The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, a modern hub for thousands of annual events, once served as a lucrative base for New York's last major Irish gang, the Westies. The gang's influence, marked by murders and extortion, was deeply intertwined with the convention center's construction and early years, a period that predates its current reputation for glitzy gatherings.
A new scripted crime series, "The Westies," premiering July 12 on MGM+, explores this violent chapter. According to series co-creator Chris Brancato, the gang "felt like they owned the neighborhood where the Javits Center was," operating with impunity as police were allegedly on their payroll.
A Criminal Racket on an Unprecedented Scale
During the Javits Center's construction from 1979 to 1986, the project presented a significant opportunity for organized crime. "Everyone understood that the Javits Center was going to be an unprecedented bounty of criminal rackets," said T.J. English, author of the definitive book on the gang. Every aspect of the construction, from food carts and concrete laying to painting and even portable toilets, was subject to kickbacks and extortion.
The flow of money went from the construction project to various unions, which were controlled by different factions of organized crime, ultimately benefiting mobsters. This system was characteristic of New York in the 1970s and 1980s, English explained.
The Westies' Violent Reign
The Westies formed in the early 1960s, led by Irish-American mobster Mickey Spillane, who controlled Hell's Kitchen. The gang had previously exploited construction projects like Madison Square Garden and the New York Coliseum. Their involvement with the Javits Center, a massive 20-acre project, brought them into conflict with the Italian mafia, particularly the Gambino crime family led by Paul Castellano. This rivalry, known as the Irish-Italian war of the 1970s, saw Spillane, who refused to cooperate with the Italians, ultimately gunned down. While "Mad Dog" Sullivan, a hitman hired by the Gambinos, was a suspect, no one was convicted of Spillane's murder.
Jimmy Coonan and Mickey Featherstone, Spillane's former associates, took control of the Westies. Coonan proved to be a volatile leader, while Featherstone, a former Green Beret, was known as a ruthless enforcer. By the dawn of the 1980s, the Westies had formed an unprecedented alliance with the Gambino family, consolidating their control over West Side rackets.
Despite their relatively small size—estimated at no more than 20 members—the Westies were linked to approximately 30 unsolved killings by 1986. Their reputation for extreme violence included gruesome acts, such as displaying a murder victim's genitalia in a milk carton at a gang hangout. Eddie "the Butcher" Cummiskey, a member reputed to have learned his trade in prison, allegedly dismembered bodies to dispose of evidence.
Beyond murder, the gang engaged in extortion, gambling, and counterfeiting. Featherstone's brazenness was exemplified by a daylight murder committed after he was insulted in a bar. "The Italians were organized crime and the Westies were disorganized crime," Brancato noted, highlighting the Westies' heavy drinking, willingness to undertake contract killings, and penchant for making bodies disappear.
The Downfall of the Gang
The gang's violent and chaotic methods ultimately contributed to their undoing. In 1985, construction worker Michael Holly was killed near the Javits Center's entrance in a shooting linked to the Westies. Featherstone was charged and convicted, though the conviction was later overturned. However, his time in jail led him to cooperate with authorities.
Featherstone's testimony provided crucial evidence for a task force assembled by then-prosecutor Rudy Giuliani. This crackdown, combined with the inherent conflicts arising from multiple criminal organizations operating on the same lucrative project, led to the dismantling of the Westies. Coonan was eventually sentenced to 75 years for racketeering, with the judge describing him as a "man without any redeeming features." Featherstone entered witness protection.
The crackdown also curtailed the criminal rackets that had plagued the Javits Center construction, ending what English described as "almost too good to be true" feeding frenzy for violent criminals.
