I still think the Bonano's under Massino were the strongest family in the country. If you look at the indictments from the late 90's and early to mid 2000's you see how they had their tentacles all over the place. They were making million in stock market scams with little Robert Lino, Frank Coppa and TC Graziano. Richard Cantarella was making tons of money in the parking lot business and other stuff. Jerry Chili was making huge amounts with boiler room scams and drugs. George from Canada big in the drug business. There was also other money makers like Baldo Amato, Anthony Spero, Patty from the Bronx, Nicky Mouth Santora and ofcourse Vinny Pills better known as Vinny Gorgeous amongst many others. They also had ties with the powerful Rizzutos in Canada.
The feds considered them to be about on par with the Gambinos for the #2 spot for a time. But they never supplanted the Genovese family; which was the bigger family, was more diversified, operated more widely, and had the involvement in labor unions and legitimate industries the Bonannos didn't.
Furthermore, it should be mentioned that the Genovese continued to be the top family despite ongoing pressure from law enforcement. The Bonannos were able to make a comeback because the FBI took away resources devoted to that family for about a decade. But once the pressure was back on, things started to crumble with the Bonannos.
