The Bowery Boys: New York City History
In 1910, DW Griffith made the first film ever made in Hollywood, CA, called In Old California. Before then, film production companies were scattered throughout the United States, with two of the most successful based here in New York City. The American Vitagraph Company, originally located at the Morse Building on 140 Nassau Street, made… Read More
Postcard courtesy NYPL
We didn’t have a podcast last week, but to tide you over, please check out a new podcast from Tablet Magazine about the 100th anniversary of the Grand Concourse, the lofty and defining Bronx thoroughfare built as a New York homage to the grand boulevards of Europe. Tablet presents a conversation with Constance Rosenblum, author… Read More
Above: a cartoon mocking Edson’s hiring practices (courtesy New York Public Library Digital Gallery) KNOW YOUR MAYORS Our modest little series about some of the greatest, notorious, most important, even most useless, mayors of New York City. Other entrants in our mayoral survey can be found here. Mayor Franklin Edson In office: 1883-1884 Although the… Read More
The Concourse in 1966 (pic courtesy the Museum) The wide boulevard known as the Grand Concourse, turns 100 this year, and the Bronx Museum celebrates with Intersection: The Grand Concourse Beyond 100, part history lesson, part community outreach looking to revitalize and rethink the borough’s most prominent street for a new century. The Concourse was… Read More
What is Freedomland U.S.A.? An unusual theme park in the Bronx, only in existence for less than five years, Freedomland has become the object of fascination for New York nostalgia lovers everywhere. Created by an outcast of Walt Disney’s inner circle, Freedomland practically defines 60s kitsch, with dozens of rides and amusements related to saccharine… Read More
It’s raining men at Starlight Park in the Bronx, circa 1921 (photo cleaned up and courtesy of Shorpy) For residents of the west Bronx, getting to Coney Island might have been quite a chore in 1918. So they decided to bring Coney Island to them. I believe Starlight Park can be called the Bronx’s first… Read More
Some New York neighborhoods are simply named for their location on a map (East Village, Midtown). Others are given prefabricated designations (SoHo, DUMBO). But a few retain names that link them intimately with their pasts. Other entries in this series can be found here. What is a Throgs Neck? And why isn’t it a Throggs… Read More
How amazing it would have been to see this odd vehicle pull up into your town. To service those areas of the Bronx without permanent libraries, the Bronx Traveling Library took to the roads. The first picture above is from 1936, the one below from 1928. Click pictures for a more detailed view. Pics courtesy,… Read More
I’m skipping out on history today to give you a plain testimonial: if you’re craving a flashy autumn show courtesy of Mother Nature, the time is ripe to visit two lovely Bronx institutions in the throes of fall foliage madness. If you can’t actually get out of the city but need some seasonal therapy, both… Read More
It looks as though Dorothy’s farm house from Kansas was caught up in a cyclone and crash landed before getting to Oz. A tiny, two-story cottage sits at a busy intersection right off the Kingsbridge Road in the Bronx, a strange vestige of once hilly countryside and New York’s remaining keepsake to one of America’s… Read More
I can’t put up a tribute to Shea Stadium without giving a final farewell to that far older sports arena, Yankee Stadium, which will see its last regular season game tomorrow night. If you are a Yankees fan, they’re letting people into the stadium at 1 pm to tour Monument Park and even walk around… Read More
Our modest little series about some of the greatest, notorious, most important, even most useless, mayors of New York City. Other entrants in our mayoral survey can be found here. The year Carnegie opened his illustrious Music Hall to the delight of New York’s cultured class, the city’s fate was in the hands of the… Read More
Most small community colleges feature a statue or two honoring somebody specifically related to the campus. Even massive schools could invite their monuments over for a small dinner and have room for you and your friend from out of town. Bronx Community College would need a fairly large banquet hall. This school in University Heights,… Read More
Some New York neighborhoods are simply named for their location on a map (East Village, Midtown). Others are given prefabricated designations (SoHo, Dumbo). But a few retain names that link them intimately with their pasts. Other entries in this series can be found here. The Bronx is one of two boroughs with names derived from… Read More