The Westies

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"Westies" redirects here, for otheruses see Westie (disambiguation)

The Westies are a predominantly Irish American organized crime association operating from the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan's West Side in New York City. They were most influential from 1965 - 1986. During this time period, the NYPD Organized Crime Bureau, the FBI, and other organized crime experts believe that the Westies murdered 60-100 people, making them one of the most dangerous crime groups in New York City.

Despite the long-time presence of Irish-American organized crime in Hell's Kitchen and the notorious generational rise to power in the mid-1960s, the Westies did not receive their title until 1977, from a detective investigating the murder of Genovese crime family-affiliated loanshark Charles "Ruby" Stein.

According to crime author T.J. English, "Although never comprised of more than twelve to twenty four members- "The Westies managed to control Organized Crime on New York's "West Side", for over 20 years, and were often more feared than the Mafia by other criminals.

The most notable Westie figures were James "Jimmy" Coonan and Francis "Mickey" Featherstone.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Spillane years

In the early 1960s Mickey Spillane -- no relation to the author of the same name -- had stepped into a power vacuum that had existed in Hell's Kitchen since gang leaders had fled the area in the early 1950s to avoid prosecution. A mobster from Queens named Hughie Mulligan had been running Hell's Kitchen since then; Spillane, a Hell's Kitchen native, was his apprentice until inheriting the fief.

Spillane ran the area with a "Godfather" style, sending flowers to neighbors in the hospital and providing turkeys to needy families during Thanksgiving in addition to running gambling enterprises such as bookmaking and policy, accompanied inevitably by loansharking. Loansharking naturally leads to assault, and Spillane had burglary arrests as well. However, among all his criminal activities, the most audacious was his "snatch" racket (kidnapping and holding local businessmen and members of other crime organizations for ransom); this probably most contributed to his eventual downfall.

Nonetheless, he was able to add to his neighborhood prominence by marrying Maureen McManus, a daughter of the prestigious McManus family which had run the Midtown Democratic Club since 1905. The union of political power with criminal activity enhanced the Westies' ability to control union jobs and labor racketeering, moving away from the declining waterfront and more strongly into construction jobs and service work at the New York Coliseum, Madison Square Garden and later the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

[edit] Spillane-Coonan Wars

The war began because James "Jimmy C" Coonan, an 18 year old Irish hood, had sworn revenge against Michael "Mickey" Spillane, the boss of Hell's Kitchen. He had sworn revenge because of two reasons. The first was Spillane's kidnapping of Coonan's father, demanding a ransom, which was paid, and then Spillane's pistol whipping his father before releasing him. The second reason was that Spillane had a very widely open affair with Coonan's mother (who was half Irish and half German). Coonan's whole purpose originally behind this Irish Mob War was to fix his father's honor. The war originally began in 1966 when a young Jimmy Coonan purchased an automatic machine gun and fired off a magazine from the top of a Hell's Kitchen tenement building at Mickey Spillane and some of Spillane's top men. Although Coonan failed to murder Spillane and his followers, not even wounding one man, he began to get his message across to Spillane, that Jimmy Coonan was not to be taken lightly.

Coonan was imprisoned for a short period of time because of a murder and kidnapping charged that was pleaded down to a Class E Disorderly Conduct Felony Charge and a Class C Manslaughter Felony Charge, he was released in late 1971 and continued on with his war and his criminal career. He and his gang of young Irish hoods began kidnapping Spillane loyalists and holding them for ransom, murdering Spillane loyalists and beating Spillane loyalists, to get the point across to Spillane. Coonan soon enlisted a 24 year old Vietnam Vet by the name of Francis "Mickey" Featherstone as his right-hand man in his war against Spillane. The war began to become so intense that citizens of Hell's Kitchen had to begin to chose which side they were on. Those who took Spillane's side were subject to beatings, kidnappings, store vandalism, robberies to their store, all at the hands of Coonan's younger generation of Irish hoods. Those who chose Coonan's side were immune from these harsh activities because of Spillane's gang being much older and more respectable.

[edit] Trouble with the Genoveses

In 1973, Spillane, feeling as if the old neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen was no longer safe for him and his family moved out, he moved to another Irish working class neighborhood of Woodside, Queens. Since Spillane was now gone his control of the rackets in Hell's Kitchen began to deteriorate and Coonan became the neighborhood's boss, although some still viewed as Spillane as the boss. But now, the Jacob Javits Center came into play. On the New York Commission, Spillane was still viewed as the boss of the Irish Mob on the Westside of Manhattan, putting the Jacob Javits construction site under his control, but, Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno, who was a high-ranking figure in the Genovese Crime Family at the time wanted the center for himself and reached an agreement with Jimmy Coonan, that if Coonan became the boss Salerno could run the construction site and give Coonan a taste of the criminal proceeds, to which Coonan agreed.

Salerno than sent in Genovese Family Associate and freelance hitman Joseph "the Mad Dog" Sullivan, to eliminate the three main Spillane supporters left in Hell's Kitchen as Tom Devaney, Tom "the Greek" Kapatos and Eddie "the Butcher" Cummiskey soon had murder contracts put out on them. Although Cummiskey had apparently switched sides to the Coonan camp, Salerno and Sullivan were not aware of the switch and Salerno ordered his murder as well. Devaney and Cummiskey were murdered in late 1976, and Kapatos was killed in January of 1977. Although now Spillane was more than definitely out of the picture, one because he did not even live in the neighborhood any longer and two because of his top two supporters being on ice, Coonan was undisputedly the boss of Hell's Kitchen. But, Spillane still had to go, Roy DeMeo, a Gambino family soldato murdered Spillane as a favor to Coonan. Mickey Featherstone stood trial for the murder and was found not guilty, because of the fact that he really did have nothing to do with the murder.

[edit] Coonan and Featherstone

During the late 1970s Coonan tightened his alliance between the Westies and the Gambino organization then run by Paul Castellano. Coonan's main contact was Roy DeMeo, who had brought him word of Spillane's assassination. With Coonan's cunning and Featherstone's reputation, the two men ensured a notoriously vicious stranglehold on the already brutal racketeering circles of Hell's Kitchen. In 1979 both Coonan and Featherstone were acquitted of the murder of a bartender. Another Westie, Jimmy McElroy, was acquitted of the murder of a Teamster in 1980.

Even as both Westies leaders were imprisoned in 1980 -- Coonan on gun possession charges, Featherstone on a federal counterfeiting rap -- the gambling, loansharking, and union shakedowns continued on the streets of the West Side. After DeMeo himself was murdered, Coonan's Gambino Family connection became Danny Marino, a capo in Brooklyn. Coonan eventually interacted directly with the Don John Gotti, who took over the Gambino Family after the murder of Castellano in December of 1985. From time to time, even briefly into the Gotti regime immediately before their collapse, the Westies worked for the Gambino Family as a contract murder squad.

Bad blood between Coonan and Featherstone, in part due to Featherstone's distaste for Coonan's Italian mob connections, eventually led to Featherstone being framed for the murder of Michael Holly, a construction worker and ex-criminal who was a known enemy of the Westies gang. The murder was committed in April, 1985 by Westie member Billy Bokun while wearing a wig and moustache to impersonate Featherstone, and renting a car identical to the one Featherstone was driving.

Featherstone was convicted in early 1986 and began cooperating with the government in hopes of getting the murder conviction overturned. The information he and his wife Sissy provided, and the recordings they helped make, achieved this aim. In September of 1986 the prosecutor who oversaw Featherstone's conviction in the Holly frame told the presiding judge that post-conviction investigation had revealed Featherstone was innocent of that particular crime. The judge immediately overturned the verdict.

At that point the information provided by the Featherstones resulted in the arrest of Coonan and several other Westies on state charges of murder and other crimes. Shortly afterward, federal prosecutor Rudolph Giuliani announced a devastating RICO indictment against Coonan and others for criminal activities going back twenty years. Featherstone testified in open court for four weeks in the trial that began in September of 1987 and concluded with major convictions in 1988. Jimmy Coonan was sentenced to sixty years in prison on assorted charges. Other leading gang members were also sentenced to long prison terms including James "Jimmy Mac" McElroy, a top enforcer who was sentenced to 60 years imprisonment and Richard "Mugsy" Ritter, a career criminal sentenced to 40 years imprisonment on loan-sharking and drug related charges.

[edit] Kevin Kelly and Kenny Shannon

During the mid-to-late 1980s, while Jimmy Coonan lavished in his luxurious suburban home, and Mickey Featherstone futilely attempted to support his family by legitimate means, Kevin Kelly and his sidekick, Kenny Shannon, became the most active racketeers on the West Side. Sports gambling and dealing coke to young professionals on the East Side were their primary rackets. In 1990, after a long period on the lam, Kelly and Shannon could no longer take the heat and decided to turn themselves in to the authorities. Rudolph Giuliani, who was a federal prosecutor at the time, claimed that they were the last ruling body of the Westies.

[edit] The Yugo and the New Era

By the early 1990s the old Hells Kitchen neighborhood had disappeared. The blue-collar Irish-American residents had been replaced by wealthy yuppies and a mix of Hispanic and black residents. With this demographics change came a decrease in street crime and a new name for the gentrified neighborhood, Clinton. However, the Westies weren’t dead yet.

A Yugoslavian born thug, Bosco “The Yugo” Radonjich, started out as a low-level associate of Jimmy Coonan, but in the absence of the old leaders he was able to take control over the still predominantly Irish-American gang and reestablish their connections with Gambino Family Boss, John Gotti. Among Bosco's underlings was Brian Bentley, an Irish-American mobster in his mid-20s who used two Hispanic associates to execute a highly successful burglary ring until the eventual arrest of Bentley's crew in the early ‘90s. When Michael G. Cherkasky, chief of the Investigations Division of the District Attorney's Office, was asked how much of the notorious gang remained in an interview, he replied "too much," and stated that "it is not the end." Around this time the organization's kingpin, Radonjich, fled the country to avoid jail time. These occurrences bring the changing face of the Westies into focus.

[edit] Recent years

The modern day Westies are allegedly run by John "Little Jackie" Coonan, III the nephew of James "Jimmy C" Coonan, and son of Jimmy's brother and Westies' member John "Jackie" Coonan, Jr. His top aid is Sean "Butcher Junior" Cummiskey, the eldest son of Eddie "the Butcher" Cummiskey. They, along with Cummiskey's younger brother, Brian Bentley, as well as released Westies members Kenny Shannon and Billy Bokun, are allegedly in control of the Hell's Kitchen rackets today. Kevin Kelly is up for release in 2011 although it is unclear if the former leader will return to the rackets working for the younger Coonan and younger generation, as Bokun and Shannon allegedly have.

Shannon and Bokun were released from federal prison on March 6, 2001 and February 16, 2001 respectively, and are believed by authorities to have resumed their activities as members of the feared Hell's Kitchen Irish Mob. The Westies of today allegedly involve themselves in the loansharking business, as well as narcotics on the West and Upper East Side of Manhattan. They are also believed to have members in Yonkers, where many new Irish immigrants have begun to settle.

[edit] Leaders of the Westies

[edit] Members

  • Richard "Richie" Ryan
  • Tommy Collins
  • Patrick Dugan, killed by Eddie Cummiskey and Jimmy Coonan
  • Denis Curley
  • Tommy Hess
  • William "Rabbit" Hall
  • Eamon Daly
  • Simon Dayan
  • Daniel Kane
  • Edward Coonan
  • Edward Sullivan
  • William "Billie" Beattie
  • John "Johnny" Halo

[edit] Murders

  • Bobby Lagville killed by Jimmy Coonan
  • Jerry Morales killed by Jimmy Coonan, Eddie Coonan, Jackie Coonan and Eddie Sullivan
  • John Riley killed by Mickey Featherstone and Tommy McElroy
  • Emilio Rettagliatta killed by Mickey Featherstone
  • Linwood Willis killed by Mickey Featherstone
  • Mike "the Yugo" Yelovich
  • Dennis Curley killed by Paddy Dugan
  • Charles "Ruby" Stein killed by Danny Grillo, Jimmy Coonan, Richie Ryan, Billie Beattie and Jimmy McElroy
  • Walter Curtis killed by Eddie Cummiskey and Jimmy Coonan
  • Rickey Tassiello killed by Jimmy Coonan and Mickey Featherstone
  • William Walker killed by Jimmy McElroy
  • Harold "Whitey" Whitehead killed by Jimmy Coonan
  • Henry Diaz killed by Kenny Shannon and Kevin Kelly
  • Tommy Hess killed by Richie Ryan
  • Tommy "Butter" Moresco
  • Vincent Leone killed by Kevin Kelly and Kenny Shannon
  • Michael Holly killed by Billy Bokun, Kevin Kelly, and Kenny Shannon

[edit] In popular culture

  • The 2002 Martin Scorsese film Gangs of New York provided a riveting, lightly fictionalized history of the Civil War-era origin of the competing Irish immigrant crime crews who dominated Five Points. The movie explains the social tradition of enduring, if not actually shielding, Irish gangs in Manhattan's Irish neighborhoods, which led to the eventual ascendancy of the Westies in the mid-to-late 20th Century.
  • The 1990 movie State of Grace also paints a largely fictionalized portrait of the Westies as they were under Jimmy Coonan. The film centers around the return to the neighborhood of an undercover cop who infiltrates the gang and finds himself torn between the neighborhood's code of silence and the badge he wears.
  • In the 2001 John Favreau film Made the lead characters are assaulted by a group of Irish thugs referred to as Westies. However, it is made clear that they were not in fact Westies.
  • The 2008 movie in development Emerald City is based on the true-crime book The Westies by T.J. English and is being written by Jim Sheridan.
  • On March 17, 2006 The History Channel premiered a two-hour history of Irish-American organized crime that prominently profiled the Westies. Titled Paddy Whacked, it featured narrative interviews with crime historians such as T.J. English, author of a book by the same name, and Rose Keefe.
  • The 2001 Law & Order episode entitled "Brother's Keeper" features a fictional character named Cally Lonegan, who is referred to as "the last of the Westies."
  • The 2005 Don Winslow novel The Power of the Dog highlights the partnerships between the Westies, the Italian mobs, and their involvement with drug trafficking into New York.

[edit] References

  • English, T.J. The Westies: Inside the Hell's Kitchen Irish Mob. St Martin's Paperbacks, 1991. ISBN 0-312-92429-1
  • English, T.J. Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN 0-06-059002-5

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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