While I agree that since the death of Raymond Patriarca Sr. things have changed dramatically in New England, when he was in charge, they had a solid criminal organization that wielded influence in several states. Providence, RI was the longtime power base for New England and the Boston faction always seemed to have turmoil. Since the death of Ray Sr., the family had struggled until Luigi "Baby Shacks" Manocchio took over and brought them back to respectability. Since the last bust that sent quite a few key players to prison, things are a little murky to say the least. There are some very capable old timers (who probably don't want the job/heat) and the younger generation...well, let's just say that the younger generation of Mafioso all around the country have no respect for the traditions and rules that kept LCN going for so long.
Even in their "heyday", New England was considered a 2nd tier Mafia Family behind the 5 in NY, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and Kansas City. However, you can't discount the fact that Ray Sr. had a seat on the commission as he was well liked by the NY bosses. New England, specifically Boston, is unique in the sense that the city was a haven for Irish immigrants and Irish gangs/crews always carried a lot of weight in Boston, probably more so than any other city with a traditional LCN family.
To say that Boston is more pitiful than New Jersey is overstating your case quite a bit. Patriarca ruled New England with an iron fist and you had to get permission to operate in his territory which covered Massachusetts, parts of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine and parts of New Hampshire. In New Jersey, they never even had total control of their own state. All 5 NY families had a piece of NJ, Philly had crews operating in NJ and a few old timers from the now defunct Bufalino Crime Family had some operations going on in New Jersey. If anything, New Jersey danced to the tune of the Gambino/Genovese Families. As Carmine Lupertazzi from the Sopranos used to say, "Jersey was nothing more than a glorified crew." Trying to compare NJ to New England is apples and oranges.
