The Bowery Boys: New York City History
Has an internationally famous monument ever had to endure such grave indignities as the Discus Thrower of Randall’s Island? Scandal! Nothing proclaims the revitalization of Randall’s Island more than this distinctive, classically inspired statue by Greek sculptor Kostas Dimitriadis. The Discus Thrower is the most graphic symbol of the changing island and a hallmark of… Read More
PODCAST The smaller islands of the East River reveal fascinating secrets of the city’s past, and Randall’s and Ward’s Islands are no exceptions. Found out how these former potter’s fields are related to the most important Olympics-related event New York City has ever seen. The cast includes a swashbuckling British engineer, Jesse Owens, Tony Bennett,… Read More
I’ve never quite understood the Ward’s Island Footbridge which sits at the mouth of the Harlem River like a half-finished child-sized model of an actual bridge. It’s intriguing, mystifying and quaint, rather like some rusting antique in a flea market. This bridge, with its entrance at 103rd street, connects Manhattan to Ward’s Island. Why would… 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. Thirty-five years ago, the future… Read More
McGown’s Pass Tavern (date unknown, but possibly around 1913 We’re finally moving on from Central Park, but not before observing perhaps its most historically significant area — McGown’s Pass and the Block House. Located on the northern portion of the park, next to the charming Harlem Meer, are a collection of hills and bluffs left… Read More
When last we left the Park, it was the embodiment of Olmstead and Vaux’s naturalistic Greensward Plan. Then the skyscrapers came. Also, how did all those playgrounds, a swanky nightclub, a theater troupe and all those hippies get here? Listen to it for free on iTunes or other podcasting services. Or you can download or… Read More
Don’t accept a gift unless you’re pretty sure you’re going to use it. That’s the lesson the city learned after the fiasco involving the jazz-age Naumburg bandshell, which sits proud and empty overlooking the Central Park mall thanks to some tenacious descendants of the man who donated it, Elkan Naumburg. Proper sorts of concerts were… Read More
Over 15,000 Irish Americans gathered in Jones Wood in 1856, to greet countryman James Stephen Once upon a time, back when Fifth Avenue was a dirt path and Bloomingdale was literally a blooming dale, there stood a haunted and most mysterious forest located on bluffs overlooking the East River, far east of the area today… Read More
Carousels aren’t really for kids anymore. Sure, you won’t see many adults truly captivated by the process of mounting a wooden animal and twirling in a circle. But well-preserved models of the famous amusements are nostalgia goldmines; tinkling calliope music and a few flashing light bulbs can sometimes capture a by-gone era more than a… Read More
Above: Central Park’s first recreation was ice skating, almost as soon as the lake was completed in 1858. The Dakota Apartments look like a ski resort. Come with us to the beginnings of New York’s most popular and most ambitious park — from the inkling of an idea to the arduous construction. Learn who got… Read More
Above: the grotesque face of Mother Goose in Central Park. What did she ever do to deserve her own statue? While mulling over the list of famous people great and small depicted in Central Park sculpture — Ludwig van Beethoven! Duke Ellington! Alexander Hamilton! — I was reminded of one curious and well-known fact: Not… Read More
Hallack reclines under the leafy Central Park mall Frederick Law Olmsted would have preferred Central Park have no sculptures, yet almost from the moment the park opened, monuments to the great men of the day began sprouting up. Yet for every William Shakespeare and Christopher Columbus, there are an equal number of completely forgotten individuals,… Read More
No regular post today, just a shot I took of the East River a couple weeks ago when it was strangely overcast at around 3pm, and the suns reflection on the water turned it green, giving it an unnatural feel and the Brooklyn Bridge a toyish quality. (Click to make bigger)
Some of the most interesting buildings in New Yorks are the triangular ones, those that sit at the intersection of diagonal streets that cut through the grid system. The Silas C. Herring Lock and Safe Company Building, more affectionately known as the L’il Flatiron Building or simply the Triangle Building, is probably the ‘cutest’ example… Read More
Above: Marilyn and Truman maintain their composure at the Peppermint Lounge, an early 60s dance hole that frequently scoffed at fire codes Time Out’s cover story last week features places and events where a New Yorker can still go and dance. Very nice try. Dancing in a public place can be akin to performing an… Read More