Just in case you’re sick of reading ’25 Random Things’ lists on Facebook, feel free to post this tally of 19th and early 20th century bar owners and criminals in retaliation. 1 Boiled Oysters Malloy (owner of the Ruins saloon)2 Dan the Dude (owner of Stag Cafe)3 Will Fox (piano player at Gombossy’s Crystal Palice,… Read More
Patrick Henry McCarren — best known today for leaving his last name to a park and a swimming pool — was a complicated figure, so it makes sense he should be considered a sort of godfather to a rather complicated neighborhood like Williamsburg. McCarren became the voice of Greenpoint and Williamsburg at a pivotal time… Read More
Washington Square Park, in a 1910 painting by William Glackens While perusing some archive New York Times articles in preparation for this week’s podcast, I came across this unusual piece from May 12, 1892, recounting the futile search for a “maliciously mischievous fellow whom the police want,” a felonious fop tripping ladies in Washington Square… Read More
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PODCAST: Williamsburg(h), Brooklyn
Williamsburg used to have an H at the end of its name, not to mention dozens of major industries that once made it the tenth wealthiest place in the world. How did Williamsburgh become a haven for New York’s most well-known factories and then become Williamsburg, home to such wildly diverse communities — Hispanic, Hasidic… Read More
One ingenious Brooklyn inventor came up with this rather fashion-forward way of beating the cold weather, in an article which ran in a 1876 issue of Scientific American magazine. This “patented…neck, ear, and throat protector” will keep those extremities toasty while allowing “free use of a hat or cap.” Oh, to have seen an actual… Read More
Laura is disturbed “I’m completely out of control!” BOWERY BOYS RECOMMEND is an occasional feature where we find an unusual movie or TV show that — whether by accident or design — uniquely captures an era of New York City better than any reference or history book. Other entrants in this particular film festival can… Read More
Photgraphed by Leonard Mccombe, courtesy Life archives
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. As we cap a historical week for our nation, it seems appropriate to take a brief look at New York City’s own first African-American leader,… Read More
On January 31 1857, the body of dentist Harvey Burdell was found mangled on the floor of his suite at 31 Bond Street. In Benjamin Feldman’s look at the murder and its famous trial, ‘Butchery on Bond Street‘ he uncovers so many potential suspects that entire episodes of ‘Murder She Wrote’ could be scripted from… Read More
Between Obama’s inauguration and Martin Luther King’s birthday, it’s hard not to look back with appreciation at prior figures in African-American history who got us to this moment. Of all of them, the one I’d like to have dinner with the most, on this eve of American history, would have to be the very first… Read More
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PODCAST: Ziegfeld!
Cue the dancing girls, lower the props, raise the curtain — we’re taking on Broadway’s most famous producer, Florenz Ziegfeld! We give you a brief overview of the first days of Broadway, then sweep into Ziegfeld’s life — from his early successes (both professional and personal) to his famous Follies. And find out how the… Read More
Imagine a Steve Madden shoe store in Times Square erecting a grand new palace to footwear, and atop its banner they decided to welcome its patrons and the throngs of Broadway theater goers passing by with sculptural likenesses of Angela Lansbury, Audra McDonald, Idina Menzel, and Julia Roberts. That absurd theater dream actually happened —… Read More
Obama’s inauguration next Tuesday will closely adhere to the traditions of many presidents past, but with some serious leanings towards that other Illinois president Abraham Lincoln. But as ostentasious as some his plans seem — even eating foods that Abe might have noshed on — it can’t possibly top the ‘hope and change’ of the… Read More
A view of a work in progress, January 1909 (Click for greater detail)
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. Perhaps no mayor of New York City this side of Fiorello Laguardia has ever overseen so drastic a change to the landscape of the city… Read More