Anyone who has studied New York City history knows about the financial predations of the robber barons, the conspicuous consumption of the Gilded Age and the corrupt political machinations of Tammany Hall. A few have even heard about the 1863 draft riots, although they were nothing like the fictional gang wars portrayed in Martin Scorcese's "Gangs of New York."
But I bet few New Yorkers know about the role that the hideous institution of slavery played in shaping the city physically,...
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