"Marlon Brando’s breakout role as Terry Malloy in the 1954 film On the Waterfront tells the story of a young dockworker who discovers he is being used by the Mob for their dock-related operations.

The movie was a fictional drama, but its story was based on actual events, which inspired author Neil G. Clark to spend five years researching the history of the underworld’s control over New York City’s waterfront.

Clark’s new book, Dock Boss: Eddie McGrath and the West Side Waterfront, focuses on the story of Irish Mob boss McGrath and other hoodlums who ruled the West Side docks from the 1930s through the 1950s, encompassing nearly 900 piers and more than 300 miles of active international commerce and trade.

Neil G. Clark will bring the Mob-ruled world of the New York West Side waterfront to life. Learn about:
• New York City’s Irish Mob after Prohibition and its underworld alliance with the Italian Mafia
• The gangs, racketeers, and corrupt union officials who maintained iron-fisted control over the busiest port in the world
• A sensational murder trial that forever transformed the waterfront by bringing a nationwide network of labor racketeers to light
• New details about a 1930s gang war that resulted in 11 murders, six near-killings and dozens of shootings

​A book signing will follow this program. Please join us after the book signing for drinks in The Underground speakeasy with author Neil G. Clark."

On February 28, 2018, Tantor Media will be releasing the audiobook of Dock Boss: Eddie McGrath and the West Side Waterfront!

With a running time of just over nine hours, it is the full unabridged story of a bygone era when mobsters once ruled the New York piers. Narrated by the excellent Chris Andrew Ciulla, it will be available as an audio CD, MP3 CD, or on Audible.

Check out a sample at the website below:

The audiobook is now available for pre-order on Amazon!

In recognition of the day that Eddie McGrath first appeared on the front page of The Sun—as the target of Malcolm Johnson's Pulitzer Prize winning exposé about waterfront corruption—Amazon.com will be selling Dock Boss: Eddie McGrath and the West Side Waterfront for 50% off on November 26, 2017! One day only!

Thank you everyone for your continued support! Recently, we have also confirmed that Dock Boss​ will soon be available as an audio book. Stay tuned for more information!

The book has gone to print ahead of the July 1, 2017 release date. Pick it up now for 30% off at Amazon.com or find a copy at all other major book retailers. The e-book is also now available for pre-order!

Stay tuned for updates on upcoming promotional news! 
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Racketeers like Eddie McGrath, John (Cockeye) Dunn, Andrew (Squint) Sheridan, Albert Ackalitis, Mickey Bowers, Charlie Yanowsky and Timothy O'Mara held important positions on the waterfront, including jobs within the International Longshoremen's Association and the American Federation of Labor. While the gangsters attempted to convey to the public that they were now reformed union leaders, a history of violence had propelled them into their roles on the docks.

Below are original copies of their criminal records:
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How did these hoodlums rise to power on the waterfront and become prominent members of New York City's violent Irish Mob? Purchase Dock Boss: Eddie McGrath and the West Side Waterfront to find out!

Attached is a condensed version of the 1950s radio news program "The Nation's Nightmare." This particular episode aired during a time when the media first began to intensify their coverage of the criminals that controlled the New York-New Jersey waterfront. Included in this clip are sound bites from Joseph P. Ryan, who at the time was the corrupt leader of the International Longshoremen's Association; Edward Florio, the Hoboken bootlegger turned union organizer; and the widow of a murdered hiring boss. You can currently listen to the entire program on Youtube.
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Pick up your copy of Dock Boss: Eddie McGrath and the West Side Waterfront. The book is currently available for pre-order and is 30% off this week!

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Pre-order Dock Boss: Eddie McGrath and the West Side Waterfront to learn more about the history of the Irish waterfront gangs in New York City!
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​Although the West Side waterfront was known for bloodshed and senseless killings, the night of February 7, 1941 would prove to be an exceptionally busy day for the volatile neighborhood gangsters.

At 9:30 pm, Joseph Moran, a warehouse checker who had been speaking up about his concerns with John “Cockeye” Dunn and Eddie McGrath`s leadership over AFL Local 21510, was unloading a truck with three co-workers at 508 West 14th Street. 

As Moran and the others hauled crates of cocoa, a new model car pulled up near them. The gang’s hitman of choice, Andrew “Squint” Sheridan, hopped out of the passenger seat of the vehicle and walked up to the group. Given his poor eyesight, Sheridan wanted to make sure that he had the right target. “Which of you is Joe Moran?” he asked. 

Moran, who was standing only feet away, responded, “Me.” Sheridan drew a pistol from his pocket and shot Moran once in the forehead. Casually stepping forward, he proceeded to shoot Moran twice more in the chest before slowly walking back to his getaway car. The other platform workers who witnessed the killing were understandably tongue-tied when later questioned by police.

When the newspapermen descended on Moran’s home to get the scoop, they found his inconsolable wife clutching their newborn baby. She stressed that her husband had not been involved in any waterfront feuds and had no enemies.

Moran had talked too loud about the Dunn-McGrath Mob and was another casualty of their heavy-handed rule over the waterfront.

 
​In an unrelated murder, and only an hour before Joseph Moran was shot, Emil “The Polack” Nizich would meet a similar fate just up the block. Tit-for-tat killings had dominated the Hell’s Kitchen waterfront throughout 1940, and four would-be gang bosses had recently been slain during the fight for control of the Midtown piers.

On January 25, 1941, Nizich, a well-known local hoodlum, was shot in the shoulder while getting a shoe shine, and his companion, Thomas Cunniff, was killed. The two, who had also been previously shot and wounded together in 1937, had been heavily involved in the year’s recent violence.

The killer of Cuniff, who obviously still had unfinished business after the January shooting, caught up with Nizich on 48th Street while he was walking to a neighborhood basketball game. The gunman pumped a few bullets into Nizich’s back, who then collapsed in the road and was struck by an oncoming car. After the shooter was sure Nizich was dead, he jumped onto the running board of a taxi cab and yelled for the driver to “Drive like hell!”

Bowers Mob gunman Daniel St. John was later arrested for the murder but released due to lack of evidence.

                                                          
Pre-order Dock Boss: Eddie McGrath and the West Side Waterfront for more waterfront stories and the complete history of New York City's Irish Mob from the 1930s to the 1960s!
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