What is the true story behind Mob Queens?

In 1932, Anna Genovese married Vito Genovese of the Genovese crime family and the Costello crime syndicate, a notorious New York mafia boss.

Two years into their marriage, Vito murdered gangster Ferdinand “The Shadow” Boccia, a rival, and was placed under investigation in 1937 when Boccia’s body was pulled from the Hudson River and a hitman hired for the job told police that the commission had come from Vito.

Standing accused of the Boccia murder and other crimes, such as racketeering, Vito decided to flee the US, leaving Anna to run his businesses and keep the crime family afloat during the Great Depression.

While Prohibition was also being repealed at this time, it was replaced by an institutionalised “Gay Prohibition,” during which it became common practice for law enforcement officers to stalk, harass, entrap, and arrest people in – or suspected to be in –the LGBTQ+ community. Bars could even lose their liquor licenses for serving gay patrons. However, after getting involved into business with a string of drag bars in New York’s Greenwich Village, Anna used the power and influence of the mob to block police efforts to persecute the LGBTQ+ community.

Mob Queens: this thrilling true crime podcast is being adapted into a HBO series starring Ruth Wilson and written by Lena Dunham