Neighborhoods
The Thermos Building, keeping it hot (and cool) in Chelsea
A charming family enjoys its insulated beverages -- just as they like it, just as they need it -- in an ad from 1909. The invention of…
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Brooklyn HistoryA Wretched Anniversary: The Brooklyn Theater Fire of 1876
December 5, 2011
It is difficult to discuss calmly the frightful disaster which happened in Brooklyn on Tuesday night. No such awful sacrifice of human life has ever been known in this country shipwreck and the casualties of war alone being excepted. -- New York Times editorial,…
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Holidays
Happy Thanksgiving Masking: The pleasures of mischief, featureless masks and cross-dressing children!
No, these children have not gotten their calendars confused. One early American Thanksgiving tradition amongst rascals and rowdies involved goofy costumes and disguised faces. Sometimes called…
Museum mania: the refurbished New York Historical Society, and a stunning debut at the Brooklyn Navy Yard
Anchors Aweigh: A museum finally opens in one of Brooklyn's most restricted outpostsThe Brooklyn Navy Yard finally got the museum it deserves this past weekend with the…
J. Edgar Hoover parties at New York’s hottest nightclub
Work hard, play hard: The FBI director in his early daysThere are at least three scenes in the new Clint Eastwood-directed J. Edgar Hoover biopic 'J.…
The week New York smelled more awful than usual
Above: a typical scene during the Garbage Strike of 1911 New York street cleaners and garbage workers (sometimes referred to as 'ashcart men') went on strike…
Watch out for those naked Brooklyn lady ghosts!
Above: The unusual weather this weekend left my pumpkin with an unfortunate new hairstyle.We hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween this year! In…
Was New York not haunted enough for Alfred Hitchcock?
A still from 'The Wrong Man', a crime drama shot in New York in 1956. (Courtesy Empire Magainze.)Alfred Hitchcock's innovative anthology series 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' debuted…
Mysterious Stories
Notes from the Podcast (#130) Haunted Histories of NYC
We had a terrific time recording this year's ghost-story show -- Haunted Histories of New York. Here's some extra details about our four subjects that were…
Home & Garden 1691: Captain Kidd’s home on Pearl Street
Kidd's swanky new home on Pearl Street, which he shared with his high society wife and two lovely daughters. It was near the eastern gate to New…
Park life: The anniversary of a name change in Chinatown
Next week begins 'ghost stories' week on the blog, but I need to make one more trip to Chinatown, the topic of the last podcast. As…
Parks and Recreation
That time Christopher Columbus annoyed Robert Moses
Christopher Columbus is among the most honored figures in New York statuary, appearing abundantly throughout the five boroughs -- standing prominently, nestled in parks and squares,…
Jack Finney’s ‘Time And Again’, preservation by sci-fi
The Dakota Apartment circa the 1890s: If you arranged everything just right, could you go back to it?The writer Jack Finney, who was born a hundred…