A terse, dramatic volume that provides a definitive overview of how
Cosa Nostra obtained a stranglehold on the infrastructure of New
York City and held it for much of this century. Jacobs (Law/New
York Univ.; Busting the Mob, not reviewed) and his co-authors (both
lawyers in private practice) expose the Mob's tactics in a clearly
organized narrative. Six sections in Part I delineate the "mobbing
up" of NYC (as the Mafia gained control of the Fulton Fish Market,
JFK Airport, waste hauling, construction, the garment district,
etc.); Part II contains corresponding chapters detailing how the
forces of order managed to "liberate" the city. All chapters are
loaded with a plethora of specific information regarding the
shadowy mobsters of the "Five Families," their internecine ties,
and the cartels and "front" businesses they assembled at the
expense of competitors. This attention to details, gleaned from
both mainstream and highly obscure sources, is prodigious and makes
a forceful, persuasive case for the authors' contention that the
core of Mob activities was, in fact, "industrial racketeering."
Eschewing post-Godfather stereotypes of the Mafia as a nest of
lovable yet violent "Goodfellas," Jacobs et al. address such arcane
subjects as the Mob's decades-long stranglehold on NYC labor unions
and the apparent "rationalizing effect" of its involvement on
industry (it flourished with the tacit support of key business and
political figures). Not until the 1980s did federal, state, and
local law enforcement sustain success in a coordinated war on the
Mob, aided by the controversial 1970 RICO statute and changes in
surveillance laws. The tale concludes with the Giuliani era, in
which stringent regulatory measures largely finished off the
specter of "industrial racketeering." Of equal interest to
academics and lay enthusiasts, this serious yet highly readable
book addresses Mafia reality more succinctly and clearly than any
similar work in recent memory. (Kirkus Reviews)
Through an investigation of Cosa Nostra's activities, reveals the
role of organized crime in the urban power structure Cosa Nostra.
Organized crime. The Mob. Call it what you like, no other crime
group has infiltrated labor unions and manipulated legitimate
industries like Italian organized crime families. One cannot
understand the history and political economy of New York City-or
most other major American cities-in the 20th century without
focusing on the role of organized crime in the urban power
structure. Gotham Unbound demonstrates the remarkable range of Cosa
Nostra's activities and influence and convincingly argues that 20th
century organized crime has been no minor annoyance at the
periphery of society but a major force in the core economy, acting
as a power broker, even as an alternative government in many
sectors of the urban economy. James B. Jacobs presents the first
comprehensive account of the ways in which the Cosa Nostra
infiltrated key sectors of New York City's legitimate economic life
and how this came over the years to be accepted as inevitable, in
some cases even beneficial. The first half of Gotham Unbound is
devoted to the ways organized crime became entrenched in six
economic sectors and institutions of the city-the garment district,
Fulton Fish Market, freight at JFK airport, construction, the Jacob
Javits Convention Center, and the waste-hauling industry. The
second half compellingly documents the campaign to purge the mob
from unions, industries, and economic sectors, focusing on the
unrelenting law enforcement efforts and the central role of Rudolph
Giuliani's mayoral administration in devising innovative regulatory
strategies to combat the mob.
General
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