The Bowery Boys: New York City History
The city reopens Governor’s Island this Saturday. Sitting between downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn, Governor’s is a five minute ferry ride to a true flashback to New York history. Forts, abandoned military homes, quiet bike paths and wide green fields. It feels like you’re strolling through an empty college campus with a magnificent view of the… Read More
We turn the clock back to the very beginnings of New York history — to the European discovery of Manahatta and the voyages of Henry Hudson. Originally looking for a passage to Asia, Hudson fell upon New York harbor and the Lenape inhabitants of lands that would later make up New York City. The river… Read More
The Washington Square arch, in quieter times The newly symmetrical, freshly renovated Washington Square Park took down the security fences yesterday, finally allowing people back in to enjoy one of Manhattan’s oldest parks. Gothamist has photographs from the park’s grand re-opening yesterday. You might also like to check out our podcast on Washington Square Park… Read More
New York’s first Fleet Week was 25 years ago in a city presumably a lot less kind to men and women in all-white uniforms. When they arrive this Wednesday, however, they’ll have an extra-special landmark to greet them — the newly reopened at the Sea, Air & Space Museum on the USS Intrepid. You might… Read More
Fifty-eight years ago today, the headquarters for the United Nations officially move from their temporary offices in Lake Success to the brand new 39-story Secretariat Building in Manhattan facing the East River, just a few months after the building opened in January. The General Assembly that year would be held in Paris, as the permanent… Read More
Connie’s during the day, with the Tree of Hope directly in front of it FRIDAY NIGHT FEVER To get you in the mood for the weekend, every other Friday 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… Read More
Suburban living in Queens, circa 1935 (photo courtesy LIFE images) By the way, thanks to all that came out to our New York History Trivia night on Monday. It was a fabulous turnout! A lot of history buffs came out tried out there knowledge on some really tough questions. The Municipal Art Society website has… Read More
Looking up the Bowery in 1920 (from LIFE images) Fifty-four years ago today, Manhattan passengers said goodbye a true vestige of 19th century New York — the elevated railroad. The last ride on the Third Avenue El was taken on May 12, 1955. The line stretched up almost the entire length of Manhattan (from Chatham… Read More
We’re busy preparing the questions for tonight’s New York City history trivia fest at the Musical Box. Hope you can make it out to join the fun. You can bring your friends to create a trivia group of up to four people, or just arrive a bit early and form a group with others to… Read More
Great sun! If you love the street lingo of 19th century New York, then you should check out Beertown B’hoys at Zuda Comics, an online comic by Steve Bialik set in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, circa 1894. It’s a stylized take on New York’s criminal element, following the adventures of street kids stealing and killing their way… Read More
The original Smallpox Hospital, designed by James Renwick, still stands today thanks to diligent restoration. (Click pic for detailed view) Looking north over Roosevelt Island, which cleanly splits the East River. Picture the buildings gone, the bridges wiped away, replaced with fruit trees and a small farm. The island has adopted several names over the… Read More
Nothing underscores the harshness of early New Amsterdam more than the notion that the Dutch settlement, which first settled at the tip of Manhattan in 1625, didn’t actually have a real trained physician for almost twelve years. Most likely, in these earliest years, medical emergencies were handled by ship surgeons and non-professionals skilled in a… Read More
The charming structure above, depicted as though it were a rest stop on the road to Eden, sits on land now occupied by Columbia University in Morningside Heights. Students driven mad by their studies can find cold comfort knowing that the former occupants of this acreage were also mostly certifiably insane. Welcome to Bloomingdale Insane… Read More
Those crazy kids! The revelers of Club 57 (featuring, among others, Keith Haring), circa 1980 FRIDAY NIGHT FEVER To get you in the mood for the weekend, every other Friday 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.… Read More
Seventy years ago, one of the strangest displays of American progress ever organized opened its doors in Flushing Meadows, Queens — the 1939-40 World’s Fair. This celebration of human advancement — as demonstrated through miles of utopian kitsch and strikingly bizarre architecture — was a reason for Robert Moses to turn the unsightly Corona Ash… Read More