The Bowery Boys: New York City History
Holiday traditions in Manhattan are of course known the world over, from the lights of Park Avenue to the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. But they lack that human touch, spun from wealthy corporations and honored tradition. Which is what makes Dyker Height’s annual lighting spectacular (festival? competition? freakshow?) so fascinating. It’s Brooklyn’s biggest holiday event,… Read More
Above: Prospect Park becomes a winter wonderland back in January 7, 1886 The man’s name is George Winslow. The only thing I can find out about him is that he lived in Bay Ridge and was a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic. The photographer, Wallace G. Levison, also took some shots of his mother in the… Read More
Staten Island Historians Piece Together Genealogy Of Wu-Tang Clan “NEW YORK—In what many are calling the most comprehensive study of its kind, Staten Island historians Robert Wilburn and Charles Tinsley have successfully traced the lines of the infamous Wu-Tang Clan all the way back to 1993 A.D…..” [The Onion]
ABOVE: Under the FDR on the East River, late in the day (Click for larger view) What will the East Village do without Love Will Save The Day, the charming vintage store immortalized in Desperately Seeking Susan? [Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York] Did you celebrate Repeal Day yesterday? New York speakeasies finally go legit. [Patell and… Read More
A podcast that’s “very Saks Fifth Avenue,” we get to the origins of the famous upscale retailer, follow its path from Washington D.C. to Heralds Square and then to “the most expensive street in the world,” and tell you a little about a glamorous milliner. Listen to it for free on iTunes or other podcasting… Read More
The blocks just south of Herald Square are pretty grim. Malls full of chain stores, bland electronic store fronts and fast food restaurants disguise a once vibrant shopping outpost, as department-store competitors of Macy’s flocked to the neighborhood in the early part of the 20th century. One strange vestige of this retail nostalgia still exists,… Read More
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 be found HERE. Sometimes a movie can tell… Read More
Harvey Milk in high school (Bay Shore, Long Island, to be exact). Picture courtesy of Brother Brian Judging from the lines at the movie theater, New Yorkers had a little Milk with their turkey over the holiday weekend. It made $1.8 million in five days, almost a quarter of that just from eight New York… Read More
For one Pilgrim, Thanksgiving never ends. Standing near the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park is Manhattan’s tribute to the original European settlers, a solitary pilgrim upon a hill (Pilgrim’s Hill, to be exact) looking as though he’s made a wrong turn. The Pilgrim made its debut in Central Park in 1885, long after Frederick Law… Read More
Above: The parade in the 1930s was a veritable freakshow of oddball balloon creatures Not every balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade latches on to your memories like Underdog, Charlie Brown and Snoopy do. Below are a few examples of Macy’s stranger offerings over the years: This Thing (Turkey?) 1932I swear, if I saw… Read More
George dusts his shoulders off and re-enters New York Today, November 25th, is the anniversary of the day when the British officially fled New York City after occupying the city for years during the Revolutionary War. For years after, New Yorkers celebrating this day by shimmying up a greased flagpole in Battery Park. I have… Read More
Some New York neighborhoods are simply named for their location on a map (East Village, Midtown). Others are given prefabricated real-estate designations (SoHo, DUMBO). But a few retain names that link them intimately with their pasts. Other entries in this series can be found here. For all the New York City neighborhoods with wonderful old… Read More
The Bowery of 1923, its livelihood segregated from the street by elevated railways. This is our “potpourri” episode with a little bit of everything in it. We open up some of our favorite readers mail, we take you behind the scenes of how we put together an episode, and we describe three of our very… Read More
If you’re one of those history geeks that get a joyous chill from raw data, charts and lists, then the Almanac of New York, by Kenneth T. Jackson and Fred Kameny, will enthrall you for hours. It’s a strange collection of information on New Yorkers, outlining their livelihood, cultural predilections and electoral choices in a… Read More
Caruso, wearing the big white turban, during the 1916-17 performance at the Met The Plaza Hotel might have been built on the fortunes of a barbed-wire magnate, but its continued existence throughout the years partially stems from its popularity amongst the bold-print set. Celebrities, however, come with a drawback. Along with their famous name and… Read More