The Westies: Inside New York's Irish Mob [Mass Market Paperback]

T. J. English (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1991

Even among the Mob, the Westies were feared. Out of a partnership between two sadistic thugs, James Coonan and Mickey Featherstone, the gang rose out of the inferno of Hell's Kitchen, a decaying tenderloin slice of New York City's West Side. They became the most notorious gang in the history of organized crime, excelling in extortion, numbers running, loansharking, and drug peddling. Upping the ante on depravity, their specialty was execution by dismemberment. Though never numbering more than a dozen members, their reign lasted for almost twenty years-until their own violent natures got the best of them, precipitating a downfall that would become as infamous as their notorious ascension into the annals of crime.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hell's Kitchen, a section of Manhattan west of Eighth Avenue between 34th and 59th Streets infamous for poverty and gang-related crime which dates back to the 19th century, was taken over in the late 1960s by the "Westies" mob. The name--used by the press and the police, not by the mobsters themselves--designated a group of ruthless and vicious hoodlums, led by Jimmy Coonan and Francis (Mickey) Featherstone, who cut up the bodies of victims to dispose of them more readily. Once in power, Coonan caused considerable grumbling in the mostly Irish gang when he allied his men with the Gambino crime family. Next, Coonan arranged to have rival Featherstone charged with a murder; found guilty, he became a witness against the Westies, joined by other gang turncoats. In early 1988 Coonan and several of his henchmen were convicted of assorted crimes and imprisoned. English, who covered the trial for the Irish Voice , ably traces the Westies' rise and fall. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Irish-led criminal gangs have a long history on Manhattan's West Side (formerly known as Hell's Kitchen), the latest being "the Westies," seven of whom were recently convicted of racketeering and murder charges. Based primarily on the testimony of feared mob enforcer Mickey Featherstone, portrayed here rather sympathetically, journalist English dramatically re-creates the Westies' violent tale. Less organized and more small-time than the Mafia--only top gangster Jimmy Coonan really prospered--the Irish mob was no less vicious. An attempt to frame Featherstone on a murder charge led to the gang's demise. This is a harrowing account of big city crime. Recommended. Doubleday and Literary Guild alternates.
- Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (March 15, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312924291
• ISBN-13: 978-0312924294
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #471,685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

T.J. English is a noted journalist, screenwriter, and author of the New York Times bestsellers Havana Nocturne and Paddy Whacked, as well as The Westies, a national bestseller, and Born to Kill, which was nominated for an Edgar Award. He has written for Esquire, Playboy, and New York magazine, among other publications. His screenwriting credits include episodes for the television crime dramas NYPD Blue and Homicide, for which he was awarded the Humanitas Prize. He lives in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Chilling Tale of Brutality and Treachery, December 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Westies: Inside New York's Irish Mob (Mass Market Paperback)

First lets get one thing straight. The movie and book "Sleepers" has been proven to be fiction with a little bit of fact mixed in. Those two criminals in it were based on a composite of other Westies. This book is the real deal. It tells the frightening story of one of the most vicious group of thugs who ever walked the streets of New York (the other being the infamous DeMeo crew- see the book "Murder Machine"). The only fault I have with this book is that the author sanitizes Mickey Featherstone a little too much. Retired Detective Joe Coffey who busted Featherstone said it best about him on 60 Minutes "You wouldn't want to get into an argument with him (Featherstone) over a parking space." As other reviewers have previously mentioned, the Westies (and that was never really their name - they were known as the Coonan Crew) were long on muscle and short on brains and too many of them wound up as drunken drug addicts. They also lacked the organization and the tradition that the Italian mob families had - which helped lead to their early demise. This book is a great companion book to the previously mentioned "Murder Machine" as there are a cross over of many of the characters from one book to the other. Roy DeMeo like Jimmy Coonan and Coonan's feared sidekick Eddie "the Butcher" Cummiskey, specialized in dismembering the corpses of people who ran afoul of him. It was DeMeo who negotiated the alliance between the Westies and the Gambino's. English doesn't go to far into the Coonan-DeMeo relationship though only to refer to him as "a feared mafia enforcer." The story of the meeting in Brooklyn's "Tomasso Restaurant" between Paul Costellano and his goombahs and Jimmy Coonan and Mickey Featherstone as told in both this book and "Murder Machine" would be hysterical if it wasn't so murderously serious. A great read for a rainy Saturday morning and for people with strong stomachs.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Real Life Mob Book, September 2, 2001

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Westies: Inside New York's Irish Mob (Mass Market Paperback)

Those who get a little too wrapped up in "The Sopranos" should read books like "The Westies" every now and then just to remind them of what havoc real life organized crime can inflict. The book chronicles the rise and fall of the Irish gang of the same name that was every bit as bloodthirsty as John Gotti's more famous crew. The gang occupied New York City's since regentrified Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. Mystery author Lawrence Block effectively used the Westies lore in creating the character Mickey Ballou in the Matthew Scudder private detective series. The fictional Ballou could be Jimmy Coonan or Mickey Featherstone, the real life chieftans of the gang, who were known for dismembering victims and dumping their bodies in the East River.

"The Westies" is a brutally violent story and one that makes good reading for anyone who likes real life organized crime stories. The prose and the reporting are a cut above average for this type of book.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great 70's - 80's True Gangster Saga, May 19, 2002

By 

"phillyb1rd" (Guantanamo Bay, Cuba) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Westies: Inside New York's Irish Mob (Mass Market Paperback)

T. J. English did a great job of packing 20 years or so of the escapades of a bunch of West Side psychopaths into this book, and bringing it all to a head with their 1987-88 RICO trial. Throw in just enough Hell's Kitchen background from the late 1800's to the 1960's to give one a sense of place, a smattering of contemporary Italian mob activity for perspective, a broad brush sweep of what was happening on the law enforcement side of the Westies' activities, numerous gangster "war" stories, a chapter or two from the criminal lawyers' point of view, even a street map of landmarks from the book, and you've got a mighty fine true-crime read. Sure, some of the stories may be somewhat exaggerated - or even complete fiction - since apparently the lion's share of the book is based on Mickey Featherstone's recollection and testimony, but English doesn't shy away from letting the reader know about Featherstone's proclivity for telling tall tales and his sometimes tenuous touch with reality. It appears that the author took care to research and corroborate what he could. English tells a good story himself, and the tales he recounts have a realistic feel. The only way to improve the paperback version of this book would be to pack in more photos (there are about 20). But I'm not complaining. Read it and enjoy!