Lost and Found New York: Looking For Lansky

Today's New York Times featured illustrator James Stevenson's ode to Meyer Lansky. Seems Stevenson trekked around New York with sketchbook in tow, documenting the Little Man's old haunts with present day sketches of the locations, proving us with a charming, brief look at his life.

For some reason the New York Times permalink doesn't to jive with Blogger, so here it is, scanned and posted the old-fashioned way. Jus

t click on the images below.

Lost and Found New York - Looking For Lansky

Today's New York Times featured illustrator James Stevenson's ode to Meyer Lansky. Stevenson trekked around New York with sketchbook in hand documenting the Little Man's old haunts with present day sketches, providing us with a charming brief look at his life.

Looking For Lansky

The First Gangster Film - Inspired By True Events.

DW Griffith's 16 minute film, 'The Muskateers of Pig Alley' was produced in 1912, and is credited as being the first gangster film ever committed to celluloid. It was apparently influenced by the nationwide press attention of the murder of gambler Herman Rosenthal, and the subsequent trials of Harry Horowitz (Gyp The Blood), Louis Rosenberg (Lefty Louie), Jacob Seidenschmer (Whitey Lewis),Dago Frank and Liet. Charles Becker. Griffith was intrigued enough to take his camera to the Lower East Side and cast, apparently, actual street hoods and gangsters from the neighborhood as extras to authenticate his footage alongside his principle actors. While thematically has very little to due with the Rosenthal case, it was the first time the Lower East Side became a central backdrop to a story on film. It's a fascinating window into the past regardless if the use of actual criminal types was just early studio marketing savvy or the truth.