"The Mob Festival"

[iwasthere]

ytownshrimp you talk like if the mafia was a good thing for ytown. i am Italian and i am embarrassed by my Italian her titage when it comes to the mob life. one must live the beautiful MAFIA life before one can glorify it. i am the one not to give praise and homage to that Italian past but i will pay homage to the beautiful art works, Italian marble villas, the homemade wines, the cuisine, the operas, and the many beautiful men/women, girls/boys of Italian decent.

[Youngstownshrimp]

Right on Rick, I hope you and I are not the only ones with vision here.  Across the street from the slave market is my old college roommate's restaurant, Hyman's Seafood.  You would be amazed at the list of celebrities who have visited his restaurant and Charleston.  Goggle Hyman's Seafood Company and check it out.  Funny when he and I worked for his Dad at the old rundown wholesale house, we worked around an old wrought iron spiral stairway made in "Ohio", today the stairway is a showpiece in his restaurant.  I still communicate with Aaron and he constantly gives me advise on how Charleston turned around, this is why I holler a lot because I see our City doing nothing really to recreate Youngstown.

[Rick Rowlands]

Ron, I was in Charleston last year and visited the slave market.  Its certainly a beautiful town and we want to go back again.

You know, the history of steelmaking can also tie into this, since the mob existed here because of the money generated by the steel plants.  Maybe this could turn into something that would make Youngstown a destination spot.

[Youngstownshrimp]

When I was going to college at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, I worked at Hyman's Wholesale.  At that time Charleston seemed to me to be worse than Youngstown in urban decay.  During that time a young bright Mayor rose to power with a focus on making Charleston a destination point.  His first project was going to Italy and negotiating the move of the 100 year old "Spoletto" which was languishing, to Charleston, he was successful.  He designated the historic battery to promote itself and all the other historic sites to do the same.   I remember the historic "slave market" which many southerners were ashamed of, being used as a seedy flea market.  With this spirit, hotels started to invest and build, historic places were invested in and the slave market became a site tourist wanted to see.  Today, Charleston boast one of the hotest tourist attractions in the country.  The old Hyman's wholesale has been one of the hotest restaurants in the country and the buildings it occupies rose in value from 60K to a over a million today.

Youngstown's history as little Chicago or Mobtown can be reversed and made into a positive thing.  Several years ago, I spoke of a Mob museum with reenactments of bank robberies or even car bombings on the streets of Youngstown.  Or, even a "hit" with fake blood and actors falling on the street with cop cars flying around.  When my wife and I toured Chicago, one of the hotest attractions was "Tommy Gun" Dinner Theatre.  I remember an actor getting on the tour bus with a fake Tommy gun and dressed like the 20's and calling the lady's "dolls" and the men "guys".  Only by creating value will Youngstown return from the brink.  Only by giving people a reason to visit and invest in Youngstown will we prosper again.  Until then, the B&O, Anthony's and now Rossetta Stone will come and go.