I was wondering if there were any Irish-American OC groups left in NYC?

The Australians have a rather love hate relationship with the Irish don't they, Australian? About 10% love and 90% hate.

We don't hate anyone hahahaah

That's the thing about us Aussies... we don't give a fuck

I can tell you that the West side piers where the cruise ships leave out of NY City have a strong Irish presence. As to who or with whom they are associated with that I don't know.

Joseph Coffey single handedly took down the irish mob in new york...

And Gotti too! That guy is delusional!

There's still a few Irish American gangsters operating but theres no formal Irish Mob groups, some loose street gangs in Boston and Philly still flirt with it but they're not major. The Westies were probably the last real Irish gang in NYC, Hell's Kitchen was an Irish controlled area going decades back. The story is that a beat cop in the 1920s named the area "the hottest place in hell".

You can't swing a dead cat on the West Side of Manhattan today without hitting a Starbucks or a Panera bread. It's almost completely gentrified these days.

As far as Irish neighborhoods go, there are still pockets of Irish in Inwood, which is on the northwestern tip of Manhattan, on the Bronx border. But the only truly Irish neighborhood left in New York City, and the only truly ethnic neighborhood left at all----besides the Dominicans in Washington Heights----is the Woodlawn section of the Bronx.

It's remarkable. The Woodlawn zip code (10470) is still over 80 percent Irish, which is unheard of today as far as a single ethnic group dominating a neighborhood goes (with the exception of the Dominicans in Washington Heights, which I mentioned earlier). And the Irish spill right over the Yonkers side of the border onto McLean Avenue.

Woodlawn may very well be more Irish today than when I was growing up, and I'm almost 55. And when I say Irish, I mean off the boat Irish. I'm not even talking about Irish American. Katonah Avenue is literally like an Irish village.

You gotta hand it to them. They're just too thickheaded to leave .

Pizza boy was there ever a Woodlawn Irish Mob? I remember the area being called Spudlawn at one point. lol

Nothing really organized, if that's what you mean. But there were always a ton of Irish bookmakers on Katonah. I hope you don't mind my pointing out that the Irish LOVE to gamble .

And don't forget the Norwood/Bainbridge area. That neighborhood is mostly mixed Latino today, but years ago it was an extension of Woodlawn. You couldn't walk 204th Street without bumping into an Irish knockaround guy when I was growing up. If you've ever seen "The Wanderers," the fight on the football field was filmed right there on French Charlie's field.

It's funny because when I was a kid there was a lot of animosity between the Irish and the Italians. I sure as Hell didn't feel safe in Woodlawn lol. But today? I think we're so comfortable with each other now because we realize that we're better off with each other than with the, uhm, "newer" ethnic groups .

Very interesting I was never really aware of what activity was going on there.

I think traditionally the Irish and Italians despised each other, if you look back to the early days of organised crime the Italians were more organised and took over a lot of the Irish rackets, the Irish immigrants were here in mass numbers before the Italians.

Lucky tried to set them up with Owney Madden as official boss when the Commission was formed. Like you said I think the animosity lightened in later years, a lot of these guys were in prison together, and both mobs started to work with each other as well. Also like you mentioned when the different ethic groups encrouched they bound together further, Caucasian and Catholic.

I've spent my fair share of time in Woodlawn. Most of the kids there are college age.

Ireland is an advanced country with an advanced economy with low crime. The kids that go there come from nice backgrounds, mostly. Its not what people think it is.

Irish OC is basically dead. The Irish descendants here identify as American. They are suburban kids. When you grow up as an Irish American kid, fourth or fifth generation, you identify as an American kid with American friends. There will never be another westies, and thats a great thing.

Also, Pizza is right. Irish and Italians mostly view themselves as white Americans.

To clarify, Woodlawn probably has its fair share of bookies. But traditional Irish OC? C'mon.

And Woodlawn is kind of incredible. Its ALL Irish. Its somewhat amazing.

But college is free there. The people that move here want a job.

Ireland is an advanced country but it doesn't have a low crime rate, they don't export gangsters like they once did but the internal problem is massive. Ireland is rife with gangs dealing drugs, The Real IRA in Dublin extort the dealers and run protection rackets. Look up the Dublin Brigade RIRA leader Alan Ryan for instance who was shot dead.

There's guys who post updates on this site regularly in the Irish crime threads.

True. Of course it's still an advanced modern country, but in Ireland itself Irish OC is as alive as it has ever been. The poorer working class suburbs of Dublin are home to dozens of gangs involved in narcotics, but also in extortion and other rackets. And they're all ethnic Irish locals, just as the underworld in for instance Glasgow or Liverpool is dominated as well by locals. And a lot of them aren't small timers either, being involved in major international drug and weapon importation schemes with tentacles reaching into other European countries like Holland (where some killings have been connected to Irish groups), Belgium and Spain.

Not even the Lebanese?

There is also a an Irish presence in Sunnyside, Breezy Point and Woodside queens.

Despite visiting Sydney's western suburbs frequently, I've never really met an abrasive Lebanese person haha.

Australians have all the best derogatory slang terms for foreigners.

The Irish crime rate is low compared to world standards.

The college going rate is very high there and Irish people are a very attractive proposition for American employers.

Then, Irish people are traditionally very good with their hands too.

Unfortunately, perhaps, most young Irish after acquiring their qualifications will go to America, England, Australia... even the most far flung places as they are very adaptable.

What this leaves is the dregs of society, the Eastern Europeans taking all the low income jobs (which means school/college aged Irish find it hard to find employment and have to leave) and a generous helping of African immigrants who don't want to work and just go there to take advantage of a broken welfare system.

But not like Woodlawn. Hell, there's a big Irish "presence" here in Throggs Neck. But it's not predominant. The Irish predominance in Woodlawn today is unlike that of any other ethnic group in any neighborhood in this city. Neighborhoods like the ones you mentioned in Queens are mixed, Woodlawn isn't.

That's not politically correct, but it's spot-on.

Hey, when the Muslims do it, their Lefty apologists embrace them for their "solidarity."

Well, good enough for them . . . .

Woodside and Sunnyside are fading fast as Irish enclaves. Every once in a while you'll here an Irish accent on the 7 train or LIRR at Woodside/61st street. Spanish and Korean and Chinese is by far the predominant language all the way up Roosevelt Avenue well into Flushing (where the economy is almost entirely massage parlor and karaoke bar based).

That and the ubiquitous urban adventurer yuppies that infest everything which once was working class and affordable in this city. They are all over Roosevelt Avenue now.

Breezy Point and Broad Channel are still mostly Irish. Bellerose was once heavily Irish (I don't know anymore).