As part of their ‘What Remains’ series, the AOL On video channel is focusing its attention on Doyers Street in Chinatown, and I make a guest appearance here talking about this mysterious street and its gangster past. This is a brief but very dramatic history of the street known one hundred years ago as ‘the Bloody Angle’.… Read More
As part of their ‘What Remains’ series, the AOL On video channel is focusing its attention on Doyers Street in Chinatown, and I make a guest appearance here talking about this mysterious street and its gangster past. This is a brief but very dramatic history of the street known one hundred years ago as ‘the Bloody Angle’.… Read More
Click into the images within this post for a more closeup view! When the extravagant James Gordon Bennett Jr. decided to move the offices of the New York Herald from grimy, old Park Row to the frenzy of uptown Manhattan, he wanted something spectacular and eye-catching. As we mentioned in our newest podcast on the… Read More
Click into the images within this post for a more closeup view! When the extravagant James Gordon Bennett Jr. decided to move the offices of the New York Herald from grimy, old Park Row to the frenzy of uptown Manhattan, he wanted something spectacular and eye-catching. As we mentioned in our newest podcast on the… Read More
Herald Square at night, 1910, with the flurry of shoppers, the churn of printing presses, the clanking and soot exhaust of the elevated train, the rush of the streetcar. The theaters, the drinking, the dancing. (Courtesy the blog Ajax All Purpose Blog) PODCAST Welcome to the secret history of Herald Square, New York City’s second… Read More
Herald Square at night, 1910, with the flurry of shoppers, the churn of printing presses, the clanking and soot exhaust of the elevated train, the rush of the streetcar. The theaters, the drinking, the dancing. (Courtesy the blog Ajax All Purpose Blog) PODCAST Welcome to the secret history of Herald Square, New York City’s second… Read More
From the New York Evening World, December 12, 1912 Interesting that they had to interview a Chicago civil engineer for this, as the first point seems rather obvious, and the second point, rather random. Below: Twelve women from Morrisania, the Bronx, picture date unknown (NYPL) Gawker has a link to the New York Times’ take… Read More
From the New York Evening World, December 12, 1912 Interesting that they had to interview a Chicago civil engineer for this, as the first point seems rather obvious, and the second point, rather random. Below: Twelve women from Morrisania, the Bronx, picture date unknown (NYPL) Gawker has a link to the New York Times’ take… Read More
The wacky IKEA monkey story of the past few days got me to wondering about wild animals as pets here in New York. After all, the wealthiest classes collected all sorts of unusual beasts for their amusement during the 19th century. So many in fact that the Central Park Zoo — or Menagerie, as it was… Read More
The first time: A TV Guide advertisement from 1965 announcing the upcoming Charlie Brown special, “presented … by the people in your town who bottle Coca-Cola.” [source] A Charlie Brown Christmas, the holiday special to end all holiday specials, needed a little encouragement from the Madison Avenue advertising world in 1965 to spring into existence.… Read More
The first time: A TV Guide advertisement from 1965 announcing the upcoming Charlie Brown special, “presented … by the people in your town who bottle Coca-Cola.” [source] A Charlie Brown Christmas, the holiday special to end all holiday specials, needed a little encouragement from the Madison Avenue advertising world in 1965 to spring into existence.… Read More
Renown jazz pianist Dave Brubeck died this morning, just a day before his 92nd birthday. The fourth entry in his ‘Jazz Impressions’ series, recorded in 1964, featured music evoking the ‘urbane personality’ of New York City. The recording also featured his well-known quartet line-up, including Paul Desmond, Eugene Wright and Joe Morello. From that album,… Read More
Renown jazz pianist Dave Brubeck died this morning, just a day before his 92nd birthday. The fourth entry in his ‘Jazz Impressions’ series, recorded in 1964, featured music evoking the ‘urbane personality’ of New York City. The recording also featured his well-known quartet line-up, including Paul Desmond, Eugene Wright and Joe Morello. From that album,… Read More
LOL Dogz: a photographic postcard from the Rotograph Co., from between 1904-1911. Rotograph was located at 684 Broadway, mass producing snappy photos, often heavily manipulated and painted. Their office building is still around; there’s an Au Bon Pain on the ground floor. [source] Here’s a collection of articles about the New York holiday season that I’ve… Read More
George Bellows: RetrospectiveMetropolitan Museum of ArtNovember 15, 2012-February 18, 2012 George Bellows was a member of the Ashcan School, the New York-centered realist art movement of the early 20th century. The so-called ‘Apostles of Ugliness’ — at least, according to critics — included John Sloan, Robert Henri and eventually Edward Hopper. Even the photography of Jacob… Read More