Alex Hortis: When the Mafia Ran Gay Nightlife in NYC

Before the Stonewall Rebellion in June 1969, the Mafia largely controlled the bars, liquor licenses, and clientele in NYC's gay and lesbian bars and clubs. The Mob had been openly doing this for decades, profiting on the people they could most easily control to maintain a tight grasp on gay nightlife in the city.

Alex Hortis highlights this long-running exploitation in his new book "The Mob and The City: The Hidden History of How the Mafia Captured New York," which includes a discussion of "When the Mafia Ran Gay Nightlife." His presentation for the Second Tuesday Lecture Series will include a slide show of bars and queers, and video clips from pre-Hayes code Hollywood movies showing drag queens and gangsters in The Village.