There is much more evidence of organized crime promoting the demolition of trolley car systems to glean the metals salvage value into their coffers without being ‘tracked’. An earlier type of money laundering.
By the 1950s organized crime in America had substantial legitimate investments ~ much of it in small companies that delivered parcels, packages and news print throughout major cities ~ New York was a legitimate gold mine for them ~ then, by the 1960s they'd started moving into the printing and publishing industries. That was a bit more sophisticated ~ it was mob family money, but mob family cousins without criminal records or connections (and, as I found, quite nice folks who'd learned English, finished highschool ~ with many of them having gone on to college ~ and with great church attendance records).
Stripping trollies down for scraps was probably a tiny side business of the enormous East Coast commercial refuse business they'd invested in. Keeping those cars intact for sale to latin America was certainly more profitable ~ however, when it came to track I'd bet they got most of it. As the trolleys disappeared here in DC so did the track and only later did the DC government get interested in letting contracts to have it removed.