Landmarks
A Witness to Violence: Colonnade Row and the Astor Place Riots of 1849
On May 10, 1849, Astor Place erupted into bloody violence as crowds took to the streets and battled it out -- over a Shakespearean actor. It…
Articles
History, stories, and deep dives from the Bowery Boys.
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Religious HistoryThe Lower East Side lost a unique relic, a ruin of historical significance
May 15, 2017
Last night a haunting and inconceivable ruin of the Lower East Side was mysteriously destroyed in a massive fire. The abandoned shell of the old synagogue Beth Hamedrash Hagodol has been a feature of life of Norfolk Street, stubbornly nestled next to apartment buildings,…
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The First
The First Song Ever Recorded (Was Never Meant To Be Played Back)
THE FIRST PODCAST Imagine if we could hear the voices of Abraham Lincoln, Queen Victoria or Harriet Tubman? Believe it or not, somebody was making audio…
Pop Culture
‘War Paint’ and ‘Indecent’: Two views of New York City history on Broadway
History has always been a critical component of theater, especially in musicals, where period sets and costumes assist in creating other worlds on stage quite unlike our normal one. But…
Sports
The Wise Guy of Baseball: Getting To Know Leo ‘The Lip’ Durocher
BOOK REVIEW The history of sports is often written around its most revered role models, as though the noble character of the greatest players comes from the…
The First
Josephine Cochrane and her Dazzling Dish-Washing Machine
THE FIRST PODCAST Of the tens of thousands of U.S. patents granted in the 19th century, only a small fraction were held by women. One of…
Bowery Boys Bookshelf
‘The Gargoyle Hunters’ and the Architecture of Nostalgia
BOOK REVIEW The architects and builders of the post-Civil War period provided New York City with masterpieces of great beauty -- cast-iron facades, modern emblems of…
Neighborhoods
Two strange secrets of DeWitt Clinton Park in Hell’s Kitchen
DeWitt Clinton Park, far west in Hell's Kitchen between West 52nd and West 54th Streets, has two unusual features that harken to a time one hundred…
Wartime New York
OUR ISOLATION IS OVER: In ‘The Great War’, PBS presents a different take on America’s entry into World War I
One hundred years ago this week, the United States of America rose to assist its European allies and officially declared war on Germany. This was an…
Museums
The Crystal Palace: A new gallery show brings its marvels to life
Bryant Park is a rather remarkable physical space. During the winter it becomes a skating rink and outdoor market, while in the summer, its lawn host…
Bowery Boys
Come to our first live recorded show — NYC Podfest, April 9th in Brooklyn!
This April we will be recording a show in front of a live audience that will be released as an upcoming podcast — in honor of…
Pop Culture
I Called Him Morgan: The Murder of a Jazz Star in wintry 1970s New York
It was during one of those terrible February nights -- blizzard winds with the streets packed tight with snow -- at a jazz club in the…
The First
Nikola Tesla and the Wireless World: The Invention of Remote Control
THE FIRST: STORIES OF INVENTIONS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES The Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla is known as one of the fathers of electricity, the curious genius behind alternating…