The Bowery Boys: New York City History
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
Above: a cartoon mocking Edson’s hiring practices (courtesy New York Public Library Digital Gallery) KNOW YOUR MAYORS Our modest little series about some of the greatest, notorious, most important, even most useless, mayors of New York City. Other entrants in our mayoral survey can be found here. Mayor Franklin Edson In office: 1883-1884 Although the… Read More
Steeplechase Park in the old days With the nice weather, I was in a very Coney Island state of mind this past weekend. So I was happy to learn this week’s podcast topic has its own connection to the amusement capital’s glory days. There’s a black rod-iron fence that encircles the Puck Building, a rather… Read More
A 6-foot plump gold impish figure stares down as you look up to observe the gorgeous red-brick design of the Puck Building, built for one of the 19th century’s most popular illustrated publications. But this architectural masterpiece was very nearly wiped away by a sudden decision by the city. How did it survive? Puck’s utterance… Read More
The cartoon below is from Puck Magazine, published in 1893. I believe this is a criticism of the ‘manliness’ of women’s fashions in the 1890s, but I suppose it also works on an additional level as a 19th century indictment of gay marriage. The caption: Justice of the Peace (somewhat near-sighted): ‘Want to be married?… Read More
The Concourse in 1966 (pic courtesy the Museum) The wide boulevard known as the Grand Concourse, turns 100 this year, and the Bronx Museum celebrates with Intersection: The Grand Concourse Beyond 100, part history lesson, part community outreach looking to revitalize and rethink the borough’s most prominent street for a new century. The Concourse was… Read More
Our trivia night last fall, brought to you in association with the Municipal Art Society, was such a wild success that we’re bringing you some new rounds in a new location! The Bowery Boys are your masters of ceremony for the second lively MAS evening of New York City trivia: history, architecture, culture, and more.… Read More
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 entries can be found HERE. Charlie Parker was the king of the jazz scene,… Read More
The first Yankee Stadium, all shiny and new in 1923 Today is opening day at the new high-tech Yankees Stadium as Derek Jeter and crew get used to that new stadium smell while fending off the Cleveland Indians. And legendary Yankees catcher and manager Yogi Berra, who turns 84 this year, will be there to… Read More
Four hundred years ago, on September 12, Henry Hudson sailed into New York harbor and casually discovered the island of Mannahatta, the future home of New Amsterdam, Wall Street, and the New York Yankees. Two hundred years later, ferry mogul Robert Fulton patented the steamboat, an engineering marvel he perfected, but did not invent. Fulton,… Read More
The late-night scene at Subway Bowling Alley in Brooklyn, in 1910. Take a look here for a brief history of Manhattan bowling alleys. By the way, Bowling Green in Manhattan? Yeah, they originally bowled there. Pic courtesy Library of Congress PS — The caption indicates the bowling alley was at 65 South St. in Brooklyn.… Read More