The Bowery Boys: New York City History
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
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
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
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
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
Take a stroll through southern Manhattan’s Battery Park and Castle Clinton. Listen to it for free on iTunes or other podcasting services. Or you can download or listen to it HERE A famous depiction in its own right, this is of Jenny Lind inside the Castle Garden auditorium: Castle Clinton as Emigrant Depot Castle Clinton… Read More
We really shouldn’t demonize Robert Moses as we do — he did give the city so many marvelous things — but you hear about one of his schemes that almost came to fruition and you just want to cry. This time around, I’m referring to the Brooklyn-Battery Bridge, a potential catastrophic project Moses cooked up… Read More
Say it isn’t so! According to Gothamist, the city has finally decided to do something about Pier A in Battery Park, that beautiful, jutting bit of nostalgia sitting negligent just feet from the water taxis to the Statue of Liberty. Its not difficult to picture the pier as it once was, and as it could… Read More
Before we leave Cooper Union, I thought I was draw your attention a rather controversial decision they’ve made in the past few years that has marred an institution of Astor Place — the Carl Fischer note clock. Carl Fischer, still a leader in printed sheet music, began as a tiny musical instrument store on East… Read More
Cooper Union is one of New York City’s more storied institutions, not only fostering the best and brightest of art and architecture, but playing host to presidents and activists. Also, find out a little about its amazingly resourceful founder Peter Cooper Listen to it for free on iTunes or other podcasting services. Or you can… 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. Abram Hewitt could easily be considered a very pivotal mayor in New York City, given the significant development and personal connections he had to the… Read More
Staten Island may have its Fresh Kills, but Brooklyn has its fair share of gore. Or gores, rather. If I were to tell you that there was a large gore on Orient Avenue in east Williamsburg, and that it was the former location of a famous glue factory, oh I can just imagine the thoughts… Read More
Before I forgot, I just wanted to throw on a few more Brooklyn Bridge resources, some of which we used for our podcast this week. Foremost, we started with probably one of the top ten greatest books about New York City — namely David McCullough’s indispensable The Great Bridge. The author of 1776, Truman, and… Read More
Ugh! The City Room reports a crisis on Roosevelt Island for its most dramatic landmark, the Renwick Ruins. The remains of Blackwell Island’s smallpox hospital are to be the centerpiece to the Roosevelt’s new Southpoint Park. However last week, part of the north wall completely crumbled to the ground. Plans to stabilize the ruin, which… Read More
The Bowery Boys explore the story and the family behind the Brooklyn Bridge, one of New York’s most treasured landmarks. Plus: Looking to get really close with the Brooklyn Bridge? Take one of our Brooklyn Bridge Walking Tours, with the Great Great Grandson of Washington and Emily Roebling, Kriss Roebling! The walkway in 1894…. ….and… Read More