New York City had it’s first major mafia hit in 34 years on Wednesday night, when de facto Gambino boss Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali was gunned down outside of his Staten Island home at the age of 53. Cali was a known recluse, and controlled the family much differently than more eccentric bosses such as John “The Dapper Don” Gotti. Apparently he was setup by a car accident in front of his home, and when he went outside to see what had happened, he was fatally shot 6 times.

The previous hit I mentioned from 34 years ago also involved the Gambino Family, when then acting boss Paul Castellano was setup by the aforementioned John Gotti, and was murdered outside of Sparks Steakhouse in Manhattan on December 16th 1985. The similarities between these 2 murders of high ranking mafia figures are interesting for a number of reasons, but none more than the fact that shit is about to hit the fan.

If you know anything about the mafia, whether that research be from actual studying or just watching The Sopranos and Goodfellas a few times, you know that there are more rules than Brigham Young University. The most important of these rules revolves around killing made men, who are essentially untouchable unless given the okay by the boss of their family. This is what makes this situation so interesting. Since it just happened, we don’t know who actually did it yet. Was this an internal hit from the Gambino Family like Castellano in 85? Did another family take him out to try to seize control? Who knows, but I’m sure the tension in the NYC underground right now is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Being the sick fuck that I am, I can’t wait. As somebody who lives 216 miles away without a dog in the fight, I’m oddly excited to let the players play this one out and kill for control of the city like this is the 1950’s. Granted the impending mob war is mostly just my own speculation, but it isn’t outside of the realm of possibility. After Castellano got killed in 85 and Gotti took over, there were countless murders, including several failed assassination attempts on Gotti himself. In the news article I shared above, ex mobsters are already talking about how this is going to cause some serious violence. Plus, we’ve all seen the movies. There’s going to be retaliation. There’s going to be a power struggle. And there’s going to be me with a smile on my face watching this whole thing play out like the real life mob movie that it is. Before this happened, I literally thought the mob was finished because I hadn’t heard about them doing anything for years. But turns out I was wrong, and organized crime figures are still alive and well, out here “wacking” people, as they say. So pull up a chair and grab your popcorn folks, because the mafia is officially back!