Kansas City’s City Market area was known in the 1970s as the River Quay, a redeveloped home to restaurants, nightclubs, and bohemian shops. The “Quay” name (French for wharf) harkened back to Kansas City’s early beginning as a French outpost along the Missouri River. While initially a popular entertainment destination, many River Quay businesses fell under mob control, and it became the site of a violent turf war.

Gary Jenkins, a local attorney, author, and filmmaker, is a former Kansas City police detective who investigated mob activity in the River Quay. He discusses the district’s rise and fall, from its early success as an urban renewal project to the mafia bombings and murders that dominated newspaper headlines and spelled the end of the development.

Jenkins chronicles the River Quay saga in his new documentary Gangland Wire and shows excerpts during the program.