Today it\u2019s La Dope-a Nostra!<\/p>\n
The New York City mob is a pathetic shell of what it once was \u2014 full of small-time crooks, rats and dimwits, law enforcement sources and experts said Friday.<\/p>\n
John Gotti would roll in his grave over how weak and brainless the Big Apple\u2019s five families have become\u2014\u00a0with a no-killing approach that keeps them under the radar and only about 100 to 250 members each, the sources and experts said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mob is so watered down now,\u201d a law enforcement source said, after mafia-linked NBA gambling bust<\/a> and a garbage scheme plea deal <\/a>put La Cosa Nostra back into the limelight over the past week.<\/p>\n \u201cToday they are letting car thieves in. In the old days, most made men had to do a [murder] hit. And if not, they had to be big earners,\u201d said the source, who has been investigating the mafia for decades. \u201cToday it is slim pickings.\u201d<\/p>\n The Big Apple\u2019s \u201cfive families\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese \u2014 still largely cash in on gambling, loan sharking, and extortion schemes but their wise guys are \u201cnowhere near as rich as their predecessors,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n Teddy Persico is the reputed head of the Colombo crime family.<\/p>\n \u201cYou still have some guys who don\u2019t want to get up and go to work in the morning [who are] looking for get-rich-quick schemes. Problem is, they\u2019re not as smart or as tough as their predecessors,\u201d the source said, adding they\u2019re more likely to flip on accomplices.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are a shell of themselves, but they still exist,\u201d he said of the crime families.<\/p>\n \u201cYou still have to be Italian, that is about the only thing that hasn\u2019t changed in 100 years, except if you\u2019re a son of John Gotti.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about the mob, another law enforcement source said, \u201cDon\u2019t make me laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf these guys were around in the old days, I wouldn\u2019t even ask them to get me a cup of coffee because they would f\u2013k up the order,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you did a job with them, if they didn\u2019t screw it up, they would rat you out if they got caught.\u201d<\/p>\n The mob\u2019s new culture also\u00a0leads to more rats and plea deals, experts said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the old-time guys, mafia was a way of life, it was family. For guys today, it\u2019s just a way to make money,\u201d said mafia expert George Anastasia, author of \u201cThe Goodfellas Tapes,\u201d<\/a> and \u201cMobfather.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt has an impact when you\u2019ve got an investigation and someone gets jammed up. It becomes, \u2018Am I gonna be a stand up guy and go to jail \u2014 or am I going to\u00a0 cooperate [with feds]?\u201d said Anastasia, who covered organized crime at the Philadelphia Inquirer for nearly four decades\u00a0 \u2014 and was once placed on a hit list by Philly mobster John Stanfa.<\/p>\n Today the mob is \u201cscraping the bottom of the gene pool\u201d for made men because second and third Italian Americans now have more opportunities, and anybody with a brain can make money legally, Anastasia said.<\/p>\n Michael \u201cBig Mike\u201d DeSantis, reputed head of the Luchese family.<\/p>\n Alleged New York City mob leaders now include Theodore \u201cTeddy Boy\u201d Persico, reputed head the Colombo family; Michael \u201cBig Mike\u201d DeSantis, reputed head of the Luchese family; Barney Bellomo, reputed head of the Genovese family; Mike \u201cThe Nose\u2019\u2019 Mancuso, reputed head of the Bonanno family and Lorenzo Mannino, reputed head of the Gambino family, law enforcement sources said.<\/p>\n All five reputed mob bosses are currently out of prison.<\/p>\n