The Irish Mob, thanks to Dean from Ireland in the next two episodes we will examine the Irish Mob or the Westies. The Hell’s Kitchen area of NYC is from about Central Park on the west side of Midtown Manhattan west of Broadway to the Hudson River from Battery Park street to 59th street. This is sometimes referred to as the 5 Points area of NYC. Many Irish immigrants settled in this area find work on the Hudson River docks. Martin Scorsese produced the film The Gangs of New York and it tells the story of the early Irish gangs fighting the Protestant gangs. Since it is on the west side of Manhattan, it was natural to call the Irish gang The Westies. The name Hells Kitchen purportedly came from 2 cops watching a small riot between rival Irish gangs and one sad this place is like Hell and the older cop said no this place is so hot it is more like Hell’s Kitchen. As the new century arrived, in 1901 an Irish woman named Mary Madden left a drunken petty criminal husband, Francis and her 2 sons in England and came to new York looking for work. By 1902 she was able to bring her sons, Owney and Martin Madden over.  The father never made it to the US. The family found a new home in New York’s Irish community in Hells Kitchen and this will shape Madden’s life permanently. The thousands of other Irish emigrant families will become Madden’s loyal. Settling in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen, little Owney Madden joined the Gopher Gang. He was known as “The Killer” after gunning down an Italian gang member in the streets, after which he shouted, “I’m Owney Madden, 10th Avenue!” No witnesses came forward linking Madden to the crime. By age 18, Madden had become a prominent member of the Gophers and was suspected in the deaths of five rival gang members. He was earning as much as $200 (like $2000.00 today) a day from the Gophers’ criminal activities, such as the gang’s protection racket which forced local businessmen to pay in the face of firebomb threats. Madden’s movie star looks and his wealth from his rackets made him a prince of Hells Kitchen. He was violently jealous and he once shot and killed a store clerk named William Henshaw, who had asked out one of Madden’s girl. Henshaw died of his wounds and Madden police was arrested. The case had to be dismissed after no corroborating witnesses came forward. Over the next three years, the Gophers reached the height of their power. The Hudson Dusters were threatened by Madden’s power and they ambushed him outside a 52nd Street dance hall on November 6, 1912. Madden refused to identify his attackers to police, stating “My boys will get ’em. It’s nobody’s business but mine who put these slugs in me!” Shortly after several members of the Dusters were  killed. In 1914, Madden became involved in a dispute with Little Patsy Doyle, a prominent member of the Dusters, over a woman named Freda Horner. Doyle informed police of Madden’s operations. Madden sent a message to Doyle through one of his girl friends, a  Margaret Everdeane, to ask Doyle to meet Madden and hash out a peace agreement. As Doyle arrived at this meeting on November 28, 1914, Madden ambushed Doyle and killed him. The police questioned the woman and she confessed to her role in the killing and named Madden. Madden was eventually sentenced to 20 years at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York. After serving nine years of his sentence, Madden was released on parole in 1923, 3 years after the start of prohibition.  The Gopher gang had broken up, and many members of his own faction were either in Sing Sing or working for other bootlegging gangs. Upon his release, he was given a job by a former member of Madden’s street gang, Larry Fay who had a taxi cab company as a cover for his bootlegging activities. He needed Madden’s killer reputation to maintain control of his territory. Fay employed Madden to boss a gang of strong-arm men to help him gain control of the most profitable cab-stands along Broadway.