Jackie Aprile was boss when the story begins. Before him, it was Ercole Dimeo. If Carmine was doing business with New Jersey for a long time, then DiMeo and Jackie Aprile had to have been his primary liaisons. I can't think of any scene throughout the show's run where anyone in New York speaks highly of Junior's effectiveness. New York despised some of Tony's narcissist ways, but they knew that across the river, he was the only game in town.
"...the successful annihilation of organized crime's subculture in America would rock the 'legitimate' world's foundation, which would ultimately force fundamental social changes and redistributions of wealth and power in this country. Meyer Lansky's dream was to bond the two worlds together so that one could not survive without the other." - Dan E. Moldea
