Years before the NYPD targeted Muslims, Black radicals and other groups with specialized and sometimes undercover operations, the Italian Squad prompted pushback for its aggressive tactics, and from Italian-American leaders concerned about their community’s public image as immigrants sought to assimilate.

Paul Moses, author of “The Italian Squad: The True Story of the Immigrant Cops Who Fought the Rise of the Mafia” recounts the NYPD’s efforts to grapple with organized criminals preying on Italian immigrants and the challenges and threats faced by the Italian-American officers trying to stop them.

Host Greg Glassman and fellow trumpeter James Zollar play together, and talk about what it takes to make it a musician in the Big Apple and much more.

Dr. Steven Thrasher — curator of the Viruses on Film series screening at BAM — talks about the experience of people coming together to watch movies about something that's everywhere but can't be seen. .

Gary Weiss talks with Harry Siegel about his wild history of New York City's original retail gangster.

Rusty Zimmerman is spending the year making oil paintings of and collecting oral histories from 200 people living in South Brooklyn. That includes Harry Siegel, who joined Rusty for a conversation about the project, how people can support it and see it, and why he's giving the portraits away for free to their subjects.

Trumpeter Greg Glassman sits down with saxophonist Stacy Dillard for a conversation — along with the two of them improvising on their instruments — about what it means, and what it takes, to make it as a jazz musician in New York City.

Open New York is an organization advocating to make it easier to build and manage housing in New York City — and now it’s broadening its agenda to also support advances in tenants’ rights. Will that be enough to change state laws and neighborhood politics to get more housing built? Alyssa Katz talks with Open New York Director Annemarie Gray about her group’s game-changing ambitions.

Daily News legend Susan Watts and THE CITY's Ben Fractenberg talk with Alex Brook Lynn about the art of shooting the news in New York, and share the stories behind some of their most powerful photographs.

New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman, author of The Intimate City: Walking New York, joins Alyssa Katz in the latest installment of her occasional series asking the big question: What Is New York For?

Pervaiz Shallwani dipped a hot dog into New York’s melting pot, and what came out was the delicious chaat dog.