Rise and fall of 'The Westies,' New York's last Irish gang, as new series charts their murders and shakedowns

Key Points:

• The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, known today for major events, was once a hub of criminal activity during its construction and early operation from 1979 to the mid-1980s, involving extortion, violence, and union racketeering linked to New York’s organized crime.
• The Hell’s Kitchen-based Irish gang, the Westies, played a central role in exploiting the Javits Center project, engaging in bookmaking, loan sharking, drug dealing, contract killings, and extortion, often in collusion with corrupt unions and the Italian Gambino crime family.
• The Westies' violent reputation included numerous unsolved murders and gruesome acts of brutality, with leaders like Jimmy Coonan and Mickey Featherstone controlling the gang until internal conflicts and law enforcement crackdowns led to their downfall.
• Prosecutor Rudy Giuliani spearheaded a task force that dismantled the Westies in the late 1980s, leading to long prison sentences for key members and signaling a broader crackdown on organized crime in New York, which also ended the criminal exploitation of the Javits Center.
• The story of the Westies and their connection to the Javits Center is dramatized in the upcoming MGM+ crime series "The Westies," premiering July 12, highlighting the intersection of crime, construction, and New York City’s underworld history.