The Bowery Boys: New York City History
PODCAST REWIND:Â JD Rockefeller Sr. may have earned his money is some rather unscrupulous ways, but his son Junior made good by giving midtown a towering city-within-a-city, a complex of Art Deco buildings that serves as New York’s beating heart. We take a compact look at the complicated lineage of Rockefeller Center, from its controversial… Read More
We’re privileged to have listeners in all over the country and in countries all over the globe. I imagine because of them, our packed podcast on the history of Rockefeller Center, a must-see stop for travelers, is our third most downloaded show. Find out the origins and secrets of JD Rockefeller’s risky midtown gambit, constructed… Read More
Listen or download it from HERE You can also download it for free from iTunes and other podcasting services In the veritable wilderness that would become midtown Manhattan, Dr. David Hosack opens his Elgin Botanic Garden, the city’s first collection of exotic plant species that’s eventually sold to the state, who then passes the land… Read More
Above: Guests admire a strange piece by Martin Puryear The biggest surprise behind the revolutionary creation of the Museum of Modern Art is that the characters who put it together were almost as colorful as the modern art they championed. Tag along as we peek behind the canvas of New York’s oldest temple of avant… Read More
Above: Diego Rivera’s contentious creation Despite JD Rockefeller Jr’s aversion to the ‘impropriety’ of modern art, Rockefeller Center has always been bursting with it, from the large outdoor installations sprouting up in the plaza to the gorgeous art deco blazing from its walls. As with modern art for public display however, the Rock has sometimes… Read More
Behind the glamour of New York’s greatest stage Radio City Music Hall is a story involving a toothpaste tube designer, an allergy to Brazil nuts, a hydraulic lift protected from the Nazis, and a man named Roxy. PLUS: The Bowery Boys go backstage (well, figuratively) with the Rockettes. Listen to it for free on iTunes… Read More
To get you in the mood for the weekend, every Friday we’ll be celebrating ‘FRIDAY NIGHT FEVER’, featuring an old New York nightlife haunt, from the dance halls of 19th Century Bowery, to the massive warehouse spaces of the mid-90s. Past entries can be found here . For a change, I thought I’d feature a… Read More