The Bowery Boys: New York City History

The roots of modern American corruption traces themselves back to a handsome -- but not necessarily revolutionary -- historic structure sitting behind New York City Hall.
The Tweed Courthouse is more than a mere landmark. Once called the New York County Courthouse, the Courthouse better known for many traits that the concepts of law and order normally detest -- greed, bribery, kickbacks and graft.
Tammany Hall, the oft-maligned Democratic political machine, served a unique purpose in New York City in the 1850s and 60s, tending to the needs of newly arrived Irish immigrants who were being ignored by inadequate city services. But they required certain favors like the support of political candidates.
And that is how William 'Boss' Tweed rose through the ranks of city politics to become the most powerful man in New York City.
It was Tweed, through various government organizations and his trusty Tweed Ring, who transformed this new courthouse project into a cash cow for the greediest of the Gilded Age.
How did the graft function during the construction of the Tweed Courthouse? What led to Tweed's downfall? And how did this literal temple to corruption become a beloved landmark in the 1980s?
We're pleased to re-introduce this classic Bowery Boys episode, remastered and reedited by Kieran Gannon, and first released in 2019. Visit the website for more images from this show and other episodes relating to it.

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Live from Joe's Pub at the Public Theater -- it's the Bowery Boys! In a live recording of their 2025 show, a Halloween cabaret spectacle featuring Andrew Austin and Lisa Karlin, Greg and Tom explore five mysterious stories from the pages of New York City history, including...
-- A tormented actress in Hell's Kitchen fights off a colonial-era spirit, thanks to a world-renowned paranormal investigator
-- The haunting last days of an ancient Upper West Side mansion with a padlocked room that nobody had dared to open
-- The terrifying story of a haunted tenement in today's Two Bridges neighborhood and the gangster who attempted to enter it
-- A mysterious sighting of three dancing ghosts within the old Flushing Meeting Housecauses a stir in an old Dutch village
And the return of Edgar Allan Poe! Also -- what happened to Cheryl Crow (the much-beloved stage prop, not the singer)?

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There’s a chill in the air. The floorboards in New York’s historic houses seem to creak a little louder, while birds hidden among the trees of Central Park stare down from crooked branches. The lights atop the Empire State Building go dark, and the subway car you’re riding suddenly stops in the middle of a shadowy tunnel.
That's right, it's an all-new ... Bowery Boys Ghost Stories of Old New York podcast! Tom and Greg have been recording ghost story podcasts since 2007, and this year they have somehow managed to conjure up yet another batch of historical urban legends, taken from actual newspaper reports:
-- Stand Clear of the Closing Ghosts: An eerie encounter on the elevated train, from 1899, leaves one rider running for her doctor in fear
-- Severed from the Spirit World: In 1896, a Flatbush man finds a disturbing artifact buried in his cellar, awakening a wandering nighttime spirit who frightens his nosy neighbors
-- The Ghost That Slapped Back: A crowded Lower East Side schoolroom became a chamber of nightmares, sending the community to the streets in protest
-- Who Is The Ghost In the Window? It's street gangs vs. strangely beautiful spirits in this 1902 tale of a deteriorating house on 42nd Street
-- Rosabelle, Believe! This year marks the 100th anniversary of the passing of Harry Houdini, the legendary escape artist with an unusual relationship with death. His mysterious grave site in Queens has become the site of spooky ceremonies. But will he soon be making a return to his former Harlem brownstone?
This show was edited and produced by Kieran Gannon.

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We have been recording Halloween podcasts about New York City -- for twenty years! The first Bowery Boys ghost story podcast was released on October 11th, 2007, the first time we used actual urban legends about wandering spirits and other unpleasant things as a way to share historical tales about the city.
Before the arrival of next week's brand new episode, get in the mood with this best-of compilation of our favorite stories from past shows, featuring places that you can still visit today, pulled from past episodes and compiled together for the very first time. Newly scared, er, I mean, scored and remastered by our producer Kieran Gannon.
Whether you're having a drink at the Ear Inn, a rest at the Chelsea Hotel or a meal at the historic One If by Land, Two If By Sea, you're never too far away from an old New York City legend. Not even the Statue of Liberty is exempt from a good ole fashioned ghost story.
PLUS: A walk through the most mysterious house in Manhattan, with a surprise appearance by the Gilded Gentleman

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In the town of Hydesville, south of the bustling city of Rochester, a traveling peddler was brutally murdered and buried in the cellar of a forlorn wooden farmhouse. His restless spirit, it was claimed, haunted the house.
In 1848, the teenage girls Kate and Maggie Fox claimed to receive spiritual transmissions from the murdered man. Their gifts included interpreting mysterious knocking sounds and an unusual ability to conjure such otherworldly communications on a whim.
Later joined by their sister Leah, the Fox Sisters soon exhibited greater powers to communicate with the dead. They took this “act” on the road and enchanted some of New York City's most famous men. Through their atmospheric ‘spirit circles’, the Fox Sisters inspired an entirely new belief known as spiritualism.
They became household names — and attracted their share of skeptics who vexed the young women throughout their entire lives, attempting to debunk their haunted activities.
Were the Fox Sisters truly blessed with a gift of spiritual communication — or were they entertainers with an exquisite ability to deceive? You decide!
This episode was produced and edited by Kieran Gannon.
Visit the Bowery Boys website for a whole list of ghost-story podcasts. And see Greg and Tom live at Joe's Pub this Halloween season.

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