Scenes from the life of a city
Subtitle: corruption and conscience in old New York
By: Eric Homberger.
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 1994
Place of publication: New Haven
Language: eng
Number of pages: 358
Subjects: New York (N.Y.) -- History.; New York (N.Y.) -- Social conditions.
Description: Glittering and glamorous, New York in the mid-nineteenth century was also plagued by political corruption, sanitation problems, and a growing gulf between rich and poor. In this book, Eric Homberger brilliantly evokes the life of a city through vivid portraits of New Yorkers struggling to reconstruct a sense of community amid the selfish materialism of their urban environment.

Homberger focuses on four main characters who played important roles in various reform efforts of the period: Ann Lohman, known as "Madame Restell, the world-renowned medical expert," whose services as an abortionist were partly responsible for the creation of a harshly repressive public policy toward abortion that persisted for more than a century; "Slippery Dick" Connolly, comptroller of New York City, who escaped to Europe with millions of the city's dollars and betrayed his confederates in the Tweed Ring; Dr.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 300-350) and index.