**La Dope-a Nostra: How the New York City Mob Has Faded into a Shadow of Its Former Self**
The New York City mob is a far cry from the powerhouse it once was, now reduced to a pitiful shell full of small-time crooks, rats, and dimwits, according to law enforcement sources and experts. John Gotti, the notorious mob boss, would surely roll in his grave over how weak and brainless the Big Apple’s five families have become.
With a no-killing approach meant to keep them under the radar, each family now consists of only about 100 to 250 members, the sources revealed. “The mob is so watered down now,” said a longtime law enforcement official, speaking after a mafia-linked NBA gambling bust and a garbage scheme plea deal thrust La Cosa Nostra back into the headlines over the past week.
“Today 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,” the source explained. “Today it is slim pickings.”
### The Five Families: Reduced but Still Operating
The Big Apple’s infamous “five families” — Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese — still largely profit from gambling, loan sharking, and extortion schemes. However, their wise guys are “nowhere near as rich as their predecessors,” the source said.
“You still have some guys who don’t want to get up and go to work in the morning [who are] looking for get-rich-quick schemes. Problem is, they’re not as smart or as tough as their predecessors,” the source added. These modern-day mafiosi are more likely to flip on their accomplices, further weakening the organization.
“They are a shell of themselves, but they still exist,” he said, referring to the crime families. “You still have to be Italian, that is about the only thing that hasn’t changed in 100 years, except if you’re a son of John Gotti.”
### A Laughable Legacy
Asked about the current state of the mob, another law enforcement insider scoffed, “Don’t make me laugh.”
“If these guys were around in the old days, I wouldn’t even ask them to get me a cup of coffee because they would mess up the order,” he said. “If you did a job with them, if they didn’t screw it up, they would rat you out if they got caught.”
### From Family to Business: The Changing Culture
Experts say the mob’s new culture fuels more rats and plea deals. “For the old-time guys, mafia was a way of life, it was family. For guys today, it’s just a way to make money,” said mafia expert George Anastasia, author of *The Goodfellas Tapes* and *Mobfather*.
“It has an impact when you’ve got an investigation and someone gets jammed up. It becomes, ‘Am I gonna be a stand-up guy and go to jail or am I going to cooperate [with feds]?’” Anastasia explained. He covered organized crime at the Philadelphia Inquirer for nearly four decades and was once placed on a hit list by Philly mobster John Stanfa.
Today’s mob is “scraping the bottom of the gene pool” for made men because second- and third-generation Italian Americans have more opportunities, and anyone with a brain can make money legally, Anastasia said.
### The Current Mob Leadership
Law enforcement sources identify the alleged New York City mob leaders as:
– Theodore “Teddy Boy” Persico, reputed head of the Colombo family
– Michael “Big Mike” DeSantis, reputed head of the Lucchese family
– Barney Bellomo, reputed head of the Genovese family
– Mike “The Nose” Mancuso, reputed head of the Bonanno family
– Lorenzo Mannino, reputed head of the Gambino family
All five reputed bosses are currently out of prison.
Persico, a nephew of former mob boss Carmine “The Snake” Persico, pleaded guilty to a labor union extortion plot in July 2023. DeSantis, of Brooklyn, became the new acting boss of the Lucchese family after taking over from Bronx-based Matthew “Matty” Madonna in 2019.
Mancuso was sent to prison for 11 months in July 2023, partly due to a phone conversation with an alleged fellow wiseguy about making pasta “gravy,” after serving a decade behind bars for signing off on a murderous hit. Mannino is a former capo about whom little is known.
The Gambino and Genovese families have roughly 200 to 250 members each, while the other three families have about 100 to 150 members. They continue to rake in money through traditional crime schemes that have persisted for decades, Anastasia said.
### Still Italian, Still Earning
The New York City mob has very rarely “bent the rules” to admit non-Italians, but “more important than being Italian is are you an earner,” insiders note.
Meanwhile, mafia expert Jerry Capeci observes that the New York City mafia has become less murderous over the past two decades.
“The big difference between the mob today and 20 years ago is they have stopped killing people — that’s a big deal,” said Capeci, who runs the website Gang Land News. Ending murders reduces federal scrutiny, making it less likely the mob will be aggressively targeted.
“[But] there’s still almost nothing they can’t do to make a buck,” he added.
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Despite their diminished power and influence, New York’s five families continue to exist, adapting to a new era while clinging to some of their old traditions. But as insiders admit, the once fearsome La Cosa Nostra is now little more than a shadow of its legendary past.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/24/us-news/the-nyc-mob-is-a-pathetic-shell-of-what-it-used-to-be-full-of-small-time-crooks-rats-and-dimwits-sources/