“Meet The Mafia” — People Revealing What It Was Really Like To Grow Up In Mob-Controlled Areas

“Safe and clean. So safe that it wasn’t until I was a teenager that I became aware that the world wasn’t safe. It was like living in a cocoon. A beautiful dream world powered by terribleness that we didn’t see or know about.

No minorities in our neighborhood. They didn’t come in, and when they did, they were ‘ushered’ out. They weren’t allowed to buy in.

Many of my friends’ dads were connected or made money off the mob. Number runners, business owners who were fronts for money laundering, stock pump-and-dumpers, even tax preparers who did mob taxes, or lawyers.

It was a very idyllic place to grow up. Of course, made possible by abhorrent crimes and behavior. But as a kid, you didn’t see it.

Now the mob is a lot weaker in NYC, and the neighborhood has changed. It’s still mostly Italian, and still pretty safe and clean. But now people from other neighborhoods come in to enjoy the beautiful park, one of the best in the city. And some other nationalities are buying houses.”

—u/oh_what_a_surprise