![]() ![]() Golway tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies, "What I'm trying to do in this book is present this other side of Tammany Hall. He writes that some of Tammany's harshest critics, including cartoonist Thomas Nast, openly exhibited a raw anti-Irish and anti-Catholic prejudice. According to Golway, Tammany was responsible for progressive state legislation that foreshadowed the New Deal. He says the Tammany machine, while often corrupt, gave impoverished immigrants critically needed social services and a road to assimilation. Historian Terry Golway has written a colorful history of Tammany Hall, which takes a more sympathetic view of the organization than many historians. ![]() Among its more notorious figures were William "Boss" Tweed, who went to jail for corruption, and George Washington Plunkitt, who's remembered for insisting there's a difference between honest and dishonest graft. Van Wyck was one of a long list of scoundrels associated with the political machine known as Tammany Hall, which influenced - and at times dominated - New York's Democratic Party for more than 100 years. ![]() Back in 1900, when Americans in cities counted on ice to keep food, milk and medicines fresh, New York Mayor Robert Van Wyck's career ended when it emerged that a company given a monopoly on the ice business was doubling prices while giving the mayor and his cronies big payoffs. ![]()
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