Bowery Boys Bookshelf
The 2022 Bowery Boys History Book Holiday Gift Guide
The best gifts in the world are books and history lovers, in particular, want nothing more than more books than they possibly have time to read.…
Articles
History, stories, and deep dives from the Bowery Boys.
Latest Article
NeighborhoodsFinding Pietro
December 8, 2022
One of you may be related to Pietro, the boy in the picture. He was one of thousands of Italian immigrants who arrived in New York in the 1870s-80s. He seems to have been intelligent and even exceptional, weathering a set of truly dreary circumstances that…
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More Articles
The Gilded Gentleman
Emily Post and 100 Years of Etiquette: The Simple Art of Getting Along
Have you listened to The Gilded Gentleman's recent episode on the story of Emily Post. No? Where are your manners?! In July of 1922, an unassuming…
Revolutionary History
Richmond Hill: West Village’s former Vice Presidential mansion and the lonely refuge of Aaron Burr
Richmond Hill, the spacious mansion and 26-acre estate on the outskirts of town that had once been George Washington's headquarters and later the home of John…
Religious History
The Yom Kippur Riot of 1898: Lower East Side in Turmoil
When I hear of so-called "riots" on the Lower East Side during the late 19th century, my mind goes to disgruntled newsies or agitated garment workers,…
American History
Insanity: Congressman Daniel Sickles shot and killed the son of Francis Scott Key
On the 160th anniversary of the killing of Phillip Barton Key, I’m reposting this article from 2014 which originally ran on the 100th anniversary of Daniel…
Holidays
How New York newspapers covered the first Labor Day — September 5, 1882
Clothing cutters, horseshoers, shoemakers, upholsterers, printers, house painters, freight handlers, cabinet makers, varnishers, cigar makers, bricklayers and piano makers. The first American Labor Day began on…
Skyscrapers
The Big Wind of 1912: New York skyscrapers in peril, as monster gales hurl “men and women down city streets”
Trauma in Times Square: An electrical sign destroyed by the massive windstorm of February 22, 1912. One Times Square sits to the left, and the Hotel Astor…
Events
New Live Event: The Bowery Boys at Caveat (September 1)
Join Tom Meyers and Greg Young as they celebrate their 15th year of making the Bowery Boys Podcast with a special live podcast recording at Caveat…
Museums
Analog City: A new exhibition celebrates New York before everything went digital
Index cards. Levers and buttons. Wheels and wires and paper. Stone-gray mechanical boxes and intricate machines of gears and pulleys. It was these things -- and…
Amusements and Thrills
In the Pleasure Gardens of Old New York
It has become a name so associated with American sports and entertainment that you barely think about it. In New York City, when you say you…
Neighborhoods
History repeats itself? Protesting demolition at Penn Station
Sixty years ago today -- on August 2, 1962 -- the Action Group for Better Architecture in New York (AGBANY), a group of young architects and…
ON TELEVISION
Movin’ On Up: New York City as depicted in the opening themes of 1970s TV shows
In honor of the 100th birthday of television icon Norman Lear (creator of All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times and many, many more) I've…