The Scandalous Death of a NYC Vice-President

On this date 47 years ago, the 41st Vice-President of the United States, Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, died of a heart attack. He was 70.

"Rocky", as he was known, was the scion of one of the richest families on Earth, and had been the governor of New York State from 1959 to 1973. His legacy in this city and state was significant, as I blogged about many years ago. In 1974 he became Vice-President after President Nixon had resigned and Gerald Ford became president. Rockefeller left office in 1977 and returned to NYC.

Two years later he was dead.

On the night of January 26, 1979, it was announced, as you'll see below, that he had died in his office at Rockefeller Center while working on a book in the presence of his bodyguard.

Ehhh ... not really.

Actually Rocky was in an East Side townhouse that he owned with his secretary Megan Marshack. This townhouse appears to have been a very classy love nest. Rocky and Megan were banging on the floor -- apparently she was riding him cowgirl when the old man had a heart attack. Now she obviously should have called 911 right away as that might have saved his life. But no. Instead she made a series of phone calls to her psychiatrist and her friend who rushed over to the townhouse. Together, apparently, they got Rocky dressed and then the friend called 911. But it was too late. The mighty Rocky -- billionaire, governor, Vice-President, titan of his times -- had died in the most tawdry way possible.

For days and weeks afterwards the scandal fascinated the NYC tabloids. But then ... it just kind of petered out. 

The Rockefeller's used their wealth and power to cover it up quite effectively. Rocky was creamated the very next day so no autopsy was performed. Megan Marshak, and presumably her friend, signed NDAs and were probably paid off. Also, it helped that at the same time this scandal was unfolding there was a revolution going on in Iran and that grabbed the headlines. And, of course, Rocky was out of office so this incident had no real political implications.

There were no criminal charges. No arrests. No lawsuits. No legal actions of any kind. No tell-all books or teary interviews or multi-part true crime documentaries. 

Amazingly, Megan Marshak remained quiet until her death in October 2024. She lived a relatively productive, and regular life. She worked at CBS News in NYC for almost 20 years before moving to Calfornia and living there until her death. She married later in life, had no children, and died in relative obscurity. Interestingly she was also 70 years old when she died, the same age as the great man she shtupped to death.

Half a century later, most New Yorkers probably haven't heard of Nelson Rockefeller much less the scandalous way that he left this mortal coil.

NYC Snowpocalypse 2026

Mayor Z Talks Snow

As NYC prepares for a big snowstorm this weekend, our new mayor is on the case!

This is the first big test of his mayoralty and no doubt the tabloids and the Republicans want him to fail -- so it's good to see Mayor Z is preparing, communicating, and ready to go as this storm hits. 

A month in, it's interesting to see what a quiet, competent, nose-to-the-grindstone leader he's been. It's a HUUUUGE relief from the chaos of Eric Adams.

And talking about our former, unmissed mayor, the great NYC journalist Erroll Louis has written an interesting article about how the full scale of corruption in the Adams administration is still unknown. Even though he was only in office for four years, he number of people who worked for Adams that got indicted, the number of sleazy deals and activities, is breathtaking. It remind me of Nixon -- even years, decades after he resigned in disgrace, documents and tapes kept coming out revealing he was even worse that we knew. I'm sure the same is true of Eric Adams. 

Anybody Seen Ritchie?

Over the years something'll pop up in the NYC tabloids about Richie Akiva. He's a big club owner/party promoter/nightlife guru whose run clubs like Butter and 10Oak and others. 

Richie has a lot of celebrity friends, was part of Leo's "pussy posse", dated an Olsen twin, and he's just one of the best-connected happening party guys in town.

He's also something of a criminal.

Last year he was busted for driving without a license. He's been involved in all kinds of lawsuits, accused of ripping off former business partners, and now he's been arrested for beating a guy in the head with a metal pipe.

Egads.

Richie's got some problems. It reminds me of that movie I blogged about a few years ago, Out for Justice, which is all about a crime boss named Richie who the heroic cop is looking for -- "Anybody seen Richie?" is his constant refrain.

Here's a interesting postscript: I actually went to school with Richie Akiva way back in the day. We were in 9th grade together but then, I recall, he vanished -- he was kicked out. (I remember it was from Richie that I first learned the term "herb" as being a pejorative.) He wound up a private school for rich juvenile deliquents.

And that's the thing -- Richie's a rich kid.

He was born into a wealthy family who set him up in the club business. He walks and talks, dresses and behaves like a badass, but he's really just a spoiled brat. And it looks like fate is catching up with him.  

How LaGuardia Made NYC Great

If you want to know more about the legacy of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, go to the the Mr NYC about him here.

Mr NYC Ahead of His Time

Last year, after my visit to Paris, I blogged about the amazing exhibit there displaying items from the movies of Wes Anderson.

Few directors have as unique an aesthetic as Anderson, all of his movies have a certain look and feel and mood that binds them together. Several of his movies contains objects that are specific to his oddball universe -- part of the painterly look that his movies have.

Anyway, the Wes Anderson exhibit is going on the road and is only now being written about in the USA -- so, my blog post from last year is year another example of how Mr NYC is Ahead of His Time. 

Mayor Z Takes Charge

Last year I blogged a lot about the rise of Zohran Mamdani from an largely unknown State Assemblyman into the Mayor of NYC. You can read about all of that here.

And now, ladies and gentlemen ... here iz Hizzoner ... 

Mayor Eric Adams -- The End

In just about six hours, Eric Adams will be mayor no more -- and 8.8 million New Yorkers will breathe a huge sigh of relief.

And his greatest legacy as mayor to the world's greatest city? His endless stream of bizarre, weird, yet often hilarious gaffes.

Goodbye Eric. It was four years too long.

NYC Filming Locations

This is, admittedly, a shameless case of reposting or aggragating but I strongly suggest reading this article about 45 iconic locations for movies set in NYC.

Of course, there are many more iconic locations in much better films than the ones in this article -- but this is a good start.

The Case of the Missing NYC Mayor

When Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor last November, it was declared that he would be the 111th mayor of New York City. 

But ... not so fast.

A deep-dive into the municipal archives reveals that -- in the 17th century -- when NYC was a new city and the mayors were appointed by the British government -- a man named Matthias Nicolls in 1674 briefly served as the city's chief executive. 

Nicolls had been mayor before, then left office, but it appears that he was reappointed as mayor before departing quickly again. So Mamdani will technically be the 112th mayor.

It appears that there was no nefarious reason for this oversight -- it was simply a slip of the historical record. 

Just another example of how the history of NYC is forever fascinating.