In the earlier seasons it's mentioned that Philadelphia is trying to take over Soprano rackets. No reason to believe New York wasn't eyeing the same turf, and finessing Tony Soprano from the get go to get control of his rackets before Phily did.
"...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
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