"Once Upon a Time in New York is a real-life fable, the story of two towering men in an irrepressible time. It is at once the story of Roosevelt's first great test; the turning point of machine control in New York; and the battle that marked the end of the Jazz Age way of political life. It is an unforgettable portrait of Roosevelt's courage, with a cast of gamblers and gun molls, murderers and mistresses.

More outrageous than today's headlines and as lively as the era it describes, Once Upon a Time in New York reads like a nonfiction novel."--BOOK JACKET.