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9780199837007 English 0199837007 In an incendiary 1892 sermon given at the Madison Square Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Charles Parkhurst declared New York's municipal life to be deplorable and corrupt, controlled by "polluted harpies feeding day and night on its quivering vitals." While city officials denounced him as a"blatherskite" and a "cowardly defamer," Parkhurst set about gathering a slew of evidence to present in a later series of sermons that captivated city residents and the press alike. Parkhurst believed that only a Christian revival, combined with a new, non-partisan approach to governing, could saveNew York. Disguised as an out of towner, he toured New York's underworld, gathering evidence which he presented in sermons. Two years later, his crusade led the state senate to found the Lexow Committee, whose comprehensive investigation (including testimonies from nearly 700 witnesses) revealed thedark underside of New York's vice economy and the police force's complicity in it, effectively launching the Progressive movement. Animated by a colorful cast of characters ranging from the bosses of Tammany Hall to prostitutes and counterfeiters, Daniel Czitrom offers a vivid account of a formative time when muckraking journalism and urban reform were just beginning to alter the American social and political landscape. AsCzitrom reveals, the relationship between New York politics and the NYPD affected not only the life of the city, but of the nation as a whole., On a Sunday in early 1892, Reverend Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst took to his pulpit at the Madison Square Presbyterian Church and delivered a fire-breathing denunciation of life in America's greatest city. New York had gone to the dogs. Observing for years the effects of venereal disease, alcoholism, and rampant gambling among the city's residents, including his own parishioners, he had had enough. The city's municipal life he declared to be "hot-bed of knavery, debauchery, and bestiality," one, moreover, controlled by "polluted harpies feeding day and night on its quivering vitals"--in other words, city officials and the police. When those officials in turn denounced Parkhurst as a "blatherskite" with no evidence to back his claims, the sermon seemed doomed to be remembered as no more than a quixotic outburst. Undismayed, Parkhurst resolved to tour New York's underworld himself to collect proof of his accusations. Disguised as an out-of-towner, he visited saloons, brothels, and drug dens, in both the poorest and most fashionable areas of the city, often noting uniformed policemen among the clientele. Parkhurst presented this evidence in a series of sermons that captivated city residents and the press alike. What had begun as a screed became a crusade, one that went at the political heart of the nation's greatest and most politically important metropolis. Two years later, it led the State Senate to launch the Lexow Committee, whose comprehensive investigation-including testimonies from nearly 700 witnesses-exposed the dark underside of New York's vice economy and the police force's complicity in it, effectively launching the Progressive movement. Animated by a vivid cast of characters, ranging from the bosses of Tammany Hall to prostitutes and counterfeiters to the do-gooders determined to change business as usual, Daniel Czitrom's New York Exposed offers an unforgettable portrait of a formative moment, when muckraking journalism and urban reform were beginning to alter the American social and political landscape., On a Sunday morning in early 1892, Reverend Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst ascended to his pulpit at the Madison Square Presbyterian Church in New York and delivered one of the most explosive sermons in the city's history. Municipal life, he charged, was morally corrupt. Vice was rampant. And the city's police force and its Tammany Hall politicians were"a lying, perjured, rum-soaked, and libidinous lot." Denounced by city and police officials as a self-righteous "blatherskite," Parkhurst resolved to prove his case. The bespectacled minister descended his pulpit and in disguise visited gin joints and brothels, taking notes and gathering evidence. Two years later, his findings forced the New York State Senate to investigate the New York Police Department. The Lexow Committee heard testimony from nearly 700 witnesses, who revealed in shocking-and headline-dominating-detail just how deeply the NYPD was involved in, and benefitted from, the vice economy. Parkhurst's campaign had kick-started the Progressive Movement. New York Exposed offers a narrative history of the first major crusade to clean up Gotham. Daniel Czitrom does full justice to this spellbinding story by telling it within the larger contexts of national politics, poverty, patronage, vote fraud and vote suppression, and police violence. The effort to root out corrupt cops and crooked politicians morphed into something much more profound: a public reckoning over what New York-and the American city-had become since the Civil War. Animated by as vivid a cast as New York has ever produced, the book's key characters include Police Superintendent Thomas Byrnes and Inspector Alexander "Clubber" Williams, the nation's most famous cops, as well as anarchist revolutionary Emma Goldman, the zealous prosecutor John W. Goff, and an array of politicos, immigrant leaders, labor bosses, prostitutes, show-business entrepreneurs, counterfeiters, and reformers and muckrakers determined to change business as usual. New York Exposed offers an unforgettable portrait of a city in a truly transformative moment.
9780199837007 English 0199837007 In an incendiary 1892 sermon given at the Madison Square Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Charles Parkhurst declared New York's municipal life to be deplorable and corrupt, controlled by "polluted harpies feeding day and night on its quivering vitals." While city officials denounced him as a"blatherskite" and a "cowardly defamer," Parkhurst set about gathering a slew of evidence to present in a later series of sermons that captivated city residents and the press alike. Parkhurst believed that only a Christian revival, combined with a new, non-partisan approach to governing, could saveNew York. Disguised as an out of towner, he toured New York's underworld, gathering evidence which he presented in sermons. Two years later, his crusade led the state senate to found the Lexow Committee, whose comprehensive investigation (including testimonies from nearly 700 witnesses) revealed thedark underside of New York's vice economy and the police force's complicity in it, effectively launching the Progressive movement. Animated by a colorful cast of characters ranging from the bosses of Tammany Hall to prostitutes and counterfeiters, Daniel Czitrom offers a vivid account of a formative time when muckraking journalism and urban reform were just beginning to alter the American social and political landscape. AsCzitrom reveals, the relationship between New York politics and the NYPD affected not only the life of the city, but of the nation as a whole., On a Sunday in early 1892, Reverend Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst took to his pulpit at the Madison Square Presbyterian Church and delivered a fire-breathing denunciation of life in America's greatest city. New York had gone to the dogs. Observing for years the effects of venereal disease, alcoholism, and rampant gambling among the city's residents, including his own parishioners, he had had enough. The city's municipal life he declared to be "hot-bed of knavery, debauchery, and bestiality," one, moreover, controlled by "polluted harpies feeding day and night on its quivering vitals"--in other words, city officials and the police. When those officials in turn denounced Parkhurst as a "blatherskite" with no evidence to back his claims, the sermon seemed doomed to be remembered as no more than a quixotic outburst. Undismayed, Parkhurst resolved to tour New York's underworld himself to collect proof of his accusations. Disguised as an out-of-towner, he visited saloons, brothels, and drug dens, in both the poorest and most fashionable areas of the city, often noting uniformed policemen among the clientele. Parkhurst presented this evidence in a series of sermons that captivated city residents and the press alike. What had begun as a screed became a crusade, one that went at the political heart of the nation's greatest and most politically important metropolis. Two years later, it led the State Senate to launch the Lexow Committee, whose comprehensive investigation-including testimonies from nearly 700 witnesses-exposed the dark underside of New York's vice economy and the police force's complicity in it, effectively launching the Progressive movement. Animated by a vivid cast of characters, ranging from the bosses of Tammany Hall to prostitutes and counterfeiters to the do-gooders determined to change business as usual, Daniel Czitrom's New York Exposed offers an unforgettable portrait of a formative moment, when muckraking journalism and urban reform were beginning to alter the American social and political landscape., On a Sunday morning in early 1892, Reverend Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst ascended to his pulpit at the Madison Square Presbyterian Church in New York and delivered one of the most explosive sermons in the city's history. Municipal life, he charged, was morally corrupt. Vice was rampant. And the city's police force and its Tammany Hall politicians were"a lying, perjured, rum-soaked, and libidinous lot." Denounced by city and police officials as a self-righteous "blatherskite," Parkhurst resolved to prove his case. The bespectacled minister descended his pulpit and in disguise visited gin joints and brothels, taking notes and gathering evidence. Two years later, his findings forced the New York State Senate to investigate the New York Police Department. The Lexow Committee heard testimony from nearly 700 witnesses, who revealed in shocking-and headline-dominating-detail just how deeply the NYPD was involved in, and benefitted from, the vice economy. Parkhurst's campaign had kick-started the Progressive Movement. New York Exposed offers a narrative history of the first major crusade to clean up Gotham. Daniel Czitrom does full justice to this spellbinding story by telling it within the larger contexts of national politics, poverty, patronage, vote fraud and vote suppression, and police violence. The effort to root out corrupt cops and crooked politicians morphed into something much more profound: a public reckoning over what New York-and the American city-had become since the Civil War. Animated by as vivid a cast as New York has ever produced, the book's key characters include Police Superintendent Thomas Byrnes and Inspector Alexander "Clubber" Williams, the nation's most famous cops, as well as anarchist revolutionary Emma Goldman, the zealous prosecutor John W. Goff, and an array of politicos, immigrant leaders, labor bosses, prostitutes, show-business entrepreneurs, counterfeiters, and reformers and muckrakers determined to change business as usual. New York Exposed offers an unforgettable portrait of a city in a truly transformative moment.