Mean Streets: NYPD Detective Followed a Tip and Took a Trip to New York’s Underworld
New York City thought it had seen the worst of its nightmare when David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) was arrested in August 1977. But nearly two years later, on May 25, 1979, a young boy disappeared in Soho. Many years later, an NYPD investigator named Mike Codella got a huge lead that took him into a far darker underworld than anyone could have imagined. Former NYPD Sergeant and author of the new book, The Evil that Walked New York, Mike Codella spent years chasing the truth behind a series of crimes that appeared disconnected on the surface but ultimately pointed toward something far more disturbing in that underworld.
In his new book, Codella takes readers inside one of the darkest investigations of his career, revealing a hidden New York underworld populated by satanic cults, ruthless 1% motorcycle gangs, powerful figures, and allegations of human sacrifice. Among the most shocking discoveries was a connection to a Nobel Prize-winning doctor accused of pedophilia, raising questions about how people with influence and prestige could operate in the shadows while vulnerable victims disappeared.
Codella’s story is not simply about monsters committing horrific crimes in a hidden underworld. It is also about what happens when investigators begin uncovering evidence that challenges the official narrative—and encounter departmental politics, institutional resistance and apparent cover-ups along the way. As Codella pursued leads that others wanted buried, he found himself confronting a disturbing possibility: that some of New York’s most horrifying crimes were not isolated acts of individual evil, but pieces of a much larger and more sinister puzzle.
That makes The Evil That Walked New York more than a conventional true-crime story. It is an insider’s account of what Codella says he encountered while investigating the city’s darkest underworld—and a journey into a New York that existed beneath the glamorous, chaotic city most people thought they knew.
Codella can discuss the investigation behind the book, the disappearance that helped launch the story, the alleged connections between seemingly unrelated crimes, what investigators uncovered about cults and biker gangs, the role of powerful institutions, and why some of the most disturbing discoveries proved difficult to pursue. The answers lay in the underworld most refuse to go or even allow themselves to contemplate.
For audiences fascinated by true crime, unsolved mysteries, organized crime and the hidden history of New York’s underworld, Codella offers something few guests can: firsthand experience investigating the city’s darkest secrets from inside the NYPD.
Relevant Article(s):
Retired NYPD Police Officer interview-Mike Codella
OPTIONAL Q & A:
- What did you uncover that connected these seemingly unrelated crimes?
- How did David Berkowitz’s arrest shape the investigation that followed?
- What happened to the young boy who vanished in Soho in 1979?
- What evidence led you toward alleged satanic cults and human sacrifice?
- How did 1% biker gangs become connected to your investigation?
- What did you discover involving the Nobel Prize-winning doctor?
- Who inside the NYPD tried to stop or undermine your investigation into the underworld?
- What is the most disturbing truth you uncovered that New York never knew?
ABOUT MIKE CODELLA…
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Mike Codella walked the streets of the city he would one day dedicate his life to protecting. In 2001, Codella worked at the World Trade Center (Building 7). On September 11th he was on his way to work when he changed his route and headed toward WTC 1. Codella was one of those first responders who was running into the building as people were rushing out. He barely escaped death with the Tower came down.
In July of 1983, Codella became a New York City police officer—and over the next two decades, he would plunge into the city’s darkest corners. Rising to Detective Sergeant, Mike served in some of the NYPD’s most elite and high-stakes units: the Drug Enforcement Administration, Secret Service Task Force, Special Frauds Squad, Operation 8, and the Missing Persons Squad.
Codella investigated missing children, homicides, sex crimes, and violent felonies, leaving his mark on cases that gripped the city and shocked the nation. From the chilling terror of the Son of Sam murders to the haunting disappearance of Etan Patz, and the arrest of Andre Rand, Mike navigated the shadows, unraveling mysteries that most feared to confront. He infiltrated citywide drug cartels, and endured injuries as a first responder during the September 11 attacks. In the aftermath, he was tasked with bringing order to the chaos of the New York City Morgue—a grim duty that tested every ounce of his resolve.
TO SCHEDULE AN INTERVIEW, CALL OR TEXT 512-966-0983 OR EMAIL BOOKINGS@SPECIALGUESTS.COM
