Absolutely. Makes sense due to proximity but other families always exerted their influence in Rochester. The Bonannos maintain a weak presence to this day. Rene Piccarreto was actually named on an early chart as being a made member of the Bonnano crime family. It was always Magaddino who controlled the territory, however.
My understanding is Frank Valenti was made into Pittsburgh during the late 30s-early 40s and rose to be a capo in Antonio Ripepi's crew (his sponsor). Frank spend the vast majority of his early life in the Steel City, but did attend elementary school in Rochester as most of his family was in Western New York. His brother Stan was raised in Rochester. The clearest evidence of Stan's entrance into organized crime, other than through his brother, is that he married Ripepi's daughter. It's worth mentioning how powerful Ripepi was in the LaRocca family.
I agree wholeheartedly that Frank's life would make a great movie. We're lucky to have extensive coverage of his life. The Pittsburgh newspapers covered his early activities with great interest as early as 1933. From those days to Alapachin to Rochester to the Columbus Day bombings to prison, Id say Valenti is one of the most fascinating, lesser known bosses.
They were always a Buffalo crew until they broke away at the end of the 60's. From what I understand even after they broke away they still paid a portion of the gambling proceeds to Buffalo because it was their territory. Other families like Pittsburgh and the Bonannos had some influence through individual members, but it was and still is Buffalo territory.
