The development of organized crime in New York City is traced from the era of Aaron Burr (1789), to Carmine DeSapio (1960's). The history reviewed includes the gangs of the Five Points and the Bowery, the immigrant vote in the 1920's, the political importance of the gangs in the 1840's, and the emergence of the bosses and the Civil War era. The text also discusses the Tweed Ring; the early 1900's; the rise of Jimmy Hines; the Rothstein era; the Seabury investigations; and the downfall of Dutch Schultz, Lucky Luciano, and Jimmy Hines. Concluding chapters in this section focus on the O'Dwyer years, the Kefauver Committee hearings, the New York waterfront hearings, and Tammany Hall boss DeSapio. The second section looks at the Cosa Nostra and Joseph Valachi's testimony about it before a U.S. Senate Committee in 1963., Separate chapters examine the Castellammarese war, the Cosa Nostra membership and family, the 'No-Narcotics' rule, the narcotics conspiracy, the New Jersey rackets, the Luciano-Costello-Genovese family, the Albert Anastasia-Carlo Gambino family, the Lucchese family, the Joseph Profaci family, and the Joseph Bonanno family. Also discussed are the President's Commission on Law Enforcement, the extent of Valachi's knowledge about organized crime, and the proliferation of various groups in organized crime. A concluding chapter observes that major ingredients of organized crime include violence, official corruption, and criminal-political alliances. Photographs, notes, and an index are provided. Appendixes explain the origin and development of the Mafia, the Mafia's source of power, and its organizational structure.