In 1910, a group of rich people who owned massive homes in Long Island were tired of middle-class people moving to the neighborhood. The middle-class people wanted public schools, police departments, municipal water and public parks, but the millionaires didn't need any of this. They had private security, they sent their kids to private schools, and they enjoyed private infrastructure. And they didn't want their property taxes contributing to infrastructure that they did not approve of. 

Fortunately for the millionaires, there was a loophole. If they incorporated their properties as villages, they could escape the majority of property taxes. They would only have to pay for services that benefited their own estates. 

An Eyesore and a Plague is a limited-run narrative podcast about the creation of the NYC suburbs. It's the story of how New York's turn-of-the-century millionaires incorporated their private homes as legal municipalities (municipalities that still exist today!). They used their new power to exclude outsiders, dodge local taxes, and attempt to recreate feudal Europe in the New York. The first episode will be released on November 12. In the meantime, follow us @eyesoreplague on Instagram and Twitter!