Editing Spillane Gang (section)

==Collapse==
Spillane moved from Hell's Kitchen to Queens as the conflict intensified. On May 13, 1977, he was shot and killed outside his home in Woodside. No claim about the identity of his killer is treated as conclusive here; later organized-crime histories have offered differing accounts of responsibility.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/16/archives/west-side-funeral-of-mob-figure-traces-divergent-paths-in-area.html “West Side Funeral of Mob Figure Traces Divergent Paths in Area”], ''The New York Times'', May 16, 1977.</ref><ref name="English" /> After Spillane's death, Coonan's organization became the dominant Irish-American crime group in Hell's Kitchen and developed an alliance with the [[Gambino crime family]].<ref name="Coonan" />

Although both organizations have been described collectively as the “Westside Irish Mob,” the appellate record treats Spillane's gang and Coonan's Westies as successive rival groups rather than a single uninterrupted organization.<ref name="Coonan" />