Gotham Unbound: How New York City Was Liberated from the Grip of Organized Crime

For over half a century in New York, there has been a proud and oft-mythologized contingent of Italian-Americans--Luccheses, Bonannos et al.--for whom entering the ""family business"" meant controlling unions, creating cartels and even influencing city government. But despite the fact that the Mafia, or Cosa Nostra, maintains a vital place in the domain of popular culture, Jacobs, a law professor and director of the Center for Research in Crime and Justice at New York University, argues that comprehensive law enforcement measures in the last two decades have stripped New York's mobsters of their power and influence. With the assistance of two former students, Jacobs has created a straightforward and highly detailed text that effectively documents the methods of both the crime families and the crime fighters who opposed them. The first half of the book offers an outline of how Cosa Nostra infiltrated six areas of industry in New York--the garment district, the Fulton Fish Market, JFK Airport's freight business, construction, the Jacob Javits Convention Center and waste hauling. The second half focuses on law enforcement agencies, lionizing former U.S. attorney and current mayor Rudy Giuliani for his role in ""liberating"" New York. Though his style lacks flair, Jacobs's structured approach offers a careful dissection of the Mafia way of doing business that is as effective as a Gambino-orchestrated labor strike. And a list of major players like Matty the Horse, Gaspipe and Three-Finger Brown is entertaining reading on its own. (Sept.)