Anyone else worried that MGM’s The Westies will just be more Hollywood slop like The Godfather of Harlem?
Let’s be honest: the Irish mob in New York City effectively died with Mickey Spillane. Spillane was the last Irish mob boss to wield real political influence on Manhattan’s West Side through the McManus political machine, and he was also the last to competently oversee rackets tied to projects like the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
Jimmy Coonan, by contrast, while a solid earner on an individual level, presided over a loose crew of drug and alcohol fueled associates who struggled to run anything beyond narcotics trafficking, theft, and violence. It’s also worth remembering that Coonan effectively agreed to serve as Paul Castellano’s enforcer. As Sammy “The Bull” Gravano put it, “They were nuts.”
Now, if MGM accurately captures these complexities, I’ll be all in on the show but I suspect it will be Hollywood-ified to death.