Two more tidbits...
The Tom Hagen character in TGF had a real-life counterpart. His name was Sheridan and he lived two doors away from Gambino in the cul-de-sac (mapquest Club Drive in 11758 I lived on Exeter - Seinfeld on Riviera).
There was a guy named Cardinale a few doors up the cul-de-sac. Just by being there he had to be a made guy. I had an old '58 Buick (this was in '70). I was driving up from Sheridan's house (I knew his kids). Cardinale came running down the driveway waving for me to stop, like I was Mister Softee. I did, because, well, it seemed the prudent move. He said, "Hey, what's this, a 58? Come'ere, I got somethin' to show you...". I followed him to his garage where he had hundreds of brand new tires of all kinds...I found a couple of snows and paid him ten each.
A made guy, living in what is now a $1.5 million house, hustling hot tires to a kid...that's the Mafia I know.
The bookies were all Polocks, even Artie the Greek, went to jail on a bank scam. A local thug, a barber, started selling dope and porn out of his shop, he was a Greek. The locals mostly Irish went and saw Russo and told him do some thing about this or we will.
Russo felt that this would be bad for business and the barber got a couple of broken legs, Artie got his head busted by a cousin of mine for booking out of his Bar, before he went to Jail, Artie, and peace reigned in the land.
Sounds like a friend’s story...he lived down in Chicago, and his family knew this one fellow down the block who didn’t appear to have an actual job. The guy and his wife were always offering my friend and his parents earmuffs, gloves, other general merchandise...but they always had grosses, caselots and the like spread out on their dining room table, not just a few!
He finally figured out this guy was likewise in charge of moving stuff that “fell off the truck”.