But other than maybe the late 60's through the early 80's they weren't the strongest. From the beginning of Luciano's reign, 1931 or so, until the late 60's, the Genovese were hands down stronger than than the Gambinos, inside and outside of NYC. Even during from the late 60's through the late 80's the Genovese were heavily involved in national rackets that the Gambinos had little to no involvement in, such as the Teamsters and LIUNA. They shared the ports, but the Genovese had the better end of that deal with Manhattan and the Jersey ports. They also controlled Miami and the south Florida ports. They were also bigger in NJ and New England even then than Gambinos ever were. Also, until Lucchese died Gambino wasn't even the biggest boss who was on the streets in NYC.