The Westies: Mickey Featherstone Interview (1990)
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- 60 minutes - Westies: Hells Kitchen Informant Mickey Featherstone: The Boy Next Door interview (1990)
Francis T. "Mickey" Featherstone (born September 2, 1948) is a former Irish American mobster and member of the Westies, an organized crime syndicate from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan in New York City, led by James Coonan.
Featherstone committed several mob killings before he was convicted in 1986 of a murder he had not committed. Facing almost 25 years in jail, he became an informant and brought down Coonan's gang.
Criminal charge - Murder, Racketeering
Criminal penalty - Five years probation
en.m.wikipedia...
#Westies #MickeyFeatherstone #IrishMob #HellsKitchen
For Educational Purposes.
The Westies is a fantastic book. I used to spend a lot of time in Hell’s Kitchen and the story of the Westies is such a huge part of NYC history.
The high pitched altered voice adds another chilling aspect to this
30 years passed and no reports on Mickey killing anyone so I guess he’s changed. Good for him.
I agree, Mickey good for you.
@klausmkl just imagine if he was your next door neighbor?...holy shit.
Or has he... 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔👀💀💀💀💀👀👀👀👀👀
@@gavinbrando8255 maybe he’s a secret assassin for the FBI or the CIA. Conspiracies always make it more exiting.
Make a movie.
I doubt that there's anyone out there looking to clip him
It's been so long
The westies no longer exist
Until Coonan gets out of prison, he will find him.
@@lonniemcguire1343 no disrespect BUT Jimmy is going to be, like fukn 99 by the time he gets out sooo the probability of Jimmy getting revenge by his own hand isn't realistic..just sayin...
@@williamtobin7282 he'll hunt for him until death.
@@lonniemcguire1343Coonan likely will die in prison
@williamtobin7282 Well the thing about the Irish is they don't waste anytime coming after you. So 99 years old or not Coonans Google mapping you. Don't be surprised if you hear a knock on the back door.
Coonan wasnt his "lifelong" friend... they knew each other casually from the neighborhood snd didn't click up until he came home from the war
The families knew one another for a long time.
Not a peep out of the guy since he turned. I would love to see a mickey featherstone interview now.
"Now he's somewhere out there, living next door to you."
Michael Weatherstone
When will we get a Martin scorcece directed film about Mickey's reign...
Excellent quality footage... Priceless!!!
Featherstone has been a ghost for the past 30 years trying to find any info on him now is seemingly impossible
He is dead.
That's why WITSEC works. If you're in the program, the FBI is going to remain steadily strict on hiding and protecting you until you die or want out.
@@ponyboycurtis3795 how do you know?? Is he really?
@@danielvizzerra4071 he’s not dead
@@elDuderino87 you know for sure??
34 years later and Mickey is still living somewhere amongst us, and Jimmy Coonan is still in prison, trying to apply for early release.
Jimmy is trying to get out saying, " I'm not the same man I was."
This is good stuff there is not much on this guy out there I seen him in a couple documentaries I heard some rumor that somebody was maybe going to get an interview with him but I doubt it
2nd :)
I would recommend reading the Westies if you are interested
Mickey’s story is just a myth. He will never come out of his closet because his story is lies. All lies. Vietnam? Lies. Pre-Westies tough guy? Lies. Big time mob killer? Lies. Lies built on little kernels of truth. Jimmy used him and built up his reputation because it was good for business. Back then it was all rumors. Even cops believed it. Regular people were scared. They paid up. Jimmy got in with the Italians and made more money. When Mickey flipped he admitted to all his crimes. They were nothing in comparison to real serious gangsters. Maybe 1 murder? Lots of intimidation based on the lies. Mickey was not a hardcore gangster.
Well he proved the feds wrong thus far, because it seems he's still living a quiet decent life 💯
That we know of
They don’t declare what they have done in witness protection. They didn’t even say that Nicky Barnes had died until about seven or eight years after his death.
@@BABYFACEBEASTIE Thats true though 💯
Because he’s protected‼️
Just like Bulger!
People change
People can change...as far as I know Mickey featherstone never committed another crime
As you know, hmmm
Exactly right
over 30 years later, Feathersone evidently is still living at peace with society.
@safsa awe imagine if he was your next door neighbor?...crazy.
@@lonniemcguire1343 I have a Quadruple murderer as a neighbor.
Nice guy.. Hasn't hurt a soul after doing his time.
...and no,i still don't turn my back to him,ever.
@@lonniemcguire1343 I would move house lol
@@juri_xiii9977 You live next door to a communist party official?
I read the book 'The Westies' by T.J. English mentioned here, as well as his books 'Born to Kill' about Vietnamese gangs and 'The Hot House' about USP Leavenworth. Mickey Featherstone wasn't "crazy". He faked being crazy to get out of military service. He would later go on to use his bogus "loony diagnosis" to beat 3 homicide charges. This was the time in America when psychiatric conditions were "overstated" to say the least. It was back when people thought that "multiple personality disorder" was running rampant thanks to that goofy movie 'Sybil' that came out in 1976. We now know that "multiple personality disorder" is extremely rare and that symptoms are very different from those portrayed in that film. It got so bad back then that a guy named Dan White shot and killed Harvey Milk and George Moscone in San Francisco City Hall and was able to beat the charges using "The Twinkie Defense". Look that one up for a good laugh. One of the Hillside Stranglers tried to avoid punishment by pulling the "multiple personality" baloney, too. Making up creative new "mental illnesses" in order to absolve violent criminals of their actions was like the "new fad" in criminal psychology. Psychiatrists were eager to diagnose anyone who did violent crime in the 70's and early 80's with a multitude of weird conditions they pretty much just made up on the fly, when the fact of the matter was that these offenders were just violent scumbags. There's no way Featherstone would have beaten those 3 murder raps today since a lot of this psychobabble pseudo-science has been completely debunked. Remember that back in the late 70's "the science was settled" when it came to "multiple personality disorder" - just like how "the science is settled" today in regard to transgenders, C0VID-19 vaccines, and climate change. Point being - Mickey Featherstone is not now, nor has he ever been "crazy". He's just a brutal murderer that should be rotting in prison right now with his rat buddy Sammy "The Bull" Gravano.
I agreed with everything until the last two sentences. Who cares if they're rats, and yeah they're murderers. But hey, weren't the people they murdered murderers too mostly. It's all in the game.
I guess really I couldn't carry animosity toward two dudes I've never met and will never know. They might as well be movie characters at this point.
Pete Earley was the author of “The Hot House”
I agree with everything you said but Coonan is also a rat correct? He told police that Mickey killed Michael Holly?
I mean, the difference would be that mickey became an outstanding member of society, and has not been heard from since. He is an old man on a porch somewhere not bothering anybody. Sammy went right back to crime. Got sent to prison, and now he brags about murder on RUclips. They aren't the same.
@brians7901 what makes him an outstanding member of society?
Joe Coffey is a legend. I bet he's got stories about the mafia for days! Wish he would have done a book.
Ego maniac, always playin the 'tough guy' all knowing cop
@@williamrogers9004 Not to mention a glory hound that never met a camera he didn't like.
He's also dead.
Danny Sullivan Really? When did he die?
Supposedly he's the guy who stuck the cigar in Carmine Galante's mouth in his death photo. According to Bo Dietel.
Quite amazing. Keep up the great job. You're a goodfella!
I'm from Queens... his sister and nephews/nieces lived next door to a very good family friend jn Flushing... when I was a kid in the late 90s I remember his family drunkenly spilling a couple stories about her brother...
Any good ones?
Do you know Donald Trump?
Well he beat the 100/1 odds!🤣
The Westies book is a great read.
As someone with the last name Featherstone this is pretty neat!
4 years after his arrest he spills his beans and has book coming out. Boy crime really does pay off
He didn’t write the book and didn’t have anything to do with it besides being part of the subject matter. The book was written by TJ English.
@@canadablake still got paid
Good book " the Westies".
Where he at now? .. he could make some serious money if he came out and talked about some of this stuff .. would be big
Says a lot about environment. Hells Kitchen was one of the worst areas in NY
I grew up on 50th and 10th ave. Featherstone sister lived 2 doors down I think 432 w. 50th. He borrowed kitchen knives from her daughter, his niece to cut up his first body with the westies. Used to see them every friday meeting at the bar/restaurant connected to the Skyline hotel on the corner of 10th and 50th st. It's still there.
Jimmy Coonan used to live in Hazlet, NJ in the early 80's. He and his wife used to get their cars fixed at my family's auto shop. He liked to bounce checks instead of just paying for things. Nice guy.
@@TomG1990 liar
@@lonniemcguire1343 We still have the receipts for the work he never paid for.
Kitchen knives story sounds apocryphal
It was actually Jimmy Coonan who borrowed the kitchen knives from his niece, Alberta, and chopped up Paddy Dugan with Eddie Cummiskey
Id say, brad pitt as mad dog Sullivan, Johnny Depp as Mickey Featherstone, jimmy Coonan played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Eddie the butcher as james russo...
Perfect 👌 👊
All those actors are older than the gangsters in their heyday. And younger generation of actors lacks the ability to summon up the toughness and craziness of this last generation or Irish hoodlums. Plus the NYC accents are rarely even close to realistic.
Naw Dennis leary is coonan
@@malawigold747 yes
He was the bogey man of the underworld.
Baba Yaga
A myth created by Jimmy
@@jackiemurphy1524Are you listening to these interviews,it is not a myth.
He lives in Arizona or at least he did.
Used to play darts with Sammy Gravano.
I suppose Sissy has been with him the whole time. I never heard anything else.
The Vietnam war traumatised this guy then he went home to Hells Kitchen and it was war on the streets..now he has been removed from that environment he is living a good life.
He was non combat in Viet nam as most vets were. C book stolen valor so many phonies!!!
He past away
@@jamesfrancis1950 did you read the book? He never saw combat but was traumatized in other ways
@@jamesfrancis1950 he never claimed he saw combat in Vietnam you spaz.
@@danschumacher5427 featherstone did?
Jeff Fager (who produced the story) would later become executive producer
I love to see some off these irish gangsters on like sammy or Jimmy
Mickey Featherstone is a living Legend!!
I always wondered why they turned on him.I though he was coonan right hand man.
Yup
Rat. Why would you praise him?
Most people deserve a second chance , not all but most do. People can change.
The acid kicked in @ 6:05 lol
😂
Waddaya know? Mickey never got into any trouble ever again lol!
Even Eddie Cummisky;s mug shot scares me. Wouldn't like to have met him.
Damn. Getting beat till your eye pops out is crazy
If mickey came out today and started a YT channel dude could make a killing... Dude could be like the Micheal Franzese of the Irish mob
He is mentally unstable. If he came out on YT, and the trolls start talking their shit, there would be bodies all over the country. And he’s protected by the feds so it will be covered up just like how they covered sammy the bulls drug dealing. Sammy got caught because of the phoenix PD drug unit not the feds.
My new favorite channel , I watch all your stuff bro
Thank you.
MOBFAX the GOAT on a hot streak lately 🔥
From the killing fields and the deadly jungles of Vietnam. To the treacherous concrete jungles of New York! What could possibly go wrong?🤔
Incredible life story
Westside of Manhattan in the 80s 90s was hectic.
I'm wondering if Mickey and Jimmy ever had dealings with;
Tommy Karate Pitera?
Coonan and Demeo would chop up their victims and laugh about it...sick maniacs!
Well, it seems like he actually did change upon being betrayed by his former gang, and very likely had much of his perceptions and beliefs make dramatic shifts upon cooperating against them. He's been a ghost in WITSEC ever since and to my knowledge, he's still alive, living with his wife, and stayed out of trouble.
Even his name is a contradiction feather-stone
Imagine fighting over a parking spot with mucky featherstone 😂😂
Last I heard he was living in the throggs neck area of the Bronx.
That’s his brother.
The cop walking the beat is something badly missed in nyc these days.
The New York City Council and New York State Legislature will never get behind supporting that. It's disgusting what these clowns have done to the City
You're right. It's for a reason though. The government keeps getting bigger, systems of control are changing. If you ever want to read a book that has accurately and still accurately describes what's happening in this world then look no further than 1984.
Joe Coffee originally coined the term Westies to refer to a gang of killer's and racketeers who operated in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of N. Y. C.
Henry Hill's next door neighbour.
And Joe Valachi just up the street.
He can't escape from himself let alone his past.
There are ways to live with yourself if you really want to change.
Same as Gravano getting off easy. Although Gravano couldn't stay out of trouble
Mickey, taken out a life of violence is as sane, straight and honest as anyone. He's been a good boy for 35 years. He doesn't make excuses for anything, unlike Sammy gravano who blames , blames , blames .
I don't think he saw any combat in Nam.
Reports said he died in a small town outside of Springfield Massachusetts
No way?
The insane act was to get away with murder, he wasn't stupid, and probably not crazy.
Shargel, who was coincidentally Gravano's lawyer, had him successfully plea insane for his first major case to knowingly and purposely use for the next times he inevitably got in trouble. Obviously, it worked, and upon catching other cases, Featherstone would be sent to mental wards instead of a prison cell. I don't think he was insane or incompetent to stand trial for his violent crimes, the guy was just really fucking violent from a tough neighborhood.
@@citypopFM Yep.
Mickey is Irish, which they as people are very weird when it comes to psychological offsprings. They can change with a snap of a finger from a violent person to a productive member of society.
We Irish are different
They don’t make too many men like Mickey anymore though. Not in todays society. Too soft.
If that’s true about the Irish psychology, then I think the Columbians have a similar psychological profile. At least that’s what I gathered from Cocaine Cowboys and Narcos.😂
@@Whites0x4life look at how successful Irish immigrants were in America compared to plebs like Colombians
They are Americans not Irish
Nobody cares about him now if he walked through Manhattan now no one would care about him.
True. They wouldn't recognize him now.
Rip Joe Coffey
he would barely recognize the old nieighboord now..😂
The government gave this man witness protection then they’d give the devil himself the same
I read The Westies by TJ English. I think there was a lot of Mickey Featherstone's criminal history that English left out of that book. However, It did seem like Featherstone really did want completely out of the lifestyle he was in a few years before he cooperated with the government. He's been in no trouble for over 30 years now since he got out of the Westies.
He said I didn't have to come back anymore..i'm fine 😂😂😂
Joe sure didn't like mobsters!
Because they were all sc*mbags...
3:00
I wonder if this is reference to The Gemini Lounge, which was owned by Roy DeMeo and his Crew. Who worked for the Gambinos.
I read the book, it was tasselos apt.
Joe Coffey is THE MAN. RIP pal.
He was a G man through and through. No one could ever say he was a patsy for the mob guys. And nothing crooked or illegal was ever found in his investigations. Strait shooter type.
@@yoyo762 the way he ripped on DeMeo in the Mafia Greatest Hits episode was GOAT
@@larsongame4120 Yes, he had no cockeyed admiration for these mafia types. He called them lowlifes like they are. As he said, there is nothing honorable or respectable about them.
@@yoyo762 Them lowlife's made him who he was.if he didn't cover the mob than he's just another cop.
It might have been a secret to many, but some of us knew where he was, who he was and what he was. He didnt care either. He truly was as crazy as they come. Entertaining, but bonkers. Unforgettable guy, thats for sure.
Who Mickey?is he still alive
Was he really a dangerous guy or was he just easily influenced due to his mental illnesses?
@@chrislaverick6413 : He Was Dangerous!!!
@@theirritatedirishman5440 im curious about these guys, was he hot headed and kill you over nothing?
@@chrislaverick6413 : I didn’t know personally all that well,brother. I met him a handful of full of times in Manhattan through my good friend Frankie Burke. Me and a couple friend’s from Jersey were trying to get into the sound and vending business in NYC and Mickey had the in at MSG. He had a wild stare in his eyes and sometimes would fade off while he’s was talking but great guy to be around. Went into McSorley’s with him and the entire staff treated him like royalty, no bullshit! Another time we went to eat somewhere in Manhattan and Mickey opened the door and told the guy at the counter to “Sit These Guys Down And Whatever They Want.” Then we all shook hands and he left. Last time I ever saw him. He kind of had the same stare like Bulger had except most of the guys I hung around in South Boston with hated Bulger with a passion!
A podcast is next lol
Somebody needs to interview mickey before he dies
Mikey you need to get a website like Sammy the bull or Jimmy calandra. Is he still alive.
I think so. I don’t think he would do well with a podcast.
@@MOBFAX agreed. I think he knows exactly why he isn 't participating in the 'gold rush'. Right choice, imo.
He is still alive but I don't believe he would do RUclips
He can’t do a podcast because the whole story is an exaggerated fabrication.
@@jackiemurphy1524please elaborate
Wow , were do you get all these vids from ?
Mickey Featherstone did do better than Whitey Bulger (🗡) but not as well as Henry Hill (🤑).
At the end there did he just say that people thought wouldnt last 2 minutes out there ... but ive been out here (13 month ???) Fuckin 13 month iv got older bread in kitchen than 13 month .. he is totally proud himself aswell that lasted 13 month lol maybe il give him credit when reaches 13 years without doing anything but 13 month lol
I never really liked Coffey but he is right this lowlife as well as ,as well as Gravano should never have been let out. You could actually make a better case for Gotti or Coonan and they shouldn't be let off the hook either.
Rt on , Gravano is the absolute worst.. His mouth killed Frankie Locs that's his 20th body. Then does a Video Abt him. Like man he's got some balls
He actually lives corner of my Grove I.live in....honest.
He could be your next door neighbor.
The 1980s west side was a wild, dangerous, corrupt neighborhood. The W.40s west side highway was a parade of (usually black )scantily clad hookers starting at sundown. It was reported that dozens of bodies were found buried under some old railroad tracks in the W. 40s. The Spanish language EL DIARIO reported that many of the bodies were the results of westside bar fights. The crack epidemic was in full gear and there were plenty of zombies both on the W. 40s hole strolls and streets of Hell's Kitchen. All in all, Hell's Kitchen was a drug infested, violent, crime-ridden part of the Manhattan scenario. The 42nd St. area was full of rated X skin flic theatres, sidewalk prostitution, open market drug sales, and message parlors in abundance. The movie TAXI DRIVER depicts some of the aforementioned locations in full vigor.
Sounds like old times square with all the peep shows and shit
@@jordanhicks5131 Good times
@@jordanhicks5131 Yes ,sir right you are.
@@lonniemcguire1343 it was good times for the drug dealers and cheap ass pimps abusing so many out of town soul sisters. The entire west side hwy was full of young , usually black hookers in the 30s and 40s service roads.
@@jordanhicks5131 Plenty of crazy Spanish holes too.
Featherstone used to call the made men in La Cosa Nostra Al Colognes
He called Jimmy like that after he sold out the Westies to the Italian after the meeting
This guy thinks he is AL Cologne (Al Capone)
@@timtim8644no need for the brackets i think it wqs pretty easy to knpw what the reference to Al Calogne meant
I wonder if he ever has altercations or if he is a legit person now
JC Is the Shot Caller for the whites in Allenwood FCI
No he’s not.
I wonder since Mickey was SF in Vietnam uses the VA hospital for mental help and therapy?
Mickey is on heavy medication
Featherstone was born on West 43rd St.,[1] one of nine children.[2] His mother helped with the Veterans of Foreign Wars and his father was a customs officer.[2] He had blond hair and was often said to be baby-faced.[1] He served in the Vietnam War as member of the Green Berets aged just 17 after lying about his age.[1] He served as a stock clerk.[3] To his disappointment, he did not see combat, although he was circumcised by his friends in a drunken prank.[3][4] He received a medical discharge in 1967 after just a year, claiming to have hallucinations.[1][2]
" he was circumcised by his friends in a drunken prank" Ummm, what?!
@@signoguns8501 I read the Westies by T.J. English. It mentioned this. His fellow soldiers in Vietnam circumcised him as part of a drunken prank. Featherstone did serve in a Special Forces unit as an admin or supply specialist, but he wasn't qualified to be assigned to an Alpha team that went out on special operations missions. That requires many of months of specialized training in North Carolina which he never attended.
@@twofiveb I literally just purchased that book from amazon lol. Looks good.
that story doesn't add up, he likely started out killing in nam, then when problems started to manifest, he got moved to rear-D.
You pasted Wikipedia and didn't even bother to take out the endnote numbers
He looks like Allen from the hangover
mickey living in naperville il..good guy
Hes in Bennington Vermont... And western Mass..
How do you know
Tj and Mike's place 3. He is the head chef
@@chrisnelson3046really?
Is Joe Coffey still alive? Someone should reach out to him if he is. He would have so much content to share on mob story. I remember him describing Carmine Galante. He said you can go down the hardware store, buy a box of nails. Open the box look in, and that's what Carmine Galante looks like! He's a good story teller!
Yes sir 😏💪🏻🍀
Why are people praising this guy? I don't get it at all.
I think Mickey featherstone should get a second chance in life but nobody asked him about karma
Karma's a myth
MICKEY SOUNDS EERILY CALM..this guy was a stone cold killer
Its not over yet...
Coonan will find him and chop him up in pieces.
Ask Coffey about son of Sam, he protected power and he knows it’s all an illusion. Everyone who knows anything understands that.
Sammy was listening for sure!
Done it again the RUclips mob 🔌 💯
He lied about his Vietnam service. He was a truck mechanic or driver. He was no Green Beret, which is disgusting that the Government allowed that lie to continue. He maybe crazy, but schizophrenic is apparently what was happening to one of his personalities in Vietnam. He completely made it up.
He was assigned to the special forces headquarters in Nha Trang to work as a clerk and with the mail, so I think thats where the whole Green beret thing comes from.
Supposedly he was in Texas I think Austin and did well with day trading