Museum of the American Gangster

The museum is the smallest we’ve ever seen, but the tour is worth every penny. The stories of the early American gangsters are interesting enough, but the story of the building, its hidden treasure and its old gangster owners are even more interesting. It’s as epic as any Hollywood gangster movie and my husband spent the whole night researching online on more details on the mystery that remains unsolved today. If you love stories and have a moment to stop by you should come.

When you first come here, you think, «wow what a small museum„ didn’t have much to offer.»
Like Judging a book by its cover, this museum museum should be categorized as Legendary!
The guide had so much knowledge and he shared it so well. Definitely worth every penny. I don’t want to spoil the tour but I just thought it was so cool how 12 million dollars was actually stashed in the same building and that the speakeasy bar is still intact! If you want an interesting history lesson, This is definitely the place to come to!
The guided tour makes it such a wonderful museum !

We found this museum on Unilocal when we were planning our trip to NYC and it looked intriguing. This isn’t your typical museum– its in an old walk up that was once a speakeasy. The two rooms that are the museum have a few interesting artifacts from prohibition and from some interesting gangsters. I wouldn’t say the actual museum is worth the money, but the tour made it worth it. Bob was our guide and he had a ton of knowledge on the era and the building. He talked the entire time of the tour (I’ve read other reviews that they had you watch a video — that didn’t happen on our tour). We started upstairs where there museum was located then moved down to where the actual speakeasy used to be, now a theater, and toured the downstairs. The building has so much history and it’s very interesting to hear about it.

Rather impressed with the entire experience. The young lady who held the tour today was incredibly knowledgeable about the history involved with the building and notorious people in general. The museum itself is small but the history lesson that comes along with the tour makes it worth while.

Very informative. The tour guide definitely knew his stuff. Great displays. Worth the price we payed for tickets on Groupon.

I never write reviews but I had to for this one! I just left about 5 minutes ago, and I’m still amazed about everything. If your a history buff you HAVE to go! He tells you about the history of everything but actually keeps you intrigued!!! My 5 year old daughter even liked it which says ALOT!!!

Best museum I have visited so far since doing ‘Museum Wednesday’s’. You will get the most out of the museum by taking the tour with Pete. He has an astonishing amount of history to share about both the early gangster history and the prohibition era. For native New Yorkers you need to go check out this museum and when out of town friends come this museum should definitely be on their tour list. Plan on returning to take my grandson museum great history lesson and I look forward to listening to Pete again.

The tour guide was energetic, informative and engaging. I learned some great facts about the history of NY. Definitely recommend. Walking down in the old speakeasy is also really cool, and you can see a foundation from a house built in the 1600’s.
Don’t be discouraged if they don’t answer their phone or even answer the door … Since the tour takes place in the museum and also in the bar next door, you can catch the guide as he goes back and forth. The bartenders next door were helpful by giving us a heads up.
Great experience, I definitely recommend.

I learned some awesome things. The two your guides I had seemed very passionate and informed.
Only downside was some of the rude guest not the museums fault though.

This is really cool find for any history buff. Tip bring cash no credit cards are accepted also its a tour so advise call ahead to find out times. I loved the tour guide very engaged with the audience. I would suggest do the video first than the tour and take your time with the tour.

This was a super pleasant surprise! An absolute hidden gem!
We were looking on Unilocal for a snack shop and we saw this museum was literally steps from where we were. We figured, why not?
The tour is housed in a building that we must have walked by a 1000 times without ever noticing it. We came in about 5 minutes into the tour. The tour guide was super nice and extremely engaging. He welcomed me and my family to the tour.
Most of the tour is housed in 2 rooms of the house. There are tons of pictures on the wall with artifacts from the house and the prohibition era. The tour guide had a very engaging way of explaining who everyone was in the pictures and the history. Even my kids were interested.
The tour ends with a visit to an original speakeasy that was housed in the basement of the building. The total length of the tour is about 1 hour 15 minutes, well worth the money!

I had so much fun here! It was definitely different than I expected — rather than a history of specific gangsters and gangster «families,» it was more a tour of the particular speakeasy and the history behind it. Regardless, it was definitely interesting. Ashley did a GREAT job showing us around and engaging us in the history.
Only loses one star because I was hoping to learn more about particular gangsters. Although, when my boyfriend and I were looking around at some of the pictures, Ashley wasn’t hesitant to jump right in and explain just what we were looking at.

This place is a diamond in the rough. Took hubby who is a history buff and it was great. It’s a rocky start, since the numbers are confusing and not in order (80 is AFTER 81 here) but that gets explained in the presentation. The guide was so knowledgeable and really friendly. Artifacts don’t seem impressive until you get to the safe, money and then the downstairs tour! Would definitely do it again.

Had a great time today! It is always amazing to learn about history from someone so knowledgeable and passionate about the topic.
Though a tiny place, the takeaway is massive! A must for those who have an interest in the roaring twenties and NYC’s early years.

Save your money. Even with a Groupon it was not worth the $ 10. It was more about prohibition than American gangsters. The guide was passionate about the subject but it was pieced together like a middle school history project.

Ashley did an amazing job on the tour. She definitely knows her material. Credit should also be given to the owner of the building for piecing together the story that is behind this location. As if the fact that the building was once a speakeasy isn’t fascinating enough, the theatre (where the speakeasy once was) is equally intriguing. It was here that «You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown» premiered.
Don’t expect the luster and prestige of other museums. But, to me, it is the very lack of hype and the fact it remains undaunted by corporate-​like tourist stops that makes this the perfect off-​the-​beaten path must do for any gangster enthusiasts.

The history of organized crime and Manhattan. Miriam was a wonderful tour guide — extremely knowledgable. Loved it!!!

I really liked the museum. It’s a quaint little museum so don’t expect something like the MoMa. It’s set in an apartment complex that a gangster actually lived in and there’s a lot of history there. We weren’t plopped in front of a TV like some other reviewers said. As we were waiting for the next your we got to browse the gallery and read up on info about the Prohibition and multiple gangsters. The tour guide was really knowledgeable but I felt like she went a little fast with the info, people like me who really don’t know much wouldn’t have been able to keep up with all the names, facts and murders. The speakeasy was super cool! And I felt like I was back in that time. The atmosphere, the music and the bartenders were all pretty authentic looking. I think this place is a hidden gem and it’s a must see for all gangster history lovers!
P. S. I went on a groupon which was $ 20 for a guided tour for two.

Great tour– very informative. The tour speaks more to Prohibition Era gangsters and little of the 5 families.
Great artifacts, nice size collection. Good tour of the actual speak easy and gangster bunker.
Tip: call ahead to ensure the start time of the tour & skip the basement tour if you tend to feel claustrophobic

My sister and I visited the Museum of the American Gangster after I purchased the living social deal. We headed to the museum on a Friday afternoon at 2:15 and a tour was about 30 minutes in or so, so Noam, our tour guide, told us we could join in and then stay for the beginning of the next tour so we didn’t miss any of the material.
I have to say this museum experience was probably one of the best I’ve ever had in that I learned so much about rum runners, prohibition and early America in general. Noam was extremely knowledgeable and funny, so even though we were there for almost 3 hours, I can honestly say we were captivated the entire time. If you’re not a history enthusiast, this may not be for you. It is a smaller museum and the best part is the tour guide’s information (as another reviewer mentioned). We were there for a long time, but this is not typical; Noam mentioned that due to the online deal, this was the biggest group he had ever had and he seemed like he had to balance people coming in during the middle of the tour and answering the phone on top of his regular responsibilities.
The owner of the property also owns the theater next door. The building used to be a speak easy and we were fortunate enough to also get a chance to speak with the owner and his experience as a young boy and having these gangsters around his father’s theater. So not only did we get to hear the history and see some artifacts and pictures, but we were also able to get a first hand account of what it was like dealing with these gangsters– very cool.
I took off a star because the 15 minute video that they show in the beginning is of poor quality and is barely audible. Also, I wish they had a working website with information on hours and tour times.