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New Amsterdam

Building The Wall: How Wall Street got its name

One of the first facts you learn as a student of New York City history is that Wall Street, that canyon of tall buildings and center of the American financial world, is named for an actual wall that once stretched along this very spot during the days of the Dutch when New York was known… Read More

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Podcasts Revolutionary History

New York: The first federal capital and birthplace of the Bill of Rights

PODCAST Part Two of our two-part series on New York City in the years following the Revolutionary War. During a handful of months in 1789 and 1790, representatives of the new nation of the United States came together in New York City to make decisions which would forever affect the lives of Americans. Related: Listen… Read More

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Writers and Artists

Happy birthday Langston Hughes! A few stops in Harlem to celebrate

Since I was a teenager, I’ve had an affinity for writer Langston Hughes, the revolutionary jazz poet who was born 115 years ago today in 1902. I grew up in Springfield, Mo., about an hour away from Langston’s birthplace in Joplin. One of the brightest lights of the Harlem Renaissance grew up here?, I frequently pondered in English class.… Read More

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The First

This Morbid Invention: The Terrible Story of the First Electric Chair

THE FIRST PODCAST The story of how electricity became a tool of death for the state of New York and the strange circumstances behind the invention of the electric chair. The harnessing of electricity by the great inventors of the Gilded Age introduced the world to the miracle of light at all hours of the day.… Read More

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The Bowery Boys 10th Anniversary

Celebrate the Bowery Boys’ 10th anniversary at 2017 NYC Podfest

The first episode of the Bowery Boys: New York City History podcast came out in the middle of June 2007.  Yes, we’ve been doing this for almost ten years. 220 episodes and going strong! We will be doing some very special things starting this spring in recognition of our tenth year of recording the show. And… Read More

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Adventures In Old New York

Cheers to the Free and Independent Republic of Greenwich Village!

There’s a spiral staircase inside the western half of the Washington Square Arch, which grants access to the rooftop and fabulous views straight up Fifth Avenue. Public entrance is prohibited, of course, although that didn’t stop six fearless malcontents (including the artists Marcel Duchamp and John Sloan) from breaking in to declare a bohemian revolution late… Read More

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American History Podcasts

New York City and the Inauguration of George Washington

PODCAST Part One of our two-part series on New York City in the years following the Revolutionary War. The story of New York City’s role in the birth of American government is sometimes forgotten. Most of the buildings important to the first U.S. Congress, which met here from the spring of 1789 to the late… Read More

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Bowery Boys Bookshelf Landmarks

Courting New York’s Legal Landmarks

Civic buildings are often beautiful architecture in plain sight. Their uniformity — many rendered in classical styles — often finds them less appreciated than other forms of urban architecture. In a city like New York, skyscrapers, hotels and brownstones are more likely to get the attention of camera-wielding tourists over courthouses. After all, doesn’t every… Read More

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Revolutionary History

The Old Swamp Church and the story of the first Speaker of the House

Here’s some old fashioned New York City trivia for you — There’s never been a Speaker of the House from the city of New York, although there have been a couple from New York state –  the otherwise unremarkable John W. Taylor, an upstate New Yorker from the Saratoga region, in 1820-21; and a central New York representative,… Read More

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Pop Culture

Documentaries to see: The Witness, Tower, O.J. Made In America and more

A few weeks before they announce nominations for the Academy Awards, they release a ‘short list’ of films that are being considered for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Even if you don’t care about the Academy Awards — or the general self-congratulatory nature of Hollywood during this of year — the short list is an… Read More

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The First

The Cow and the Country Boy: The Story of the First Vaccine (The First)

THE FIRST PODCAST   Once upon a time there was a country doctor with a love of birds, a milkmaid with translucent skin, an eight-year-old boy with no idea what he’s in for and a wonderful cow that holds the secret to human immunity. This is the story of the first vaccine, perhaps one of the greatest inventions… Read More

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Bowery Boys The First

The First: New and Noteworthy on iTunes!

The Bowery Boys spin-off podcast series The First: Stories of Inventions and their Consequences has been featured on iTunes podcast page for the past couple weeks as a new and noteworthy selection. We thank them for their support of both The First and the Bowery Boys! The First returns with a brand new episode this… Read More

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Planes Trains and Automobiles

A Brief History of Subway Cinema

Decades in the making, the Second Avenue Subway finally opened to the public this week, its glimmering new stations at 72nd, 86th, and 96th Streets heralded with the pomp and circumstance of a movie premiere. Of course, the subway doesn’t immediately come to mind as a photogenic movie star, but in fact, the various tunnels and… Read More

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Preservation

Presenting The 3rd Annual GANYC Apple Awards Nominees

The Guides Association of New York City (or GANYC), founded in 1974, brings together the finest independent, professional tour guides in the city.  And since 2015 they have presented awards to the community, “honoring individuals and organizations that encourage and promote New York City tourism, culture and preservation while supporting the work and contributions of… Read More

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Amusements and Thrills

Diva in Danger: A Manhattan movie studio burns 100 years ago today

Over one hundred years ago, the New York City area (its five boroughs, along with areas in New Jersey and Westchester County) was the undisputed center of the American film industry. The invention of the movie camera and celluloid film processing — revolutionized by Thomas Edison and many others — seamlessly collided with the city’s thriving… Read More