I Was There When the Castellano Hit Shook the Mafia – 40 Years Later

Video Description

🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Forty years ago today, December 16th, 1985, Paul “Big Paul” Castellano was shot and killed in front of Sparks Steak House in Manhattan. It sent shockwaves through New York and through every crime family, and I remember it like it was yesterday because I was deeply entrenched in that life – and three days later I was indicted on a major racketeering case myself. In this sit down, I walk you through what that hit meant to us on the street, what we really thought about Castellano as a boss, how John Gotti ended up taking over the Gambino family, and why the FBI pressure exploded after that night. I explain why I don’t buy the line that “Gotti alone caused the downfall of the mob,” and why I believe it was the RICO statute – pushed hard by Giuliani and the feds – that did the real damage. I also share my personal history with Castellano from my early days as a recruit driving top Colombo guys to meet him, how he was viewed as a businessman more than a street guy, the resentment over his money policies, and why a lot of men quietly weren’t sad to see him go. And I’ll show you how the Castellano hit fit into a much bigger story: the government’s war on the mob, corrupt prosecutions, and why even now I’m getting ready to expose cases where good men got railroaded. I Was There When the Castellano Hit Shook the Mafia – 40 Years Later 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 0:00 Chickens, Castellano, “I’ll prove it” 1:07 Intro, Christmas and today’s anniversary 1:47 December 16, 1985 – Castellano hit 2:29 Indicted three days after hit 3:49 1996 HBO “Gotti” recommendation 4:27 RICO starts destroying the mob 5:25 Sonny’s Market on Long Island 6:11 Bad chicken order, refund dispute 7:00 Summoned to Brooklyn sit down 7:52 Sit down with Castellano over disrespect 9:24 Gotti’s crew and drug rule 10:11 Wiretaps, damaging tapes, Paul pressing 11:15 Gotti decides to strike first 12:19 Setting up Sparks Steak House hit 13:19 Hit goes down, media explodes 14:32 Shockwaves, FBI intensity skyrockets 15:11 RICO, not Gotti, ruined mafia 16:33 Castellano seen as business guy 17:22 Heavy taxes, “White House” resentment 17:52 Support inside Gambinos for k*lling 19:09 Neil passed over for Castellano 19:51 Gotti “Teflon Don” vs Michael 20:16 Tease: upcoming corruption revelations 23:55 DOJ corruption worse than mafia 24:44 Reflecting on Castellano anniversary today Backbone Media Group