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Forty years ago today, December 16th, 1985, Paul “Big Paul” Castellano was shot and k*lled 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

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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

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