rant · moment 13 of 14
NYC's Homogenized, Expensive Culture and Starting Their Own Mob
from Bring Back The Mob · #62
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
4 minTim and Ray discuss how skyrocketing rents killed off funky independent venues in favor of chain stores, then joke about starting their own crime family, with Ray dubbed 'Don Kump' and Tim's mob alias 'Crab Rangoon.'
- 45:09Tim explains how NYC was sold to the highest bidder through Bloomberg's push to lure billionaires to the city.
- 45:59Safety improvements mean little when no one can afford to live in New York anymore.
- 46:15The city is becoming boring as independent restaurants and shops close, replaced by chain stores on every block.
- 46:30Venues with expensive rent can't survive on weekend shows alone—they need to make money every single night.
- 47:13Even the Village bars and restaurants have become homogeneous and expensive, catering to a different clientele.
- 47:42Only high-end establishments—steakhouses, expensive sushi, clubs charging $17 a drink—can afford the rent.
- 48:02Tim proposes bringing back the mob to fix the city's problems, starting with themselves.
- 48:18They establish a fictional mob hierarchy with Ray as the Don, ready to consolidate power against the five families.