Articles

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

Martling’s Long Room: power plays, power drinkers

July 10, 2009

Well, would you?Illustration from sheet music 1908FRIDAY NIGHT FEVER To get you in the mood for the weekend, every other Friday we'll be featuring an old New York nightlife haunt, from the dance halls of 19th Century Bowery, to the massive warehouse clubs of…

→ 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

Salute to Ulmer Park, short-lived Brooklyn beer getaway

All aboard the train to Coney Island, Ulmer Park and Bath Beach Above pic courtesy NYPLNext weekend on Coney Island is the annual Siren Festival, sponsored…

Jul 9, 2009 Read →

Execution Corner: 13th Street and 2nd Avenue

Public hangings were a rare but grisly part of 19th Century New York life. The one illustrated above is from 1862. Another would famously haunt the…

Jul 7, 2009 Read →

Charming mayor A. Oakey Hall: coy, clueless or corrupt?

An early portrait of A. Oakey Hall as photographed by Matthew BradyKNOW YOUR MAYORS Our modest little series about some of the greatest, notorious, most important,…

Jul 1, 2009 Read →

Mistresses and misnomers: the story of Gay Street

There are few streets in Manhattan as beautiful as Gay Street, that preciously bent path in the West Village that's been the home to speakeasies and…

Jun 25, 2009 Read →

Greenwich Village, when it was green and a village

Above: Macdougal Alley in 1936. The plantation home of New Amsterdam director-general Wouter van Twiller would have been situated very close to where this picture was…

Jun 24, 2009 Read →

How Erin Brockovich saved the East River ampitheater

I've always been a little fascinated by that small ampitheatre that's located in Manhattan's East River Park (near Corlear's Hook). For years it just seemed so…

Jun 18, 2009 Read →

Sarah Bernhardt’s favorite New York landmark

Sarah Bernhardt may be the most famous and most mysterious actress who ever lived and certainly "the greatest celebrity of her era." Working mostly in the…

Jun 16, 2009 Read →

Toots Shor’s and the art of celebrity male bonding

So make it one for my baby, And one more for the roadFRIDAY NIGHT FEVER To get you in the mood for the weekend, every other…

Jun 12, 2009 Read →

Mayor Daniel Tiemann, colorful man of Manhattanville

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…

Jun 10, 2009 Read →

Prospect Park: Montgomery Clift’s final resting place

One curious fact we mentioned in our Prospect Park podcast is that classic film actor Montgomery Clift is actually buried here, in a quiet Quaker cemetery…

Jun 8, 2009 Read →

Uncategorized

New York’s earliest parks, in all five boroughs

Have you ever just walked around and run smack into some strangely named park (Major Mark Park? Doughboy Park? WNYC Transmitter Park?) that you've never had…

Jun 4, 2009 Read →