If you traced the fall of the Italian-American Mafia to one point in time and one place, it would be 1977 in Cleveland, Ohio. Numerous trials were sparked by a war of bombings for control of the underworld. In the end those cases produced unprecedented defections resulting in an increasing flow of intelligence and multi-agency investigations that culminated in historic convictions from Los Angeles to Kansas City, and Cleveland to New York City. The origin of the whole thing can be traced to one man, an outsider, in pursuit of power and fortune—an unlikely hero who came to be known as the Irishman.
Throughout the United States, there is no single major metropolitan area more closely connected to organized crime's rapid ascendancy on a national scale than New York City. - Arthur Nash, Author - Freelance Archivist
The quote above is the dying words uttered by Rico, a Chicago gangster of the 1920s, after being cut down by police bullets (in the movie - Little Caeser, 1931). - Mike La Sorte, Professor Emeritus
Leslie "Ike" Atkinson was the charismatic retired U.S. Army sergeant and leader of an African-American drug trafficking organization that, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, evolved into a $400 million heroin smuggling operation. It was Atkinson, not Frank "Superfly" Lucas, who smuggled heroin from Thailand to the U.S. and distributed it within the country. For that, the media and law enforcement dubbed Atkinson "Sergeant Smack."
In a Mob Speak exclusive, Ike Atkinson gives his views on his past, the movie “American Gangster,” the brilliantly written book Sergeant Smack and Atkinson’s relationship with Frank Lucas, portrayed by Denzel Washington in the movie. It's all here and more: www.mobwriter.blogspot.com
Crime Commissions over the years have asserted that loansharking was the second most important activity of organized crime. - Mike La Sorte, Professor Emeritus
The rise of Kosher Nostra began in New York City at the turn of the century when Monk Eastman (nee Jacob Osterman) ended the reign of the Irish gangs in the Five Points area of the old Lower East Side. - Mike La Sorte, Professor Emeritus
Please note that Rick Porrello is NOT a national or
international organized crime or Mafia expert or historian. He does not maintain
contacts with mobsters, is unable to assist with family history research and is
unable to provide assitance with locating photographs. If you believe you are
the victim of organized crime, some of the agencies that may be able to help you
are local law enforcement agency, state attorney general's office, the F.B.I. or
U.S. Attorney's office.
Sorry, we are unable to personally accept research inquiries. Please
post questions to the Forum.
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New York City Gangland (Images of America)
From 1991 to 2004
