Dock Boss: Eddie McGrath and the West Side Waterfront

Dock Boss: Eddie McGrath and the West Side Waterfront
Author: Neil G. Clark
Release Date: July 1, 2017 | Publisher: Barricade Books |ISBN-10: 1569808139

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 true 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- Previously unpublished picture charts of New York City's waterfront gangs.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.

Reviews

"Not since On the Waterfront has the world of labor racketeering been presented in such an enlightening and entertaining way. Neil G. Clark presents a fascinating portrait of Eddie McGrath and his waterfront minions, dock wallopers and hoodlums with names like Mutt, Cockeye, Squint, and the Bull. Dock Boss is essential reading for anyone with an interest in organized crime history, the sociology of New York's West Side, or the long, lost universe of the waterfront rackets, through which gangsters once held sway over the economic fortunes of an entire generation of working men."
- T.J. English, author of the Irish Mob Trilogy (The Westies, Paddy Whacked and Where the Bodies Were Buried)

"Dock Boss is a fascinating and well-researched look at one of the most influential Irish mobsters of the 20th century. Eddie McGrath was not only the king of the New York waterfront, but a street-smart Irish mobster who stayed one step ahead of the law and his enemies. Neil G. Clark brings to life McGrath's story with clear prose and a sharp eye for detail."
- Scott M. Deitche, author of Cigar City Mafia: The Complete History of the Tampa Underworld and Garden State Gangland: The Rise of the Mob in New Jersey

"In his new book, Dock Boss, author Neil G. Clark takes his readers inside the violent world of the New York City waterfront and the man who controlled it. It isn't a pretty world, but it was Eddie McGrath's world. It's a story that needed telling and one you don't want to miss."
- Dennis N. Griffin, author of Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, and Government Witness and Surviving the Mob: A Street Soldier's Life Inside the Gambino Crime Family

"True crime history fans will find Dock Boss: Eddie McGrath and the West Side Waterfront a gripping saga of organized crime that combines the biography of Eddie McGrath with the rise of mob activities in the 1930s. The story reads with the drama and action of fiction, but all events come from real life."
- Midwest Book Review