The business activities of the Mob had changed considerably by the 1960's and the 1970's. In the 20's bootlegging was the major activity of the Mob. By the 30's the activities had moved more toward gambling due to the repeal of prohibition. Also by the 30's the Mob had become much more organized and under leadership of younger men who realized that profits could also be made through involvement in legitimate business. And so through the 40's the movement was toward extortion, loan-sharking, and control of unions. "Muscle Men" were still needed to make sure bills were paid and everyone stayed in their place, but the leadership had become much more skilled at dealing with businessmen and politicians. The 50's put these new leadership skills to good use through the expansion of union control and movement into more and more semi-legitimate business enterprises. By the late 50's and early 60's dealing in drugs displayed the potential to providing high profits but at a much higher risk than gambling or extortion. Again it was a new generation that began to question and then remove the leadership that had been built up in the 30's.
By the 1970's organized crime in the west and the east were looking for new areas to gain profits from. The Golden goose of Las Vegas still looked good when Howard Hughes moved out of the city and began selling off hotels and casinos. Vegas had been an "open city" for years, meaning that all Families and organizations had a right to control their own destiny in the area. However, the "Outfit" from Chicago got a late start in the area and found themselves behind the New York Organization in terms of ownership and profits in Vegas. In 1977 a "sit-down" took place and a deal was struck between the Outfit and the New York Organization. The Outfit would be given control over Vegas and in return the New York Families were guaranteed exclusive right in the new gambling Mecca of Atlantic City. As it turned out this was not a very good swap for the New York Families. As the profits and opportunities grew in Vegas the expansion in Atlantic City never came at the rate the New York Families had expected. By the mid-1980's the New York Bonnano Family, which had failed to achieve its aims in the "Banana Wars" of the 1960's, looked at an expanded Las Vegas as a key to their future.
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