Categories
American History Lenapehoking New Amsterdam

The Lenape Nation: Past, Present and Future

Consider the following show an acknowledgment – of people. For the foundations of 400 years of New York City history were built upon the homeland of the Lenni-Lenape, the tribal stewards of a vast natural area stretching from eastern Pennsylvania to western Long Island.  The Lenape were among the first in northeast North America to… Read More

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New Amsterdam Podcasts

Land of the Lenape: A Violent Tale of Conquest and Betrayal

PODCAST The story of the Lenape, the native people of New York Harbor region, and their experiences with the first European arrivals — the explorers, the fur traders, the residents of New Amsterdam. Before New York, before New Amsterdam — there was Lenapehoking, the land of the Lenape, the original inhabitants of the places we… Read More

Categories
Black History New Amsterdam Podcasts Politics and Protest

Finding Peter Stuyvesant (Amsterdam/New Amsterdam Mini-Series)

The name Stuyvesant can be found everywhere in New York City. — in the names of neighborhoods, apartments, parks and high schools. Peter Stuyvesant, the last director-general of New Amsterdam, is a hero to some, a villain to others — and probably a caricature to all.  What do we really know about Peter Stuyvesant? In… Read More

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American History New Amsterdam Podcasts Religious History

The Radical Walloons: Amsterdam/New Amsterdam (Bowery Boys mini-series)

Our adventure in the Netherlands continues with a quest to find the Walloons, the French-speaking religious refugees who became the first settlers of New Netherland in 1624. Their descendants would last well beyond the existence of New Amsterdam and were among the first people to call themselves New Yorkers. But you can’t tell the Walloon… Read More

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Bowery Boys

Every Bowery Boys History podcast in chronological order by subject

Seventeen years ago (officially on June 19, 2007) we recorded the very first Bowery Boys podcast, appropriately about Canal Street, the street just outside the window of Tom’s apartment on the Lower East Side. That’s right! If our podcast were a person, it would be preparing to graduate from high school next year. (For more information,… Read More

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American History Museums New Amsterdam Podcasts

Amsterdam/New Amsterdam: Empire of the Seas (New Bowery Boys Mini-Series)

The epic journey begins! The Bowery Boys Podcast heads to old Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, to find traces of New Amsterdam, the Dutch settlement which became New York. We begin our journey at Amsterdam’s Centraal Station and spend the day wandering the streets and canals, peeling back the centuries in search of New… Read More

Categories
Mysterious Stories Podcasts

Gotham’s Greatest Ghosts: The Bowery Boys Halloween Specials

Our first ghost stories show was released on October 11, 2007, featuring New York City’s famous haunted tales and urban legends (with historical context). Since that time we have released seventeen Halloween-related shows as well as a recording of our Joe’s Pub live show. Take a spooky trip down memory lane with a re-listen to… Read More

Categories
Hudson Valley

The Curious Names of Westchester County’s Villages and Towns

Westchester County contains some of the most interesting and historic sites in New York State — from Glen Island and Rye Playland along the Long Island Sound to the charming belt of villages nestled along the banks of the Hudson River. Until the late 19th century, Westchester was most often defined by its rural charms,… Read More

Categories
Know Your Mayors Politics and Protest

Meet The Mayors Who First Invited Tammany Hall to City Hall

We’re just months away from a new mayor in New York City so we think it is time that you Know Your Mayors! Become familiar with other men who’ve held the job, from the ultra-powerful to the political puppets, the most effective to the most useless leaders in New York City history. This longtime feature… Read More

Categories
Neighborhoods Podcasts

Secret Places of Upper Manhattan: Visit these 20 historic sites in Washington Heights and Inwood

PODCAST A tour of historic sites in Washington Heights and Inwood, an unusual set of landmarks and curious destinations that comprise almost 400 years of Upper Manhattan history. In Washington Heights and Inwood, the two Manhattan neighborhoods above West 155th Street, the New York grid plan begins to become irrelevant, with avenues and streets preferring to conform to northern Manhattan’s more… Read More

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New Amsterdam Podcasts

Life in New Amsterdam: How the Dutch helped build the foundations of New York City history

PODCAST Back when old New York was once New Amsterdam. We are turning back the clock to the very beginning of New York City history with this special two-part episode, looking at the very beginnings of European settlement in the area and the first significant Dutch presence on the island known as Manhattan. The Dutch… Read More

Categories
Mysterious Stories Podcasts

The Ghosts of Greenwich Village: Four tales of haunted houses and forgotten graveyards

For this year’s annual Bowery Boys Halloween ghost stories podcast, we cautiously approach the dark secrets of Greenwich Village, best known for bohemians, shady and winding streets and a deeply unexpected history. You will never look at its parks and townhouses again after this show! The stories featured on this year’s show: — The hidden… Read More

Categories
Bowery Boys

The Bowery Boys Year In Review 2016

Well, nobody can say that 2016 was an uneventful year. After a rowdy and wild election season, we enter 2017 with New York City poised to take a new — and highly unusual — prominence in American politics. (This episode from 2011 is now officially the weirdest episode in the Bowery Boys back catalog). We… Read More

Categories
Bronx History

Kingsbridge, the Bronx neighborhood with royal connections

DUMBO, for Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass — a stretch to create an geographic acronym if there ever was one — is not the only neighborhood named by a bridge which passes by, through, or over it. It might be obvious but the neighborhood of Kingsbridge in the Bronx is named for an actual bridge, and the… Read More

Categories
Adventures In Old New York

PODCAST REWIND: Here’s Henry Hudson!

PODCAST REWIND We turn the clock back to the very beginnings of New York history — to the European discovery of Mannahatta and the voyages of Henry Hudson. Originally looking for a passage to Asia, Hudson fell upon New York Harbor and the Lenape inhabitants of lands that would later make up New York City.… Read More