SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS

The corpse lay in a railroad yard in the Bronx, sliced nearly in half by a train. Nobody claimed the remains, and on September 13, 1913, city workers were readying the unknown dead man for burial on Hart Island, New York’s potter’s field. Municipal regulations required a final inspection of each nameless casualty, so a policeman lifted the coffin lid.

“Why, it’s Tim!” the cop said. “Big Tim!”

Timothy “Big Tim” Sullivan had been one of the most powerful, most beloved, and most corrupt politicians in New York City history.

Known as “King of The Bowery,” Sullivan served as a state senator, a congressman, and, most importantly, as boss