Don't forget that just because Frank Lanza had those connections, that it did not mean the guys under him did not have connections with other family. Lanza strongest supporters were the Aliotos of Milwaukee. The Genovese and LaRocca families had connections to Pittsburgh. The Sabellas had connections to Philly and Bonanno crime families. The Balistrieri family had connections to Kansas City, St. Louis, and Detroit. Infusino had connections to St. Louis, Cleveland and Profaci families. LaRusso had connections to New Jersey. The Maita family had powerful connections to Detroit, Buffalo, Bonanno and Profaci families. Trifiro had connections to Cleveland. Bottom line if the guys under Lanza felt he was not fit to be boss, they had the connections to remove him. I know I am forgetting others. When you look into the early members, you can see they formed connections. One of the big ones is when families immigrated to the U.S. one or two would go, then go back and return with their families. Also when they moved from city to city they pretty much took their whole family with them, but family members or a member might stay in the city they moved from. It is like how you see Hispanics, Latinos, and Asians do when they move here. In many ways they took care of their blood family and most of the time moved as one.