I hear you Ville, and as I said, it is my "contention." I don't completely take what Martorano says as gospel. I do NOT believe that he had more power than Raymond Patriarca Sr., as Patriarca had a much larger network of criminals at his disposal as well as support from many other mafia bosses. If Patriarca saw a need to whack Whitey...he wouldn't have hesitated. From the Angiulo bust and through the 1990's, LCN was a mess in New England, so I could see where Whitey's clout increased. Patriarca died in 1984, and when he was in charge, Providence always had the stronger faction and Patriarca's crimes extended all the way to Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut. You are correct, my knowledge of the Irish and Winter Hill isn't as well versed...but there has always been two schools of thought in the reality of Whitey's Winter Hill Gang and how much power they really had...some people have contended his power was throughout Southie and others contend it was more expansive. I will say that I truly believe that the Irish in Boston were stronger than anywhere in the country. Mickey Spillane in NY may have rivaled Whitey in terms of wealth and power for a 20 year period, but only because he had the full support of Fat Tony Salerno...until the Javitt Center was built and Spillane refused to share with the Italians.