About Us

Above, Greg (left) and Tom (right), as featured in an interview on WarbyParker.com.

The Bowery Boys are Greg Young and Tom Meyers. We’ve been recording the Bowery Boys Podcast since 2007. As of July 2023 there are more than 430 episodes available as a free download through Apple Podcasts and many other podcast streaming services. (Read more about how to listen to the show.)

2024 Webby Award Honoree — Best Co-Hosts (Tom Meyers and Greg Young)

About the Bowery Boys Podcast

We started the podcast on a whim as a fun project during the summer of 2007. We both had some amateur radio experience in our past (Greg in college in Missouri and Tom in high school in Ohio), and we’d talked for years about producing some sort of fun New York-related radio show. When Greg purchased a new laptop in 2007 that included Garageband (an audio editing program that makes podcast production possible), we decided to give it a whirl and recorded our first show with a cheap karaoke microphone that Tom pulled out of the closet. (That show is no longer available due to serious quality concerns.)

Seventeen years later we’re having more fun than ever recording episodes that help tell the fascinating story of New York. Read more about the show here.

If you enjoy the show, we encourage you to join us on Patreon. Every donation, no matter what size, helps us pay for new research material and recording equipment, and cover production expenses . Many thanks for your generosity.

About the Bowery Boys Website

This website is written and maintained by Greg. It’s intended as an additional resource for the podcast, but also as a stand alone source of entertainment and information. Our audience is anyone interested in New York’s fascinating history, from native New Yorkers to those who hope to visit one day.

As a reporter of history, Greg hopes that something he says or writes will encourage you to look further into the various places and people of New York City.

Contact us

Tom Meyers: tom@boweryboyspodcast.com

Greg Young: greg@boweryboyspodcast.com

35 replies on “About Us”

I really love your podcasts. I can listen all day and never come across a repeat. Please continue it is so interesting.

Thanks for the mention of the Monumental Show. I thought it was a grand event, albeit crazy, the cops came and arrested me, Komar and Melamed’s painting of Hitler got slashed, and hundreds of other vignettes happened. It was good art and great comedy.
I live just off the Bowery, on Elizabeth St. Thanks

I have a lot of stories about that time, the show and artists who participated. We also did subsequent shows on the Gowanus.
Carl Andre came to the show with Anna Mendieta and did a piece on the spot- she did too . There were collaborators and others who were involved, was not just a solo effort
Frank

I think your site is a fantastic resource. As a born and bred Noo Yawka, I couldn’t ask for a better collection of New York history. That said, I’m not really thrilled about the new page style. Navigation is too ponderous when compared with the old version. You mention using the the blog roll to visit other sites. Maybe because I can be dense at times, I don’t see any blog roll on the left. At least with the old layout, one could find everything easily with the absolute minimum of agita. The site archives also made it easy to navigate the site. I can’t say the same now. It’s a real PITA to have to click through page after page. Just my 2 cents before taxes and surcharges.

Greg and Tom, thank you so much for this entertaining and extremely informative podcast! I love history in general and having lived in Brooklyn in the 80’s I love hearing about the histort of places I remember and those that are new to me. I look forward to each new episode each month! Thank you both!
Martin Gould, San Francisco, CA

Quick note: you’re making a historically accurate and excellent work in these podcasts and with the book release presentations, which drum up importance and excitement and start word of mouth! Keep that vino pouring!

I hope I can someday chat with Lily Adams, (BUT not to discuss LonelyCreepFest ’15 that gathers, multiplies, and comes alive every day on her Twitter wall) but because she reminds me of family I didn’t ever want to know I had…..

Dear Greg & Tom,
I’m a Frenchman recently relocated in NY for one year or two and I want to warmly congratulate you for your excellent and countless podcasts about the history of New York.
I wish such a brilliant initiative existed in Paris and it’s always a pleasure to listen to your witty and instructive duet every time I walk and get lost in your fascinating city.
In one word: bravo!

I read on your website that you have “terrific plans for 2015”.
A mobile app? Downloadable walking audio tours? That would be fantastic!

Keep going!
Merci
Philippe

I am a London-based author (born in Gotham Hospital) and have been commissioned to write a book on New York City in the 1930s. I’d be grateful for any guidance on where to source information. The subject I’m currently researching is the rise of the Mafia. Thanks in advance for your help,

Jules Stewart

You guys are great! Would you think about future podcasts on celebrities from the nyc area, how they connect to certain places? For example Anthony bourdain, etc? Thx!

That’s a great idea. In fact Anthony Bourdain was a listener of our show! We miss him and would love to do a tribute sometime.

As a New Yorker living in Portland, OR, for the past 12 years, I have been thoroughly enjoying your podcasts! Just listened to the taxi show…loved it! A college (Barnard!) friend turned me on to the show and I am so happy she did. Thank you so much for doing this! I have learned so much about my city, although it does make me homesick. Keep up the good work!

Cheers, Mich

I just loved the footage posted by Guy Jones. It was incredible. Thank you so much for that experience.

Hi Greg & Tom:
Came across your podcast about about three weeks ago and I am now hooked. Love history and especially about NYC! Love the tourist from Warren, Ohio! shout out mention on your St Marks Place episode. Keep up the great podcasts!

Regards
David

Who needs Netflix when you have The Bowery Boys?! I started binge listening when I first came across your podcast. You paint such a vibrant picture of the past. I can’t wait for the book!

Best of luck and thank you!

Hello Greg and Tom,

I cannot thank you enough for your podcast. I moved to NYC for work in Fall 2014, and although I always loved and admired New York, I was new, green and a history lover. Thanks to your amazing and entertaining show, I know so much about what I see walking to work everyday and am always excited to share trivia and NYC jargon that I learned from you. You’ve helped make this city my home and I will continue to listen and love it all the more. Much appreciated!

I love history but what I’ve learned since listening is so fun!

Love your sense of humor and attention to details, makes me feel like I’m right there.

Pls keep going… Lots to learn!

Love this podcast. I am a 73 years old born and bred New Yorker and I love my city. Thank you for all the stories; some I knew, some I’ve never heard.

One question. How do you choose the music for the shows? It always matches so well and sets the perfect mood. Would you consider providing information about the music at the end of the show? Just a thought.

Thank you, again, for a wonderful time.

Thanks Leah. Almost all of our music is ‘royalty free’ canned music and unfortunately not available for sale. But we are glad you like it and glad you’re listening along!

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I love both your podcasts and your book. All the content is crisp, relevant, very well written, and most of all W I T T Y ! I can’t help laughing out loud at least once in every episode.

Have you considered making a PBS-Style series, with each episode basically being one chapter in your great book? I would think PBS would enthusiastically want to make such a series, if not HBO/Showtime/Netflix?

Have you done an episode on the little known 1947 smallpox story?. Very timely. How we usta get it done..Not no more..The 1947 New York City smallpox outbreak occurred in March, 1947 and was declared ended on April 24, 1947. The outbreak marked two milestones for America. First, it was the largest mass vaccination effort ever conducted for smallpox in America, and second, it marked the last outbreak of smallpox in America. Within three weeks of the discovery of the outbreak, the U.S. Public Health Service, in conjunction with New York City health officials, had procured vaccine and inoculated over 6,350,000 adults and children. Of that number, 5,000,000 had been vaccinated within the first two weeks. The rapid response was credited with limiting the outbreak to 12 people, 10 of whom recovered, while 2 died.[1][2]

gosh I think a lot about the Central Park double episodes and FLO’s vision of the parks as a place of only quiet contemplation…not just soccer fields and golf courses…up here in Buffalo, FLO’s Delaware park is completely turned over to organized activity…..I love best the part in the series where on of you believed, FLO didnt trust people to behave.in a park setting …BACK THEN!…Boy things dont change.

I’ve just come across your podcast and have been listening on my daily walks here in Miami. In fact, my walks are much longer now because I don’t want to stop listening! I love NYC—collect books and novels about it—and as a professional archivist appreciate the research behind your shows.
My suggestion for a movie show: the terrific film The Daytrippers (Anne Meara, Liev Shreiber, Parker Posey, Hope Davis…and the Tooch, the fabulous Stanley Tucci). It’s kind of like After Hours but even better (and deserving of cult status).
I travel to NY as often as I can, and plan to do so again as soon as it’s safe. Last time my friend and I walked the length of Broadway, next time we’ll walk the perimeter of Manhattan, with many stops along the way. I’m And I’m hoping to take one of your guided tours when semi-normalcy returns.
Excelsior, y’all! And stay safe.
PS: although I grew up in Italy I was born in upstate NY and as an art history major at one of the SUNYs would travel into NYC as often as possible to go to galleries and open studios on weekends. I’d love to hear an episode about the NY art world in the 1980s. I met some of the characters (I was in a band that played in NY a few times) and let me tell you it was pretty wild.

I listened to all of your podcasts years ago and stopped for quite a while. I used to burn them to discs and listen in the car. I am listening again and have to catch up with all I missed. Since this is the 100th anniversary of women getting the federal right to vote, I will go back and listen to any of those topics first. Thanks for continuing to produce them.

I love these podcasts and actually became initiated after reading a book on the history of the Bronx River. Where have I been all of these years? Missing these great talks! I will catch up, though! Other people also have mentioned your podcasts to me. As an artist, I can visualize your talks and love the photos you add. So, I’m addicted and was actually initiated at your Haunted Houses of New York show at Joe’s Pub. 2019. Hope there will be others.

I always heard a different story about the naming of The Bronx. It goes that people were going to visit the Bronks – the people, not the river.
Anyhow your story was informative and I hope to listen to the next two on The Bronx.

Dear Greg and Tom
I’m a huge fan, having lived at 133 East 64th Street (before Bernie Madoff!). I love the City, though I live on Cape Cod now.
Went to Trinity School on W. 91st Street, and later Wagner College on S.I. , and my Dad was rector of Trinity, a Wall Street back in the late 50s and early 60s.
Lots of great memories, which you guys continue to offer.
Keep up the good work.
Bill

Dear Bowery Boys, I love your podcast and live shows. I work as an Electrician so every time I’m sent to a new neighborhood i look for a related Bowery Boy episode. Your funny and thoughtful and enrich my life in the city. I especially love labor rights stories. One possible show idea: Electchester and Harry Van Arsdale. Thanks

Just wondering if you are planning to do a podcast on the African Burial Ground that was found in Manhattan?

Since you guys have done a series out on Long Island (which was pretty cool and a good thing you didn’t go by bus, apparently), have you thought of doing a jaunt up the Hudson a little ways – not too far afield from the Big Apple – to, oh say, such places of moderate historical and literary influence and interest as West Point or Sleepy Hollow itself? Who knows? Maybe you can even tuck in under the shade of a tree while there and take a nice, long nap….of about 100 years, or so – long enough to grow impressive beards, anyway.

I love your show. I’ve listened to almost every episode. Great job!!! I have a suggestion for you guys. The town of Bayside, Queens. My home town. So much history. The Lawrence family, Lawrence cemetery, fort Totten, William Annis murder (1908 high society love triangle),home to Charlie Chaplin, Norma Talmage, WC Fields, Rudolph Valentino, Broadway play right John Golden, and Pearl White. The land was granted by William Kieft as part of the flushing patent in the 1600s.

I recently discovered your podcast and Wow! A deep catalog of carefully researched, thoughtfully presented, podcasts about a myriad of subjects related to NY. I love that you are respectful about the topics and don’t try to do analysis though the (supposedly) “correct” sensibilities of today.

Tom and Greg, thank you for this podcast and the blog! I discovered it this past summer. I love listening while I exercise and do housework. You make my tasks and history fun.