My New Irish Mob Book- Dock Boss

Hi,

I just wanted to let everyone know that my first book, Dock Boss: Eddie McGrath and the West Side Waterfront, has been released. The book was scheduled to start being sold at the end of June, but it looks like things are happening faster.

The story focusses on Irish organized crime boss Eddie McGrath, but it is really a chronological account of the West Side waterfront and the mob’s control over the International Longshoremen's Association from the 1930s until the 1970s. The book is based on various primary resources (law enforcement reports, trial transcripts, archival records etc.).

Although the story is mainly about the Irish Mob, McGrath had extensive Mafia connections (especially with the Genovese) and there is a lot of information about his interactions with the various Italian groups.

The books are on sale now at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble etc. For Amazon.ca or Amazon.co.uk there is a bit of a delay with the release (but they should be in stock shortly). The ePub is available for pre-order and the delivery date listed online will likely be pushed up.

Here is the blurb for the book:

At a time when the Port of New York was ruled by lawless criminals, one hoodlum towered above the rest and secretly controlled the piers for over thirty years.

Dock Boss: Eddie McGrath and the West Side Waterfront is the fascinating account of one gangster's ascension from altar boy to the leader of New York City's violent Irish Mob.

Eddie McGrath's life and crimes are traced through the tail-end of Prohibition, the gang warfare of the 1930s that propelled him into the position of an organized crime boss, the sordid years of underworld control over the bustling waterfront, McGrath's involvement in dozens of gangland murders, and finally the decline of the dock mobsters following a period of longshoremen rebellion in the 1950s.

Like walking into the backroom of a smoky West Side tavern, the book also features all the other unsavory characters who operated on the waterfront, including McGrath's brother-in-law, John "Cockeye" Dunn; the gang's hitman of choice, Andrew "Squint" Sheridan; racketeers such as Mickey Bowers, Timothy O'Mara, Charlie Yanowsky, Joe Butler and Albert Ackalitis; as well as a plethora of corrupt union officials, robbers, enforcers, shakedown artists, loan sharks, boss loaders, and bookies.

This is the real-life story of the preeminent racketeer on Manhattan's lucrative waterfront and the bloodshed that long haunted the ports of New York City.

Using newly uncovered primary sources, this extensively researched book also features the following:
* An eight page insert containing rare photographs.
* Previously unpublished picture charts of New York City's waterfront gangs.
* A complete history of New York City's Irish Mob after Owney Madden and before the Westies.
* A never-before-discussed 1930s gang war for control over the West Side of New York City's waterfront, which resulted in eleven murders, six near-killings, and dozens of shootings.
* Details of the FBI's secret twenty-year investigation into the International Longshoremen's Association and the shadowy mobsters that manipulated the union's affairs.
* The story of the sensational murder trial that almost brought down McGrath and his gang.
* The complete and authoritative history of Eddie McGrath— one the longest serving Irish Mob bosses in American history.

"Dock Boss is a fascinating and well-researched look at one of the most influential Irish mobsters of the 20th century. Eddie McGrath was not only the king of the New York waterfront, but a street-smart Irish mobster who stayed one step ahead of the law and his enemies. Neil G. Clark brings to life McGrath's story with clear prose and a sharp eye for detail."

- Scott M. Deitche, author of Cigar City Mafia: The Complete History of the Tampa Underworld and Garden State Gangland: The Rise of the Mob in New Jersey

"In his new book, Dock Boss, author Neil G. Clark takes his readers inside the violent world of the New York City waterfront and the man who controlled it. It isn't a pretty world, but it was Eddie McGrath's world. It's a story that needed telling and one you don't want to miss."

- Dennis N. Griffin, author of Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, and Government Witness and Surviving the Mob: A Street Soldier's Life Inside the Gambino Crime Family

Here is the link to the Amazon page and also my website (which has more information about the book, some pictures etc.):

Amazon- Dock Boss: Eddie McGrath and the West Side Waterfront

Neil G. Clark Website

If anyone has any questions about the book, feel free to ask. I will do my best.

Take care!

Thanks for posting. If you're still on here how about a little info on the nuts and bolts of putting a book like this together?

I was just looking at this book.
I never heard of McGrath before. I was researching him a little and his date of death seems to be unknown.

Can you tell me when he wound up dying in Florida?

Cliffs Notes the book a little for us. (Kidding, you did that for us above)

Hey guys!

Thanks for the questions and the support!



I have always been a pretty frequent Freedom of Information requester. A little more than five years ago, I received a bunch of files on the old waterfront gangs. I was amazed by some of the information they contained, especially about Eddie McGrath and John “Cockeye” Dunn. For example, there was a large gang war that I have never seen documented; dozens of unsolved murders; and a bunch of gangsters, with really interesting back stories, who I had never heard of.

It occurred to me that despite there being a lot of information about Owney Madden and the Westies, there was nothing written about the time between those forty years. I started requesting more specific documents, gathering information from the archives, searching old newspapers, and ordering various trial transcripts. One thing leads to another and you keep digging. After half a decade, I realized that I had so much information that I should do something more meaningful with it. I wrote the book, started submitting it to publishers, and now here we are!

Eddie McGrath weaves the narrative together, as he was in charge for so many years, but the book is really a history of the West Side waterfront and the Irish Mob. I tried to make it as comprehensive as possible, so the book also includes charts, maps etc.



McGrath and Dunn were really the top gangsters in the Irish areas of the West Side (ie. West Greenwich, Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen). The book traces their rise to power, their control over the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), and their eventual downfall.

The majority of the story takes place between 1935 and 1955, but McGrath actually held on to power for a very long time. After his “retirement” to Florida, he left various associates in charge of his New York rackets (ie. Hughie Mulligan, Henry “Buster” Bell and Connie Noonan). He was heavily involved in union matters and bookmaking, and he remained the de facto boss of the Irish Mob until he started to withdraw himself in the late 1960s.

Despite attempting to remove himself from the picture, he was still consulted on many matters concerning the waterfront because of the ties that he had to the leadership of the ILA (particularly Teddy Gleason). Another reason for his continued involvement was due to his extremely close friendship with Jimmy Alo, whom he had met while working for Joey Rao during Prohibition. McGrath had a lot of interactions with the mafia (especially the Genovese), and these are all covered in the book.

McGrath died in 1994 in Miami. He and Alo reportedly remained golfing buddies well into their old age, which given the world that they operated in I think that it is about as successful as you can get.

If there are any other questions, feel free!

Take care!

My main interest is the westies.

Are there existing trial transcripts of featherstomes first two trials that the lawyer got him off? In Tj's book he said mickeys mom was on the stand talking about how fucked up he was when he came back from the army, and by the time she was done there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Would love to read her testimony.

Coonan: basically a ghost on paper. Why didn't Spillane have him killed when he opened up at Spillane and some guys from rooftop with a machine gun? He was just a teenage wannabe at the time.

There are some out there who think Mickey and sissy fed Tj a load of shit and he swallowed hook line and sinker. Any thoughts on that? Seems to me that viewpoint may be just sour grapes being spilled through fingertips onto keyboards...

Hey,

Dock Boss takes readers right up to the time before the Westies, so you may find some interesting stuff in the book. If you do pick-up a copy you will find that the Westies' predecessors were just as homicidal (minus the dismembering!).

If you want to find old trial transcripts you can request them from the New York County Clerk. There will probably be a cost associated with the copying of them though.

I think the Westies is one of the best true crime books out there. Although it was Mickey Featherstone's story, his testimony was corroborated by a lot of other witnesses (ie. Beattie, Lucich, Huggard etc.).

I agree on Tj's book. It's one of the books that got me into the whole true crime genre. I bought it at a st Vincent's about 15 years ago for like a dollar. Had never heard of the westies, but after giving it the once over I knew I had to check it out. The rest is history, I was off and running.

Have just bought the book on Kindle, started it, seems very interesting! I will read it thoroughly but, before that, I wanted to check some details that I was curious about, so I have 2 questions:

1) The book says Joe Ryan who was the main Irish mob boss on the waterfront, served 6 months in jail. But I remember some articles I read time ago said that, even though he paid the fine, he managed to avoid jail by pretending to be ill (or maybe he really was, I don’t know) and the 6 month sentence was suspended before he entered jail, so he never served time. So I am confused: is there other information, that he did actually serve the time? I understand it’s not that relevant, 6 months for somebody like Ryan is like nothing, it’s just out of curiosity for details.

2) There is information in the book about this gangster called Joe Powell who was indicted but acquitted of the Charles Brady murder. I was curious: is it the same Powell who has a chapter about him in the old book “The DA’s man” by Harold Danforth and James Horan? Chapter 12: “The reluctant witnesses: the Powell case”, in that book. There, he is just called “Powell” without mentioning the first name, but during an undercover investigation on the waterfront in 1944, Danforth hears about his reputation of getting away with murder, and investigates him for an assault on 3 people with a hatchet, at the end Powell gets 5 years for this. Is it the same Powell or another one (maybe a relative)?

Thanks again for the book, I am continuing to read it, it seems really interesting!

Joe Coffey claims that McGrath guy saved his father's life...He said his father was in a teamsters local and there was a contract out on him and they made an attempt on the family at their apartment, and his mother called McGrath and he got the contract removed, so it was taken as a warning.

Hey Dwalin2011,

I know I got back to you about the above, but just in case anyone else is interested:

In regards to Ryan's sentence, when he was scheduled to report to jail he checked into the hospital as a mental patient. He was doing the Chin Gigante before it became a thing. I couldn't find if any portion of his sentence was actually served in an institution, but it was eventually suspended to be served at home. Considering this happened in November 1955 and he didn't die until 1963, I think we can assume that his illness wasn't too life threatening.

Shortly after the Charles T. Brady murder (which is mentioned in the book), Powell was arrested in 1941 for assaulting a couple of black longshoremen with a hatchet. I don't know if it is true, but an FBI file I have states that it was a race thing, as other longshoremen did not want to work alongside them and a fight broke out.

After Powell's release from prison, he went right back to working on the docks. I believe he was a Hiring Boss on Pier 14 for a time. He was ruled off the waterfront, due to his criminal record, when the mandatory registration started. He then turned up as an International Representative for the Office and Professional Employees International Union. He remained with that union until he died in the 1960s. You can probably guess which industry he was responsible for negotiating with...the white-collar jobs associated with the waterfront!



Hi DiLorezno! I read that too and I think Coffey's account is probably accurate. In the early 1940s, Dunn was moving in on Teamster locals that were associated with the waterfront. This was especially true of Teamster Local 807, where he had two of his own people lead a wildcat strike in an attempt to oust the current leaders. The former Business Agent of 807, who worked closely with the Dunn-McGrath group, eventually became Vice-President of Dunn's own union (AFL Local 21510, which later became ILA Local 1730).

Book excerpt Dock Boss: Gang Rule – A Longshoreman’s story

http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/book-excerpt-dock-boss-gang-rule-a-longshoreman-s-story

Hey Clark,

Im interested in buying your book, but had a question...does the book go into Mcgrath and the Irish mobs ties to the Mafia alot? I know theress no way they woukd have been able to wield that kinda union power seeing as the Italians owned and pry to a degree still do own the docks. Tbh i usually only enjoy reading about the Italian mob in America, but I did read TJ's book and it was quite good. Appreciate any response you can provide and i look forward to readin your book!

-Mike

Hi Mikey,

To be honest, the book discusses McGrath's Mafia connections in detail, but the main focus is on the old waterfront mobs.

McGrath was very good friends with Jimmy Alo and Joe Adonis, and he also began his criminal career working for Joey Rao. Because of those guys, there is a bunch of overlap with the Genovese. The book also explains the early years on the docks, who controlled what, and why it occurred the way it did. If I could loosely describe the content of the book, it is really the story of what happened on the West Side between Owney Madden and the Westies.

Originally, the Mafia controlled the Brooklyn and Staten Island piers. They eventually also took over the New Jersey waterfront (which is covered in the book). The West Side piers were controlled by McGrath and company (who although predominately Irish, were really multi-ethnic). The West Side piers went the way of the dinosaur but the gang's connections to the waterfront remained strong. After Joe Ryan and Captain Bradley, the longest serving ILA President was Teddy Gleason. The book covers it extensively, but Gleason was a long-time McGrath associate. After Gleason was John Bowers, who was the son of notorious West Side racketeer Mickey Bowers. The current President is Harold Daggett— the nephew of one of McGrath's best friends, George Daggett. Although I am not claiming any current connection between McGrath associates and Daggett, it does demonstrate that the ILA leadership has always been tied to the West Side.

Amazon has the index available in their free preview of the book. It will probably give you an idea of the amount of Mafia content in it. Mainly it is Alo, Rao, Adonis, Lansky, Strollo and Genovese.

Hope that gives you an idea. If there are any other questions, feel free!

All the best,

Neil