Charles Dickens’ guide to New York City low life
Dickens in 1850What is this dismal-fronted pile of bastard Egyptian, like an enchanter's palace in a melodrama! - a famous prison, called The Tombs. Shall we…
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Dandies of New York: the dapper Cherry Hill Gang
September 3, 2008
Above: Another local gang of the Lower East Side, the Shirt Tails of Corlear's Hook, most likely fought with the Cherry Hill gang, the Batavia Street gang, or maybe even both (circa 1889 pic from courtesy of Irishinnyc)We're finally stepping away from the grime…
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Jimian? The strange affair of Lillian and Diamond Jim
Had there been a paparazzi in the 1880s, the woman they would have hounded the most would be New York stage singer and actress Lillian Russell.…
Know Your Mayors: Hugh Grant, our youngest mayor
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…
Is that any way to treat an Olympian?
Has an internationally famous monument ever had to endure such grave indignities as the Discus Thrower of Randall's Island? Scandal!Nothing proclaims the revitalization of Randall's Island…
Soylent Green: New Yorkers taste the best!
BOWERY BOYS RECOMMEND is an occasional feature where we find an unusual movie or TV show that -- whether by accident or design -- uniquely captures…
McGown’s Pass: the original tavern on the green
McGown's Pass Tavern (date unknown, but possibly around 1913We're finally moving on from Central Park, but not before observing perhaps its most historically significant area --…
Jones Woods: ghosts, graves and an ‘amusement park’
Over 15,000 Irish Americans gathered in Jones Wood in 1856, to greet countryman James StephenOnce upon a time, back when Fifth Avenue was a dirt path…
A ride around New York’s remaining merry-go-rounds
Carousels aren't really for kids anymore. Sure, you won't see many adults truly captivated by the process of mounting a wooden animal and twirling in a…
Who is the Queen of Central Park?
Above: the grotesque face of Mother Goose in Central Park. What did she ever do to deserve her own statue?While mulling over the list of famous…
The sexy secret underneath ‘Little Flatiron’
Some of the most interesting buildings in New Yorks are the triangular ones, those that sit at the intersection of diagonal streets that cut through the…
Cabaret license be damned: NYC’s politics of dancing
Above: Marilyn and Truman maintain their composure at the Peppermint Lounge, an early 60s dance hole that frequently scoffed at fire codesTime Out's cover story last…
The Roaring Twenties: a boozy old Hollywood bio
BOWERY BOYS RECOMMEND is an occasional feature where we find an unusual movie or TV show that -- whether by accident or design -- uniquely captures…