Originally a Lenape trail running the length of Manhattan Island, The Bowery has become one of the most notorious thoroughfares in America. Developed in stages by the Dutch, the British, and then Americans, this stretch of street has continually risen from its own ashes, interminably experiencing periods of popularity, poverty and prosperity. It has been celebrated as a haven of culture, entertainment, and theatre, and denigrated as New York's skid row." Home to bums, bohemians, criminals, artists, performers, and the rich and poor alike, The Bowery has attracted the most diverse population...

When people think about the city of New York, one of the most prominent images is that of the gangster the mob bosses and their henchmen, living luxurious lifestyles while wreaking havoc on the people who got in their way. In this book, Eric Ferrara will tell us exactly where and when they did their best and worst deeds, allowing readers to literally walk in the footsteps of New York's most notorious Mafioso's, from Dead Rabbits in the 1850s to John Gotti in the 1990s. Organized by neighborhood, each entry will include not only the physical address, but a description of what went down in...

During the early twentieth century, Sicilian and Southern Italian immigrants poured into New York City. Looking to escape poverty and persecution at home, they soon discovered that certain criminal enterprises followed them to America. Before any codes of honor were established in the New World, violent bosses wreaked havoc on their communities in their quest to rule the underworld. It took several decades for the Mafia to mature into a contemporary organized crime syndicate. Some names and places from both eras are still infamous today, like Frank Costello and the Copacabana, while some have...