Hell's Kitchen has long been associated with the Irish in New York, from the early 1800's right up until the 1990's it would have been considered an Irish stronghold and by some accounts the birthplace of the Irish Mob. Though it is considered an Irish neighborhood there was also a sizable German population as well as other nationalities too.
Hell's Kitchen is located on the West Side of Manhattan and generally refers to the area from 34th to 59th Streets and west of Eighth Avenue and to the Hudson river.
Originally starting out as a rural area with fishing and farmlands but would eventually be built upon and industrialized with train tracks built connecting the waterfront docks to Albany, New York.
Soon immigrants would arrive to the area building shantytowns and then tenement buildings to house mainly poor immigrants from Ireland and Germany, the tenements became overcrowded fast, bringing diseases, malnutrition and unsanitary conditions.
As most who lived in Hells Kitchen were mainly poor and lower down the social order crime, prostitution, gambling and drinking were rampant.
There are a few competing theories as to how the name Hell's Kitchen came about, According to an article by Kirkley Greenwell, published online by the Hell's Kitchen Neighborhood Association: No one can pin down the exact origin of the name, but some refer to a tenement on 54th Street as the first "Hell's Kitchen." Another explanation points to an infamous building at 39th as the true original.
A local historian says the name Hell's Kitchen first appears in the New York Times in September 1881, a reporter who was accompanying the police in a multiple murder investigation, referred to the infamous tenement at 39th Street, "Hell's Kitchen" and he said that the entire section was "probably the lowest and filthiest in the city."
The most common version traces it to the story of "Dutch Fred the Cop", a veteran policeman, who with his rookie partner, was watching a small riot on West 39th Street near Tenth Avenue. The rookie is supposed to have said, "This place is hell itself", to which Fred replied, "Hell's a mild climate. This is Hell's Kitchen."
Either way, however the name came about over the years it had been referred to as Clinton or Midtown West, although most still know it and call it Hell's Kitchen today.
Throughout its history Hell's Kitchen has seen its fair share of crime and violence, gangs with colorful names and gangster names to match, One Lung Curran, Goo Goo Knox, Happy Jack Mulraney and Stumpy Mularkey. And of course Oweny "The Killer" Madden.
The Gopher Gang were one of the biggest gangs that dominated Hell' Kitchen throughout the later 1800's and early 1900's, their best known leader was Owney "The Killer" Madden who was one of the most successful gangsters in organized crime history, the Gopher Gang also had a womens branch to back them up, lead by a woman named Battle Annie Walsh, who was described as the most feared brick hurler of her time, they were known as the Battle Row ladies athletic club.
As the Gopher Gang faded away, a new generation took over, lead by Eddie McGrath, they would rule over the Westside Docks for 20 to 30 years. Eddie McGrath was successful at infiltrating the dockers union, the International Longshoremans Association or the ILA. McGrath himself would also be a successful gangster as he flew under the radar and spent very little time in prison, compared to his associates.
Mickey Spillane, the last gentleman gangster took over the Hell's Kitchen rackets and would pay with his life, in typical gangster fashion he was murdered. The Spillane's are still very much part of Hell's Kitchen today, the family own some bars in the neighborhood, Mickey Spillanes & Mr. Biggs. Mr. Biggs just happens to be the bar that was once owned by Mickey Spillane's main rival in Hell's Kitchen, Jimmy Coonan, while Coonan owned the bar it was called the 596 club.
And of course that leads to the next gang from Hell's Kitchen and probably the last in a long line of history in New York, The Westies. The Westies were a violent group, who terrorized Hell's Kitchen throughout the 1970's and 80's, they were known to dismember the bodies of their victims in order to make sure there was no investigation. The gang fell apart in the 1980's due to in-fighting and betrayal.
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