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History in the making – 2/16

Fred W. McDarrah’s photograph of Robert F Kennedy touring a Lower East Side tenement on May 8, 1967, a year before his assassination. He was there visiting the apartment once inhabited by a young Jacob Javits, the New York Senator born to Russian Jewish parents who spent his childhood in the Lower East Side. What… Read More

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Podcasts

PODCAST: Katz’s Delicatessen

We stop for a nosh at three Jewish culinary stalwarts of the Lower East Side — Katz’s Delicatessen (a movie-friendly dining experience), Russ and Daughters (a tale of herrings and girl power) and the Yonah Schimmel Knishery (and its surprising connection to Coney Island). Listen to it here or download it from iTunes and other… Read More

The Pickle Civil War!

It’s odd to hear people speak passionately about pickles, as if they’re a lifestyle. But that’s how people talk about Guss Pickles, the self-proclaimed ‘largest pickle emporium in the world’ and an institution of the Lower East Side since 1910. But as you shall see, those calling themselves the ‘largest’ and that store currently sitting… Read More

Who let the dogs in?

Here’s a look at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show from exactly 100 years ago. The Saint Bernard pictured is named Uncle Sam. For a look even further back, here’s a New York Times article from 1904 regarding a Bronx Kennel Club dog show. It too features Uncle Sam (most likely the same dog). Despite… Read More

‘Most Wanted’: Robert Moses vs. Andy Warhol

Above: a hilariously hideous Robert Moses mosaic, on the sidewalk at Flushing Meadows Robert Moses wanted the World’s Fair of 1964 in Flushing Meadows to be a family affair with little controversial material. Not surprisingly this meant few displays for American art. So how did an Andy Warhol mural get plastered on the New York… Read More

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Amusements and Thrills Podcasts

PODCAST: The New York World’s Fair of 1964-65

Come with us as we jettison ourselves into the future as it was seen in the past — namely the 1964-65 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens. Fans of Robert Moses, 1960s space-age optimism and really, really large tires should take special note to listen. Listen to it HERE: The Johnson Wax Pavilion, surrounded in… Read More

Beyond Park Avenue: NYC’s biggest parklands

And now for something that may surprise you — the top five largest parks in New York City, according to the New York Department of Parks & Recreation: 5. Central Park It seems unfathomable that Central Park isn’t number one. And downright impossible that it’s number FIVE in all the city. In truth the Olmstead-designed… Read More

New York’s love affair with ticker tape

Above: Golfer Bobby Jones assailed with wild strings of paper Whenever New Yorkers get really, really excited about something — as we are this week with the thrilling victory of the New York Giants over the New England Patriots — we like to take serpentine strips of paper and throw them out a window, primarily… Read More

Oh, and P.S….

We didnt have time in last week’s show to mention the Museum of Modern Art’s little cousin in Queens, the P.S. 1 Contemporary Arts Center. One of the most interesting art spaces in the entire city, P.S. 1 is MoMA’s hipper outlet, allowing a creative variety of exhibitions and even throwing in a dance party… Read More

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Podcasts

PODCAST: The Museum of Modern Art

Above: Guests admire a strange piece by Martin Puryear The biggest surprise behind the revolutionary creation of the Museum of Modern Art is that the characters who put it together were almost as colorful as the modern art they championed. Tag along as we peek behind the canvas of New York’s oldest temple of avant… Read More

Rockefeller Center’s greatest art scandals!

Above: Diego Rivera’s contentious creation Despite JD Rockefeller Jr’s aversion to the ‘impropriety’ of modern art, Rockefeller Center has always been bursting with it, from the large outdoor installations sprouting up in the plaza to the gorgeous art deco blazing from its walls. As with modern art for public display however, the Rock has sometimes… Read More

A brief history of New York Giants

I’ve had a couple emails asking us to do a New York Giants podcast this week. Oh, had I known! We would have planned one. However, by the end of next month, we will unveil another major sports-themed podcast. In the meantime, here’s a few New York Giants’ non-statistical, history-related factoids to chew on and… Read More

Park Avenue’s stylish slaughterhouse

The Lever House at 390 Park Avenue, along with the United Nations building, ushered in New York’s obsession with the International Style of architecture in the 40s and 50s — clean and blocky thin glass icons in the sky. It’s no surprise to find the building was built in 1952 for a soap manufacturer, the… Read More

Jenny Lind sings again

It’s been over 150 years since ‘Swedish Nightingale’ Jenny Lind’s now-legendary concert performance at Castle Garden in September 11, 1850. (Listen to last week’s podcast for the full scoop.) But visitors to Battery Park on their way to the Statue of Liberty and elsewhere can catch a glimpse of a curious tribute to the songstress.… Read More

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History in the making – 1/26

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, as it looked in 1903, before its additions. (And the picture below is from another angle and another year — 1905) Source: Library of Congress via pingnews. Maybe walk your dog elsewhere Skeletons found in Washington Square Park [The City Room] Renwick Ruins no closer to being un-ruined Beaureacracy theatens… Read More