If the mafia bus tour isn't for you but you still need a way to satiate your mobster curiosities, head over to the brand new Museum of the American Gangster. This place is the real deal, housed in an old speakeasy that was run by gangster Walter Scheib back in the 20s—there's a preview this Sunday but it opens for good in the Spring.
The museum is inside the old Theatre 80 space on St. Marks Place, the Daily News reports that a young Frank Sinatra was even a singing waiter there back in the day. Curator Lorcan Otway says, "One of the things that makes this place very New York is it's a living history. This museum is a part of the real world, with real stories. You can get your hands dirty here."
The museum will showcase the likes of Al Capone, Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano, Bugsy Siegel and were guessing former proprietor of the space, Mr. Scheib. After all, when Otway's father bought the place in 1964 he found two safes inside—he called Scheib (allegedly out of fear), and it turns out there was $2MM of gold inside! The safes are a part of the museum, as are the human bones unearthed beneath the cellar floor!
As part of soaking up the atmosphere, visitors will even get to put on helmets and travel through hidden paths that used to be used by bootleggers.
