guy on here recently, so I thought I'd post this.
Sammy said that the guy was a sack of shit and was never made because he was no good, but he didn't know why.
Yesterday Jeff Nadu suggested that this may have been due to some sort of sexual impropriety.
Dunno what to think.
u/Pure-Lime8280 — 2 days ago
▲ 11 r/Mafia
Book recs.
I just finished Mafia Prince by Philip Leonetti and enjoyed that. Just curious if anyone has a recommendation of which book to move on to next? Thank you in advance.
u/TrillClinton49 — 2 days ago
▲ 1 r/Mafia
Skinny Joey Merlino | Gene Borrello WAR! | Dom Cicale - Billy Luna. Apparently Gene Borrello is going to have Joey Merlino subpoenaed to give evidence if he goes to trial!
That's something I didn't know before. I'm not sure if that would work - but I wanna see the courtroom footage if it does...
Also, Dom is going to go to the cheesesteak shop and blah blah blah. I'll believe that when it happens.
u/Pure-Lime8280 — 2 days ago