JohnnyRed wrote:the albanian mafia in NY is not media worth because they are real criminals. they work in small clannish groups usually blood connected or city connected (came from the same city back home). that revolve around a few central leaders. they operate in everything from gun running to drug dealing to counterfeiting to gambling to protection (and often are hired to protect top mafia members such as peter gotti or junior gotti whoever had an albanian bodyguard). there is nothing media worth about these groups. they are either doing crimes or at the cafe with other albanians. nothing movie worth. the italians on the other hand started in a decade that we all know and love the 1920s (they started earlier but that was the decade that put them on the map over the irish and every other criminal group in america). we all know al capone and lucky luciano and john gotti and carlo gambino so if an italian gets arrested for shoplifting the media has a field day. if an entire albanian group gets indicted who stuck a gun to gambino boss' face and took over 7 mafia clubs then the media doesnt wanna hear about it. the russians are also media worth because the collapse of the soviet union and they are americas *cold hearted, ruthless (so they say)* enemies so they also qualify as media worth.
Even if the media chose not to report it, if the Albanians were as big a threat as you claim they are, we would at least see evidence of it through indictments. There are multiple indictments each month related to the LCN families. When was the last indictment of an Albanian group?
Also Johnny, we've discussed your claim that the Rudaj gang "took over 7 Mafia clubs before." It simply isn't true. They temporarilly took over 2 Greek clubs that were paying tribute to the LCN - "Stamatis" and "Soccer Fever". You can read about it in the Rudaj indictment below -
http://www.websupp.org/data/SDNY/1:04-c ... 1-SDNY.pdf
italians ARE ahead of the albanians in crime in new york city because they have more economic power. they have been operating longer and are established. in terms of sheer strength and brawn the italians or russians dont stand a chance but this is america which calls for showing whose the smartest peice of shit around not whose the toughest guy around. the italians are living off the past, they live off past entrenchment, past deals, past organisation. the italian mafia is fading away every day. while the albanians and russians are gaining strength at the same speed that the italians are fading away.
that is the real look at NYC organised crime.
While it is true that La Cosa Nostra has been in a decline for decades now, it is a very slow decline, especially in New York. There you are looking at five large families, as opposed to a single smaller one in other cities. 750 out of the remaining 1,100 LCN members in America (or about 7 out of 10) belong to the five New York families. The LCN in New York still has major muscle in illegal gambling, loansharking, extortion, drug trafficking, labor racketeering, as well as continues to exert influence in the waterfront, garbage, construction, trucking and other industries. They have also been among the most aggressive in moving into other areas of criminality such as stocks/securities fraud, health care fraud, etc. The New York families have been hit with indictment after indictment for years now and are still standing. Weakened, yes, but the only thing that will finally see the end of the LCN in New York is general attrition. And that won't happen for decades to come.
By comparison, the authorities look at the Russians, Chinese, and Albanians as "criminal enterprises," as opposed to "organized crime." These groups are among the most potent in terms of new organized crime threats but they are nowhere close to supplanting La Cosa Nostra in New York.