In the mid 1800s New York was a dangerous, chaotic city teaming with newly arrived immigrants. Ruthless crooks and brutal criminal gangs ruled the lawless streets. Host Kelly Choi maps the emergence of the police force that took on these cutthroat thieves and mobsters. Along the way, she highlights the work of some of New York's greatest detectives. She begins with the famous cases of Chief Inspector Thomas Byrnes -- a man who invented America's modern detective bureau.

Then Kelly focuses on Manhattan's Little Italy in 1900 and one of the NYPD's greatest heroes, Captain Joe Petrosino, the police officer who stood up to the criminal gangs who terrorized their fellow immigrants under the name of The Black Hand. Finally, we hear how New York City detectives solved the murder of top mobster Paul Castellano and brought John Gotti to justice. Italian American Museum - Tel. 212-965-9000 - Email: [email protected]

Source: http://www.italianamericanmuseum.org/