‘HISTORY’ LESSON FOR NEW YORK’S FINEST

M ore than a century after his death, one New Yorker is getting another 15 minutes of fame. Earlier this month, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio will star as

NYPD Lt. Joseph Petrosino (pictured left), the legendary cop murdered in 1909 while investigating the mafia in Italy, in an upcoming movie. And Tuesday’s conclusion of the two-night special “America: Promised

Land” (9 p.m. on History) also looks at Petrosino, who was the first Italian-American cop in the NYPD. It includes an interview with the lieutenant detective’s great-grand-nephew, also named Joe Petrosino (inset right), who reflects on his ancestor’s record of helping make 250 arrests related to “The Black Hand,” a violent gang that targeted Italian immigrants in New York, before being killed by a group of their assassins on an undercover trip abroad. His New York funeral was attended by over a quartermillion people.