The Bowery Boys: New York City History
Rowdy drunks on New Years eve? Angry protesters? No, just a jailcell full of “fraudulent voters in custody at the United States Circuit Court, New York. (1876)” [source] Ah, electioneering in the 1800s! You can smell the corruption in the air, the perfume of cigar smoke, the sweat of a street gang. Voting was easily… Read More
Many late 19th century New Yorkers were hypnotized by the the glamor of the spiritualist circuit, mediums, magicians and mind readers purporting communications with the ghostly world and conveniently in performance form with hefty ticket prices. One of the most popular was Harry Kellar, Kellar the Magician, whose technical slight of hands in such tricks… Read More
Hopefully you’ve listened to this week’s ‘Supernatural Stories of New York’ podcast and heard Tom’s tale of the legend of two combative ghosts who haunted the penthouse at 57 W. 57 Street. Well, here’s a couple pictures of the penthouse in question. Thanks to Dave at The Imagist for sending us the link. You can… Read More
Kids these days! With their fancy selection of Halloween costumes, with ornate detailing and comfort, with their diversity and realism. For thrifty parents in the 1970s and 80s, the decision to costume their children usually led to the rows of Ben Cooper Halloween smocks and plastic body garb, topped with a mask (held to the… Read More
Here’s a chilling thought for the Halloween season: if you’re visiting one of New York’s many amazing parks and squares, most likely you’re standing on land that was formerly used as a cemetery or potter’s field. And in some cases they even left the bodies behind! If you’re fluent in your New York history, you… Read More
PODCAST It’s our fourth annual Halloween history special, and we’ve got four bloodcurdling stories for the season. The first three are spooky ghost tales — a haunted boardinghouse on 14th street with violent, vain spirits; a short history of New York’s seance craze and a man tormented by the spirit of a dead painter; and… Read More
The Bowery Boys 4th Annual Halloween Podcast is coming your way this Friday, featuring four new tales of haunted history. We’re putting it together now and will try to have it ready for download by Thursday night. Below: A different set of flamboyant boys get gussied up for the Hallowe’en holiday. Click pic for a… Read More
Fritz Lang claims the Manhattan skyline influenced the look of his film ‘Metropolis’ . In fact, the film’s fantasy city resembles futuristic sketches rendered by American magazine illustrators of the late 19th century. The giant screen at the Ziegfeld Theatre goes silent this Friday as a two-week run of Fritz Lang’s fantasy masterpiece ‘Metropolis’ opens,… Read More
Howard Johnson at 46th Street: Dinner and a movie, all in one corner! There’s even Vietnam war protesters outside. (Photo by Bob Gruen, taken 1972, courtesy Ephemeral New York) Every Monday I’ll try and check in with the Mad Men episode from the night before and focus in on one or two historical references made… Read More
Lovelace’s Tavern is assumably the building to the left, with the Stadt Huys the main structure at center. You can find the foundations of this building still hanging out on Stone Street. FRIDAY NIGHT FEVER To get you in the mood for the weekend, on occasional Fridays we’ll be featuring an old New York nightlife… Read More
Above: President James Monroe laid to the rest at the New York City Marble Cemetery in 1831. I hope many of you hit some of the Open House events throughout the city this weekend. Both the New York Marble Cemetery and the New York City Marble Cemetery were open to the public, both areas calm,… Read More
“Heretic, you are hereby banished from the island!” I got into my love of New York City history by way of several years of interest in American religious history. So I was personally looking forward to the three-part American Experience series ‘God In America’ (on PBS), which got its start last night. I recommend it… Read More
Show-stopping: The interior of Niblo’s Garden Theatre. Illustration by Thomas Addis Emmet, courtesy NYPL PODCAST It’s the 1820s and welcome to the era of the pleasure garden, an outdoor entertainment complex delighting wealthy New Yorkers in the years before public parks. Wandering gravel paths wind past candle-lit sculptures, songbirds in gilded cages, and string quartets… Read More
It’s the weekend! Why not hit a classic cemetery? Doors will be opened and welcome mats laid out all over the city this weekend, October 9 and 10, during Open House New York, highlighting many historic locations that are closed to the public for most of the year, or available at previously limited hours. As… Read More
‘The Banker’s Daughter’ was the hot new play of 1878 by Bronson Howard, “then the best playwright in America.” It played the Union Square Theater for over 140 performances and to rapturous praise. The plot? “How a woman grows to love the older man she married for his money.” In 1899 Howard wrote a play… Read More