Articles

History, stories, and deep dives from the Bowery Boys.

‘Arctic blasts’, union rousers and hunchbacks: Ten bits of trivia about Ebbets Field’s opening day, 100 years ago today

April 9, 2013

Inside Ebbets Field, 1913, Library of CongressThe first-ever regular season baseball game at Ebbets Field was played 100 years ago today. The legendary field, once located in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, was home to the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1913 until the team left…

→ Read Article

Browse by Category

Bowery Boys Bookshelf 91 Neighborhoods 81 Uncategorized 76 Landmarks 60 Mysterious Stories 57 Gilded Age New York 51 Amusements and Thrills 51 American History 49 Health and Living 48 It's Showtime 45 Writers and Artists 44 Those Were The Days 41 Holidays 40 Brooklyn History 38 Pop Culture 36 The Gilded Gentleman 34

Queens History

The Queens boundary line, some amazing New York City trivia, and a clarification to our latest podcast

Reaction to the Bowery Boys podcast on the Consolidation of 1898 has been tremendous! But I do have one clarification, and provided by a very excellent…

Apr 8, 2013 Read →

Bowery Boys

New listeners to the Bowery Boys podcast? Here’s some highlights of the last 149 episodes — and a hint for no. 150

Thanks to the profile on the Bowery Boys podcast which ran on NPR:Morning Edition a couple weeks ago, we've seen a lot of new listeners to…

Mar 27, 2013 Read →

Mysterious Stories

The owls are not what they seem: It appears the clock in Herald Square may not be a portal for the Illuminati after all

Pic courtesy Brecthbug/FlickrBummer. I so wanted the spectacular owl-infested Herald Square clock, once perched atop the offices of the New York Herald across the street, to…

Mar 26, 2013 Read →

Brooklyn History

A Brooklyn ghost story: A famous actress, a rowdy tavern, Cobble Hill’s ‘ghost-haunted spot’ and a fool named Boerum

Above: While this is the old Brooklyn Schermerhorn house, it's of a similar type to one that Ms. Melmoth may have owned, quickly becoming a tavern…

Mar 21, 2013 Read →

Planes Trains and Automobiles

The Dual Contracts: The New York City subway system gets a serious upgrade 100 years ago today

A subway map from 1924, illustrating the system created as a result of the Dual Contracts agreement.After years of negotiations, false starts and lengthy arguments played…

Mar 19, 2013 Read →

Amusements and Thrills

The legend of Freedomland USA: Theme park memories from the kids who played there

America, as depicted by Freedomland USA pre-opening map -- courtesy Viewliner Ltd. WOW. The response to our profile on NPR Morning Edition has been truly overwhelming.…

Mar 14, 2013 Read →

Bowery Boys

The Bowery Boys on NPR: Morning Edition!

The Bowery Boys were featured in a profile this morning on NPR's Morning Edition! You can give the segment a listen here. You can also download…

Mar 12, 2013 Read →

Parks and Recreation

Marks of the grid: A remarkable find in Central Park

So this random little bolt in a rock may not look like much, but it could be the last remaining on-site evidence of the creation of…

Mar 5, 2013 Read →

Bowery Boys Bookshelf

‘The Measure of Manhattan’: The grid plan of New York comes to life, as does its eccentric creator

BOWERY BOYS BOOK OF THE MONTH Each month I'll pick a book -- either brand new or old, fiction or non-fiction -- that offers an intriguing…

Mar 4, 2013 Read →

Those Were The Days

Fun money: The Buffalo nickel, 100 years old this month, makes Wall Street messenger boys rich (for a couple hours)

The U.S. Sub Treasury Building -- today's Federal Hall -- as it appeared in a colorized postcard in the 1900s (courtesy NYPL)"Hey! Getcha buffalo nickels here.…

Mar 1, 2013 Read →

Pop Culture

The Broadway Melody: New York’s first Oscar victory and an ironic success for the Astor Theatre in Times Square

The second film to ever win the Academy Award for Best Picture was hardly a movie at all.'The Broadway Melody', a frothy Hollywood revue about the…

Feb 21, 2013 Read →