New York City Mafia & Food Private Tour: the Insider’s StoryPrivate Tour

Get the insider's perspective on the infamous Mafia crime families of New York City on this walking and food tasting tour through the vibrant and fascinating gangland area of New York’s East Village and Little Italy. On your tour you will: 

The stories of the violent and elusive underworld of the Mafia have captivated each of us – with a whole genre of movies and novels dedicated to New York’s gangsters.  On this tour, you immerse yourself in that world, and become familiar with the characters, their history, the places, and the unbelievable real-life events thanks to the insider information shared with our small team of expert guides, by a retired Detective and former associate of the Mafia. 

On this tour, you will learn about the Mafia’s origins in the early twentieth century, from their inception of factional wars with one another. That bloody power struggle ended in 1931 when ‘Lucky’ Luciano and fellow Mafia bosses formed the ‘Commission’ of the five New York crime families. ‘Cosa Nostra’ was born, in a discreet back room – where you will eat your first course and begin your journey through New York’s gangland.  

Learn about the most notorious gangsters and their crimes at the very places where they lived, worked, parties were murdered or arrested. Hitmen like Umberto Valenti ‘the Ghost’ (because he was so quick at disappearing after a shoot-out), crazy Joe Gallo, Vinny the Chin – who walked around town in his pyjamas and dressing gown muttering to himself, faking madness to avoid arrest for decades  – and John Gotti, known as the ‘Teflon Don’ for his long evasion of the police. Hear about the highest-ranking Mafia turncoat: Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, Gotti’s under-boss whose confession finally landed Gotti in jail. 

If you’re into crime history, the Mafia, or gangsters, then this larger-than-life tour will more than deliver. You’ll hear about the spying, the escapes, the hit men, drug running, double-crossing, criminality and all the drama of this most sinister yet riveting world of gangsters, while also indulging in delicious Italian food at some of Little Italy’s best joints.