They were full fledged families, but compared to New York City, members from that state often referred to them as crews, but they never meet every member in those families. I know one New York member who was an informant referred to Los Angeles as a faction, but also kept switching it up with faction and family, it is just how they view things. Gravano never had dealings with California families. He should have know a bit more, but just because he is in the same family as other crews, does not mean he knows what is happening there unless ome of his crew visited the state and interacted with one of the families, then he would know. That is just how it is with East Coast and West Coast. The New York families that had the most knowledge of the California families are Colombo, Bonanno, and Genovese. Colombo and Bonanno had members in those cities and were kept somewhat of abreast of the happenings.