The Bowery Boys: New York City History
(Above: a boy delivers some very heavy looking hats through the city, circa 1910) Most photographers document history, but few actually change it. Lewis W. Hine entered the brand new field of photojournalism during the first decade of the new century but quickly found a use for it in social reform, particularly in documenting (and… Read More
Her torch may shine bright, but what story is she hiding under that copper-toned skin? The Bowery Boys bring you the story of the dinner party that created an American icon. Her official name is the Statue of Liberty Enlightening The World. You can find a full survey of her measures here. Two facts… Read More
Tomorrow’s podcast will intersect with the shiploads of European immigrants arriving into New York harbor, many as anxious to seek fortunes in the new world as they were to escape the drear misfortunes of the lands they just left. A 10 year old boy named Marcus Rothkovich was aboard a ship docking at Ellis Island… Read More
As you can tell from this lithograph of the Worth Monument dedication in 1857, it predates most of the development that surrounds it today. (NYPL) Few Americans have been so honored by their country that their remains have been buried in the middle of the most famous street in America in their own personal cemetery.… Read More
ABOVE: A detail from Childs Restaurant, on the boardwalk at Coney Island Never fear, it looks good that Astroland will be returning next year.[Lost City] But wha-wha-what? Will it really cost $200 million to fix the boardwalk?[Gowanus Lounge] Should four year olds be allowed to pee in the streets of New York without harrassment?
To get you in the mood for the weekend, every Friday we’ll be celebrating ‘FRIDAY NIGHT FEVER’, featuring an old New York nightlife haunt, from the dance halls of 19th Century Bowery, to the massive warehouse spaces of the mid-90s. Past entries can be found here . For a change, I thought I’d feature a… Read More
Harlem’s jewel, the Apollo Theater, has more than lived up to its promise as a place “where stars are born and legends are made.” It’s been the cultural centerpiece of New York for more than seven decades, not bad for a former burlesque theater. And find out which icon made his name — and held… Read More
It’s the first day of school for some freshmen at City College of New York. President Gregory H. Williams speaks to the newbees today at the gorgeous Great Hall on the Harlem campus. What else will greet the new freshmen: almost six hundred ‘grotesques’ which decorate the corners of all the classical neo-Gothic halls. The… Read More
We normally put up our new podcasts on Wednesday morning. However I am sick and completely lost my voice. I would do the podcast in sign language if I could, but well, I dont know sign language either. Either we’ll be back up with a new one on Thursday morning. Thanks for listening! -Greg
The well from which the San Gennaro Festival draws its zany carnival energy is surprisingly the church which sits its center, the birthplace of the first U.S. San Gennaro feast, at the Church of the Most Precious Blood, between Baxter and Mulberry in Little Italy. The ‘Most Precious Blood’ in this case refers not only… Read More
Every year for the past 80 years, Mulberry Street in Little Italy becomes a wacky religious carnival. Why the San Gennaro Festival — with its mixture of saintly reliquary, frozen daquaris, freak shows and clowns — isn’t considered profane and condemned by the Catholic Church is a mystery to me. All I know is that… Read More
ABOVE: Inside the main hall at the Alexander Hamilton Custom House (standing in the very spot where Fort Amsterdam stood) New Amsterdam in 1660 vs downtown Manhattan today — the Yahoo comparison[Yahoo Maps] A Seinfeld landmark — and one of Sinatra’s favorite late night spots — fades into memory[NY Times] [Gothamist] Radio Row — the… Read More
As often happens in the blogosphere, seemingly unimportant events get parceled about with declarations that don’t really mean much. For instance, the announcement yesterday that a new bowling alley was opening in Brooklyn — the first to open there in nearly 50 years! — disguises the fact that there are already a few bowling alleys… Read More
Back when New York was New Amsterdam, it was the domain of the bullheaded, pear-growing, peglegged Peter Stuyvesant, who cleaned up the city and gave us our most important street. Find out why he still matters and why he’s the king of the East Village. Listen to it for free on iTunes or other podcasting… Read More
I wasn’t sure what kind of entry to post today, so I figured it might be interesting for some of you to read an excerpt from the letter I wrote my family and friends back home on Sept 15, 2001. (The day I got back my Internet service, which had been knocked out.) I lived… Read More