The Bowery Boys: New York City History
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
This picture (from Google Life images) was taken in 1962 by Leonard Mccombe. From the reflection, I believe it’s a Cobb’s Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge, but I can’t find any further information on this intreguing looking place. Where was it?
Outside the Barclay Street train station, circa 1903 (courtesy LOC). The Christmas tree marketplace had been well-established by then. 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… Read More
Local comedian and theatre star Gus Phillips, known professionally as Oofty Gooft , threw on a production of ‘Under The Gaslight’ in New York sometime around 1879, starring himself and his wife Mary Hooper, who once shot him. Christmas Past: The Morgan Library & Museum unveils an early copy of Charles Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’… Read More
The Short Tail Gang sit underneath a pier at Corlears Hook, picture taken in 1890, long after all the great pirate gangs of the area had disbanded, been eaten by rats, or joined the Confederate army (listen to podcast for explanation!) ___________________________________An illustrated map of the ward system of New York in 1817 highlights the… Read More