New York's Dark Side

On May 1, 2010, a frantic 911 call was placed by Shannan Gilbert, a young college student who had dreams of becoming a writer and actress. She was working her way through college as an escort and had placed the 911 call from a clients house, then ran from her driver through the neighborhood before disappearing without a trace. The search for Shannan Gilbert would lead to the discovery of 10 other...

Hey Everyone! It's my birthday today, and I wanted to give you a fun gift! So I put together a quirky and fun episode looking at weird and obscure laws around NYS. We talk about donkeys in bathtubs, why you shouldn't put an ice cream cone in your pocket, window puppet shows and more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nydarkside/message

I couldn't help myself, I'm bringing you Part 4 of the Central Park saga to help wrap up this coverage. In this episode we dive into the first private attempt at bringing a private institution to the park when the wealthy elite wanted to start the first city zoo in Central Park. We take a look at the Central Park menagerie started by the public as they donated live animals which would eventually b...

The 'Park Dwellers' have moved out, but we're not done with our coverage of Central Park. In this episode we get into the politics surrounding the financing, design, building, and opening of Central Park. The "Park for ALL the People" was far from that when it first opened. Please try to "keep off the grass" as you dive into this episode, where we hear the story of how the hiring of the workers to...

In the first episode we covered the history behind the idea of creating Central Park. In the second part of the Central Park series we take a deep dive into the "park dwellers"- the residents who had made their lives within the communities such as Seneca Village, that were built on the land that would become the future Central Park. The people living here were freed persons of color as well as imm...

In this episode, we go down to New York State and discuss the dark history behind the development of New York City's famous Central Park. We discuss some of the key players in bringing the idea of the park to life- Robert Bowne Minturn- a wealthy shipping merchant, Mayor Ambrose Kingsland, and Senator James Beckman- who tried to play dirty to get the park built the way he wanted. This is a story o...

New York's Dark Side is a newer podcast covering dark history, true crime, paranormal activity, and other content from all around New York State. It's currently available in audio only format but I am working to also bring a video version to the show. This is the trailer for the video version, where I talk about the first five episodes that are already published on multiple platforms. --- Send in...

On August 3, 1930 Supreme Court Justice Joseph Force Crater would step off a curb outside Billy Haas' Chop House and disappear, never to be seen again. This is the 93 year old unsolved case of Joseph F. Crater, dubbed the most missing man in America. This story is wild, filled with love, sex, murder, scandal. I also bring you some history on some American Holiday culture, discuss the corrupt Tamma...

In the early 1970's the Rochester, New York community was rocked by the abduction and murder of three young girls in a three year span. Carmen Colon was the first victim in 1971, followed by Wanda Walkowicz and Michelle Maenza in 1973. This case remains unsolved despite some high profile connections to other serial killers with ties to the Rochester area. This episode looks at some of the suspect...

In the early 1970's the Rochester, New York community was rocked by the abduction and murder of three young girls in a three year span. Carmen Colon was the first victim in 1971, followed by Wanda Walkowicz and Michelle Maenza in 1973. This case remains unsolved despite some high profile connections to other serial killers with ties to the Rochester area. This episode covers the lives of the victi...

Willowbrook State School... a now abandoned institution in Staten Island, New York for persons with mental and physical disabilities that NYS opened in 1942. We'll talk about the tragic circumstances that residents at Willowbrook lived in- including some being subjected to confirmed human experimentation. Dr. Saul Krugman, a pediatrician and professor at New York University and Dr. Robert W. McCol...

Andre Rand, born Frank Rostum Rushan is a convicted sex offender and suspected serial killer that drifted around Staten Island. He was convicted of first the 1987 kidnapping of Jennifer Schweiger, and then in 2004 the 1981 kidnapping of Holly Anne Hughes. Staten Island filmmakers Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio who both grew up in Staten Island with the urban legend of Cropsey- the urban legen...

I'm Amanda Morgan, the host of a new podcast called New York's Dark Side. This podcast will take you all around New York exploring dark history, true crime, paranormal activity, unsolved mysteries and more. Please join me as I explore some truly wild stories. The first episodes launch March 17, 2023 at midnight. Thanks for checking out my show and I hope you stay curious.  --- Send in a voice mess...