Categories
Museums

Saturday is Free Museum Day! Hosted by Smithsonian Magazine

Saturday, September 26, is Smithsonian Magazine’s annual MUSEUM DAY with free admission to participating museums across the country. The only catch is that you need to visit the Smithsonian website and print out your ticket (good for two admissions) first before you go. It’s not free for everyone. You’re special! Here’s a list of participating museums and… Read More

Categories
Religious History

Happy Pope Day! A history of the holiest of New York tourists

Pope Francis arrives in New York City today — part of his first-ever trip to the United States — and the city is rolling out the red carpet. In fact, all available carpets are being rolled out and even some throw rugs. New York loves Popes. (Not always of course.) Only the Marquis de Lafayette… Read More

Categories
Planes Trains and Automobiles

100 years ago today: Seventh Avenue collapsed under rush hour traffic

One hundred years ago today, — a horrifying disaster on Seventh Avenue endangered the lives of New Yorkers on their way to work. Excavations for the new Seventh Avenue subway line (the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue line, aka the 1-2-3 trains) were proceeding well below an active thoroughfare. On the morning of September 22, 1915, two detonations… Read More

Categories
Mysterious Stories

The Mystery on North Brother Island: A story told in news clippings

A thousand unsolved mysteries live within a newspaper’s archives, little forgotten events that have faded into history. Sometimes you can search deeper, and the answers to those mysteries may emerge. This is what happened in a series of three articles I found the other day while doing some research on North Brother Island (the fruits… Read More

Categories
Bowery Boys

Bowery Boys Odds and Ends: The Knick, Podcast Interview, Live Show Pictures

STAGE TO STAGE:  Thanks to everybody who came out to the live show this Sunday at 54 Below! It was especially wonderful to hang out with many of you between the two shows.  Special thanks of course to The Ensemblist podcast hosts Mo Brady and Nikka Graff Lanarone for leading the show, and music maestro Jasper Grant for… Read More

Categories
It's Showtime

Stage Magic: Oh-What-A-Beautiful History of the St. James Theatre

On Sunday The Bowery Boys join up with The Ensemblist to present a special cabaret event at 54 Below — a tribute to the great St. James Theatre! Perhaps some of you may be asking — why do a live show about a individual theater? The St. James Theatre (246 West 44th Street) was prominently… Read More

Categories
Amusements and Thrills

History in the Making (9/9): So Many Vices Edition

In this blog roundup, a Bowery Boys appearance in Vice, a threat to preservation, a classic restaurant closes, the story of two hotels with very different histories and more! In the photo above and below — From the Museum of the City of New York collection, some images of the so-called Prize Fighters Saloon (at… Read More

Categories
Bowery Boys

Info on the upcoming Bowery Boys live show (Sept. 13)

The first official Bowery Boys live event is coming up this September 13! We would really love to see a lot of you there for this.  It’s not strictly the two of us on the stage. We’re part of a bigger tribute and one we think you’ll love. 1. Who’s putting this whole thing together? The… Read More

Categories
Bowery Boys

Have you listened to these 2015 Bowery Boys podcasts yet?

No new podcast for you this week but we have a very good reason. As of today we are half-way finished with the first-ever Bowery Boys book! We are taking this week off to push through the research on a couple key chapters. But we will have a brand new podcast for you on September 4… Read More

Categories
Neighborhoods

H.P Lovecraft’s very bizarre hatred of Red Hook and Brooklyn Heights

Howard Philip Lovecraft — aka H.P. Lovecraft — was born 125 years ago today in Providence, Rhode Island. The pulp-fiction storyteller, known for claustrophobic tales of the occult, lived for a time in Brooklyn. He did not enjoy it. In 1924, he moved to  259 Parkside Avenue in Flatbush, Brooklyn, close to Ebbets Field and… Read More

Categories
On The Waterfront True Crime

The tale of Newgate, the New York state prison in the West Village

You may not be aware of the Weehawken Historic District, a collection of 14 buildings of unique architectural character in the far West Village. It lies at the foot of Christopher Street and centers around the one-block-long Weehawken Street. You really should take a stroll down here. It will take you all of one minute; the street… Read More

Categories
Gilded Age New York Podcasts

The Murder of Stanford White

PODCAST The tale behind the brutal murder of renown architect Stanford White on the roof garden of Madison Square Garden, the building that was one of his greatest achievements. On the evening of June 25, 1906, during a performance of Mam’zelle Champagne on the rooftop of Madison Square Garden, the architect Stanford White was brutally… Read More

Categories
Newspapers and Newsies

SPY VS TRUMP: The best Donald Trump moments from Spy Magazine 1986-98

In 1987, Donald Trump released the book Trump: The Art of the Deal, a distillation of the 1980s that looked like a pocket-sized version of the real-estate mogul’s own brass-coated palace Trump Tower. The book was a national best-seller, a staple of airport bookstores, aimed at business travelers. But a more unflattering look at Trump’s… Read More

Categories
Pop Culture

Upcoming history: New York City in new films and miniseries

Tired of superhero movies? An abundance of new period films and television mini-series are on the horizon, presenting unique aspects of New York City history (and the surrounding metropolitan area, as in the first example below).  Which ones are you excited for?   SHOW ME A HERO HBO, six-part mini-series, Sunday, August 16 From the… Read More

Categories
Neighborhoods

Summer Streets 2015: Walk Park Avenue Three Saturdays in August

If it’s August in New York City, then it’s time for the annual Summer Streets festival, when traffic is closed down from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park, along Lafayette Street and Park Avenue all the way up to 72nd Street. (A copy of the map is below or you can also get one from the… Read More