Would Paul have hit the Westies

Paul knew what a dangerous bunch these Irish were, and opted to go into business with them/ ie make friends then enter a war

And luckily for Paul, Coonan was a mob fanboy who saw the Italians as his ticket for enhancing his criminal ladder. Whereas the rest of the Irish guys in his crew weren't so keen

But had Coonan snubbed the meeting at Tomaso restaurant... Anyone think the Gambino's would have dared hit them... Roy was still alive then and he was the go between at time so most likely he would have been given the hit

DeMeo was a killer but he was not a warrior, he would've been useless in a war with the Westies I think..

Why use demeo ? The westies know roy and Paul as boss had many other killers for start a war that the westies would lost because the gambinos had more made men that them.

why kill them? sooner or later they would have come in..gambino's were not the only family ,they would have stepped on a lot of other families toes ..they killed ruby stein on the sneak.. they self destructed in the end

With the exception of jimmy coonan, the westies were a bunch of degenerate druggies. They were big fish in a very small pond. Coonan was legit, i must admit.

Don't forget Mickey Featherstone had a reputation as a stone killer

And yes the mob had plenty but difference is, at lease they have their Italian guys on a leash

Featherstone turned out to be a snitch, Coonan was at the very least a very disturbed individual he didn't have the smarts
to compare with any lcn family,

its all laid out in the book "the westies" paul castellano
knew they would self-destruct. laughed at them behind their backs. and he was right. drugs did them in.

correct

Mickey might have been a snitch but that doesn't take away his "prior" rep/ I mean same can be said for any mobster ie Sammy, crazy Phil, fat Joey etc. They were tough guys on the streets

As for self destruct- I don't buy that. Not saying i don't believe u personally

What I mean is, Paul was full of shitt. If he really felt that way he wouldn't have met them/ wouldn't deal with them or allow them to use the Gambino name... Or taking 10% off them

Yes it was done to control them which goes to show the might they wielded. If they are such small fries Paul would have whacked em for clipping their bookie Ruby

And going into business with such renegades as Paul would say- he was only setting himself up for a fall later on jail wise

tony, my information on their drug use comes from the book "the westies" pretty well researched, most snitches were deep into drugs, it really decimated the westies.

Oh I'm not saying they weren't on drugs, I'm sure they were all smack
heads!!

But for Paul to even meet and go into business with such degenerates was only going to cause him headache down the line

The Westies did business with the purple gang.

They brought someone into the country who they say was one of the guys who blew up mountbattans boat. He was around 17 or 18 at the time brought him to rockaway. He needed a job so they put him on a taxi cab that one of the purples owned.

He hated the English because a relative maybe a brother was killed with a rubber bullet.

He hung out in Brooklyn. People soon found out this cat was an equal opportunity hater. Then he disappeared one day.

Do you guys remember the buck skin jacket Westies like to wear them in their bar.

You should see Hells Kitchen now in the year 2016: Starbucks, Gay Bars/Clubs, and trendy restaurants, etc....

I agree.

Gotti still dealt with them, remember it was alleged that he asked them
to do the John O'Connor thing.... Kneecap... But they were so stoned, they shot him up the asss.

yup hahaha

u got that right. But I did stumble upon a bar called "Mickey Spillanes"

Mickey Spillane must love having a gay bar named after him....LOL

I think that the reight answer is:

Why the Westies should declare war to the Gambinos ?

When the Jacobi center must be build even the site was in Hell's Kitchen the Genovese started a war and won against the spillane gang.

Now even if the other westies wasn't a mafia fanboys they know that the possibility to made bussiness with italians for example the camion hikiacking and gave only the 10% to the italians was resonable same thing to be used as hired killers.

Second they haven't the men to start a war in 1978 there are (from a blackhandforum chart):

1)James "Jimmy" Coonan (1974-1988) First boss, Sentenced to 75 years in prison in 1988;
2)John "Jackie" Coonan Jr. (1974-1988) A soldier, brother of Jimmy Coonan, died of AIDS in 1988;
3)Bill Beatie (1974-1986) A soldier, formerly a member of the Spillane Gang, became an informant for the FBI in 1986;
4)Thomas "Tommy" Collins (1974-Pr) A soldier, sent to prison in 1988, released in 1997;
5)Francis "Mickey" Featherstone (1974-1986) Became Jimmy Coonan's second-in-command after Eddie Cummiskey was murdered in 1976, left the gang after becoming an informant for the FBI in 1986;
6) John "Johnny" Halo (1974-Pr);
7)Tommy Hess (1974-1982) A soldier, murdered in 1982;
8) Kevin Kelley;
9)Anton "Tony" Lucich (1974-1985) A soldier, passed away in 1985
10)James "Jimmy Mack" McElroy (1976-1993) A soldier, became an informant for the FBI in 1993;
11) Richard "Mugsy" Ritter (1974-Pr);
12)Richard "Richie" Ryan (1974-1986) A soldier, died of alcohol poisoning in 1986;

So if there are another men non listed are a small crew against almost 200 made men.

It reminds me of Atwells Avenue in downtown Providence, there is a place called Goodfellas Subs or something like that almost directly across from Patriarca's old headquarters.

Wow so Paul was so afraid of a "glorified crew" that he had to personally meet with them and allow them to use the Gambino family name in return for 10% which is peanuts- just to control them and stop them whacking guys like affiliated with the Gambino's

Did they think the westies were much larger than they actually were?

Shit whack coonan and it falls apart. Or did they want Coonan in place so they could know who they were dealing with since the crew was so nuts? As in wack coonan and who knows what lunacy rises out of the ashes that we'll have to deal with later..,

And with jimmy they had someone who wanted very badly to play ball with them.

It's more about the Gambino Family heading off the Genovese Family in respect to the Javits center than anything. Without going on record with a mob family the Westies would all be whacked by the Genovese and Javits would be their own personal fiefdom. Coonan was smart enough to know he needed to be put on record with a family to avoid open season on his gang. Best way to do that was to conspire with DeMeo to do something big that would cause a huge sitdown requiring Bosses, ub, consig. Etc. Which whacking Ruby did. Gambinos grab 10 percent and a foothold in Javits, DeMeo gets his button, and Coonan on record with the Gambinos gets his protection from the Genovese. Very well played.

how smart was Coonan? getting 75 years.

so what tony salerno got a 100 years he was intelligent bobby manna he is doing life he was also very smart. James Marcello in Chicago Joey massimo he was smart look what happened to him looking at death pentatly and flips he was one of the smartest bosses in recent times.

What you really need in that life is luck sure being smart helps but luck is alot to do with it.

Has nothing to do with getting hooked up with the Gambinos in the late 70s. Getting ratted on doesn't mean he wasn't smart. The push by the Feds sent many intelligent gangster to the pen post 1985.

Forgive me if I am wrong, but I don't think there were even that many Westies. Of course Paul would have whacked them. They were not some vast army.

"I hope you're not looking to start a war here. In a war we would crush you."

I remember that Doc on the westies and Bill Beatie said they had about a dozen or so guys in the gang at their peak so they were really no threat.

lol, most of them were to drugged up to fight anyway

over half ot them were junkies .