The Bowery Boys: New York City History
Carnegie Hall is one of America’s greatest and most enduring cultural landmarks, enchanting audiences and making history since its opening night on May 5, 1891, when Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky appeared there in his first performance in the United States. This groundbreaking performance space (originally known simply as “Music Hall”) is in fact a trio of… Read More
Calling all history geeks, New Yorkers, and lovers of great storytelling! Greg Young of the Bowery Boys Podcast is bringing you another edition of BOWERY BOYS HISTORY LIVE on May 26, 2026 Bowery Boys History Live is a storytelling cabaret of true tales and spellbinding secrets from the past, brought to life by a rotating… Read More
Once upon a time, the streets of the Lower East Side were lined with pushcarts and salespeople haggling with customers over the price of fruits, fish and pickles. Whatever became of them? New York’s earliest marketplaces were large and surprisingly well regulated hubs for commerce that kept the city fed. When the city was small,… Read More
Greg Young from the Bowery Boys Podcast is a guest on this week’s episode of the Official Marvel Podcast, speaking about the TV show Daredevil: Born Again and the intreguing inspirations for its principal antagonist Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin. He’s the mayor of New York City! Here’s the description of the podcast: This week, Vincent… Read More
In 1889, Robert Ray Hamilton, great-grandson of Alexander Hamilton, became ensnared in a sensational web of deceit — forged identities, attempted murder, and brazen fraud that captured headlines across the country. Although this gripping saga played out over a two-year period, it has largely faded from public memory. In his book The Scandalous Hamiltons, author Bill Shaffer… Read More
Why is the West Village both historically important and incredibly expensive? In the final part of our West Village mini-series, we look at the elements that define the modern neighborhood — from battles with Robert Moses to the protests that galvanized the gay-rights movement. The 19th-century charms of the old Village seem timeless, but they… Read More
In Part Two of our mini-series, The Streets of the West Village, we turn to the people who gave the neighborhood its character and vitality. From Irish longshoremen on the docks to actors on the off-Broadway stage, from street gangs to speakeasy proprietors. From Eugene O’Neill to Bea Arthur, their stories help define this corner… Read More
Why are the streets of Manhattan’s West Village so unusually charming and romantic? Why does it make such an excellent place for a night out in New York City? Why is the real estate so expensive? And when did it become a distinct place separate from Greenwich Village? We‘ll get to the bottom of these… Read More
On the afternoon of December 22, 1984, shots rang out beneath the streets of New York, from the subway’s 2 Seventh Avenue express train. A Greenwich Village man named Bernhard Goetz shot four black teenagers who he believed were about to assault him. The incident made international news, amplified by the city’s shameless tabloid newspapers because it so… Read More
On August 6, 1930, Supreme Court Justice Joseph Force Crater stepped into a taxi on West 45th Street and vanished without a trace. For 27 days, nobody reported him missing—not his wife waiting in Maine, not his Tammany Hall cronies, not the courts. When the story finally broke, it became the most famous missing persons case in New York… Read More
We would like to thank Founded by NYC for sponsoring the Bowery Boys Podcast in 2025 and giving us the opportunity to feature upcoming New York City events in our shows this year. To mark the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026, Founded By NYC continues to highlight how the City has helped shaped history… Read More
PODCAST The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree has brought joy and sparkle to Midtown Manhattan since the early 1930s. The annual festivities may seem steady and timeless but this holiday icon actually has a surprisingly dramatic history. Millions tune in each year to watch the tree lighting in a music-filled ceremony on NBC, and tens of… Read More
A special presentation of the live show Bowery Boys History Live, recorded at City Winery on December 12, 2025, a holiday themed history-variety show with Bridgerton vibes. Bowery Boys History Live is a live-show series at City Winery hosted by Greg Young featuring a variety of historians and tour guide. The last installment this summer featured author Liz… Read More
New Yorkers have gotten around their cities by subways, buses, elevated trains, streetcars and ferries. And the ways in which they have paid for them have changed as well. And keeps changing! This month, the city is saying farewell to the MetroCard, the magnetic-stripe card that has gotten the town moving since the early 1990s.… Read More
What are we looking forward to here in New York City? Well, we’re not quite done with 2025, and a year of celebrating the city’s 400th anniversary will come to a fitting end with the Times Square Ball Drop in Manhattan on New Year’s Eve. In a tradition that goes back nearly 120 years, the… Read More