MURDER IS THE ONLY WAY MY FRIEND.
A friend of mine says "Don't bank on it." That's been a part of the long winded discussions that we've had over the last few years over on Mob Talk Radio. One of the particular problems I have had on my show is people accusing me of justifying murders, and people accusing me of being less than moral. I didn't know I fired a gun that whacked Busy Siegel, and I didn't know I was the guy behind Frank Patangeli choking the shit out of him. Spoiler alert, that was Danny Aiello.
In a lot of the places I go and hang out, be it New York, Rhode Island, Chicago, Philadelphia, you always hear whispers of it. I'm not going to get really specific here about it, but people talk about murder very casually in all of those mentioned places. One is not anymore specific than another. What blows my mind is that people will openly discuss it, and that's can't be good.
I want to generalize here, because I've heard some stuff you wouldn't believe. It's one thing to shit talk and gossip, it's another to lay a guy into a murder, and to even open your mouth. Anytime this has happened I move from my seat, and I don't talk to them ever again. It's one thing to gossip, it's another to blatantly open your mouth and straight up lay out facts. Twice in a month's time, someone told me about two murders specifically, which were never solved. While the details were not exactly flush there was enough information for me to probably deduce that the information was seriously credible. These are the things I have rolling around in my head at night sometimes. Where that took place doesn't matter, and whom it allegedly involved doesn't matter. People talk, and talk is cheap.
I was recently with someone, whom I won't name. I can tell you, it was here in New York. This person and I got into an in-depth conversation about the old days, and it revolved around Sonny Franzese, and that certain archetype of gangster who really made the mob what it is. This particular person is "active." If you don't know what that means, then I cannot help you.
One of things we talked directly about was murder. For those are going to whine and complain, just keep it moving. Murder has always been the device which the mob has used to end problems. We can throw names like Tommy Pitera who by most accounts was utterly vicious and unforgiving, and some have called him a borderline serial killer, but he got his point across. Jimmy Burke was the same way. He did it because the ends justified the means.
Murder isn't always about money. Sometimes it's about pride, ego, disrespect, and sometimes it's because it's an order, and you handle it. Seems like every time there is a murder in Canada the same journalists will always call it a mob hit. It's not always a mob hit. Sometimes people just don't like one another but because these people had an association with criminals the association just sticks like feathers on tar.
Most people don't understand mob politics. Mob politics is one of the most in-depth loose things I've ever seen. There is often a false façade. While everyone appears to be on the same page, often they aren't. You know how many street guys don't like one another? It's a dog eat dog business and one of the things that films like The Godfather have done is make the mob some sort of operatic themed business. The reality is, the bottom line, is money. If you think a guy won't whack a guy over money you'd be wrong. The idea that a guy won't clip a guy out of the respect is nonsense. I can't tell you how many guys in that life have told me they wanted to kill this one or that one, but feared the person in question had too much power or had too many business relationships that would cause a huge problem. Money. Money. Money. You take a guy earning $50,000 a month, and has ties with six others on the streets, it makes killing someone very complicated especially if your not the one who didn't design the flow of money or where it comes from. When shit gets dicey it's because someone sees an angle to take over, and that's when the guns come out. While I'd love to tell you, as would Hollywood, that the mob is more sophisticated then that, I can't, neither can they.
MURDER IS THE ONLY WAY MY FRIEND.
This is exactly what my friend told me, however admitting those days, are ending at least from a certain perspective. "The days of whacking a guy in broad daylight are over. You have to really want a guy fucking dead to go to that extreme. I always tell people who wanna kill someone over owing vig, why you gonna go kill them, you're never gonna get your money back, ain't that the fuckin' point? Okay, you loan a guy twenty-five large, he's late. You give him one chance, then you brake out the hammers. He's got a nice car, he's got a nice watch. There are other ways besides splattering him all over the pavement. You bend a guys arm forty degrees the wrong direction he learns fuckin' quick. In the old days, they'd hit a guy for getting out of line, disrespecting the hierarchy, now you got fucking guys on social media blasting away at one another, what the fuck is this the romper room? How the fuck is anyone on social media? You are a fucking gangster, who gives a fuck whose driving what, or what fucking tv they just bought. This thing, supposed to be a fuckin' secret, yet here they are prancin' all over social media like Liberace. Fuck outta here."
He has a point, as there is a lot of law enforcement on social media, and they are watching in full force, especially in this groupie pages on Facebook. There is a particular website, which is owned and maintained by the feds, and I cringe every time I see people posting on this page. They have no fucking idea what they are doing or saying. This website is publicly known to be run by the feds, yet they continue to flock there spilling information out like a cheerleader. When they get a knock, I won't feel bad for them for one second.
So the question is, is murder still a viable option for the mob. My friend says "Yes. Murder is the only way my friend. The feds have made it too easy to walk in and give up everyone, the second, the second you stop using murder as the ultimate penalty, then you lose power. You can break a guy in half, but it don't scare them. They will recover. Most of them run right to the cops. Fear was a great weapon in the old days. Guys would shit themselves if they saw or heard this one or that one wanted to have a word with them. It could have been somethin' simple. Maybe they just wanted to have a coffee, but guys would shit themselves because who was askin' had a reputation. If a guy doesn't fear that you'll kill him, then forget it. What's the point? You don't even have to kill him, but if he thinks you will, or won't hesitate, then you control him, but for only so long. Eventually a guys gonna get wise to it, and you're gonna have to step on his head. It's that basic. If you got guys who need an example made out of them and they think you'll never cross that bridge with them, then they will get ballsy with you. Next thing you know a second guy don't take you seriously, then a third, now you got a serious problem. Then when you do finally do something, they all run terrified. That's how things have changed. We don't use this anymore(makes gun with thumb and forefinger). If pressed look I'll chop a guys head off with a hatchet, but if you let guys know from day one what the expectations are and you back it up, then they won't test the waters with you, and if they do, you do what you must. The only way you keep guys in line, is by the understanding they will be killed."
This is one of the points we have discussed on the show. While murder isn't as simple as the old days, it's still the ultimate penalty for transgressions. I've made the assertion that if the mob began to openly kill again, you're gonna see a swift change in how easily guys run to the cops, but it also works against that theory as well. It's a delicate balance I guess, but in the end, if the mob is done with that aspect of the life, then I cannot expect them to be able to hold on to what they do have for another thirty years. If we look at other groups like N'drangheta, Sinaloa, they won't hesitate. How many informants you see coming out of either group? Seriously limited. There is a reason. They will kill you. I'm not asking for people to run out and start whacking guys left and right, and I'm not saying that people haven't gone missing either, I'm saying that from a street perspective, I don't know how you can control the ebb and flow of guys second guessing running to the cops without it. It's also not the say the mob isn't feared. They are and for good reason, but some of it is because of Hollywood. I know guys who will crack you, I know guys who will try and reason with you, and then there are those who will chop you up if given no other choice. If fear is taken off the table, then what do you have left? I'm not saying I'm in favor with murder and mayhem, but if we take it from a street perspective, it's a necessity in the long run. Not a must, but something that facilitates control, money, and fear. Without it, forget it. 
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