Gangster book by Villager columnist
Villager readers who enjoyed Patrick Downeys columns on the old-time gangsters of the Village are sure to like his new book, Gangster City: The History of the New York Underworld, 1900-1935. Chapters focus on specific neighborhoods Caesars of the Lower East Side, Big Trouble in Little Chinatown and an index lets readers know if a gangster was whacked on their block. (Barricade, $23.95, 318 pp., with black-and-white photos.)