The Bowery Boys: New York City History
Above: Chinese naval officers, with Mayor William Jay Gaynor, mounting the steps of Grant’s Tomb, 9/11/11. Workers at the Hudson waterfront awoke on September 11, 1911, to catch quite a curious sight in the water that day. It wasn’t the size of the ship that struck gathering crowds or its loud, rumbling engines; after all, the Chelsea… Read More
Picture 1: Flickr/eralsotoPicture 2: Flickr/ Madison GuyPicture 3: NYCvintage.blogspot.com
Come join The Bowery Boys this Saturday, Sept. 10, at Swift Hibernian Lounge (34 East 4th St.) as part of this weekend’s fourth annual Lit Crawl, a combination literary festival/pub crawl taking place throughout the East Village and the Lower East Side. The Lit Crawl is a free event featuring almost two dozen readings throughout… Read More
Ninety years ago today, the Miss America pageant debuted on the Atlantic City boardwalk. New York’s entrant was minor silent film actress Virginia Lee (at left). Although she didn’t win the ultimate sash, she was given some kind of runner’s-up ‘professional’ prize (the Endicott Trophy) on account of her celebrity. In her later years, Lee… Read More
A depiction of Central Park from 1864. The conspirator’s cottage hideout would have been near the southeast corner. (Courtesy NYPL) The year 1864 wasn’t as pivotal to New York City as 1863 (with the Draft Riots), but it is one of the stranger years I’ve ever come across in studying the city’s history, culminating in… Read More
Above: A Moving Day calamity in 1831!I’m moving into a new apartment starting tomorrow morning, and the whole process should take a few days. But on a brighter note, tomorrow will be my first day as a resident of Brooklyn! As a result the blog will be a little quiet until Friday afternoon, when I’ll have some notes on this week’s… Read More
Barnum’s American Museum at left (the building with the flag) and the Astor House at right, from the vantage of City Hall Park, circa 1850. Both buildings were victims of the Confederate plot of 1864 to burn the city. PODCAST We’re officially subtitling this ‘Strange Tales of 1864’, presenting you with a series of odd, fascinating… Read More
Coming this weekend: a podcast in the lap of New York luxury in 1864, including the Fifth Avenue Hotel, pictured above (at far right) in the 1900s. But wait, is that something burning? This has been a pretty insane week, especially as I’m moving to a new apartment this Tuesday and Tom’s recently back from his… Read More
Battery Weed pictured above, a peaceful ruin with almost two hundred years of history In 1864, there were few places in New York harbor more intense than the three fortesses alongside the Narrows. On the Brooklyn side, Fort Hamilton served as a training site, while Fort Lafayette partially functioned as a Confederate prison, notably holding… Read More
Continuing with the theme of ‘1864’, here’s a revised and expanded version of an article I wrote back in 2009 on the man who was mayor of New York during that crazy year: KNOW YOUR MAYORS Our modest little series about some of the greatest, notorious, most important, even most useless, mayors of New York City.… Read More
Wall Street’s curbside traders, in the throes of unregulated buying and selling. From here until next Friday and the release of the next podcast, I’ll be posting stories from a particular, namely the year 1864. It’s one of the weirder years in New York City history. You would think that having part of your city in… Read More
Seems like forever since we’ve had a new podcast right? Well, Tom is back from vacation this week, and we’ll begin work on the new show. Episode #128 will be ready for download on Friday, August 26. Then we should be back to our regular monthly schedule — with one or two surprises in between… Read More
The city received a right, proper Transylvania-style thunderstorm this weekend, with more than a few bolts streaking overhead early Sunday morning. You might find this shocking: According to the National Weather Service, the Empire State Building is struck by lightning an average of 23 times a year, or slightly more than one might be comfortable… Read More
Above: City Hall in 1900 (Courtesy NYPL) Never have I been more elated to write about a City Council meeting. At the start of the 19th century, city affairs were still being conducted on Wall Street at Federal Hall. For many years they shared the corridors with George Washington and the first American Congress. By… Read More
Above: The 1863 Draft Riots and the aftermath of violence in London In a couple weeks, Tom and I will finish off our three-part Civil War series with a strange tale taking place during the war’s final years. But it seems I can’t quite get our last subject — the 1863 Draft Riots — out of my… Read More