Updated news on the Gambino, Genovese, Bonanno, Lucchese and Colombo Organized Crime Families of New York City.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

A Life in the Mafia



Michael Franzese, a former Colombo capo who left the mob, has found that the fascination with the mob is worldwide.

It was a meal to remember — or else.

Over calamari, eggplant rollatini, linguine and a few glasses of red, a group of America’s most notorious former Mafia figures gathered at Umberto’s Clam House in Little Italy on Thursday to have a sit-down about NatGeo’s new six-part series, “Inside the American Mob.” It debuts Sunday at 9 p.m.


Sal Polisi during his crime days.

Among the one-time wisguys at the table Thursday, was former Colombo capo Michael Franzese and Sal (Ubatz) Polisi (a former Colombo and Gambino associate), who shed light on the “good old bad days” (as Franzese calls it) and why mob movies and shows continue to enthrall audiences.

“The fascination with this stuff is all over the world,” Franzese said, adding that he’s in demand to speak everywhere from Bulgaria to Israel. “I’d go to the Midwest and hundreds of people showed up just to see the ‘mob guy.’ There’s just a fascination with this life — plain and simple. It’s something I never understood when I was in this because it was my life.”

Joe Pistone, aka Donny Brasco, is included in the 'American Mob' documentary.

The documentary series deep-dives into the world of the modern Mafia as told by those who lived that life — and those who sought to take them down.

Beginning in the 1970s, a time when violence ruled NYC streets, the series introduces viewers to the Five Families and goes behind the scenes with FBI agent Joe Pistone (aka Donnie Brasco), who successfully and famously infiltrated the Bonanno crime family. Because Polisi had entered “the program,” he and Franzese hadn’t seen each other since 1975, around the time Franzese got made. Oddly enough, both live in Southern California today. Their lives are undoubtedly simpler and both feel fortunate for a second chance.

“It’s an interesting life,” Polisi said. “You never know what's gonna happen when you do the right thing.”

The only high-ranking official of a major crime family to publicly walk away, Franzese is now a man of faith, a public speaker, and author of a number of Mafia-related books, including his biography, “Blood Covenant.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/mob-scene-umberto-article-1.1410297#ixzz2aM7FSU3Z


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