S20 Ep147: Empire City Under Siege: Three Decades of NY FBI Manhunts, Murders, and Mafia Wars w/Craig McGuire

Darkness Radio

Society & Culture, Hobbies, Leisure, Religion & Spirituality, Spirituality, Philosophy

4.8 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2025

⏱️ 172 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

True Crime Tuesday Presents: Empire City Under Siege: Three Decades of NY FBI Manhunts, Murders, and Mafia Wars with Researcher/ Author, Craig McGuire

EMPIRE CITY UNDER SIEGE: Three Decades Of New York FBI Field Office Manhunts, Murders, And Mafia Wars shares true stories of an FBI Special Agent spanning three tumultuous decades in New York City, beginning in the gritty 1970s when law enforcement refused to let their city be consumed by corruption and violence. Starting as an undercover operative investigating Mafia hijackers in Red Hook, Anthony John Nelson offers a gripping insider’s look at the bureau’s largest field office during one of its most transformative eras.

From narcotics stings in Miami during the height of the Cocaine Cowboys to international manhunts, stolen Picassos, and late-night rides through Mafia hotspots with NYPD legend Kenneth “Kenny” McCabe, Nelson recounts some of the most impactful cases of the pre-Internet age. Each chapter pulls back the curtain on the dangers, strategies, and sacrifices behind the headlines.

On Today's show, we sit down with Craig McGuire and talk about the crime fighting legend that is Anthony Nelson, his relationship with another legend, Kenny McCabe, how Anthony managed to survive and thrive through so much historical crime in the largest city on Earth, and manage to suppress it! And, was there anything left of him, his family, or his sanity when it was time to retire?

Get your copy of "Empire City Under Siege..." here: https://wildbluepress.com/empire-city-under-siege-true-crime-fbi-mob-craig-mcguire-anthony-john-nelson/

PLUS: AN ALL NEW DUMB CRIMES/STUPID CRIMINALS WITH TRAVIS THORPE!

Check out Jessica Freeburg's website and get tickets to her events here: https://jessicafreeburg.com/upcoming-events/

and check out Jess on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jessicafreeburgwrites

There are new and different (and really cool) items all the time in the Darkness Radio Online store at our website! . check out the Darkness Radio Store! https://www.darknessradioshow.com/store/

Make sure you update your Darkness Radio Apple Apps!
and subscribe to the Darkness Radio You Tube page: https://www.youtube.com/@DRTimDennis

#crime #truecrime #truecrimepodcasts #truecrimetuesday #craigmcguire #anthonyjohnnelson #empirecityunderseige #threedecadesofnewyorkfbifieldofficemanhuntsmurdersandmafiawars #FBI #newyorkpolicedepartment #NYPD #cocainecowboys #autotheft #kennethmccabe #bronx #mafiahistory #drugwars #september11th #lacosanostra #dumbcrimesstupidcriminals #TimDennis #travisthorpe #combatrev #floridaman #drugcrimes #foodcrimes #stupidcrimes #funnycrimes #sexcrimes

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello, everyone.
0:03.0	Hello, everyone. It is a Tuesday. It means it's time for true crime Tuesday. I'm your host, Tim Dennis. We have got an excellent show ahead, folks. Dumb Crime Stupid Criminals with Travis Thorpe on the way in just a bit. But first, I had the privilege of reading an excellent, excellent book this past weekend. We have an old friend back with us today. Craig McGuire is with us, and he had the privilege of being able to write about the life of an FBI agent. And I don't want to underscore or underplay this book by any means. The book is called Empire City Under Siege. Three decades of New York
0:55.5	FBI field office, man hunts, murders, and mafia wars. Folks, if you are a fan of any of the
1:02.9	mafioso stuff that's out there, if you're a fan of New York City in general or New York City
1:06.9	crime, if you're a fan of some of the behind-the-scenes stories that are out there,
1:12.1	Craig has put together a book that's out there that I tell you, it will give you chills.
1:18.9	The stories in here are great stories. If you love cop buddy stories, some of the stories
1:24.1	in here will make you laugh, they'll make you cry. These stories are amazing. I want to tell you a little bit about Craig and remind you about Craig before we bring them in here. Craig McGuire is a veteran, former journalist and true crime author. You might remember him when we had them on with Carmine and the 13th Avenue Boys. That's a wonderful book as well. I encourage you to go get that one too, surviving Brooklyn's Colombo Mob, and that's
1:45.7	the other part of the title. And Brooklyn's Most Wanted, ranking the top 100 most notorious criminals,
1:52.0	crooks and creeps from the county of the king. So ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome them back
1:57.6	to True Crime Tuesday, Craig McGuire. Craig, how you doing?
2:01.9	Great, Tim.
2:02.6	Great to be back.
2:03.7	Thanks to have me on the show, big fan.
2:05.8	Thank you so much for being on, my friend.
2:08.1	Listen, this book, I tell you, it's the life of Anthony John Nelson, a life that I think, you know, he probably packed, I got to say
2:21.6	five lifetimes into just one career. You talk about him. Now, it would be enough if he went in
2:27.3	and said, you know what, I was a relevant part of helping break up just one crime family,
2:34.4	just one mafioso crime family,
2:36.6	that would be enough to write a book, right?
2:40.2	But you talk about a man who went in
2:42.3	and had a hand in multiple crime families
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 19 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Darkness Radio, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Darkness Radio and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.