These are grim times for New York political bosses. Former Speaker Sheldon Silver’s corruption trial ends on Monday. Former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos’ corruption trial has just begun. Former Kings County Democratic Chairman Vito Lopez is dead. Today is an for anniversary celebrating a rare win for New York reformers: on November 19, 1871, William…
“Bench and bar settle deeper in the mud every year and every month. They must be near the bottom now.” – George Templeton, 1868. Late 1860s New York City was in the firm clutches of the Tammany Hall political machine, run at the time by the notorious Boss Tweed. Tweed operatives were prominently placed throughout…
(I began reading Machine Made before the Silver scandal broke, but as today’s machines jockey to replace him, this review seemed even more appropriate.) The name “Tammany Hall” has long been synonymous with urban political sleaze, personified by fatcat Boss Tweed. Yet during the halcyon days of the Tammany Hall political machine, New York City…
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