Your right cg, I was thinking of 1982 for some reason. Actually Bobby Manna had alot of subtle influence in Philadelphia. Which is the way the Genovese crime family wanted it so they could take over lucrative enterprises in Atlantic City and New Jersey. Keep Scarfo as boss, they essentially control the Philadelphia family. Gambinos had Stanfa in charge from 1991 to 1995. Merlino pretty much tells New York to suck his ****, and the families lose influence in Philadelphia.
Yes, the Genoveses did have a degree of influence over Scarfo. This was most notably seen in Scarfo giving them a piece of AC and making Blackie Napoli capo in Newark at their request (and having to receive permission to take him down in favour of Martirano) - but my point was more about how they were much less under the control of New York than the DeCavalcantes. Of course, as an East Coast family, Philly is influenced and and impacted by NY decisions (e.g., appointing bosses and other administration figures - Scarfo sought the blessing of New York to take Chuckie Merlino down and replace him with Phil Leonetti).
I don't entirely agree with the point about Merlino and NY losing their influence. When Natale took over he had the backing of figures in the Gambino and Genovese families and used Billy D'Elia to set up a meeting with the Colombos in New York (they weren't recognised by the Lucheses though as a result of the Scarfo beef). Natale used Pete Caprio as his conduit to the New York families and, when Natale went to prison, Merlino started using Caprio for the same purpose.
When Merlino took over, I agree, the relationship got strained. Merlino asked New York, through Caprio, for permission to make Luisi in Boston. The New York families said no but Merlino did it anyway. When Natale flipped, things really went south because NY was not recognising Merlino and Ligambi - that prompted Caprio to conspire to take over the family. Members of the Gambino family were instructed not to recognise Philly at this point for various reasons - including the fact that they had inducted an ex-cop (Previte).
Clearly, however, the relationship with NY wasn't destroyed irreparably. You still had tensions with the Lucheses through the 2000s but that possibly was resolved when Scarfo Jr went away and Sam Piccolo and Anthony Persiano started reporting to Dom Grande. New York figures attending the weddings of Eric Esposito and Anthony Staino, the Colombo family still recognised John Praino as a Philly member, the Gambinos dined with Philly leadership in 2010 and Merlino started associating with Genovese capos after his release from prison, taking Lancellotti and Grande with him to his 'going away' party in New York in 2014 before surrendering to do his time for parole violation.
