Peter Hellman and Nick Pileggi - Illegal Gambling and Numbers
Peter Hellman and Nicholas Pileggi - Contributing Editors at New York Magazine
Pileggi talks about his story which few people know about, a gang war happening in New York City: "Shootout at the 79th Street Boat Basin." It's a war between Italian and Latin gangsters involving illegal sports betting.
The discussion turns to the lottery and illegal numbers. Pileggi says the criminals are better at it than the government. Legalized operations are not as popular, he says, because they lack the style of organized crime.
Pileggi talks about the Cubans who have moved north from Florida because it was getting too crowded in Miami. He says crime is a silly word -- you have to define it immediately. These men are operating a profitable business, illegal yes, but they're businessmen and not the kind of guys who are violent. Not like the Capone. He suggests the stereotypes of the 1920s are long gone.
Hellman asks if Pileggi ever has second thoughts about writing something because of a fear of retribution? Pileggi argues that he is not saying anything new --- but trying to add some perspective to the overall story and these men. He believes that when you begin to look at them, they are not so much preying on American society as they are a very product of American society. They make cities run, he argues.
He calls crime in America "a statistician's game." We've always have had crime. They discuss the role played by Prohibition in American crime history.
Pileggi says there are hundred of books on how to cheat on your income tax. It's no longer disrespectful. And he closes with "when the laws are unrealistic, and people won't follow them...you're in trouble."
Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection
WNYC archives id: 151710
Municipal archives id: T4706
