TELEVISION Show tells how mob was unraveled here

Thanks to a New York TV host who grew up locally, the area will get to revisit Youngstown's turnaround.
What happened to Paul Gains on Christmas Eve 1996 was like something out of a Martin Scorsese film.
That night, Gains, recently elected Mahoning County prosecutor, was attacked in his home by a mob hitman. Gains was shot twice, escaping death because the assassin's gun jammed.
It's the only known case of the Mafia targeting a public official who didn't have connections to organized crime. And it led to the gradual unraveling of the mob's stranglehold on the Valley.
While the story is well-known, the area -- and other parts of the country -- have a chance to revisit the famous incident, thanks to a New York TV host who grew up locally.
Gains was interviewed extensively for a recent episode of "The Kristal Hart Show," in which he gives a detailed account of the event, and of the mob's eventual ouster from Youngstown.
In-depth interviews
Based in New York, the cable show, hosted by Warren native Hart, features in-depth interviews with cultural and political figures. The show airs in all boroughs of New York City and in New Jersey, Massachusetts and California. The Gains episode aired earlier this week on Warren Public Access Channel 15. It will run again 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
While visiting home last year, Hart, who has lived in New York for several years, decided to dedicate an episode of her cable show to the shooting, which she believes was a pivotal moment in the Valley's history.
"It's basically Paul telling the story of what happened that evening," Hart said. "That was when the tables turned."
Turning Youngstown around
The national media has extensively recounted the botched hit. A 2001 episode of A & amp;E's "City Confidential" focused on crime in the Valley while largely ignoring positive developments since the Gains shooting directed the attention of national law enforcement to the area.
"The whole bottom line is how this turned Youngstown around, that we have now risen above this," Hart said.
On Gains' insistence, Hart highlights cultural aspects of the area that the media tends to overlook. As the episode ends, Gains takes Hart on a tour of parks, colleges, museums and growing retail centers in the area.
'This is my hometown'
"Good news is usually not juicy," Gains said. "We've certainly parsed this area of a lot of bad people. What happened to me was only a part of it."
Hart wouldn't have done the episode without the help of co-producer Vic Rubenstein, who pitched her the idea, convinced Gains to participate and helped prepare questions for the interview, recorded late last summer at Mr. Anthony's Banquet Center on South Avenue.
"I think it's the greatest story in the Valley," said Rubenstein, who owns Rubenstein Associates in Liberty Twp. "The national press has no concept of what an extraordinary area this is. [Hart] approached it like, 'This is my hometown, and I'm proud of it.'"
Hart lived in the area until she was about 20, at which point she spent time in Los Angeles before moving to New York. Now in her late 30s, Hart said the transformation of Youngstown -- as a result of the shooting and of Gains' subsequent work as prosecutor -- reminds her of how Rudy Giuliani turned New York City around in the 1990s.
"Paul is sort of like a little Rudy in terms of fixing Youngstown," she said.
The interview already has aired in other markets. The Warren Public Access channel is using the episode to kick off regular broadcasts of Hart's show.
"I find that everybody likes the ending," she said. "This is sort of the light at the end of the Tunnel. The city is cleaning itself up."