yes, but as others have suggested there are so many variables involved. in new york i would say without a doubt. chicago is different reason being they only have one family and an insane level of gang activity. i dont wanna turn this into another street gang vs mafia arguement but the fact remains that the gangster disciples, vice lords, and latin kings are super gangs with off the top of my head 25,000-30,000+ members each. now a good point was made earlier about the violence associated with street gangs making them unstable and the fact that these groups dont have the heirarchy of mafia groups but the fact remains that these groups are huge and by virtue of thier size are able to weather the many inditments thrown at them. another point about these three gangs is that while drugs are thier bread and butter, these groups have become far more diversified branching out into such ventures such as organized burglary rings, both street level and high class prostitution, as well as shakedowns on a smaller scale.