Organized Crime In New York City

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York New York City New York, known as the Empire State, is the leading center of banking, communication, and finance in the United States today (Encyclopedia volume 14, page 290). Dramatic social, cultural, and economic changes took place during the 1920s, and New York City was the base location of these changes. Much of the state’s economic production takes place in New York City (Encyclopedia volume 14, page 308) and the “Roaring Twenties” began the start of this production. New York City was an important area of change during the 1920s because people were financially comfortable, new technology emerged, and new laws had set in. Women in the 1920s began taking roles into the public. They ventured out into politics, jobs, and…show more content…
The 18th Amendment to the constitution ratified in 1919, banned the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors (History.com 2012). The Volstead Act backed up this amendment and gave the states and federal government the right to enforce it. Because of the new alcohol prohibition law, a movement of organized crime started. Organized crime may be defined as systematically unlawful activity for profit on a city-wide, interstate, and even international scale (u-s-history.com).People began to sell liquor illegally at speakeasies instead of regular bars. Speakeasies were establishments that illegally sold alcohol. This secret of speakeasies made people a lot of money and they became known as bootleggers. Many crime figures began to emerge at this time such as Al Capone and George Anastasia. With organized crime now in the New York area, things started to get chaotic as more gangs and mafias emerged. Many of these groups engaged in illegal activity such as selling drugs, trafficking, gambling, and even murder. They bribed and blackmailed law enforcement into being on their side and contributing to activities like bootlegging and drug dealing. Midway through the 20th Century mafia influence crested in the United States (u-s-history.com). Criminals during this time began to form close knit groups that did not trust law enforcement. Some of these groups were immigrant organizations known as mobs or mafias. In (u-s-history.com) it

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