John McKane: the original ‘maverick’
I should preface this to say, out of fairness, I looked through the annals of New York City history for scandalously corrupt politicians named Barack Obama,…
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UncategorizedHaunted Brooklyn: Meet the sexy Bushwick ghost
October 13, 2008
While doing my ghost research this week, I came across an amusing article from an 1894 edition of the New York Times, back when ghost sightings might have merited a serious investigation. (Or, in this case, not so serious.) The location of the haunting…
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Two East Village cemeteries open their gates
From the New York City Marble CemeteryTwo rarely seen artifacts of the East Village swung open their iron gates this weekend for Open House NY, New…
Know Your Mayors: James Harper
Our modest little series about some of the greatest, notorious, most important, even most useless, mayors of New York City. Other entrants in our mayoral survey…
True fear on Wall Street: the terror bombing of 1920
Lunchtime down on Wall Street today is chaotic mess of brokers and bankers on cell phones, tour groups, messengers on bikes, police, construction workers, people delivering…
Where are you, George Post?
Who knew a produce exchange could look so elegant?One of New York's most important architects was George B. Post, but you would barely know it today.…
Name That Neighborhood: Wall Street Blues
A simplistic but colorful view of "Man Mados" or "New Amsterdam" in 1664 (click in to inspect the detail)One of the first facts you learn as…
Mets Apple won’t fall far from the tree
Back in March, we speculated on the fate of Thurman Munson's locker, which had been preserved at Yankees Stadium since the untimely death of the popular…
Union Grounds: Baseball history in Williamsburg
Above: Quite a fancy looking team of baseball players! Note the pavilion in the background. Picture courtesy Brooklyn Ball ParksI love finding out where very basic,…
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Name That Neighborhood: Why is Jamaica in Queens?
Some New York neighborhoods are simply named for their location on a map (East Village, Midtown). Others are given prefabricated designations (SoHo, DUMBO). But a few…
Minoru Yamasaki: The man who made the Twin Towers
In 1962, Minoru Yamasaki was given an improbable, totally ridiculous task.Yamasaki, a Japanese-American architect best known at the time for his modernist designs of airports, university…
Know Your Mayors: William Lafayette Strong
Our modest little series about some of the greatest, notorious, most important, even most useless, mayors of New York City. Other entrants in our mayoral survey…
‘Rent’ hikes, taking the old East Village with it
A stubborn group of good-looking, well-meaning squatters were finally evicted last night as the hit Broadway musical 'Rent' closed after 5,124 performances.The show had become the…