'Mob Candy' Cafe in Brooklyn Gets Busted Up

The owners of the Mob Candy publishing enterprise partnered with the owners of a Brooklyn cafe to relaunch the place under the Mob Candy umbrella, making it probably the first and only (and ever?) mob-themed cafe. Uncle Frankie and MafiaLife Chris, the monikers by which they are known, had big ideas for the place, transforming it into a social club of sorts in which to record their radio show and hold events for their magazine and book launches, and to provide a cozy place for their fans to hang out (while promoting their brand at the same time). I know them both, and they are good guys -- entrepreneurs with the same interests that I have, who put their money where their mouth is, and who didn't deserve what later happened.

Customers could sip cappuccinos and take in the Mafia ambiance, created by the photos of legendary gangsters and other mob memorabilia. Copies of the magazine were on hand, as well as the group's latest book-publishing venture, Brooklyn Gangsters - 70 Square Miles of Blood and Balls.

The Mob Candy Caffe before...

But it's all gone now. Someone didn't like it, and they expressed their disapproval by tearing down the sprawling overhanging awning on which Mob Candy Caffe was proudly proclaimed; then, whoever these people were, they (or perhaps even another group) hit the place a second time and stole the club's flat-screen TV.

Now, on the one hand, I could see how certain people may have reacted to seeing the word "Mob" boldly lighting up the dark Brooklyn night. (After all cosa nostra, words first uttered by Joe Valachi, essentially, means "our thing"; some people don't like names! Hence the mandatory use of nicknames, as well. I digress... ) But, on the other, what is this -- high school?

As MafiaLife Chris wrote in a post on his website mafialifeblog.com: "I guess it’s safe to say, ‘someone’ had a problem with the word ‘mob’ eh? We didn’t know who did this to us, but we weren’t sticking around to figure it out... "

And after...



But let's allow MafiaLife Chris to tell the story, which he did on his blog:

"Few months ago, my father in law ‘Uncle Frankie’ tells me that the place where we do our radio show ‘Mafia Talk Radio’ was potentially closing down, and he spoke to the current owners about doing some renovations, and partnering up to see if we can spark up some attention to the joint, and drum up some sales to keep it profitable. Frankie, and the 2 pre-existing owners were to go 3 ways. Later on, as we always do, me and Frankie went half on his shares so together we owned a third of the joint. We were pumped. The plan was to put our brand on the caffe, and knock down the private back room, to open up the joint to more space, and ‘mob’ it up. After it’s done. Like a themed caffe.

"And that’s exactly what we did. The renovation process, and the face lift was documented by pictures. You can check them out here."

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