In the late 90s, when the Bonannos reached their traditional strenght of 150 made members, they weren't much smaller than the Gambinos at about 200 made members.
First, while being aware of the 150 members being cited in certain articles and books, I'm still a little dubious about it. A little over 100 members were cited by the government in the 2002 indictment against TG Graziano. And 115 members were cited by the government in the 2003 indictment against Frank Coppa.
Since they supposedly made a lot of new members to replace members that had
supposedly passed away, which names they took from the telephone book, I think 150 members would be in the right ballpark. The Bonannos have had about 150 members from the 1960s to the early 1980s, and since it is said that they recovered during the 90s under Massino's reign, I deem it plausible that they also restored their strenght in numbers.
#6-8 I would still put Chicago ahead of New England and Philadelphia but not by much. The modern day Outfit is much closer in size and scope to these families than it is to any of the NY families. Toss up between New England and Philadelphia regarding who is #7 and #8.
