Madams, Mobsters & Murders in the Hudson Valley

The tranquil environment of New York’s Hudson Valley is the site of both peaceful rural communities and single-family housing developments. Tourists visit the area’s historic Gilded Age mansions, elaborate gardens, Revolutionary War battlefields, and many other points of interest.

Yet some of the Hudson Valley’s heritage includes more harrowing tales. Like New York City, some sixty to one hundred miles to its south, crimes such as murder, kidnapping, and mob control over various rackets plagued the area. Police raids on the country homes of mobsters Dutch Schultz and Legs Diamond and illegal distilleries occurred frequently.  And when mobster crackdowns didn’t fill the headlines of daily newspapers, corrupt politicians, police chiefs and government officials did. 

Join author and speaker Anthony Musso as he highlights  various criminal/crooked activities that took place throughout the normally peaceful Hudson Valley that are featured in his book, “Madams, Mobsters and Murders in the Hudson Valley”.  These are true stories reported in various Hudson Valley and New York City newspapers and in the archives of local historic organizations.

The nefarious activities Anthony will cover include bootlegging during the United States' Prohibition era, specifically two high-profile mobsters from New York City who infiltrated the region to set up clandestine bootleg distilleries and hide out in safe houses when law enforcement (including famous District Attorney Thomas Dewey) became problematic for them in the city. 

He will discuss how from the late nineteenth century through 1950, a one otherwise industrious city in the region was so lawless that it was dubbed the "Weekend Vice Resort" due to its numerous speakeasies, brothels, and illegal gambling operations hidden in back rooms of the municipality's retail stores and other legitimate shops. During the nation’s prohibition era, stills operating throughout the region were commonplace, even in the most respectable communities.

Also featured will be one or two very high-profile murders that took place in the region, one in particular by a well-known politician (who murdered his son-in-law) and others that were stimulated by a "lost love" and/or a wife who sought freedom from her husband to take up with a younger man. 

This talk will offer a  true reflection of the darker side of life in a region otherwise known for its beauty, peacefulness and quiet way of life.   

Anthony Musso is the author of 10 books ranging from topics including Franklin Roosevelt and the Post Office, “Setting the Record Straight,” about the infancy of rock and roll, “Hidden Treasures of the Catskills,” and “Mothball Fleet on the Hudson.” For 25 years Musso wrote two weekly columns for Gannett Newspapers’ and is the former editor of an 85,000 circulation monthly magazine published in New York City.

 This program is made possible with the support of the Friends of the Livingston Public Library.