The Museum of the American Gangster was a two-room museum located at 80 St. Mark's Place in the East Village, Manhattan New York City. Opened in 2010, it was located upstairs from a former speakeasy in a neighborhood once frequented by Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and John Gotti. [1] Its Exhibition of the American Gangster was "founded to preserve newspapers, photographs and other original documents from the Prohibition Era". [2] The museum's collection of memorabilia of organized crime in America includes John Dillinger's death masks, [3] bullets from the Saint Valentine's Day massacre investigation, [4] and a bullet from the shooting of Pretty Boy Floyd. [5] The former speakeasy [6] has a history of its own; [7] the speakeasy was run by Walter Scheib. [8] It was also possible to tour the old speakeasy. [9] [10]
July 24, 2010 marked the twentieth anniversary of the release of Goodfellas . This milestone was celebrated with a private screening hosted by Henry Hill for a select group of invitees at the Museum of the American Gangster. [11]
Temporarily closed due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the museum announced in December 2021 that it was in danger of closing permanently if it lost the space it shared with Theatre 80. [12]
The museum was evicted together with Theatre 80 in 2023.
John Herbert Dillinger was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He commanded the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprisoned several times and escaped twice. He was charged with but not convicted of the murder of an East Chicago, Indiana, police officer, who shot Dillinger in his bullet-proof vest during a shootout; it was the only time Dillinger was charged with homicide.
Goodfellas is a 1990 American biographical crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese, and produced by Irwin Winkler. It is a film adaptation of the 1985 nonfiction book Wiseguy by Pileggi. Starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco and Paul Sorvino, the film narrates the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill and his friends and family from 1955 to 1980.
A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, was an illicit establishment that sold alcoholic beverages. The term may also refer to a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies.
Joseph Frank Pesci is an American actor and musician. He is known for portraying tough, volatile characters in a variety of genres and for his collaborations with Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese in the films Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995), and The Irishman (2019). He has received several awards including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award with nominations for three Golden Globe Awards.
James Burke, also known as "Jimmy the Gent", was an American gangster and Lucchese crime family associate who is believed to have organized the 1978 Lufthansa heist, the largest cash robbery in American history at the time. He was believed to be responsible for the deaths of those involved in the months after the robbery.
Paul Anthony Sorvino was an American actor. He often portrayed authority figures on both the criminal and the law enforcement sides of the law.
Gowanus is a neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community District 6. Gowanus is bounded by Wyckoff Street on the north, Fourth Avenue on the east, the Gowanus Expressway to the south, and Bond Street to the west.
Vincent Pastore is an American actor. Often cast as a mafioso, he is best known for his portrayal of Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero on the HBO series The Sopranos.
Henry Hill Jr. was an American mobster who was associated with the Lucchese crime family of New York City from 1955 until 1980, when he was arrested on narcotics charges and became an FBI informant. Hill testified against his former Mafia associates, resulting in 50 convictions, including those of caporegime (captain) Paul Vario and fellow associate James Burke on multiple charges. He subsequently entered the Witness Protection Program, but was removed from the program in 1987.
Gallagher's Steakhouse is a steakhouse restaurant at 228 West 52nd Street in the Theater District in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in November 1927 by Helen Gallagher, a former Ziegfeld girl, and wife of Edward Gallagher (1873–1929), and Jack Solomon, a colorful gambler with a large loyal following from the sporting element. These were the days of Prohibition and Gallagher's was one of the first speakeasy gathering places for gamblers, sports figures, and stars of Broadway. There is now a location in the New York-New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Terminal 3, also known by the trademarked name Worldport, was an airport terminal built by Pan American World Airways in 1960 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, United States. It operated from May 24, 1960 to May 24, 2013, and was demolished in 2013–2014.
Doyers Street is a 200-foot-long (61 m) street in the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is one block long with a sharp bend in the middle. The street runs south and then southeast from Pell Street to the intersection of Bowery, Chatham Square, and Division Street. Doyers Street contains several restaurants, barber shops, and hair stylists, as well as the Chinatown branch of the United States Postal Service. The Nom Wah Tea Parlor opened at 13 Doyers Street in 1920, and is still in operation; other longstanding business include Ting's Gift Shop at 18 Doyers which opened in 1957.
Mafia films—a version of gangster films—are a subgenre of crime films dealing with organized crime, often specifically with Mafia organizations. Especially in early mob films, there is considerable overlap with film noir. Popular regional variations of the genre include Italian Poliziotteschi, Chinese Triad films, Japanese Yakuza films, and Indian Mumbai underworld films.
Ray's Candy Store is a deli at 113 Avenue A in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The store has been in business since 1974.
Jesuit was an American hardcore punk band from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Active in the mid and late 1990s, the group released twelve songs but disbanded before recording a full-length album.
Eric Ferrara Is an American author, historian, educator, and entrepreneur; a fourth generation native New Yorker, and well known for discovering and uncovering parts of unknown or little known NYC history.
Neir's Tavern is a bar located at 87-48 78th Street in the Woodhaven neighborhood of Queens, New York City. It is one of the oldest bars in the United States, having been in nearly continuous operation since 1829.
King Tut's Wah Wah Hut was a club and experimental theater space in the East Village of New York City, operating in the mid-1980s and 1990s at 112 Avenue A at 7th Street. The club was "Egyptian themed".
A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. The genre is differentiated from Westerns and the gangs of that genre.
The "Joker Stairs" is the colloquial name for a step street connecting Shakespeare and Anderson avenues at West 167th Street in the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. Located near the 167th Street station on the New York City Subway's 4 train, the stairs served as one of the filming locations for the 2019 film Joker. The stairs also served as a filming location in April 2023 for its forthcoming sequel Joker: Folie à Deux.