The Bowery Boys: New York City History
The energy and personality of New York City runs through its local businesses — mom-and-pop shops, independently run stores and restaurants, often family run operations. We live in a world of chain stores, franchises, corporate run operations and online retailers that have run many of these kinds of stores out of business. But what is… Read More
Our epic ‘road trip’ to the Netherlands is at an end and it was mission accomplished! We learned so much about New York’s Dutch roots — from the settlement of New Amsterdam to the European settlers who first populated the island which would become Manhattan. Along the way we also found interesting connections — and… Read More
Tom and Greg are out on the road again — and this time, they need their passports. The Bowery Boys are currently recording material for an EPIC new mini-series which will begin arriving to your podcast feeds in June. To get the details now and to follow their adventures, become a supporter on Patreon at… Read More
Do you follow the Bowery Boys on Instagram? Excellent! Or are you somebody who doesn’t use Instagram right now? Well tomorrow (Friday, June 25) would be a great day to check in. Because the Bowery Boys are taking over NYC Ferry for the day. No we will not be piloting ferries through the East River… Read More
The devastating results of the monstrous Great Fire of 1835 helped change the course of Manhattan — hastening the residential migration up the island, rewriting the architectural nature of downtown and essentially erasing the past. There would never be another fire of such intensity and magnitude. But New York didn’t suddenly become fire-proof. In fact,… Read More
Looking for a healthy assortment of fireworks to ignite for the Fourth of July holiday? In New York, from the late 19th century until the 1930s, one needed to look no further than one of the city’s most heavily trafficked areas near City Hall. Firecracker Lane was a short row of fireworks dealerships that sat… Read More
Nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale was born 200 years ago today in Florence, Italy. And it got me thinking about my favorite Nightingale-related landmark in New York. Just locate the remnant of little Cannon Street in the Lower East Side (it’s between Delancey and Broome Streets) and you’ll find a building most fowl—or rather, most owl.… Read More
During this period of social isolation and the perpetual concerns of health and economic well-being that you might be feeling now, we here at the Bowery Boys: New York City History podcast want to make sure that we are doing our part in providing you with the distraction and camaraderie you might be looking for.… Read More
The Vanderbilts did more than dictate the fate of Park Avenue, the boulevard hovering above the old track path of the New York Central Railroad. The scions of this New York family also changed the fate of a little street called Sutton Place. Anne Harriman Vanderbilt—along with other society mavens—had mansions built there in 1920,… Read More
Bayard’s Mount, one of the highest points in Manhattan, has been gone for more than two hundred years. Where other hills and high points have been incorporated into the modern topography New York, this old hill was wiped from the map. Bayard’s Mount used to sit at around where Mott and Grand Streets meet today,… Read More
We’re happy to announce that our latest appearance relating to our book The Bowery Boys’ Adventures In Old New York will be on June 6, from 7-9 pm, at Exit9 Gift Emporium, one of the coolest places in the East Village. We’ll be at Exit9 reading some special passages from the book, giving you a… Read More
PODCAST The tale of Captain William Kidd, a respectable New York citizen and landowner, and his transformation into the ruthless pirate of legend. The area of Lower Manhattan below Wall Street is today filled with investment bankers, business people and tourists. But did you know, over 300 years ago, that the same streets were once… Read More
There’s a spiral staircase inside the western half of the Washington Square Arch, which grants access to the rooftop and fabulous views straight up Fifth Avenue. Public entrance is prohibited, of course, although that didn’t stop six fearless malcontents (including the artists Marcel Duchamp and John Sloan) from breaking in to declare a bohemian revolution late… Read More
Come out and join us for two events that we are co-hosting this December in association with two terrific New York institutions. TRIVIA NIGHT WITH THE BOWERY BOYS TENEMENT MUSEUM — DECEMBER 14, 2016 “Hosts of the popular podcast The Bowery Boys: New York City History, Greg Young and Tom Meyers, test your wits with a… Read More
This Tuesday, August 16,  join us at the Skyscraper Museum in Battery Park City. We’ll be doing a reading and book signing on promotion of our book Adventures In Old New York, in particular chatting out some of the more unusual skyscraper architecture of downtown New York. Here are more details about that event. It’s a free show… Read More