The Bowery Boys: New York City History
PODCAST REWINDÂ Originally a quiet island of orchards and stone quarries, the place we call Roosevelt Island today was once New York’s ‘city of asylums’, the place where it sent its infirm, its incarcerated, its insane. Today it has the peculiar air of a small town with one of the best views in the world. Find… Read More
The Bowery Boys Obsessive Guides look very, very closely at a classic movie filmed in New York City, finding buried history, additional context and a few secrets within various scenes and plot points. Filled with film spoilers so read this after you’ve seen the movie — or use it to follow along as you watch… Read More
The Bowery Boys Obsessive Guides look very, very closely at a classic movie filmed in New York City, finding buried history, additional context and a few secrets within various scenes and plot points. Filled with film spoilers so read this after you’ve seen the movie — or use it to follow along as you watch… Read More
Sergey Kadinsky is our city’s resident Aquaman. His Hidden Waters of New York City was the big New York City exploration guide book of the spring. In a city often characterized by glass, steel and asphalt, it’s magical to consider the metropolis almost like a human body, comprised and reliant upon water for its well-being. As though… Read More
This weekend I strolled around Carroll Park in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, and observed at least 8 or 9 people staring intently at their phones, occasionally wiping their index fingers rapidly at the screen. In the center of the park is an 18-foot-tall World War I memorial dedicated in 1921, emblazoned with the names of those… Read More
We would like to thank the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York for hosting us on last Tuesday, June 28, as a part of their lecture series.  The General Society is one of the oldest continually operating institutions in New York City, and they’ve been in their swanky headquarters at 20… Read More
Today let’s give a little love to New York original mermaid queen — the hideous Fiji (Fejee) Mermaid! This sickening Frankenstein monster — comprising a monkey’s head sewn onto a fish torso — was displayed in  PT Barnum’s American Museum off and on for almost twenty years.  Believe it or not, Barnum actually leased… Read More
Pictured: The New York Herald newspaper office (in Herald Square, natch) in a flamboyantly colored postcard from 1907. Â The lights of Broadway theaters — many still below 42nd Street — blaze in the background. Well, our book Adventures In Old New York is finally out, and we’ve been blessed to have it featured in several… Read More
Imagine a city where the High Line isn’t just a novel park, but the primary form of urban conveyance. In 1913, with the proliferation of the automobile, it seemed humans were being crowded out at ground level. Â People were beginning to think of themselves as removed from the street. Â Daredevils were experimenting with flight, and… Read More
Our book  The Bowery Boys’ Adventures In Old New York is officially released around the world this week.  To promote the book, we are making a few appearances in the New York City region. Here are the next four. Please keep checking the website for further announcements and details! (I suspect we’ll have many more… Read More
PODCAST Â A 6-foot plump gold impish figure stares down at you as you look up to observe the gorgeous red-brick design of the Puck Building, built for one of the 19th Century’s most popular illustrated publications. But this architectural masterpiece was very nearly wiped away by a sudden decision by the city. How did it… Read More
We want to offer heartfelt thanks to the many people who came out to our first live book event last Thursday night at the Museum of the City of New York.  It was a packed house that evening to hear us speak about our new book Adventures In Old New York with moderator Donald Albrecht. Afterwards,… Read More
Josephine Baker is a spellbinding icon. Her persona is magnetic, mysterious, intangible, taking inspiration from Sophie Tucker and Bessie Smith, the divas of the silent screen and the flappers of Harlem and Greenwich Village. And yet this most alluring figure of the Jazz Age was born 110 years ago today in St. Louis, Missouri. Barely 15 years… Read More
We’ve had a lot of terrific sponsors on our show who provide extra offers for our listeners. You can help the Bowery Boys by checking these out yourself and using the offer codes they provide when you make a purchase. Every time you use one of these codes confirms that you heard their spot on our show.… Read More
New York had no significant Asian population in 1880 outside of those who lived on a handful of small streets east of the Five Points neighborhood. Primarily focused around Mott Street, the first Chinese residents were businessmen and laborers, mostly men, close knit by design. Accurate population figures are hazy, but between 800 and 2,000 Chinese… Read More