The Bowery Boys: New York City History
(Photo courtesy of Only In Holland) In 2009, New York went Dutch. One hundred years ago, the city threw an elaborate party, the self-important, historically aware (often inaccurate) and undeniably prideful Hudson-Fulton Celebration, honoring the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson sailing into New York harbor and Robert Fulton’s invention of the steamship. Although we didn’t… Read More
Social reformer Jacob Riis is one of the most important men to New York City history, exposing the ghastly living conditions of city tenements and using his connections to enact change that affected thousands of New York’s poorest residents. In spreading the word, he wrote a social history masterpiece ‘How The Other Half Lives’ and… Read More
In addition to the Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa and the Spanish apse from San Martin mentioned in the podcast, the Cloisters museum is also made up of parts of cloisters from Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, Bonnefont-en-Comminges, Trie-en-Bigorre, and Froville — names I dared not attempt to pronounce on the podcast! The cloister of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert is featured in the picture which leads… Read More
PODCAST The Cloisters, home of the Metropolitan Museum’s repository for medieval treasures, was a labor of love for many lovers of great European art. In this podcast, I highlight three of the most important men in its history — a passionate sculptor, a generous multimillionaire and a jet-setting curator. Equally as fascinating is the upper… Read More
Happy holidays! The good news is there will actually be a new podcast posted this week, by the evening of Christmas eve or Christmas morning, depending on the reliability of my available internet. The bad news is, this blog will probably not be updated for the next couple days due to some holiday travel. I’ll… Read More
A rush of foot traffic at Macy’s Department Store the week before Christmas, 1942 (photo by Marjory Collins, courtesy LOC) Upstairs Witih Alice: What’s it like living upstairs to history? Ask Paul Moakley, curator at the Alice Austen House in Staten Island. [New York Times] I Feel Like Chicken Tonight: The heartwarming story of a… Read More
Postcard courtesy NYPL
1960, Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt Since we’re in the musical spirit around here, I just put up a new ‘illustrated’ version of our August ’08 Carnegie Hall podcast in our archive feed. You can get it by clicking the iTunes link below or going directly to our feed page. Our archive shows are enhanced with… Read More
click pic for closer view One of the strangest and most tragic accidents in New York history occurred 49 years ago today when two planes, one United Airlines, the other TWA, collided in midair above New Dorp, Staten Island. The United Airlines flight plummeted to Brooklyn, in the intersection of 7th Avenue and Sterling Place… Read More
It’s 1943, and Irving Berlin’s pouring himself a cocktail (photo by Peter Stackpole, courtesy LIFE) HOW NEW YORK SAVED CHRISTMAS Throughout the month I’ll spotlight several events in New York history that actually helped establish the standard Christmas traditions many Americans celebrate today. Not just New York-centric events like the Rockefeller Christmas Tree or the… Read More
“Down In The Subway,” published in 1904 by one of Tin Pan Alley’s most successful music men Jerome Remick ___________________________________ PODCAST The modern music industry begins…. on 28th Street? A seemingly nondescript street in midtown Manhattan contains some of the most important buildings where early American pop music was created. Tin Pan Alley was a… Read More
(click picture for larger view) Hanukkah starts tomorrow night, but these guys are still on the street selling newspapers. According to the caption, it’s midnight on Delancey Street and (left to right) H. Brown, age 12, Scheer, age 14, and M. Brown, age 10, venture out on the street to sell newspapers, the Jewish publication… Read More
DANGER! Found on a Williamsburg sidewalk (Photo by Sean Nowicke. Other contemporary Williamsburg images found here) The blog is a little slow this week due to us moving our podcast recording schedule up. However I’ll be back on course by Friday, and with a new full-length show with both of us to boot!Do you want… Read More
I have this thing for kitschy Chinese restaurant design, so this picture from 1971 made my day. Joy Fong Chow Mein was located on Avenue J and Coney Island Avenue in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn nearby Di Fara’s Pizza and the old Midwood movie theater (which closed in the early 80s). Joy Fong is… Read More
FRIDAY NIGHT FEVER To get you in the mood for the weekend, on occasional Fridays we’ll be featuring an old New York nightlife haunt, from the dance halls of 19th Century Bowery, to the massive warehouse clubs of the mid-1990s. Past entries can be found here. LOCATION CerebrumBroome and Crosby streets, Manhattan The 1960s were… Read More