TAMMANY HALL.

You want to go back to the glory days of corruption? Hop in the DeLorean, set the clock to 1869 and pay a visit to Tammany Hall.

Tammany Hall was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and very quickly became the dominant political machine in New York City. Sensing an opportunity in the unending waves of immigration, they created a brand as the “working man’s party” which enabled them to amass strength from the city’s newest New Yorkers. Back then, if you were a fat cat in the Machine, you lived high on the hog. No one was appointed, no building was built, and no law was passed without the generous cash kickbacks to the Tammany politicos. And top Tammany guys like the legendary Boss Tweed made millions this way. Just imagine pocketing several million dollars…150 years ago! Tweed’s party did more than hand out bumper stickers, too. They hired street thugs tasked with cracking skulls to ensure the popular vote always “went Tammany’s way.” Now that’s some serious political persuasion.

Tammany’s final home was eventually built at 100 East 17th Street. Finished in 1929, this Colonial Revival building housed the party machine at the crooked apex of its influence. Jimmy Walker was mayor of the city at the time — though within a few years he was tossed out of office for his dirty dealings, paving the way for the election of “Anti-Machine Man” Fiorello LaGuardia in 1933 and Tammany’s final fall from grace.

You probably pass by mighty Tammany Hall every day but now you only know it as the New York Film Academy, or 39 Steps, or a crappy liquor store and deli. It was finally landmarked by the city a couple of years ago, ensuring that its Machiavellian legacy of pay-to-play will remain to inspire generations of honest politicians to come.