Vivian Gordon: A Tale of Murder, Political Scandal, and the Downfall of New York City's Corrupt Mayor

On February 26, 1931, the body of vivacious red head Vivian Gordon was found by an oil worker on his way to work in Van Cortland Park. News of her death would dominate the press, catching the attention of Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt who had already been investigating rumors of corruption in New York City's government. He would urge the commission investigating the government to also look into the murder of Vivian Gordon, as she had reached out to the commission to testify regarding schemes involving the police framing women across New York City to scam them out of thousands of dollars in fake prostitution busts. The death of Vivian Gordon would lead to the downfall of New York City's mayor James J. Walker and the dissolution of Tammany Hall. How's that for revenge?

Episode Transcript: https://www.nydarksidepodcast.com/episodes-16-20/episode-19-vivian-gordon/episode-19-transcript

Episode Sources:

Blakemore, E. (2019, April 22). The Insane 1930s Graft Investigation That Took Down New York’s Mayor—and Then Tammany Hall. Retrieved from History: https://www.history.com/news/tammany-hall-corruption-downfall-fdr-seabury-investigation

Cobb, G. (2022, January 31). New York's Mayor Walker: Charming and Corrupt. Retrieved from The Irish Echo: https://www.irishecho.com/2022/1/new-york-s-mayor-walker-charming-and-corrupt

Cobb, K. R. (5, February 2021). Mayor James J. Walker. Retrieved from NYC DEPARTMENT OF RECORDS & INFORMATION SERVICES: https://www.archives.nyc/blog/2021/2/5/mayor-james-j-walker

Downey, P. (2016). Notorious New Yorkers Vivian Gordon.

Murder on Moshulu. (1931, March 9). Retrieved from Time: https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,741172-2,00.html

Shteir, R. (2013, February 25). The Dead Woman Who Brought Down the Mayor. Retrieved from Smithsonialn Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-dead-woman-who-brought-down-the-mayor-27003776/

The intro theme for this podcast are sections of Nightmare Machine by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), CC BY 3.0 <⁠⁠⁠https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0⁠⁠⁠>, via Wikimedia Commons