There were periods of time when the books were closed in New York. Periods of time that lasted several years. Of course, there have been examples of a guy getting made during one of those times that suggest there may have been some exceptions.

It's my understanding that at a certain point the NY families froze the Bufalino and Pittsburgh families from making new members. But attrition would have occurred to the smaller families around the country anyway because of their smaller recruiting pools.