- Eddie McGrath
Eddie McGrath (born
January 31 ,1906 ) was anIrish-American gangster fromNew York City , who controlled the Hell's KitchenIrish Mob and the lucrative waterfront throughout the 1940s. Originally from the notoriousGashouse District on the East Side, McGrath was arrested numerous times throughout the 1920s and 30s for offenses ranging from burglary to murder.After serving a lengthy stretch in
Sing Sing , McGrath ended up as an organizer for theInternational Longshoremen's Association on the Hell's Kitchen waterfront. With the notoriousJoseph P. Ryan in control of the ILA, McGrath became the primary muscle on the waterfront, with gangsters likeJohn "Cockeye" Dunn (who was McGrath's brother in law) andAndrew "Squint" Sheridan as his enforcers. He became a close ally of powerful organized crime figures such asJoe Adonis ,Albert Anastasia , andMeyer Lansky .Eddie McGrath was forced to abscond from New York after Dunn and Sheridan were executed for the murder of a hiring
stevedore named Andy Hintz in 1949 and the investigation of waterfront criminal activity subsequently began to escalate. He was sent to Miami as an ILA organizer at the behest of Meyer Lansky, where he spent the remainder of his life.The character of Johnny Friendly in
On the Waterfront is loosely based on a composite of McGrath,Albert Anastasia , and an ILA organizer named Mickey Bowers.External links
* [http://www.gangland.net/westies.htm Gangland.net - Hell's Kitchen Irish Mob: The Westies]
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