The Bowery Boys: New York City History
Columbus Circle in 1921, looking west. Healy’s was a few blocks north of this scene. Many of New York’s most popular restaurants and cafes a century ago were located around Columbus Circle, lively hot spots that drew in the theater and burlesque patrons well into the late hours. Crowds would exit the Park Theater and head… Read More
The studio of William Merritt Chase in the Tenth Street Studio Building at 51 West 10th Street. Another appears below. [Smithsonian] Take a look at these extraordinary photographs of artist studios in New York City from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, the interiors of apartment buildings and houses rendered into a… Read More
The used bookstores of Book Row, the above shot from Fourth Avenue and 10th Street, 1938 (courtesy NYPL)BOWERY BOYS BOOK OF THE MONTH Each month I’ll pick a book — either brand new or old, fiction or non-fiction — that offers an intriguing take on New York City history, something that uses history in a… Read More
Last week I posted a list via Riffle Books of my personal choices for 25 books on New York City history that I think everybody should read. But it was a far from perfect list, so I solicited your help to choose 25 more. And all I can say is — WOW! I got almost… Read More
The Beatles in one of their many appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. [source]PODCAST This is the second part of the Bowery Boys TV Mini-Series, covering the years of New York City television production from the late 1940s to the 1960s. Some of the most classic television shows ever made — and many still around today… Read More
Make The Connection was a show hosted by Gene Rayburn (later of Match Game fame) that was broadcast on NBC in 1955 and filmed from the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center. Please note all the classic hallmarks of early television: The blatant sponsorships, the chaos of live broadcasting, the celebrity panel, the live audience, a… Read More
Over the weekend, I put together this Riffle list of my favorite 25 book on the subject of New York City history, published over the last one hundred years. I’ll admit that this list reflects what’s on my shelf at the moment and is not in any way yet complete. (For instance, I’m obviously sparse… Read More
Our new podcast which was planned for this week had to be delayed for one week. It’ll be ready to listen to next Friday. In the meantime….  A special illustrated version of the podcast on the Murder of Mary Rogers (Episode #66) is now available on our NYC History Archive feed. Chapter headings with… Read More
A view of the balloon launch, looking north towards the Metropolitan Life Tower, which can be seen jutting up in the background. The Met Tower was the world’s tallest building in 1911. Philadelphia retailer John Wanamaker turned an abandoned train station in Philadelphia into the lavish department bearing his name in 1876, just in time… Read More
Lewis Wickes’ photograph of a few children enjoying a bit of ice cream on a hot day, 1910. (NYPL) 1. America’s first ice cream shop was located on Dock Street** (roughly today’s Pearl Street) in 1774. The British confectioner Philip Lenzi advertised ice cream of “any sort”, along with a host of treats, including sugar… Read More
This unusual story appeared at the bottom of the front page of the New York World newspaper in July 17, 1913: MAN FROZEN TO DEATH OR KILLED BY A FALL Hugo Meissner, assistant engineer of the artificial ice plant at Rochester and Atlantic Avenues, Brooklyn, was found dead today lying on tons of ice in… Read More
Bond Clothing Store sign was a mainstay of Times Square in the 1940s and 50s. For more on Bond’s unusual transition after that, read my article from 2007 on Bond International Casino. Picture courtesy Life Magazine, Lisa Larsen photographerNew York Neon is the Bowery Boys Book of the Month for July, a superb review of the… Read More
Police try to restore order in front of the New York Tribune building, a pro-Lincoln publication being attacked by rioters. Why are there no permanent remembrances of any significant kind in New York City to the Civil War Draft Riots? It was the most grave, the most tumultuous event in New York City history… Read More
A list of the nine draft offices where lotteries would occur that Monday, July 13th. It would have already begun in Jamaica and at the Ninth District Office that Saturday. One hundred and fifty years ago today, on July 11, 1863, the first round of lotteries to select able-bodied men for conscription into the Union Army… Read More
A sizzling 52nd Street in July 1948 (courtesy LOC)BOWERY BOYS BOOK OF THE MONTH Each month I’ll pick a book — either brand new or old, fiction or non-fiction — that offers an intriguing take on New York City history, something that uses history in a way that’s uniquely unconventional or exposes a previously unseen… Read More