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JonLP24

(29,349 posts)
Thu Jul 23, 2020, 02:28 AM Jul 2020

Mafia vs New York "Fear City"

This is probably worth watching. Covers investigations into the mafia in the late 70s, 80s. You have to deal with Rudy Giuliani in episode 2 but episode 3 opens with construction of Trump Tower.

If you are unaware of that story I found this

Just What Were Donald Trump's Ties to the Mob?

There was something a little peculiar about the construction of Trump Tower, and subsequent Trump projects in New York. Most skyscrapers are steel girder construction, and that was especially true in the 1980s, says John Cross of the American Iron & Steel Institute. Some use pre-cast concrete. Trump chose a costlier and in many ways riskier method: ready-mix concrete. Ready-mix has some advantages: it can speed up construction, and doesn’t require costly fireproofing. But it must be poured quickly or it will harden in the delivery truck drums, ruining them as well as creating costly problems with the building itself. That leaves developers vulnerable to the unions: the worksite gate is union controlled, so even a brief labor slowdown can turn into an expensive disaster.

Salerno, Castellano and other organized crime figures controlled the ready-mix business in New York, and everyone in construction at the time knew it. So did government investigators trying to break up the mob, urged on by major developers such as the LeFrak and Resnick families. Trump ended up not only using ready-mix concrete, but also paying what a federal indictment of Salerno later concluded were inflated prices for it – repeatedly – to S & A Concrete, a firm Salerno and Castellano owned through fronts, and possibly to other mob-controlled firms. As Barrett noted, by choosing to build with ready-mix concrete rather than other materials, Trump put himself “at the mercy of a legion of concrete racketeers.”

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/donald-trump-2016-mob-organized-crime-213910

The documentary series is on Netflix.

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Mafia vs New York "Fear City" (Original Post) JonLP24 Jul 2020 OP
Saw ep. 1 last night. They're all featured... Sammy "The Bull." Teflon Don... 3Hotdogs Jul 2020 #1
I always figured he was paid to let them pour bodies into the foundation. NBachers Jul 2020 #2
I think he's more than happy to pay inflated prices TexasBushwhacker Jul 2020 #3

TexasBushwhacker

(20,675 posts)
3. I think he's more than happy to pay inflated prices
Fri Jul 24, 2020, 06:20 PM
Jul 2020

That increases the cost of the project, so he can write off more expenses on his taxes. They give him kick backs in tax free cash.

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