The Bowery Boys: New York City History
EPISODE 319 In simpler times, thousands of tourists would flock to the northern tip of Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan to take a picture with a rather unconventional New Yorker — the bronze sculpture Charging Bull by Italian-American artist Arturo Di Modica. Bull is a product of the 1980s New York art scene, delivered as… Read More
“Do you love him, Loretta?” “Aw, ma, I love him awful.” “Oh God, that’s too bad.” Moonstruck, the 1987 comedy starring Cher and Nicolas Cage, not only celebrates that crazy little thing called love, but also pays tribute to the Italian working class residents of the old “South Brooklyn” neighborhoods of Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill… Read More
Over ten years ago, the New York Post and the New York Daily News were locked in a battle for tabloid dominance, wrestling and rolling around just as an apocalypse – the digital revolution — was descending upon American newsrooms. Newspapers across the country have either folded or become absorbed into national conglomerates. America’s best-selling… Read More
The Hall of Fame for Great Americans, founded in 1900, was a precursor to the Nobel Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a vaunted tribute to those who have contributed greatly to the development the United States of America. Located on the campus of Bronx Community College in the University Heights neighborhood of the… Read More
EPISODE 314 — London Terrace, an English-inspired apartment complex, is a jewel of apartment living in the neighborhood of Chelsea. In 1929, a set of unusual townhouses — also named London Terrace — were demolished to construct this spectacular set of buildings. That is, all townhouses but one — the home of Mrs. Tillie Hart,… Read More
When it comes to artistic creation, we take many fundamentals of law for granted. Most people might not understand the particulars of ‘intellectual property’ but they sure benefit from it. The very review you are reading — and the website that publishes it — are protected by laws that were hammered out and fought for… Read More
For the next several weeks, the Bowery Boys Podcast will be going live two times a week — every Tuesday and Friday. Read our announcement here. EPISODE 313 “No man likes to have his hat snatched from his head by somebody he has not yet been introduced to.” During the month of September 1922, as… Read More
During this period of social isolation and the perpetual concerns of health and economic well-being that you might be feeling now, we here at the Bowery Boys: New York City History podcast want to make sure that we are doing our part in providing you with the distraction and camaraderie you might be looking for.… Read More
PODCAST It’s time for a Gilded Age murder mystery, true-crime podcast style! The Whitechapel Murders of 1888 — perpetrated by the killer known as Jack the Ripper — inspired one of the greatest cultural hysterias of the Victorian era. The crimes were so publicized in newspapers around the world that many believed that the Ripper… Read More
Looking for a good book? Here are a few recent releases I’ve enjoyed reading over the past few weeks. All are currently available at your local book retailer: SPY SITES OF NEW YORK CITYH. Keith Melton and Robert WallaceGeorgetown University Press In what is easily the coolest New York City guide book of recent memory,… Read More
PODCAST (EPISODE 310): New York’s 369th Infantry Regiment was America’s first black regiment engaged in World War I. The world knew them as the Harlem Hellfighters. On February 17, 1919, the Hellfighters – who had spent much of the year 1918 on the frontline – marched up Fifth Avenue to an unbelievable show of support… Read More
Before it closed in 2011, the Coliseum Cinema in Washington Heights proclaimed itself to be the ‘New York City’s oldest operating movie theater’. When it was first constructed in 1920, its stage would have hosted vaudeville acts as well as silent motion pictures. But few films that ever premiered at the Coliseum would depict events… Read More
The new episode of the Bowery Boys Movie Club explores the film The Warriors and its rich historical details. An exclusive podcast for those who support us on Patreon. The new episode of the Bowery Boys Movie Club explores the film The Warriors and its rich historical details. An exclusive podcast for those who support… Read More
Consider this one of the America’s strangest national landmarks — Fort Conger, a scientific research post originally built in 1881 by an American expedition in a remote and frozen area of Nunavit, Canada. Some might call it the world’s most northern haunted house. Over two dozen men — fronted by Civil War vet Adolphus Greely… Read More
EPISODE 309 They’re tearing down your favorite old building and putting up a condo in its place. How is this even possible? New York City is so over. Before you plunge into fits of despair, you should know more about the tools of preservation that New Yorkers possess in their efforts to preserve the spirit… Read More