Jimmy Coonan (1977-1986)- Jimmy Coonan led the most violent Irish gang Hell's Kitchen and New York has ever seen. After being released from jail in 1970, he started building up his own Irish gang so he could take over the rackets from Mickey Spillane. His gang soon outgrew the old Irish mob led by Spillane. Coonan's gang consisted of such killers as Richie Ryan (the uncontrollable kid who was a cocaine addict and alcoholic), Francis "Mickey" Featherstone (Jimmy's right hand man), JImmy McElroy, Billy Beattie, Eddie Coonan, Jackie Coonan, Kevin Kelley, and Kenny Shannon. Unlike the Spillane gang, which had a no-drug law, the Westies under Coonan were mostly cocaine addicts and alcoholics. In 1978, Paul Castellano, boss of the Gambino's, wanted a sit-down with Coonan and they made an alliance with each other. Jimmy ordered the killing of mob associate and one of the most successful loansharks in New York City, Ruby Stein. Stein was a very powerful mand and a friend of Fat Tony Salerno. It was this murder where Coonan used the method of chopping up his victims and keeping the hands for fingerprints. Coonan also tried many times to kill Salerno. Several times Coonan, Featherstone, Ryan and McElroy went out looking for Salerno; they never spotted him. Coonan also tried to link up with an Irish gang in Boston run by his friend he met in Sing Sing, Pete Wilson. They met numerous times in NY and then flew to Boston to carry out a heist with Wilson and his boys. Together they robbed a pharmeceutical warehouse. But after that they never got back together because of the events happening in HK. From 1970-1986 there were some 30 unsolved homicides. In 1979 Featherstone and Coonan were indicted for the murder of Whitney Whitehead but were found not guilty. In 1980 Coonan and Featherstone were sentenced to four years for gun possession and counterfeiting. During the 80s the Westies' fortune grew. Narcotics became the most profitabe racket while Jimmy was gone. Sports betting was another growing racket. Pressure was building up on Coonan when his right hand man, Mickey Featherstone, flipped so Jimmy decided it was time to disappear from HK. He invested in Marine construction. In 1986, Coonan was arrested and this ended his reign of HK. Coonan was convicted in 1988 under RICO and received 75 years. In his absence Kevin Kelley took over.

Francis "Mickey" Featherstone (Boyle) -the right hand man of Jimmy Coonan. Joined the Army at the age of 17. When he got back from Viet Name in 1970, he was involved in a few murders but got off due to insanity and declared unfit to stand trial. He was 5'8", 160 lbs and fearless, never backing down from a fight. Coonan soon introduced him to his organization. He was involved in the killing of mob associate Ruby Stein. In 1979, Featherstone was indicted for the murder of Whitney Whitehead. He was found innocent. He did get six years for gun possession and counterfeiting. When Mickey got out he was angered that Coonan had not taken care of his family like he promised. Featherstone also began to dislike how Coonan kissed up to the Italians. He decided it was time to go straight. He turned down an offer from Coonan to murder some guys, which angered Coonan. The breaking point between Featherstone and Coonan started when Coonan refused to lend Featherstone $40,000. Featherstone soon put together his own gang of HK thugs to take out Coonan and his associates. His two top men for the conspiracy were Billy Beattie, whom Coonan had a contract on, and Jimmy McElroy. They went out a couple of times trying to find him but were unsuccessful. The FBI got Mickey to flip in 1986. He testified against Coonan and helped convict him. He later testified against John Gotti and other Italian gangsters. Featherstone is still alive in WPP.

Eddie Cummiskey was an old time gangster compared to Jimmy Coonan. He was actually the first to show Coonan the way of chopping up his victims and dumping them into a river. He was first employed by Mickey Spillane and was on his side during the Spillane/Coonan wars of the mid-60s. But when Coonan got out of jail he became good friends with him. During the 1970s he was good friends with both Spillane and Coonan. On August 20, 1978 Eddie Cummiskey was drinking at the Sunbrite bar when a man walked in and shot him in the head at point blank range. The deed was done by Joe "Mad Dog" Sullivan and ordered by Tony Salerno.

Kevin Kelley (1986-1988)- With the absence of Coonan, HK rackets were up for grabs. Kevin Kelley, along with his right hand man Kenny Shannon, grabbed what they could take. They also started operating outside the West Side, pushing cocaine in Manhattan's Upper East Side. With evidence building up, Kelly and Shannon went on the run. In August of 1988, after the sentencing of Coonan and other gang members, Kevin Kelley and Kenny Shannon turned themselves in. The FBI identified the two men as the last ruling structure of the Westies. They were wrong, Bosco "The Yugo" Rondonvich took over what was left of the HK rackets.

The Westies are a group of predominantly Irish American organized crime figures operating from the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan's West Side in New York City. They were most influencial 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 Kithcen and the most notorious generation's rise to power in the mid-1960s, the Westies did not receive this 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 Michael "Mickey" Spillane, James "Jimmy" Coonan and Francis "Mickey" Featherstone.


Spillane years

In the early 1960's 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 1950's 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.


Spillane-Coonan Wars

In the mid-1960s Spillane attracted the negative attention of New York's Italian mobster community when he "snatched" a numbers operator named Eli Zicardi, who worked for Genovese crime family boss Fat Tony Salerno. Zicardi's ransom was paid, but Zicardi vanished. Spillane also had internal problems. A young man from the neighborhood, Jimmy Coonan, had vowed revenge for Spillane's snatch of his father, an accountant who Spillane pistol-whipped before his release after the ransom was paid.

By 1966, when Coonan was only 18, the Coonan-Spillane Wars were in full swing with murders, beatings, "snatchings," and other acts of vengeance forcing the entire neighborhood to take sides or risk retribution. Coonan was eventually imprisoned for a brief time, but was released at the age of 25 and immediately resumed his criminal career, opening a bar and becoming a prominent neighborhood loanshark. As his sidekick, he recruited a troubled 24 year old Vietnam War veteran named Mickey Featherstone, who's impressive feats in barroom brawling and trigger-happy tendencies had become quite infamous throughout the West Side.

By the mid-1970s Spillane had moved out of Hell's Kitchen but Coonan had not. Coonan steadily encroached on the criminal activities which provided much of the Westies' income under Spillane's rule. Spillane was murdered in front of his apartment in Woodside, Queens on the night of May 13, 1977. Featherstone stood trial for but was not convicted of the murder, which permitted Coonan to take over. According to T.J. English, Featherstone had nothing to do with it; the murder was performed as a favor to Coonan by the Gambino crime family, cementing the Westies' ties to existing Italian crime syndicates and resolving the tension between Spillane and the Italians after the unsuccessful ransom of Eli Zacardi.


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 all-ready 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. Almost all of the other gang members received stiff sentences.


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. After a long period on the lamb, Kelly and Shannon could no longer take the heat, and decided to surrender themselves to the authorities. Rudolph Giuliani, who was a federal prosecutor at the time, claimed that they were the last ruling body of the Westies. He was wrong.


The Yugo and the New Era

By the early 1990's 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 Serbian 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 restablish 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 buglary 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.


The Modern Westies

To this day, small groups of loosly allied Irish-American mobsters continue to dominate the West Side rackets. But, like Hell's Kitchen, they are by no means what they used to be. Less powerful and less violent, along with a lower profile and an increased tolerance for initiating other ethnicities, are the key differences between the Westies of the past and the modern day Hell's Kitchen racketeers.


Known Westies

Mickey Spillane
James "Jimmy" Coonan
Frances "Mickey" Featherstone
Eddie "the Butcher" Cummiskey
Kevin Kelly
Kenny Shannon
William Bokun
James McEllroy
Richie Ryan
Tommy Collins
Richard "Mugsy" Ritter
Patrick Dugan
Denis Curley
Tommy Hess
William "Rabbit" Hall
Eamon Daly
James Reilly
John Coonan, Jr.
Edward Coonan
Edward Sullivan
William "Billie" Beattie
John "Johnny" Halo
Bosco “The Yugo” Radonjich
Brian Bentley
Hughie Mulligan


Murders

Bobby Lagville
Jerry Morales
Mike "the Yugo" Yelovich
Paddy Dugan
Charles "Ruby" Stein
Walter Curtis killed by Eddie Cummiskey
Rickey Tassiello killed by Jimmy Coonan
William Walker killed by Jimmy McElroy
Harold "Whitey" Whitehead killed by Jimmy Coonan
Henry Diaz
Tommy Hess killed by Richie Ryan
Tommy "Butter" Moresco
Vincent Leone killed by Kevin Kelly
Michael Holly killed by Billy Bokun


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.

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.

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 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.

Eddie McGrath (born January 31, 1906) was an Irish-American gangster from New York City, who controlled the Hell's Kitchen Irish Mob and the lucrative waterfront throughout the 1940s. Originally from the notorious Gashouse District on the East Side, McGrath was arrested numerous times throughout the 1920s and 30s for offenses ranging from burglary to murder.

After serving a lengthy stretch in Sing Sing, McGrath ended up as an organizer for the International Longshoremen's Association on the Hell's Kitchen waterfront. With the notorious Joseph P. Ryan in control of the ILA, McGrath became the primary muscle on the waterfront, with gangsters like John "Cockeye" Dunn (who was McGrath's brother in law) and Andrew "Squint" Sheridan as his enforcers. He became a close ally of powerful organized crime figures such as Joe Adonis, Albert Anastasia, and Meyer Lansky.

Eddie McGrath was forced to abscond from New York after Dunn and Sheridan were executed for the murder of a hiring stevedore named Andy Hintz in 1949 and the investigation of waterfront criminal activity subsequently began to escalate. He was sent to Miami as an ILA organizer at the behest of Meyer Lansky, where he spent the remainder of his life.

The character of Johnny Friendly in On the Waterfront is losely based on a composite of McGrath, Albert Anastasia, and an ILA organizer named Mickey Bowers.

John M. "Cockeye" Dunn (d. July 7, 1949 Ossining, New York) was a New York mobster involved in the numbers racket and labor racketeering as a top enforcer for his brother-in-law Eddie McGrath. He was convicted together with Andrew "Squint" Sheridan of the 1947 murder of Greenwich Village hiring stevedore Anthony "Andy" Hintz, and was executed in the electric chair on July 7, 1949.


Life

Born in Queens, New York, he was in and out of Catholic reform schools after the death of his father, a merchant marine who was lost at sea when he was four. With arrests for robbery and assault during his teenage years, he was finally convicted of robbing a card game and sentenced to two years imprisonment at Sing Sing Prison.

Following his release, Dunn was hired as an enforcer for McGrath who was then a part owner of Varick Enterprises, a front company which made collections for the waterfront dock bosses of Manhattan's Westside. In 1937, he and McGrath were arrested in connection with the death of a trucker but were eventually dismissed for lack of evidence.

Later he formed a labor union (Local 21510, Motor and Bus Terminal Checkers, Platform and Office Workers) associated with the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and eventually oversaw waterfront racketeering on Manhattan's Lower West Side by the early 1940s. He established underworld connections including Joe Ryan, who had sponsored him for union membership, and Meyer Lansky who had been in discussions regarding the use of the longshoremen's union to assist in the importation of heroin and cocaine into the United States.


The Hintz case

At 7.40 a.m. on January 8, 1947, Andy Hintz, hiring boss on Pier Fifty-One, was shot six times on the stairs just outside his apartment when leaving for work. Surviving the attack however, he was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital were he drifted in and out of consciousness for three weeks before his death on January 29. Before having been taken to the hospital he told his wife that he had been shot by John Dunn. Dunn was arrested immediately and held as a material witness. On January 11, Hintz identified Dunn, "Andy" Sheridan and one "Danny" as his assailants in a dying declaration. Two days later he made another dying decalaration because in the first one he did not express clearly enough his belief that he was going to die. On January 24, the police arrested Andrew "Squint" Sheridan at his home in Hollywood, Florida. He was transferred to New York by the FBI on a federal charge and later turned over to the New York County D.A. office. Former prize fighter Danny Gentile turned himself in at the end of March, appearing with his lawyer in Assistant D.A. William J. Keating's office. All three accused men were held in custody without bail. Due to both the extensive press coverage of the event and Dunn's underworld connections, there was concern that the state's star witness, the deceased's widow Maisie Hintz, might be in danger and she was forced to go into hiding until the start of the trial. The trial, before Judge George L. Donnellan, began on December 4 with the selection of the jury, and on December 31, 1947, all three Dunn, Sheridan and Gentile were convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to death in the electric chair. Dunn and Gentile then offered information against waterfront racketeers in exchange for life imprisonment. Since all of his information - incriminating dead people or talking about cases in a way the authorities knew was false - was useless, the deal with Dunn fell through. He and Sheridan were executed at Sing Sing on July 7, 1949. On the day before, Gentile's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by Governor Thomas E. Dewey, supported by a favorable letter from D.A. Frank Hogan, in which he claimed that "Gentile has done everything within his power to assist this office in its investigation of waterfront criminal activity."

Hell's Kitchen would not be where it is at today if it was not for Mickey Featherstone! He helped that community become what it is today by being the man that he is!!!! If it was not for Mickey Featherstone Hell's Kitchen would not be the place it is today. So Thank God for mickey Featherstone!!!!!!...and I know YOU all know it! THINK ABOUT IT>>>READ THE BOOK AND WATCH THE SHOW! nHELLS KITCHEN USA!

you muppet mickey was my bitch

hey muppet, remember the 3m heist. we decidid to take 3m scotch gaurd cans instead of the ciggaretts we were supposed to grab? oh man i tell that story and it just gets funnier every time

Would you email me personally. Thanks. KerriAnn1025@yahoo.com

You wouldn't look Mickey Featherstone in the eyes and call him a bitch! He did what he needed to for his family and anyone that is willing to do that is no pussy. I lived in Hell's Kitchen when I moved there from Ireland. I always perffured Mickey or any of them; even Whitey Bulger from the South Boston Irish mob. Your a small time crook and you won't be shit ever.

you got to be kidding me, this guy was the biggest rat to hit new york before sammy gravano...clean up the west side...nice thought...but...the sons of the westies are alive and well and still doing exactly what their daddies did...are you in the same zip code as the rest of us here in manhattan...your facts are not factual...they sound good, but not the truth...but then again, most of this stuff is fluffed...have any of you people known any of these guys personally...i do...and what a difference between what you say and what i know...tsk, tsk, people don't be so easily fooled...

New pictures added 16/12/06

Michael Spillane much better known as Mickey Spillane ( July 13th 1934-May 13th 1977) was an Irish-American mobster from Hell's Kitchen, New York. Spillane, who was called the "last of the gentleman gangsters", was a marked contrast to the violent Westies gang members who succeeded him in Hell's Kitchen.


Early life

As a young boy in Hell's Kitchen, Spillane started as a numbers runner for various organized crime figures in his neighborhood. In 1960, Mickey took over the rackets left to him by his predecessor Eddie McGrath, the waterfront racketeer and longshormen's union leader. He married Maureen McManus, the daughter of the Democratic district leader Eugene McManus.

Though Italian mobsters dominated organized crime in the city, Irish street gangs had long operated in Hell's Kitchen. The Italians allowed Spillane to operate on the West Side as long as they got their cut. As retribution for their hostile takeover, Spillane would kidnap members of the Italian Mafia and hold them for ransom. Although he ran the rackets such as gambling, policy, and loansharking, he was against the sale of drugs in his neighborhood and wouldn't allow it.


Spillane-Coonan rivalry & the Gambino crime family

In 1966 a young upstart named Jimmy Coonan attempted to take the neighborhood from Mickey, muscling in on his territory and murdering a Spillane underling. Ultimately, Coonan was sent to prison in 1967. When Coonan was released from prison, he sought to align himself with the Gambino crime family through an up and coming capo from Brooklyn named Roy DeMeo.

The 1970s saw an increased threat from the Genovese crime family, as Fat Tony Salerno sought control over the soon to be built Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Since the Convention Center was located on the West Side, Spillane stood his ground against the takeover by the Italians. Salerno responded by hiring an Irish-American hitman named Joseph "Mad Dog" Sullivan to assassinate Tom Devaney, Eddie "the Butcher" Cummiskey and Tom "the Greek" Kapatos, three of Spillane's chief lieutenents. With the loss of some of his best men he was significantly weakened, and by the mid 1970s had moved his family out of Hell's Kitchen to Woodside, Queens for fear for their safety.

On May 13, 1977, Mickey Spillane was killed outside his apartment in Woodside, Queens. It has long been rumored that Roy DeMeo murdered Spillane as a favor to Jimmy Coonan, who subsequently took over as the boss of the Westies.

Spillane was of no relation to the author Mickey Spillane or the boxer Michael Spillane.



Spillane, at age 17, lies on the sidewalk after being shot by police following the failed robbery of a Times Square movie theater.

Hughie Mulligan (d. 1973) was a New York mobster and bookmaker who headed criminal activities of the "Irish Mob" in Hell's Kitchen during the 1950s. Among his proteges included Jimmy Burke, an associate of the Lucchese crime family, and his eventual successor Mickey Spillane.

Tell us about how John"jackie"Coonan jr.is the new "kingpin" of NYC irish mob.He was taken in early this year by the FBI.Is there truth to this??

There have been rumours about this for a while, though I didn't hear about him being arrested by the FBI. If he is running the next generation, they've kept a much lower profile than their fore fathers!

My hunch is that they're still there, but may be running out of another neighbourhood aswell as the Kitchen!

What ever happened to old Tommy Collins? I remember back in the mid 80's going up to Greenhaven to visit my uncle Brian Conlan with my mother. I believe it was there annual Holy Name Society get together in the yard. I was just a teenager at the time and didn't realize I was sitting at a table of old school Irish warriors. Tommy just happened to be one of them. I was told he got out but is he stiil alive? And I know his kid Mike was doing a bid. Did he ever regain his freedom?

He was released back in 97 or 98 now, don't know how he is, but he must be in his mid-seventies now if he is still kicking. Also Billy Bokun was released in 2001 i think, same with Kenny Shannon. Anyone know the word on Kelly?

I can honestly say i don't know the full extent of the HK, but i know it is minimal. Jackie Coonan as mentioned is around same with Sean Cumminskey, Eddie's son, but i realaly don't know anything about them. I know Coonan testified at the Hilton Rape (the boxer) trial in Montreal a few years ago as a witness for the defence. I will try to find out how he was involved.

There are no irish people in Hell's Kitchen anymore, and there hasn't been since the early 90's. The Westies old stomping ground is now basically a mixture of hispanics, blacks and wealthy wall street types who are moving into plush new apartments in the re-named neighbourhood of Clinton. Anyone who thinks there is still an irish mob in HK is living in a dream world.

nobody really knows what's goin on,it's dosen't matter if alot of irish people still live in hell's kitchen, just like in brooklyn theirs not that many Italian areas anymore but they still run areas that are a 100 percent black, and know one really know's who's in the westies, when Bosko toke over he had a crew but you don't know who they are cause they didn't make the newspaper and you can't find them on the internet. when Bosko left am sure someone took his spot, I mean it's all about makin money why would anyone give up on makin money in the rackets. So unless they make the paper know one is really gonna know what's goin on, and I live on Long Island, and I walk through hell's kitchen before, I didn't just read about it. so I know alittle bit more then people living across the country.

I've never heard any one mention this burglary group that was part of the Westies, but it's an article from 1992....

Metropolitan Desk; 1
3 Arrests Hit Burglary Ring In Manhattan
By RICHARD PEREZ-PENA
905 words
14 November 1992
The New York Times
Late Edition - Final
21
English
Copyright 1992 The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.
A burglary ring that victimized more than 1,000 businesses in Manhattan in the last three years has been broken up and three of its members arrested, law-enforcement officials said yesterday.

The three men admitted that the ring had committed about a burglary a day at shops and restaurants, fast-food restaurants in particular, the officials said. About 400 businesses in midtown and lower Manhattan were burglarized this year, the officials said.

"There were times when they would do three or four in an evening," said Michael G. Cherkasky, chief of the Investigations Division of the District Attorney's Office.

If the figures are accurate, the group carried out more than 3 percent of the commercial burglaries committed since the beginning of 1990 in the borough, where about 10,000 such crimes take place each year, according to the police. "I think this will have a significant impact on commercial burglaries in Manhattan," said Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly. Safes With Plenty of Cash

Choosing businesses that kept large amounts of cash in safes, the group made off with sums ranging from "a couple of thousand to $50,000 to $75,000," Mr. Cherkasky said. Officials could not provide an estimate of the total amount the burglars stole.

It was not clear why law-enforcement officials were certain that they had broken the ring. District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau predicted that more arrests would be made soon, though he would not say how many and gave no hint as to the size of the ring.

The arrests came after a two-month investigation by the District Attorney's Office Detective Squad, which had put the ring under surveillance, videotaped the accused burglars breaking into the J & S Electronics store at 660 Lexington Avenue, near 57th Street, at 3 A.M. yesterday. Before they could crack its safe, the three men tripped an alarm, fled the store and were arrested by the detectives, Mr. Morgenthau said.

Mr. Morgenthau said that his office, which conducted the investigation, began developing the case two months ago, after his detectives became aware of similarities among many burglaries.

Despite the number of burglaries, the ring planned each one carefully, observing employee routines and security measures before moving in on a target, Mr. Morgenthau said. Typically, the intruders would use sledgehammers and bolt cutters to enter a business, often by knocking out a section of wall. The burglars would use electric saws with blades designed for cutting through metal to open the safe, or, when possible, would take the safe with them.

Several businesses were hit more than once, including Forbidden Planet, at 821 Broadway, near 13th Street, a shop that was victimized seven times. A partial list of the businesses, provided by the District Attorney's Office, shows that the group was especially fond of fast-food restaurants, striking several McDonald's franchises, a Burger King, a Roy Rogers, a Pizza Hut and a Dunkin Donuts. Member of the Westies

One of those arrested, Brian Bentley, 26 years old, was identified by Mr. Morgenthau as the leader of the group and a member of the Westies, a notoriously violent gang that terrorized the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan until the mid-1980's. Also apprehended were Brian Gonzalez, 18, and Carlos Diaz, 19.

Law-enforcement officials and former members of the gang have said that from the mid-1970's to the mid-1980's, the Westies, a predominantly Irish-American gang, acted as enforcers for the Gambino crime family, a role that included carrying out several murders. Law-enforcement officials have said little about the gang since 1988, when seven of its members, including its leaders, were convicted of various crimes under Federal racketeering statutes and given prison terms of up to 75 years.

When asked how much still remained of the gang, Mr. Cherkasky said: "Too much." Even if all members of the burglary ring are sent to prison, he said, "it's not the end" of the gang.

The three men in custody have been charged only with the burglaries at J & S yesterday and a break-in last week at Woolko Food Company, at 26-40 Gansevoort Street, that netted $11,000 from a store safe. Additional charges will be filed against them, officials said.

At the time of his arrest, Mr. Bentley was free on bail, awaiting trial for attempted murder in a shooting that occurred last May, and for a robbery a month later. If convicted of the burglaries, Mr. Bentley, who has previous felony convictions for possession of stolen property and attempted burglary, could be deemed a persistent felony offender and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

Mr. Diaz was sentenced six weeks ago to five years' probation, after being convicted of a felony drug sale. Mr. Gonzalez's criminal record consists of a single instance of drug possession when he was a minor. Both men face up to 14 years in prison for the string of burglaries.

Photo: Police have announced the breakup of a burglary ring that victimized commercial establishments in Manhattan for three years, often by knocking out a section of wall with sledgehammers and electric saws and then using bolt cutters. Police displayed some of the tools and weapons they seized. (Don Hogan Charles/The New York Times) (pg. 22)

thanks John, that's a good find

Carlos Manzano, one of nine Democratic contenders for the Manhattan Borough President's job, landed TV star Michael Imperioli, who plays Tony Soprano's brooding and troubled mob protégé on HBO's The Sopranos, to help draw a crowd for his campaign fundraisers. But Manzano also attracted some dubious donors who could tell some real-life tales about the mob—if they ever cared to discuss it.

Among those who have anted up big bucks for Manzano's bid are a pair of alleged Gambino crime family associates from New Jersey who, according to numerous law enforcement reports, were considered members of a murderous Irish-American gang known as "the Westies." Campaign finance records show that Francis "Buddy" Leahy and Michael "Mickey" Cahill, along with two other family members, donated a total of $4,850 to Manzano last year.

Leahy and Cahill run a major construction firm in Englewood Cliffs that supplies steel re-bar. They allegedly kicked back a share of their earnings to the late John Gotti, according to testimony by mob turncoats Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano and Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo.

Manzano, whose home base is the venerable McManus Midtown Democratic Association and whose main political patron is former city Board of Elections official Jim McManus, also took in thousands in campaign cash from another alleged mob figure. Former private waste hauling king Angelo Ponte, who served 20 months in prison after being convicted as a kingpin in the mob's cartel, donated $2,000 to Manzano last year. Ponte's wife Rosalie gave $3,850, the maximum allowed in the race.

Manzano said he recalled meeting Leahy and Cahill "a couple of times" at his fundraisers. "They are business people as far as I am concerned," he said. As for Ponte, he said he recalled reading about "his problems" in the newspaper. "Bear in mind most of my contributions are from small donors," he said. "I believe I am setting a record this year." Which is why such big givers might stand out. Was he bothered by hauling in mob ducats for his campaign? "I've got to look into it," said Manzano.

Leahy and Cahill did not return calls. Ponte, who could not be reached, has figured in another important Manhattan campaign: District Attorney Robert Morgenthau convicted him in the carting case; former Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder, Morgy's dogged challenger, doled out his sentence.

Eddie McDarby Real name Martin and his close friend John Fee whatever happened to these 2 members? Last time I read Mcdarby was arrested in I think 88 or 89 for rackateering charges but nothing since.

I know Mcdarby and Fee were cellmates in Sing Sing in the late 40ies 50ies.

John Fee was a piece of work...No pun intended. He get you jobs with his union 32bj and if you didn't pay him he and Mcdarby would have you knocked off. Mcdarby was a loan Shark. Very nice guy friendlier then John until it was pay day. Mcdarby never got his $1000 suits dirt he had John and his buddies take care of the dirty work. I tell you John Fee had no soul when it came to knocking someone off. At least McDarby gave you a few extra days to come up with the dough ray me.

Eddie McDarby was a very Dapper Irish man... Never had a real job EVER in his entire life. Came from a very respectible Irish American Family. His Bother was a Detective for the NYPD and would cover his Ass and his assets . But, not soon enough. In 1949 Eddie was sent to jail for a mob related inccident. I have to say Eddie had 2 sides to him ...1 a very very very nice man who would give you the shirt off of his back...But if you ever did business with him and did not pay up...He became Martin McDarby The Devil...Maybe that is why he had 2 names.. he never Liked being called Martin and maybe that was because that was his killer personality.

John Fee...hummm.......I'd be afraid to say anything bad about him dead or alive he would find you and haunt you till you pay up 3x over..... His family once lived on East 81 Street and as a kid he was The Shark Of Second Avenue. I remember coming home from school and he'd be on the corner ready to jump me or anyone he could get. I never saw his good side until years later. When I returned from the service I heard he had married a girl in the neighborhood. I remember hearing he was arrested about 1950-51. He wa involed with the old Irish mafia as a kid. Arrested for attempted murder of a shop owner who owed money to the Irish Mob. Years Later I was with a old Friend trying to get some work. We Went to the Rose Pub in Hells Kitchen and Mickey Featherstone mentioned a close contact he had with a good union, good money, good benifits But, You'll never get into the Union unless you new someone and paid for the gig. Low and behold my dark/scary past came back...John Fee the Shark of 2nd Avenue and 81 Street. I was told he could get me into the union and get me a job real fast. I met him at a building on lower Broadway, and let me tell you he may have been years older but still the same. What a Cold person with no feelings, I don't think this guy was born with a soul. Everyone from the Westies dealt with him getting Jobs with a maintanence union that once mainly hired Irish americans untill it's Union Leader Sweeny moved on to Washington and became the head of the AFL-CIO SEIU.

John Fee Remembered me and laughed at me when I told him I needed a job. I told him that I was already aware that it was impossible to get into the union or get a quick job. He was a real prick at first. He told me he had many jobs to be filled since a Strike just ended and several workers left the union during the strike for other jobs. I don't like kissing ass but this is one time I had to. He got me a job and with in a few months I was in The union. He told me what it would cost me. Well 1 month later I owed him 3x the amount he initialy told me. Now I need a 2nd job just to pay him for my 1st job. I told told him that this is not what we agreed and he told me straight out wheather I leave the job or stay I own him the money or he would have removed from the face fo the earth...(I'll never forget his veins poping out when he said that). I told my friend who knew all the Big wig Westies.I Met my friend who thought maybe a few guys he new could help with my situation or talk to John Fee. Kevin Kelly and Kenny Shannon where close with John and they told me John is a big union guy on his own. Who gets what he want and gets away with it. He was very well liked amongst the Westies, since he was there ticket for a good paying job, I found out later that many Westies where in the union got paychecks but never punched a clock thanks to Johns connections. I fessed up to John and paid up on time and become somewhat close in contact with him. When ever I need help in my building he was On the ball and took care of everything in a snap. He never bragged about being involved with the Westies but, he was obvious and everyone who new John always reffered to him as a Irish mobster who was in change of getting everyone a job just to look good. I don't know what he had on the Union but what ever it was. John Fee controled an entire district as if it where a union in itself and bossed other district representatives as if he were there boss. A rep On the Upper East Side Once Joked about John being the Worst and The Best person this union ever had. I finally saw Johns soft side when a friend of his who was a super was missing. He told me that he new that Steve was knocked off because he owed a Westies loanshark money. He bent over backwards for this guy many times but this was the last straw that he could not help with anymore. John was a very cold and numb guy but if you ever worked with him he was your angel on the job. 2 years later John got me a superintendents job in Murry Hill, and I retired from that job and the union 12 yrs later. A few years ago I bumped into a friend of Johns, Lefty..Lefty told me John past away. I felt a chill when I heard that. I new this guy since we wher kids on E 81 Street and He never liked me and I never liked him and years later I pay him for a job that turned out to become a career. I'm a recovering alcholic and if it weren't for John I'd would have been in a shelter or maybe dead. It's the enemy you dont expect to resurface to help you when your down and pick you up and dust you off and that is what he did. Where ever he is now resting his hat....don't mess with him cause he is one guy who talks the talk and walks the walk and will personally take you out.

Thanks YorkvilleSoul! A great and rare insight into Fee! I was once told that the Westies operate out of Yorkville now in some capacity. Can you shed any light on this?

John Fee past away in the 90ies. I think mcDarby is dead from what I was told when I was visiting a pub recently. Didn't John have a brother who was a detective also? Or was it just McDarby who had a NYPD family member.

Fee, was a character, but, I believe your portrail of him being a devil is out of wack. I know he was in Sing Sing with McDarby. If you ask me I'd say Fee, was nicer then McDarby and it was McDarby who was more involved then Fee. John Fee remarried when he was released from prison in the 50ies to a Latin girl from Spanish Harlem. Don't know much more then that. He moved to Queens, NY in the 70ies.

What was the last mesg???I know nothing about anything, but would love to know about my family? If you know my grandfather Joseph Beattie please contact me....if your crazy, then please DONT...I have had enough SHIT to
last a lifetime and dont care about yours@

i dont care about you either

Just back from New York after celebrating St Patricks day(s). Been 5 times and love wandering around the streets of Hells Kitchen. Sad to see the Market diner has gone along with McHales on 8th Avenue. Enjoyed a good few pints in Kevin St James, McQuaids, The Landmark Tavern, Mr Biggs,once owned by Jimmy Coonan,(596 club), O'Flaherty's, The Joshua Tree etc tec The list goes on.

Hey Terry!

We'll along stay onn you block, SAULANTSW good nightm=bb my friend DD

What the hell is that formula supposed to mean?

I OWN A BAR IN HELL'S KITCHEN, AND IF ANYONE THINKS THAT JOHN JR IS RUNNING ANYTHING BUT A SKILL SAW, THEY CRAZY. JOHN AND HIS BROTHER J AND SEAN COMISKY, HAVE NEVER BEEN REFERRED TO AS "LITTLE JACKIE" OR BUTCHER JR. WHO MAKES THIS CRAP UP. THEY'RE ARE NO WESTIES RUNNING ANYTHING IN hELL'S KITCHEN, IT SHOULD BE CALLED HELL'S KITCHENETTE. THIS IS THE BEST THIS NEIGHBORHOOD HAS BEEN FOR OVER 200 YEARS. THESE KIDS ARE WORKING UNION JOBS AND DON'T HAVE ANY ORGANIZED THING ABOUT THEM. ARE THEY TOUGH KIDS WHO DRINK AND FIGHT AT THE DROP OF A HAT, YOU BET. BUT TO CONSIDER THEM ORGANIZED CRIMINALS IS RIDICULOUS. JOHN JR RECENTLY WAS CHARGED WITH HELPING A FRIEND OBTAIN SOME TYPE OF DRUG. FOR THIS THEY WNAT TO GIVE HIME 1-3 YEARS WHERE A NORMAL 1ST OFFENDER WOULD RECIEVE 3 YEARS PROBATION. hIS LAST NAME IS A CURSE. IF HE IS RUNNING THE WESTSIDE THEN I WANT THE $20 BACK I LOANED HIM FOR CAB FARE. THIS KID HAS NO MONEY BUT WHAT HE AND HIS GIRL EARN AND HE IS BEING PERSECUTED FOR THE SINS OF HIS FATHER AND UNCLE.I COULD WALK HELL'S KITCHEN FOR A WEEK AND STILL NOT FIND ANY ORGANIZED IRISH MOB RUN BY "LITTLE JACKIE" WHICH i HAVE NEVER HEARD HIM REFERRED TO AS THAT. tHIS IS A CASE OF HAVING THE WRONG LAST NAME AND DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S LOOKING TO BE THE NEXT ELIOT SPITZER OR THOMAS DEWEY.

Whatever happened to Mikey Featherstone? What is his history?

Featherstone is in the Witness Protection Program. After Coonan didn't keep his word of taking care of Mickey's family when Mickey was put away and refusing to loan him money when he got out Featherstone was furious. He refused to perform a hit for Coonan, and pretty soon Mickey got his own crew together with the purpose of taking down Jimmy.

Featherstone agreed to testify against Coonan, and later against John Gotti and has been in the Witness Protection Program since the late 1980's.

Can someone tell me where to find a photo of tommy hess? He was a Westie and was murdered by Ritchie Ryan in 1982. This is important to me. I have only recently found out I am his daughter.

Did you ever find out anything about your dad? I'd be glad to help if I can.

THE ONLY INFORMATION I FOUND ON MY DAD WAS A POSTING FROM CATHY THAT THOUGHT SHE KNEW MY DAD WAS KILLED AND WHY. I POSTED BUT SHE NEVER POSTED BACK. I UNDERSTAND THE SECRECY OF INFORMATION AND DO NOT WANT ANY INFO. OUT IN THE OPEN THAT SHOULD NOT BE. IF YOU CAN HELP ME I WOULD APPRECIATE IT MORE THAN YOU KNOW.H I HOPE THAT POSTING WAS FOR ME. THANK YOU. MANY PEOPLE TELL ME MY DAD WAS A GREAT GUY. FROM A DAUGHTER'S POINT OF VIEW HE WAS AND STILL IS MY KNIGHT AND SHINNING ARMOR. MY LIFE IS DARK, AND THERE IS A BLACK WHOLE INSIDE ME WITH UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ABOUT MY DAD. HE WAS MY BEST FRIEND AND I WOULD DO ANYTHING TO HAVE HIM BACK IN MY LIFE. I DON'T HAVE A FAMILY. I HAVE NOBODY EXCEPT FOR MYSELF AND MY DAUGHTER MY DAD'S GRANDDAUGHTER THAT HE NEVER MET. TO SATISFY MY SOUL I NEED TO KNOW INFORMATION ABOUT MY DAD. I LOVED HIM AND STILL LOVE HIM SO MUCH YOU HAVE NO IDEA. IF ANYONE KNOWS ME ON THIS SITE THEY ARE PROBABLY WONDERING WHY I SAY I HAVE NO FAMILY WHEN I WAS RAISED BY A LARGE ITALIAN FAMILY FROM MY MOTHER'S SIDE. WELL, I HAVE BEEN DISOWNED AND HAVE ENDURED A MISERABLE LIFE DUE TO MY FATHER'S DEATH. I HAVE MY OWN SECRETS. MY DAD RAISED ME NOT TO TRUST ANYONE, HELP THEM BUT DON'T TRUST THEM AND KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT. I DO. BEING ON THIS FORUM MAKES ME NERVOUS. BUT IF YOU OR ANYONE WANTS TO EMAIL ME PERSONALLY PLEASE DO. I NEED TO FILL PART OF MY EMPTY WHOLE. TO FILL THE ENTIRE BLACK HOLE IS TO HAVE MY FATHER BACK AND I CAN'T HAVE THAT. THANK YOU. BLACK ROSE BOYLE OH, MY PERSONAL EMAIL IS KERRI-ANN1025@YAHOO. COM. THANK YOU AGAIN.

your dad was a great guy and a great customer

HI HOW ARE YOU? I HOPE THAT POSTING WAS FOR ME. YOU SAID MY DAD WAS A GREAT GUY AND GREAT CUSTOMER. THANK YOU. MANY PEOPLE TELL ME MY DAD WAS A GREAT GUY. FROM A DAUGHTER'S POINT OF VIEW HE WAS AND STILL IS MY KNIGHT AND SHINNING ARMOR. MY LIFE IS DARK, AND THERE IS A BLACK WHOLE INSIDE ME WITH UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ABOUT MY DAD. HE WAS MY BEST FRIEND AND I WOULD DO ANYTHING TO HAVE HIM BACK IN MY LIFE. I DON'T HAVE A FAMILY. I HAVE NOBODY EXCEPT FOR MYSELF AND MY DAUGHTER MY DAD'S GRANDDAUGHTER THAT HE NEVER MET. TO SATISFY MY SOUL I NEED TO KNOW INFORMATION ABOUT MY DAD. I LOVED HIM AND STILL LOVE HIM SO MUCH YOU HAVE NO IDEA. IF ANYONE KNOWS ME ON THIS SITE THEY ARE PROBABLY WONDERING WHY I SAY I HAVE NO FAMILY WHEN I WAS RAISED BY A LARGE ITALIAN FAMILY FROM MY MOTHER'S SIDE. WELL, I HAVE BEEN DISOWNED AND HAVE ENDURED A MISERABLE LIFE DUE TO MY FATHER'S DEATH. I HAVE MY OWN SECRETS. MY DAD RAISED ME NOT TO TRUST ANYONE, HELP THEM BUT DON'T TRUST THEM AND KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT. I DO. BEING ON THIS FORUM MAKES ME NERVOUS. BUT IF YOU OR ANYONE WANTS TO EMAIL ME PERSONALLY PLEASE DO. I NEED TO FILL PART OF MY EMPTY WHOLE. TO FILL THE ENTIRE BLACK HOLE IS TO HAVE MY FATHER BACK AND I CAN'T HAVE THAT. THANK YOU. BLACK ROSE BOYLE OH, MY PERSONAL EMAIL IS KERRI-ANN1025@YAHOO. COM. THANK YOU AGAIN.

i am writing a story about yorkville and the sons of the westies...i knew these men pretty well...their last jobsite was normandy court which was right across the street from my bar...jimmy and his crew of good looking men were my daily customers...as for featherston...truth be...jimmy wouldnn't give mickey 40,000 dollars for a down payment on a house in jersey, thus set mickeys revenge...mikey turned out to be the best singer on the west side...milly meatball...

Are you publishing this story? When?

Isnt that a town up by utica? or do I have the wrong place?

JohnnieUpahts wrote this bio on Cummiskey and posted it on his page and replaced the Wikipedia article with this article check it out

http://www.angelfire.com/blog/organizedcrime/westies/cummiskey.html

Eddie "The Butcher" Cummiskey was a New York Mobster and a murderer from the Irish-American ghetto of Hell's Kitchen on Manhattan's Westside, were the notoriously violent Irish "Mafia" known as The Westies originated. Cummiskey, while serving time in Upstate New York learned the trade of butchery, which gave him time wasted in prison, a better chance of early release and a new gruesome tool to use for his murders. Shortly after his release Cummiskey, who at this time had been working for Mickey Spillane, the current boss of Hell's Kitchen, began to take on a young protege by the name of James "Jimmy C" Coonan who was a violent younger generation Irish hoodlum that wanted to take out the old-timer Mickey Spillane. Coonan had a following amongst the younger Irish in the neighborhood including Billie Beattie, Billy Bokun, Jackie Coonan, Eddie Coonan, Mickey Featherstone, Jimmy McElroy, Richie Ryan and Tommy Hess, also some old timers such as Tommy Collins shifter their allegiance to Coonan instead of Spillane. It would not be long before the feared Cummiskey began to favor working for Coonan than Spillane.

Two of Coonan's hoods were Dennis Curley and Paddy Dugan, who were life long best friends. But, one night while they were both getting drunk together, Curley pulled a gun on Dugan in a joking around manor with his childhood best friend. Dugan then stormed out of the pub and took it as a personal insult. Later that night on August 25th, 1975, Paddy Dugan found Dennis Curley walking around the streets of Hell's Kitchen and pumped two hot slugs into Curley's head, killing him instantely. This murder shook up the entire neighborhood, Hell's Kitchen had always been violent but a man had never killed his best friend over something so miniscule as a joke. Another member of the Hell's Kitchen community who did not take a liking to this murder was none other than Eddie Cummiskey. Curley was like a younger brother to Cummiskey, Curley started out just as Cummiskey had a small-time Irish hood in Hell's Kitchen who Cummiskey had hopes of seeing rise. But, Cummiskey was a part of the Spillane crew and Dugan was a part of the Coonan crew, and Spillane said he did not want any violence done to members of the Coonan gang until they struck against his men first.

This prompted Cummiskey to switch sides in the still Cold War looming in Hell's Kitchen. Coonan, who wanted a more elderly, feared and respected gangster like Cummiskey on his side decided that he would use Dugan as some what of a offering to bring Cummiskey on to Coonan's side of the "war". Coonan and Cummiskey had already become too close for Spillane's liking as they were both seen around town together and Cummiskey was teaching Coonan some "tricks of the trade", but, Spillane never acted on this because he could not risk the chance of taking out one of his heaviest hitters, or atleast not yet(who would never get the chance to). Coonan and Cummiskey later, on November 17th, 1975(almost three months after the Curley murder) who call Dugan in under the premises that they were going to do a hit against the Spillane crew and needed Dugan to be the wheelman in the murder. Little did Dugan know was that he was going to be the murder victim. Coonan and Cummiskey together murder Walter "Dennis" Curley and proceeded to butcher him. The Butcher of Hell's Kitchen taught the young blond-headed Irishman the art of body dismembermant with Dennis Curley as the textbook. Coonan's niece Alberta Sachs even partook in the murder by giving Coonan the knives to use in the gruesome murder cover up, she even had to clean the blood in the hallway that dripped out of the bag that held Dennis Curley's head.

The next day Coonan and Cummiskey were drinking at the Sunbrite Bar were Billie Beattie was called to meet up with them. This was also the site of were Cummiskey and Coonan allegedly brought the head of Dugan, sat it down on the bar stool ordered his favorite whiskey and lit one of his cigarettes and put it in his mouth believing that "Although he f*cked up, he was still a good Irishman". When Beattie met the two he was told to go over to Dugan's apartment and grab the carton of milk that was in the refrigerator and bring it down to the bar. Beattie did as was told. Upon returning Beattie was told to get rid of the contents, when Beattie left he took a look in the milk carton to find out that is was Dugan's "manhood".

Cummiskey's time on earth was not much longer, over the next two and a half to three years Cummiskey would further himself from the Spillane led faction of the Hell's Kitchen Irish Mob known as The Westies and become more and more a member and follower of the young Jimmy Coonan. Then, it was finally time to begin building the Jacob Javits Center in Hell's Kitchen, which would turn into a tremendous money maker. Because the construction site was in Hell's Kitchen that made it Mickey Spillane's territory, but, the Genovese Family boss Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno did not like that, so, he sent a freelance Irish hitman from Queens by name of Joseph "Mad Dog" Sullivan to get rid of some of Spillane's main men. Cummiskey would be the first victim in August of 1978 were he was murdered by Sullivan at the Sunbrite bar.

mickey cahill
No score for this post January 24 2007, 2:35 AM

How was the cahill family able to do so well?
Micky sr.-Coliseum,Javits center
Micky jr.-Marine construction
Jimmy- steamfitter business agent
Johnny-coliseum,javits center,steamfitter
Davey-Lawyer

Luck O'The Irish...

Do you know the family?

No, I was saying it as some what of a general answer...

I stumbled across this page in a google search. I happen to know the Cahill family. Mickey is my father's best friend from childhood growing up in Rego Park Queens. They are good people and if you don't know them you should not make insinuations. They did so well because they were in Unions from very early ages, not to mention smart guys, and made their connections to be successful business men in later years.

I INSINUATED NOTHING! I HAVE KNOW THE CAHILLS SINCE THE DAY I WAS BORN.I HAVE ALWAYS ADMIRED THERE HARD WORK AND GOOD FORTUNE.I AM SURE THERES A GOOD CHANCE WE KNOW SOME OF THE SAME PEOPLE!

Recently found out I may be related to Mickey Cahill-- would anyone know where to find a picture of the old Westie? I am talking about the guy that ran with Spillane in the 50's and 60's. It would really be helpful it is important for me to corroborate.

Please help. I am 35 years old and I am in darkness about Edward Boyle, President of the Steamfitters Union and politically involved. He died October 10th, 1983. I want to know everything. This is extremely for personal information. Please, Please, Please. Obviously, I am posting on this websight because I am someone who was very, very close to Edward Boyle. I am kind of afraid to say anything. Anything, you know, Anything he did, How he died, what and who was he involved with. Please, put my mind at peace.I know the names you mentioned. I know alot but I do not know about Edward Boyle and nobody will tell me. I have many memories. Yes, Mickey, etc. Please if anyone knows anything, help me. Why does Mickey's name have (Boyle) next to his name in parenthesis? I am one of you. Please help.

Please help. I need information on Edward Boyle, President of the Steamfitters Union. He died October 10th, 1983. I have been in the dark for years. Obviously, I am someone (I am a female) who is blood related. There is not one person in this world that will tell me anything about Edward Boyle. I am one of you. I know the people who you are mentioning. I am writing this way (not to open) because I am afraid. There are people who have
kept me in the dark for years. However, I am 35 years old now and I have been suffering the pain of the truth. I have many memories, so many. I know things. Everyone who is involved will not tell me anything. Please, I beg all of you, I am one of you. I know the people who you mentioned. I have read the book the westies, I have looked, searched. I want to know anything and everything about him. I want to know how he died. I know some information but it is not enought. I need this for my own personal peace. Please if anyone knows anything, please I beg you tell me. Please tell me, it is not right that I have been kept in the dark and maybe if I get used to this forum and information I will be able to open up to who I am. Why is Mickey's name (Boyle) in parenthesis? Why? I was with all these people, I loved them. Please anyone, help. I need to know, we are all together. We all remember, we were all raised the same. We are all blood. Thank you so much, anything you can tell me, anything. I have also been researching but can not find anything out. I have been researching for years and have been afraid to post somethig on this forum, but now I don't care, I cant be at peace until I know everything, everything, Thank you. Memories of 1983

His biological father was named Boyle. Featherstone was his step father's surname. That is all I can help you with on this I'm afraid.

does any one know why he was killed? Some say because mike killed john Bokun? Why did Mike holly kill John?
Also heard Mikes wife was killed? Any info?

CATHY, THID IS EDEARD BOYLE'S DAUGHTER. I POSTED FOR INFO. ON MY DAD. YOU RESPONDED WITH SOME INFO. AND CONCERN. THANK YOU. YOU KEW WHO MY DAD WAS, PLEASE, MY DAD WAS MY BEST FRIEND. THE IRISH MOD ONLY KNOWS ABOUT MICKY'S LAST NAME. PELEASE CONTACT ME. I KNEW ALL OF THE MEN ON HERE. THRY WERE MY DAD'S FRIENDS. I WANT TO TALK TO YU AND OTHER WESTIE KIDS. MY LIFE HAS BEEN DEAD SICE 10/10/1983 WHEN MY DAD PRESIDENT OF THE STEAMFITTER'S UNION DIED. ANYONE, YOU KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE, YOU WERE RAISED IN IT, WERE WITH IT, SO WAS I. MY FATHER'S WIFE PHLLIS WHO HE WAS SEPERATED FROM BUT WOULD NOT LEAVE THE HUSE MY DAD AND HER ENTIRE ITALIAN FAMILY DISOWNED ME. I MOVED TO THE WEST. I WAS DADDY'S GIRL.PLEASE TALK TO ME. CATHY YU SAID YOU THNK YOU KNOW WHY HE WAS KILLED? I DONT KNOW ANYTHING. I WILL GIVE YOU MY NUMBER. I AM NOT A FED CALLER I AM THE DAUGHTER OF A WESTIE LLOKING FOR ANSWERS. LOVE TO THE WESTIE KIDS. PLEASE AND THANK YOU.

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3

Irishhood, Great post! Ruby looked like a friggen nerd! I'm shocked! haha! and Billie Beattie still seemed like a shady baster after all these years. I like how he said featherstone was psychopath.. that was pretty funny.... I love to sit down with this guy and let him remanist about the good old day, I bet he come up with some whoopers!

I've just added a documentary on 'Cockeye' Dunn from Irish TV. Scroll up to the 'Cockeye Dunn' post on this thread!

Thanks!

Men he was one crazy SOB. I bet they couldn't wate to pull the switch on the both of them! hahaha!

Richard (Muggsy) Ritter he's back out!!

Name..................Register Number......Age.....Race.....Sex.....Release Date
RICHARD RITTER.....09832-054.......66......White......M......07-01-2008......RELEASED

http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&FirstName=Richard&Middle=&LastName=Ritter&Race=W&Sex=M&Age=&x=58&y=19

I was looking through the Federal Correctional Complex and it says that william bokun is out of fed prison! THIS CAN'T BE TRUE RIGHT? I thought he got life!!
WILLIAM BOKUN 19544-054 52-White-M 03-06-2001 RELEASED

He got fifteen to life. Then a couple years later after the Kelly trial he got his sentenced reduced by the same judge, Knapp, who waived his recommendation of no parole. The info you posted is correct and he is out. Think he might even owns a business now.

Everyone is out now except of course Coonan, and Kelly is due out next year, but is living in a transition facility. But all of those convicted in the Westies trials: Bokun, both Collins, Shannon, McElroy, Ritter and Edna Coonan are out now. And before the discussion even turns to it...NO they are not back out, organized and running anything in HK. None of them.

Fuck Coonan that fake Fila suite ITALIAN dick sucking wanna be,spaghetti eating jerk off.I hope as he rots in his cell he regrets everyday of his fucking pizza eating life you fake cocksucking IRISHMAN.If you only truely knew what you fucking created you greedy fucking jerk off.I cant wait for you and your fat fucking ex wife to die you piece of shit.Mickey Featherstone is my hero and I wish he cut you up and dumped you in a caddy you MOTHERFUCKER.Real IRISH,NY,get with the program,stand up take back whats ours,lets run shit!Fuck the world these are hard times now its are time shamrocks lets go.