The Bowery Boys: New York City History
The Renwick Ruin, resembling an ancient castle lost to time, appears along the East River as a crumbling, medieval-like apparition, something not quite believable. Sitting between two new additions on Roosevelt Island — the campus of Cornell Tech and FDR Four Freedoms Park — these captivating ruins, enrobed in beautiful ivy, tell the story of… Read More
Welfare Island (once the more enticingly named Blackwell’s Island) was New York’s depository of human services, once a dour place of horrifying asylums and miserable workhouses. In the 1960s Mayor John Lindsay was preparing to revitalize the East River island with new housing and increased support for the hospitals there. Architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee… Read More
The Bowery Boys Road Trip to the Hudson Valley mini-series, exploring stories of American history along the Hudson River, is now complete. Catch up on all three episodes — and join us on Patreon for a special ‘behind the scenes’ episode: On the Trail of the Croton Aqueduct Welcome to the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail, 26.5… Read More
When a terrible fire swept through lower Manhattan on the late evening of December 16, 1835, and into the morning, many believed the city would never recover. As we’ve spoken about in our podcast on the subject, “the massive fire, among the worst in American history in terms of its economic impact, devastated the city … destroying… Read More
PODCAST: Two landmarks to American art history sit on either side of the Rip Van Winkle Bridge over the Hudson River — the homes of visionary artists Thomas Cole and Frederic Edwin Church. Cole and Church were leaders of the Hudson River School, a collective of 19th century American painters captivated by natural beauty and… Read More
PODCAST Hyde Park, New York was the home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States. He was born here, he lived here throughout his life, and he’s buried here — alongside his wife Eleanor Roosevelt. But it was more than simply a home. The Hyde Park presence of the Roosevelts expands… Read More
The Met Gala is the most outrageously glamorous event in New York City, a fundraising benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute that also serves as a kickoff party for the museum’s annual costume exhibition. This year’s theme is “Gilded Glamour” so expect some genuine throwback costumery and lots of expensive baubles. (The Gilded Gentleman, sadly, will… Read More
The fascinating story of Grant’s Tomb — and a quirky history that includes an ambitious architect, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, lots of ugly raspberry paint, and strange charges of animal sacrifice. The history of Grant’s Tomb plays an important role in the story of Riverside Park (released in 2018). Listen… Read More
What 19th century American engineering landmark invites you through nature, past historic sites and into people’s backyards? Where can you experience the grandeur of the Hudson Valley in (mostly) secluded peace and tranquility — while learning something about Old New York? Welcome to the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail, 26.5 miles of dusty pathway through some… Read More
Westchester County contains some of the most interesting and historic sites in New York State — from Glen Island and Rye Playland along the Long Island Sound to the charming belt of villages nestled along the banks of the Hudson River. Until the late 19th century, Westchester was most often defined by its rural charms,… Read More
People have schemed to put a bridge over the Hudson River for well over two hundred years. That task would prove most difficult to those in Manhattan, given the distance between its shores and those of New Jersey. After several failed proposals, the two were linked with the Pennsylvania Railroad tunnels (1910), the Holland Tunnel… Read More
Load up the cooler and crank up the tunes, because the Bowery Boys Podcast is heading back on the road! Presenting a NEW three part podcast series, exploring three historic places outside of New York City. Last year we hit the expressway to visit three spots on Long Island — the Gold Coast, Jones Beach… Read More
Over fifteen hundred people died the night the Titanic sank, April 14-15, 1912. The early reports from the New York newspapers, of course, spent their time mourning the city’s most connected figures to society. Even from some of the most obsessive sources on the Titanic, the details on the lives of dozens of men and… Read More
THE GILDED GENTLEMAN PODCAST As writer Edith Wharton began to spend more and more time in Paris during the early years of the 1900s, she made the acquaintance of the American journalist Morton Fullerton. Their meeting grew into a passionate and complicated love affair combining joy and emotional pain. Still, the affair led Wharton to some of… Read More
PODCAST Frederick Law Olmsted, America’s preeminent landscape architect of the 19th century, designed dozens of parks, parkways and college campuses across the country. With Calvert Vaux, he created two of New York City’s greatest parks — Central Park and Prospect Park. Yet before Central Park, he had never worked on any significant landscape project and… Read More