New York's veteran mobsters fear millennial Mafiosi are going soft

The new generation of mobsters roaming the streets of New York have been accused of 'going soft' by the old guard of mafia bosses, relying on threatening texts to intimidate rivals instead of doing the talking with their fists or weapons.

The explosion of social media and mobile phone technology, along with the gentrification of Italian-American working class neighborhoods, are to blame for a wave of 'knucklehead' younger mobsters whose distaste for brutality and comfortable upbringing pose a difficult problem for veteran mafiosi.

According to court documents associated with a huge anti-racketeering operation in New York City reported in the Wall Street Journal, one alleged gangster sent a threatening text to a union official which read: 'Hey, this is the 2nd text, there isn't going to be a 3rd.'

Meanwhile, elderly mob bosses are forced to take risks by remaining in the game long after their retirement to ensure their plans don't go awry in the hands of bumbling, wannabe gangsters who were bred using texts instead of pistol-whips.

Last month, 87 year old mobster Andrew 'Mush' Russo was arrested as part of a huge anti-racketeering operation which prosecutors compared to a shakedown akin to those portrayed in TV shows like 'The Sopranos' (pictured)

'[The Mafia] certainly don't kill people like they used to,' said former FBI agent Michael Gaeta (Pictured: Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta in 'Goodfellas', 1990)

Last month, 87 year old mobster Andrew 'Mush' Russo was arrested in connection with the extortion operation, as the Colombo crime family aimed to line their pockets by controlling a city construction union's health insurance fund.

Octogenarian Russo was among the eleven members of the crime family arrested in connection with the scheme, which prosecutors compared to a grandiose shakedown akin to those portrayed in 'The Sopranos' and 'Goodfellas'.

Much like in the Sopranos, it appears that Russo was experiencing problems finding a young successor trustworthy or capable enough to get the job done.

Instead, he was forced to personally oversee the operation and was caught by law enforcement.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Russo can be heard complaining 'I can't walk away, I can't rest!' in a secret FBI recording released in connection with the case, as he struggled to manage a group of pretenders not versed in the brutally efficient ways of old-time mobsters.

Scott Curtis, a former FBI agent who was tasked with the investigation into the crime family's schemes, said that Russo was micromanaging underlings and held onto his job 'too long'.

'That's why you see some of these guys getting arrested repeatedly,' said Curtis.

'They have to have their hands on all these minute details of the scheme.'

Octogenarian Russo was among the eleven members of the crime family arrested in connection with the scheme, and was heard complaining 'I can't walk away, I can't rest!' in a secret FBI recording in reference to his mistrust of bumbling young mobsters

Several mob underbosses and lower-level mobsters were also arrested in connection with the NYC union extortion operation, as the Colombo crime family aimed to line their pockets by controlling a city construction union's health insurance fund

Another Colombo family mobster, a former made man within the organization, complained to the Wall Street Journal that 'everything is on the phones with them,' in reference to the younger mafiosi