The second storefront business I interviewed was The Museum of the American Gangster. The museum is at 80 St Marks Place in the East Village. The village has always appealed to me as being a very diverse and interesting neighborhood with a rich history. It has so many new businesses and trending shops that pop up what seems like every week, such as 10 Below, T-Swirl Crepe, and The Halal Guys, but it also contains old timers, like the number of long-standing pubs and hotels you can find. You will always see tourists walking around and exploring the streets that are filled with many famous food spots and thrift shops. St Marks Place itself seems like its own world. This well-known street is occupied by a number of tattoo parlors, Asian cuisine eateries, and residential townhouses. You definitely cannot be bored walking through this community, as pretty much anything can catch your eye. I’ve been living in New York City almost my entire life and I feel like I’m not even close to having explored all of St Mark’s Place hidden gems, let alone the East Village.
Approaching the museum, I was slightly confused as to whether or not I have arrived to the correct destination. There was a big sign with the correct address on it, but it had said St Mark’s Theater in the front. Then, I noticed on the gate of the building next door, there was a sign that said The Museum of the American Gangster. Adjacent to the museum on the left side was a bar called William Barnacle Tavern. That bar is actually where I conducted my interview with the owner of the museum. It turned out, the bar, the museum building, and the theater were all related to each other and under the ownership of the same guy. The tavern was very cool and old-fashioned. I could tell that it had been preserved over the years and was at least decades old. It contained many antiques, especially sailboats of various sizes, smelled like old wood, and had a projection of a black and white film playing on the back wall. The storefront of the tavern was not extremely welcoming. It had square shaped glass tiles surrounded by brick that made the storefront structure, and looked as if it was hiding a secret inside. Later I found out that it was actually a former speakeasy during the Prohibition Era during the 1920s, and is now very well known for its absinthe drinks made the way they were back in the day. Also, it was the first legal bar in New York City to open, after the ban on alcohol had been lifted post Prohibition.
Lorcan Otway is the guy I interviewed, and is the owner of the theater, tavern, and museum building. He answered questions with his wife and co-owner at his side, Eugenie Gilmore-Otway. Otway’s father was an actor that had ownership of the theater before him. He had bought the place from a gangster. Two gangsters named Frank Hoffman and Walter Scheib were partners, and made much of their money through illegally smuggling alcohol, and then selling it at the tavern they owned, which was previously called Sheib’s Place. Hoffman had hid 12 million dollars, some of the money he made from smuggling liquor, in a safe in the building that was to become the theater. When Hoffman left to Bavaria, he got stuck in Germany during World War II while being held by the Nazis, and Scheib was left in charge of protecting the safe in the building. He decided to sell the building in order to keep the money hidden, and sold it to Howard Otway, an aspiring actor who had plans to build the theater. Scheib was hoping Otway would go bankrupt and leave town, so that Scheib could take the money and blame the previous owner for stealing it. Otway found the safe and opened it along with his son Lorcan (the current owner), and Scheib. What they found was two million dollars, a partially eaten dish of fried clams, and some photos of showgirls. As it turned out. Hoffman had somehow taken the money and went along unnoticed. Scheib took the remaining two million and opened a hotel business in Florida. The Otways kept the theater and continued their father-son business.
When Lorcan Otway mentioned the half-eaten clam dinner, he laughed about how foul the smell was considering how many years it had sat in that safe for.
The building between the bar and the theater was a multitude of things throughout the years, including a frame shop, a home for a Japanese telecommunications company, an art gallery, and even a brothel (or as Otway described it, “a house of ill repute”). Howard Otway, Lorcan’s father, was born in Ireland, making him Anglo Irish. His mother, Florence Otway, is half Eastern European and a Jewish Gypsy. Otway grew up in the building that he turned into a two-room museum, to share his story and life experiences of American gangs and growing up in the community of the East village in the late 1900s. Otway had a number of professions and hobbies. He was a combat photographer, a theatrical photographer, and a traditional musician in the 70’s and 80’s. He has written ballads that were archived in university. In addition, he attended New York University Law School and finished his studies to become a lawyer. Otway has studied Irish immigration in the United States immensely.
When asked to describe the East Village when he first moved here, Otway stated, “It was the Haight-Ashbury district of New York.” This part of San Fransisco was famous for being the center of the hippie movement, and Otway had seen the East Village just like that. It was a place where young people could actually afford rent, and so the presence of younger generations gave way to letting hipster vibes dominate the community. Later on, the East Village became devoured by college owned estates, such as NYU. There used to be many unique storefront businesses present each block. The storefront business owner either had a symbiotic relationship with the landlord of the building, or happened to be both the business owner and the landlord. Over the years, many chain corporations, with a much higher rate of incoming revenue, were able to buy the buildings of previous shop owners that could no longer afford the rising rent costs. The neighborhood was losing its sense of culture and diversity because of pop ups of new McDonalds and Duane Reades on every block. As a result, Otway became a supporter of the EVCC, the East Village Community Coalition, which is responsible for formula retail regulation and making sure not too many chain companies overpower the community. This way the small independent businesses are protected, and the authenticity of the community is preserved.
Otway also described the 70’s as ridden with the drug wars. His mother, who had worked at the box office at the theater, was held at gunpoint by a stranger. There were circumstances that demonstrate how the streets in the lower east side were not exactly safe at the time. The East Village neighborhood was a prime residential community for many immigrants, especially Russians and Jews, before the hippies moved in.
When asked about what kind of visitors come to the Museum of the American Gangster, Otway responded by saying he couldn’t really categorize them in particular. He had people show up that were walking through the neighborhood and happened to wander into the building out of curiosity. He had many tourists come in, considering the museum is listed in many New York City tourist books and listings. The tavern and theater is popular with locals as well, since they can get their favorite drink or watch a performance written by Shakespeare.
Between the 60’s and the 90’s, the workers at the museum, tavern, and theater pretty much lived in the neighborhood and could walk to work from home. During the 90’s rent was rising to uncontrollable prices and universities started buying the land in the village, so many of the workers, who were middle class, could only afford lower-income housing on the outskirts of New York City, like in the outer boroughs. This made the commute to work longer and traveling more difficult for Otway’s employees.
Otway has a true passion and holds the museum building close to his heart. 80 St Mark’s Place represents where he grew up, and is an important historical aspect of the neighborhood. Otway has faced a number of obstacles and challenges in continuing the preservation of his home. Otway states, “New York is not dying, it was murdered.” He constantly receives calls from developers that say they want to buy the building. Otway has been responsible for the restoration of the museum for ten and a half years. He knows that he could become wealthy from selling the historic landmark, but that would result in a loss of “heritage, family, and the culture of the city”.
The Museum of the American Gangster building was named #3 in “Buildings with the Most Interesting Backstory” by Time Magazine, in addition to the Empire State Building and Gracie Mansion.
Polina Safovich
