While the domination of one man formed the beginnings of the Outfit in Chicago, New York provided an example of a more team type of approach. New York as the major center of American commerce presents a different picture of the rise of organized crime involving a who's who list of rising and falling stars in the creation of an organized crime empire. The belief that if you could make it there, you could spread your reach everywhere gave rise to forward looking crime lords. For many the American dream began in New York and these rising stars realized opportunities found in the Big Apple could lead to an crime organization that could span the entire country.
The old line Mafia Families were found in New York working with their transplanted ideas from the "Old Country". The traditions and rules had been brought to America and the Don's had achieved enormous levels of success. Yet these same rules and beliefs also held back full-scale expansion into the American Dream. Emphasis on the importance of ethnic membership in organizations, the lack of vision in relation to new business opportunities, and the old vendettas that allowed little room for adapting to new situations were placing limits on expansion possibilities. These Old World ideas were running counter to the belief that the key to the American Dream was the adopting of American beliefs in overlooking ethnic differences in the interest of business opportunities. Successful organizations were not bound to old-line beliefs and traditions that could stand in the way of achieving business success. A new generation of crime lords that had been "Americanized "were on the rise within and outside the old-line Mafia Families. Just as in Chicago, it was the rise of Prohibition that allowed for the rise of these emerging leaders.
Overnight, millions of dollars were taken from the control of legitimate business. Those that had the muscle and the brains could move into a business that had a ready-made clientele. This provided opportunities for those outside of the main line Mafia Families to enter into a market allowing for their rise in terms of political and economic importance. This also provided opportunities for gangs from differing ethnic groups to cooperate in the interest of business. Americanization was taking place in the interest of business expansion. Many of the old line Mafia Families were content to sit back and collect protection monies from these new enterprises overlooking the level of expansion of these new organizations into all areas of American commerce.
The copyright of the article The Right Place, The Right Time And The Right Combination in Organized Crime is owned by . Permission to republish The Right Place, The Right Time And The Right Combination in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
