In a 2014 op - ed in the New York Times, Terry Golway,
author of «Machine Made: Tammany Hall and the Creation of
Modern Politics» argued that although Tammany «has a well - deserved place in the annals of urban misgovernment in the United States» because it stole elections, intimidated political antagonists, and shook down contractors and
vendors, it also delivered social services at a time when New York City government and Albany did not.