I agree with the Genovese being #1 and the Gambinos being #2. But they're a strong #2. I believe it's always been that way, even during the years (mainly the 1970's and 1980's) that so many declared the Gambinos as the top family.

The Gambinos haven't been as successful as the Genovese as retaining their influence in the unions, though they still do have some, but they still have major muscle in the blue collar rackets of gambling, loansharking, extortion, and drug trafficking.

A 2005 article sort of touched on this -

Quote:
BIZ BOOMS FOR GAMBINOS’ NEW GODBROTHERS
By Murray WeissSeptember 29, 2005

The Gambino crime family didn’t go away when John “Junior” Gotti was put away – they lowered their profile, then regrouped and re-energized under the iron-fisted leadership of a pair of no-nonsense brothers from Howard Beach, Nicholas and Anthony Corozzo.

Returning to their hardcore roots, the 200-member Gambino mob has been stuffing its pockets from a trifecta of time-honored rackets – gambling, extortion and labor corruption – that once made them a billion-dollar-a-year powerhouse before Dapper Don John Gotti’s lust for the media glare brought so much FBI heat, the crime family nearly had a meltdown.

“They were shaken and wounded . . . but the Gambinos still remain a very, very active family, neck-and-neck with the Genoveses,” a top mob-hunter said yesterday.

During the past 15 years, a celebrated parade of Gambino bosses – most notably John the elder, his three brothers, Gene, Peter, Richard V., and Gotti’s son John “Junior” – have been sent to prison by local, state and federal authorities, especially the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“That was John – he put everyone in the spotlight,” another mob expert said.

The heat resulted in the convictions of a laundry list of capos and top lieutenants – men such as Frank Locascio, his son, Salvatore, Richard Martino, Primo Casserino, Andrew Campos, Thomas “Huck” Carbonaro, Anthony “Sonny” Ciccone and even the Corozzos themselves. The crackdown helped the feds remove the Gambinos’ lucrative stranglehold on a number of businesses such as construction industries, labor unions and the waterfront, along with various devious scams on Wall Street and the Internet.

One expert, the renowned ex-NYPD Detective Sgt. Joseph Coffey, said the Gambinos were thrown into “chaos” by law enforcement – but now they’re back.

“They were a viable criminal enterprise before John Gotti and they are a viable criminal enterprise now,” said James Margolin, the FBI’s spokesman in New York.

Along with the Corozzos, who came out of prison in the past year, several other Gambino powers have re-emerged, including Danny Marino and Anthony “The Genius” Megale, federal officials say.

The Gambinos’ long-established moneymaking rackets include rake-offs from nightclubs and strip joints, prostitution, pornography and gambling all along the East Coast from Miami to Montreal. “That’s where they’re making their money,” one source said.

“It’s all about making money,” a federal official said. “That’s what La Cosa Nostra families do.”

And what are the prospects that another Gotti can take control of the Gambinos?

“Fuhgeddaboutit,” one source said.

The Corozzos do not like the Gottis.
http://nypost.com/2005/09/29/biz-booms-for-gambinos-new-godbrothers/


As for the other three NY families, some may disagree but I don't think the Luccheses are that far apart from the Colombos and Bonannos. The Luccheses are #3 but it's a distant #3 and they're much closer to the other two smaller families than they are the Genovese or Gambinos.

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