The Bowery Boys: New York City History
Director Jules Dassin died this week. He just happened to direct a film I wrote about a few weeks ago — The Naked City — featuring one of the most extensive on-location New York shoots of almost any film before 1960. Now you have no excuse not to go rent it this weekend! HE’S SHOT… Read More
Extra! Extra! Scandal Sheet Revealed To Be Started By Founding Father! New York Post May Be Responsible For Central Park! Rupert Murdoch Property Was Once A Nest of Liberal Sympathizers! PLUS: Was there really a “headless body” in a “topless bar”? Listen to it for free on iTunes or other podcasting services. Or you can… Read More
The Trinity Church grave marker of William Bradford, publisher of the New York Gazette. Dusting off the cobwebs of your high school history curriculum, you might remember the tale of John Peter Zenger, the publisher of the New York Weekly Journal whose libel trial in 1735 marked the beginning of the American discussion of freedom… Read More
Is there an image of old New York that better captures the era than a scrappy young newsboy shouting EXTRA! on a street corner? Sadly the only newsies today are those glum middle-aged ladies and older men who pass out the AM New York free newspapers. They’re nothing like the newsies of old, full of… Read More
One final note on Union Square — and namely, its newest addition, the statue of Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi (‘Mahatma’ or great soul). Although his statuary companions in the park George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette and Abraham Lincoln all have symbolic ties to freedom and revolution, Gandhi is the only inclusion that links directly… Read More
This former English-garden style park became the heart of protest and the labor movement. Join the Bowery Boys as we dig into the history of Union Square, from Book Row to Klein’s. Listen to it for free on iTunes or other podcasting services. Or you can download or listen to it HERE An old view… Read More
Some architectural monstrosities just beg to be ripped upon. Topping this list is One Union Square South, a bland 33-story structure and pioneer in the mall-ification of Union Square. Although its storefronts feature a Circuit City and a dying Virgin Mega-store, One Union Square South is defined by a piece of public art that has… Read More
Say what you will about Barnes and Noble. They’ve destroyed the small bookstore. They’ve homogenized the reading experience. Kelly green makes you nauseous. But at least they have great taste in buildings. My favorite building around Union Square is 33 East 17th Street, the glorious landmarked Century Building, built in 1881 with rustic Queen Anne… Read More
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. And now we come to one of New York’s most notorious, absolutely in the top 10% of the most corrupt mayors ever in our fair… Read More
At the end of the 2008 season, the Yankees will pack up their things and move across the street to their new stadium. The bronze plaques and memorials of Monument Park will also make the move across. Yet there is one more unusual memorial at the stadium the fate is which is undetermined. It’s nowhere… Read More
Above: new Yankee Stadium We’d like to give a big thank you to Kevin Walsh for giving us a generous shout-out on his site Forgotten NY. Most of you I’m sure are familiar with this great site, the ultimate investigative New York history site that specializes in the unique and sometimes unknown corners of the… Read More
Get ready for nine innings (or 30 minutes) of the greatest sports team ever — the New York Yankees. Hear about their modest beginnings, their best players, and the fate of Yankee Stadium, their home for 85 years. (And I apologize in advance for this week’s echo-y sound…had some difficulty with one of my directional… Read More
Before they went by their better known name — and before they were any good — the team that would become ‘the Yankees’ were known as the Highlanders, from 1903-1913. The name played to a couple dated references. The team captain was named Joseph Gordon, and the name referenced a British military outfit named Gordon’s… Read More
Most small community colleges feature a statue or two honoring somebody specifically related to the campus. Even massive schools could invite their monuments over for a small dinner and have room for you and your friend from out of town. Bronx Community College would need a fairly large banquet hall. This school in University Heights,… Read More
Some New York neighborhoods are simply named for their location on a map (East Village, Midtown). Others are given prefabricated designations (SoHo, Dumbo). But a few retain names that link them intimately with their pasts. Other entries in this series can be found here. The Bronx is one of two boroughs with names derived from… Read More