Clark wrote: ↑Mon Sep 16, 2019 6:49 am
Dwalin2014 is right about the "Arsenal Gang" name. It was a newspaper headline used to describe the remnants of the Yanowsky group after their arrest. It ended up sticking around much like "The Westies" moniker.
It would be difficult to make a hierarchy chart as the Irish groups were usually fluid crews rather than having an organizational structure. From the 1930s to the 1950s, you can put together a rough list of prominent players based on territories, but it gets really murky into the 1960s as the big West Side industries died out. Also, the whole Eddie McGrath to Hughie Mulligan to Mickey Spillane to Jimmy Coonan narrative that we often see isn't really correct.
For the list you posted above, ILA 1730 was a charter that the Dunn-McGrath gang created in the late 1930s. The actual union hierarchy would look something like this (Note: this doesn't include mostly all the members of the gang, but rather just the ones involved in this particular local):
ILA Local 1346-2 became AFL 21510, Motor and Bus Terminal Checkers, Platform and Office Workers, in 1937 and later ILA 1730, Inland Terminal Workers, in 1949. They were originally based in Greenwich Village and were a union for the various shipping terminals that the docks delivered to. By the 1950s, mostly all the terminals were in New Jersey.
President: Cornelius Noonan
Vice-President: John "Cockeye" Dunn (Executed)
Succeeding Vice-President: Austin Furey
Original Business Agent: Leo Tocci (Murdered)
Succeeding Business Agent: John "Cockeye" Dunn (Executed)
Secretary-Treasurer: Thomas "Teddy" Gleason (Future longest serving ILA President)
AFL 21512 was the New Jersey local that was merged into ILA Local 1730 in 1949. It's structure was:
President: Frank Sheridan
Vice-President: William Quinn
Business Agent: Andrew "Squint" Sheridan (Executed)
Here is some info on the other people you mentioned:
William (Big Bill) Mc Cormack- Friends with many West Side criminals and very influential, but not involved in any traditional rackets. Was the owner of Penn Stevedoring.
Edward McGrath- Was heavily involved in ILA 1730, but on paper he was an Organizer for the ILA.
Frank Campbell- Was a member of the old Yanowsky group and partners with Albert Ackalitis. After his release from prison, he aligned himself with the Dunn-McGrath group and was later linked to Hugh Mulligan, and also various ILA locals in New Jersey.
Joseph Murphy- Another member of the old Yanowsky group, he remained very involved with both Ackalitis and Campbell well into the late 1960s.
Matt English- He was an ex-con who had membership in ILA 1730. Not really a member of any group or a serious criminal.
Albert Ackalitis- A one-time leader of the old Yanowsky group. An incredibly important waterfront figure who later transitioned into the Operating Engineers union once he was barred from the docks.
Hugh Gillen- A trucking executive. Not a member of any gang.
John Bowers- Official of ILA Local 824 and later the President of the ILA after Teddy Gleason. Son of Mickey Bowers. Never convicted of a crime.
Michael Bowers- The top criminal operating in Hell's Kitchen from the 1940s to the early 1950s.
Joseph Kress- A member of the old Yanowsky group. He was released from prison in the 1940s and then attempted to rob Frank Erickson. After serving his second sentence for the failed hold-up, he never reappeared again on the West Side and apparently relocated.
Michael Spillane- Was only really ever closely connected to Hugh Mulligan rather than any of the above. He was a lot younger than the other names you mentioned so he wouldn't have been around for the golden age on the waterfront.
Louis (Bongy Farrell) Bongiorno - He was a shop steward at one of the 1730 barns. The only reason his name comes up in police reports is because he occasionally drove Connie Noonan around (who also happened to be the ex-boyfriend of Bongy's wife). He was involved in loansharking, gambling etc. though.
Hope that gives you some idea!