Karin "Chassis Crass" Bruce and David "Lefty" Leibowitz met through an online ad in 2003 and together formed the organization as Gotham Girls Roller Derby,[6] initially recruiting skaters and holding "open skate" sessions.

In 2004, Gotham hosted their first exhibition bout, the "Beat Down in the Boogie Down,"[7] at The Skate Key, where a crowd of 600 watched the Brooklyn Bombshells defeat the Manhattan Mayhem[8] in overtime.

The Wall Street Traitors played teams from Philly, Connecticut, and New England, while the Brooklyn Bombshells and Manhattan Mayhem won against Montreal and Providence, respectively.

In recent years, Gotham home teams play against each other at John Jay College and Abe Stark Arena.

[2] In February 2006, the All-Stars competed at the first WFTDA-sanctioned roller derby tournament, the Dust Devil, in Tucson, Arizona where they finished in 10th place.

[11] In 2018, Gotham received a bye directly to WFTDA Championships, by placing within the top four teams overall, as the third seed, in the June 30 rankings.

[13] Gotham Roller Derby has been featured in major publications and outlets, including the New York Times, ESPN, the Wendy Williams Show, The Huffington Post, the Wall Street Journal and Refinery29.

[55][56] In October 2011, Gotham skater Suzy Hotrod was featured photographed without clothing in ESPN Magazine's annual "The Body Issue," [57] representing roller derby alongside athletes from many other mainstream American sports.