Gotham unbound how New York City was liberated from the grip of organized crime / James B. Jacobs with Coleen Friel and Robert Radick

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jacobs, James B.

Contributor:

Radick, Robert.

Friel, Coleen.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (328 p.)

Manufacture:

Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2021

Place of Publication:

New York New York University Press 2001

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

1. An Introduction to the Place and the Players

2. A Cosa Nostra Outfit

3. Fishy Business

4. The Taking of John F.Kennedy Airport

5. Exhibiting Corruption

6. Carting Away a Fortune

7. Building a Cosa Nostra Fiefdom

8. Conclusion to Part I

9. Liberating the Garment District

10. Freeing the Fulton Fish Market

11. Purging the Mob from John F.Kennedy Airport

12. Ridding the Javits Convention Center of Organized Crime

13. Defeating Cosa Nostra in the Waste-Hauling Industry

14. Cleansing the Construction Industry

15. Conclusion to Part II

Notes

Glossary of Names

List of Indictments and Judicial Decisions

Select Bibliography

Index

About the Authors

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-8147-3796-X

0-585-32541-3

OCLC:

913695230