My New Book: Dock Boss

[Clark]

Hi guys,

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 Eddie McGrath, but it is really a chronological account of the West Side waterfront and the mob’s control over the ILA from the 1930s until the 1970s. The book is based on various primary resources (law enforcement reports, trial transcripts, archival records etc.) and, although the publisher didn’t allow me to use endnotes or footnotes, everything is sourced.

The book is mainly about the Irish Mob, but 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 in the release (but they should be available shortly). The ePub is available for pre-order and the delivery date listed online will likely be pushed up. The first batch of books is almost sold out on Amazon but more are arriving on May 29, 2017.

I will probably also announce it over at GBB (don’t hold it against me).

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.

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

https://www.amazon.com/Dock-Boss-Eddie- ... 1569808139

www.neilgclark.com

Thanks for being the best forum around!

[Laurentian]

Congratulations with your new book Clark. Best wishes and success with it.

[Sol]

Congrats Clark, best of luck and success on the book.......Soliai

[Antiliar]

Fantastic, Clark! Congratulations! I wish you the greatest success with your book.

[Dwalin2014]

Will definitely buy this book, I have been looking forward to it for some time already, after seeing on amazon. I think there haven't yet been any books completely dedicated to the Irish mob on the New York waterfront. Most of the descriptions in other books focus on John "Cockeye" Dunn for the most part, probably because he went to the electric chair, which was rare for organized crime figures, especially of "above average" rank. But McGrath must be a more interesting character than Dunn, in the descriptions I read he is always described as the "brains" and "planner" of the group, while Dunn was just the "muscle", although they "formally" had the same rank I think. But Dunn was dumb enough to pull the trigger himself; even if he was in charge of the dirty work of the gang, why do it personally, when he could have just chosen the best triggermen without exposing himself? So he fried on the chair, and McGrath didn't. By the way, in your opinion, was it McGrath who ordered the Hintz murder carried out by Dunn, or was it Dunn's personal beef with Hintz?

[Clark]

Thanks for the support guys!

I have a few chapters dedicated to the Hintz murder. The condensed version is that following World War 2, there was a backlash against the gangsters from the rank-and-file longshoremen (who seemed to have returned home from the War tougher and with a new mindset). The problems started on Pier 45, which was in the heart of the Dunn-McGrath Mob's territory. The book goes into a lot more detail, but the short story is that the gang lost ILA Local 895 to the honest longshoremen.

Andy Hintz was appointed hiring boss and loading boss on Pier 51 right around this time. He was a rougher character to begin with, and the gang had assumed that he would share the action on the pier. Hintz outright refused. He began speaking out against the gang and he also attempted to kill Dunn-McGrath gang member James "Ding Dong" Bell, after Bell had previously shot him in the leg as a "warning to play ball."

Dunn was losing face, which is why I believe he did it himself. I am confident that McGrath was involved in the planning. A number of sources say that he even supplied the guns that were in murder.

You are right, Dunn was definitely the more "hands-on partner." I cover a lot of previously undiscussed murders and I think the readers will see that Dunn was a pretty violent guy.

If there are any other questions about the book feel free to ask.

Cheers!

[Clark]

Dunn was losing face, which is why I believe he did it himself. I am confident that McGrath was involved in the planning. A number of sources say that he even supplied the guns that were in murder.

Sorry, that should read "...the guns that were used in the murder." Typing on my phone!

[BillyBrizzi]

Congratulations, will definitely purchase the book, it will be a cool addition to my collection.
Just looked it up and it will be available here in Holland the first of July.

https://www.bol.com/nl/s/algemeen/zoekr ... index.html

[Wiseguy]

When it comes to the mob and the NY waterfront, the Manhattan docks are interesting because the general understanding is that they and the Jersey side of the Hudson were under Genovese control, while the Gambinos got Brooklyn and Staten Island, when the two families split things up in the 1960's. This was confirmed by George Barone, among others. The only contrary opinion I've seen was by James Jacobs in his book Gotham Unbound who claims the conventional thinking is mistaken and the West Side docks (or at least some of the locals) were under Gambino control.

In any event, it seems the West Side docks were the first to become passe, with eventually there only being two small locals (if I'm not mistaken), one handling employment at the USS Intrepid and one handling the occasional cruise ship coming into port. People who live in the area might be able to speak to this but I wonder how much business goes on the Brooklyn and Staten Island waterfronts. Seems most of it is on the Jersey docks. At least that where most of the mob cases have been in recent years. But that could also be partly due to the Genovese family and its influence being harder to uproot from the industry.

[Clark]

Thanks BillyBrizzi! Hope you enjoy the book!

When it comes to the mob and the NY waterfront, the Manhattan docks are interesting because the general understanding is that they and the Jersey side of the Hudson were under Genovese control, while the Gambinos got Brooklyn and Staten Island, when the two families split things up in the 1960's. This was confirmed by George Barone, among others. The only contrary opinion I've seen was by James Jacobs in his book Gotham Unbound who claims the conventional thinking is mistaken and the West Side docks (or at least some of the locals) were under Gambino control.

In my opinion, the West Side docks were Irish to start and then Genovese property, prior to going the way of the dinosaur. Jacobs isn't wrong though, as those last two Manhattan locals that you mentioned were with the Gambino's and Westies. However, there were other "West Side" locals that weren't territorial because of the services they provided (ie. ILA 1804), and they all pretty well all moved to the New Jersey piers.

The arguement can be made that the West Side was always "with" the Genovese. McGrath worked as a low-level bootlegger for Joey Rao during Prohibition. During this time, he met Jimmy Alo and the two were incredibly close. The book covers the topic in detail, but over the years McGrath worked hand-in-hand with a number of Genovese members.

After McGrath moved to Florida, the main New York contact became his right-hand man, Henry "Buster" Bell. Bell was the founder of ILA Local 1804, and he also later became an ILA Regional VP. Bell used a younger gang, which included John Earle, George Barone, Douglas Rago, James Vanderwyde etc., for enforcement.

When Earle was murdered in 1958, after an internal dispute in his gang, some of his followers were placed with the Greenwich Village Genovese and Barone, Rago, Vanderwyde, and John Sullivan ended up with Fat Tony. This was done, in part, to avoid future bloodshed as Barone etc. were Earle supporters who hated the rival Earle Gang faction.

Barone etc. continued to work alongside Bell who, like the other top members of McGrath's gang, had Genovese connections. Barone, Rago etc. even started their own West Side union local, which later merged with ILA Local 1804 (becoming the current ILA Local 1804-1) to avoid attention from law enforcement. When Bell was convicted in the mid-1960s of jury tampering, in relation to the Jimmy Hoffa trial, the Barone group inherited his rackets. They later relocated to Florida, and with the assistance of McGrath, setup ILA Local 1922. In New York, Thomas Buzzanca, Harry Cashin's sons, the Kenny family etc. were left to monitor ILA Local 1804 and John Sullivan watched over their interests in the New York Coliseum.

According to a report I have from the Waterfront Commission, meetings to divide up the waterfront happened as early as the late-1950s and the divisions were like you said. The Genovese got the best end of the deal, as I don't think anyone involved could have guessed that by the 2000s the other ports would have died off, or become so insignifant, while New Jersey is still thriving.

McGrath, and his closest associates, were only able to maintain their importance, following the decline of the West Side waterfront, as they always had an "in" with the ILA leadership. Since the time it moved away from the Great Lakes region in the early 1900s, the leaders have always been West Siders (Joe Ryan; Captain William Bradley; Teddy Gleason, the longest serving leader who was a McGrath's associate since the 1930s; John Bowers, the son of gangster Mickey Bowers; and now Harold Daggett— the nephew of George Daggett, who was one of McGrath's best friends).

Thanks again for the support guys!

[Wiseguy]

Thanks for the info, Clark. That definitely clears up some things.

[Dwalin2014]

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!

[Clark]

Hey Dwalin2014,

Thanks for picking up a copy! Hope you enjoy it!

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.

The Powell you mentioned is definitely the Joseph Powell in the book. I didn't even know there was an account of his assault conviction out there. I will have to check it out!

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. Did The DA's Man provide more detail? I was always curious about Powell as there is limited information available on him.

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!

[Dwalin2014]

Clark, thanks for the information! I sent a PM, about the book and Powell, please check the inbox.