TAKING THIS THING OF THEIRS ONLINE
when Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano wants to reminisce, he doesn’t call up a friend to shoot the shit. He goes to his YouTube channel. There, the onetime underboss of New York’s Gambino crime family, who turned state’s evidence against John Gotti in 1991, regales an audience of 520,000 subscribers with tales of kidnappings, gangland killings, and more. “It’s talking and reflecting on what I am and what I did,” Gravano says simply.
At 77, Gravano is one of the most prominent figures on what could be called “Mafia YouTube,” a network of ex-wiseguys talking about their exploits. The roster includes Michael Franzese, a caporegime with the Colombos (near 1 million subscribers); “Boston” Bobby Luisi, who livestreams Q&As; and former Gambino “made man” Michael DiLeonardo, who started his channel, Mikey Scars, this past summer. Like Henry Hill did with Goodfellas, former mobsters are making a living off their past lives.
When Anthony Arillotta, a former leader in the Genovese crime family, was charged in 2010 with felonies including murder, he decided to cooperate. In October, Arillotta started his channel, Anthony Arillotta MONEY MAYHEM and the MAFIA. “It was an easy decision,” he says. ”[My life] is an open book. I pled guilty to everything, so I can talk about it.”