Joe Barbara was an absolute powerhouse! A very, very highly respected mafioso. Deceptively powerful and deadly too!
And, as you say, although he later relocated to Binghamton from Pittston (which was actually an area he had be active within since at least the 1920s-1930s as a gunman and assassin for the family), after Sciandra's death, Barbara was elected boss.
He remained in NYS, overseeing their Upstate faction which numbered at least 25-30 made guys and hundreds of associates, while allowing his underboss, Russ Bufalino (a Pittston resident) to act as overseer for their larger PA membership faction.
