Opened in 2010, it was located upstairs from a former speakeasy in a neighborhood once frequented by Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and John Gotti.
[1] Its Exhibition of the American Gangster was "founded to preserve newspapers, photographs and other original documents from the Prohibition Era".
[2] The museum's collection of memorabilia of organized crime in America includes John Dillinger's death masks,[3] bullets from the Saint Valentine's Day massacre investigation,[4] and a bullet from the shooting of Pretty Boy Floyd.
This milestone was celebrated with a private screening hosted by Henry Hill for a select group of invitees at the Museum of the American Gangster.
[11] Temporarily closed due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the museum announced in December 2021 that it was in danger of closing permanently if it lost the space it shared with Theatre 80.