The Sopranos are actually based on the Genovese crew of Ruggiero "Richie the Boot" Boiardo. The first 2 seasons shows this strongly, with Boston and Decavalcante having inspirations for characters, places and storylines. After season 2, the Sopranos had other elements added to them from other families.

The Lupertazzis were generic from the 5 families and slightly Philadelphia. Johny Sacs move to New Jersey without telling the Sopranos is a reference to Vito Genovese move to New Jersey. Carmine Lupertazzis Srn, on pressing the splits on construction jobs is a reference to Big Paul Castellano on his greed when it came to construction. The Santoro hit was taken from Big Paul and Tommy Bilotti murder, so two Gambino references right there, plus the Joey Peeps hit had similarities to one of John Gottis own drivers and bodyguard being hit, while another aspect Joey Peeps hit was that he was a protege of an administration member, same as in the 3rd Colombo war. On Colombo connections, Jimmy Petrille had been an informant for nearly 20 years, like how Greg Scarpa was for years, but I dont think Petrille was a vicious killer. During the war between Johnny Sac and Carmine Jr, Johnny and Phil Leotardo were similar to how Luccheses Vic Amuso and Anthony Casso were with the exemption of Leotardo did not turn rat. Carmine Jr actions and how he went about business is almost the same way Bill Bonanno acted when his father took off, and he was relying on others to support and lead the family. The list can go on, but the New York war has many similarities among the 5 families.