The Painter Who Brought The World To New York
Perched over the Hudson River near the city of Hudson sits Olana State Historic Site, once the wondrous home of painter Frederic Church. This Gilded Age mansion is unlike any in the valley, mystical and…
Bowery Boys Podcast Collection
Podcasts
Latest Episode
The Real Historical Figures from Broadway’s ‘Ragtime’
The Lincoln Center revival of Ragtime — with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and a book by Terrence McNally, adapted from the novel by E. L. Doctorow — has just garnered 11 Tony Award…
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489 episodes
#196
The Garment District: Where New York Fashion Is Made
The history of the New York City fashion industry and how it found its home south of Times Square aka The Garment District. The Garment District in Midtown Manhattan has been the center of American fashion…
#484
The Phrenology Craze: New York’s Head-Scratching 19th Century Obsession
In our modern world, people are turning to all sorts of unusual beliefs and fringe disciplines just outside the bounds of medical science and psychology, all in search of a better understanding of the human…
#483
The Treasures of Carnegie Hall
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…
#345
The Pushcarts of the Lower East Side
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…
The Scandalous Hamiltons: A Shocking Tale of Sex, Lies, and Blackmail During the Gilded Age
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…
#482
Pride and Preservation: The West Village in the Modern Era — Jane Jacobs, Stonewall and Carrie Bradshaw
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…
#481
How The West Village Became A Neighborhood: A Tale of Speakeasies and Subways
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…
#480
Creating the Streets of the West Village
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…
#257
Frozen In Time: The Great Blizzard of 1888
PODCAST The story of the devastating snowstorm that changed New York City forever. Every winter, as forecasters gaze upon a gruesome impending storm, they always mention one of the worst storms to ever wreak havoc upon…
#478
The Disappearance of Judge Crater: A notorious crime saga in 1930s New York City
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…
#298
The History of Brooklyn Heights and the Promenade — and that infamous section of the BQE
“A Highway is Crumbling. New York Can’t Agree on How to Fix It.” That was a headline in the New York Times back in November about the highly problematic section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway located…
#279
A New Year in Old New York: A history of celebration from Times Square to Chinatown
PODCAST The ultimate history of New Year’s celebrations in New York City. This is the story of the many ways in which New Yorkers have ushered in the coming year, a moment of rebirth, reconciliation, reverence…
#377
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree: A History in Lights
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…
#476
Hot Victorian Holiday: Bowery Boys History Live at City Winery — now in your podcast feed
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…
#475
Subway Tokens, Metrocards and Other Historic Fare: A Trip Through Transit History
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…
The Great Fire That Transformed New York
This month marks the 190th anniversary of one of the most devastating disasters in New York City history — The Great Fire of 1835. This massive fire, among the worst in American history in terms…
#474
Made in France: The Origin of the Statue of Liberty
She stands in New York Harbor as America’s most recognizable symbol—but the story of the Statue of Liberty begins thousands of miles away, in the charming Alsatian city of Colmar, France. In this on-location episode,…
The Bridges of New York City: Podcasts Which Span The City’s History
Did you hear Greg today on WNYC’s All of It with Alison Stewart? They talked about New York City’s greatest and most underappreciated bridges. And lots of history! We’ve covered many, many bridges on the…
#445
Century of Cheer: A History of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
What is Thanksgiving without the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? The annual march through Manhattan — terminating at Macy’s Department Store — has delighted New Yorkers for a century and been a part of the American…
#473
The Other Side of Ellis Island: A Story of American Immigration
Thanks to its immigration history, Ellis Island is one of America’s great landmarks, a place in New York harbor that represents the millions of people who arrived in this country during the late 19th and…
For More on The American Revolution, Check Out These Bowery Boys Podcasts
A new Ken Burns mini-series is equivalent to the Super Bowl for history lovers. And the latest The American Revolution serves up all six parts this week on your local PBS Affiliate. Or, if you…
#472
The Many Mysteries of Amelia Earhart: Stories from the Golden Age of Aviation
The aviation hero Amelia Earhart, who became one of the world’s most famous women during the Great Depression, is one of those historic figures that people think they know quite well. But during her lifetime,…
#156
The Boy Mayor of New York: John Purroy Mitchel and the shocking election of 1913
Above: John Purroy Mitchel, the ‘boy mayor’, in 1910 PODCAST As New York City enters the final stages of this year’s mayoral election, let’s look back on a decidedly more unusual contest 110 years ago,…
#247
Rodgers and Hammerstein: Some Enchanted Broadway History
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II are two of the greatest entertainers in New York City history. They have delighted millions of people with their unique and influential take on the Broadway musical — serious,…
Gotham’s Greatest Ghosts: The Bowery Boys Halloween Specials
Our first ghost stories show was released on October 11, 2007, featuring New York City’s famous haunted tales and urban legends (with historical context). Since that time we have released nineteen Halloween-related shows as well…
#471
Ghost Stories of Long Island: Revolutionary Ghosts, Haunted Mansions and Other Peculiar Things
For this year’s annual Bowery Boys Ghost Stories podcast, Greg and Tom take a road trip to Long Island to explore the region’s most famous haunted tales from legend and folklore, ‘real’ reported stories of…
#470
The Grand Tale of the Erie Canal: New York’s Engineering Icon Celebrates 200 Years
On October 26, 1825, the fate of New York City – and the entire United States – changed with the opening of the Erie Canal, a manmade waterway that connected the Hudson River to Lake…
#469
Dominican New York: A History in the Heights
Dominicans comprise the largest immigration group in modern New York City, and Dominican culture has become embedded in the city’s rich fabric of immigrant history. And in one place in particular — Washington Heights. This…
19th Century NoHo: Glamour, Greed, Money, and Murder
Today’s New York neighborhood called NoHo, wedged between Greenwich Village and the East Village, holds many captivating stories from the 19th century, and the tales of many people and places that then went on to…
#468
Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”: A Jazz-Age Drama
On January 3, 1924, 25-year-old George Gershwin was shooting pool in a Manhattan billiard hall when his brother Ira read aloud a shocking newspaper article: “George Gershwin is at work on a jazz concerto.” There…
#466
Pete’s Tavern and McSorley’s Old Ale House: The Oldest Bars in New York City
The ultimate bar crawl of Old New York continues through a survey of classic bars and taverns that trace their origins from the 1850s through the 1880s. And this time we’re recording within two of…
#465
The Oldest Bars in New York City: The Ultimate History Bar Crawl Begins Here
The history of New York City — as told through the stories of its oldest bars. We’ve put together the ultimate New York City historic bar crawl, a celebration of the city’s old taverns, pubs,…
#464
New York used to be the City of Oysters. Can it be again?
Once upon a time New York City oysters were not only plentiful and healthy in the harbor, they were an everyday, common food source. The original fast food! For that reason, the oyster could be…
#463
Gilded Age Golden Girls: Bowery Boys History Live at City Winery
A special presentation of our live show Bowery Boys History Live, recorded at City Winery, July 2, 2025, with a very unusual theme — Gilded Age Golden Girls. Whatever could it mean? *cue the song Thank You…
Getting a Bad Rap: Spiritualism in the 19th Century
On a new episode of The Gilded Gentleman, prepare for a very chilling exploration of spiritualism with Carl and a man very attuned to the spirit world. Many people throughout the 19th century were fascinated…
Super City: The Secret Origin of Comic Books
PODCAST A history of the comic book industry in New York City, how the energy and diversity of the city influenced the burgeoning medium in the 1930s and 40s and how New York’s history reflects…
#462
The Jersey Shore Shark Attacks of 1916
TERROR ON THE BEACH! Seaside resorts from Cape May, New Jersey, to Montauk, Long Island, were paralyzed in fear during the summer of 1916. Not because of the threat of lurking German U-boats and saboteurs.…
Meet the real Mrs. Astor: The woman who invented New York’s high society
We bring you a classic episode of The Gilded Gentleman, hosted by social and culinary historian Carl Raymond, just in time for a new season of HBO’s The Gilded Age. In The Real Mrs. Astor, Carl…
The Gilded Age Mansions of Fifth Avenue: At Home with the Astors and Vanderbilts
So we don’t know if you’ve heard, but New York City is an expensive place to live these days. So we thought it might be time to revisit the tale of the city’s most famous…
#461
The Story of Inwood and Marble Hill: Tales of Caves, Old Mansions and Forgotten Amusement Parks
People who live in Inwood know how truly special it is. Manhattan’s northernmost neighborhood (aside from Marble Hill) feels like it’s outside of the city — and in some places, even outside of time and space. Unlike…
#460
The Brooklyn Museum and the Birth of a New City
While you may know the Brooklyn Museum for its wildly popular cutting-edge exhibitions, the borough’s premier art institution can actually trace its origins back to a more rustic era — and to the birth of…
#459
Moses vs. Bard: The Battle for Castle Clinton
In 1939, Robert Moses sprung his latest project upon the world — the Brooklyn-Battery Bridge, connecting the tip of Manhattan to the Brooklyn waterfront, slicing through New York Harbor just to the north of Governor’s…
#149
The Trial of John Peter Zenger: New York and the Birth of the Freedom of the Press
A long, long time ago in New York — in the 1730s, back when the city was a holding of the British, with a little over 10,000 inhabitants — a German printer named John Peter…
#458
Parkways and the Transformation of Brooklyn
When Prospect Park was first opened to the public in the late 1860s, the City of Brooklyn was proud to claim a landmark as beautiful and as peaceful as New York’s Central Park. But the…
#457
Ford to City – Drop Dead: The Story Behind The Headline
On October 29, 1975, President Gerald Ford walked into a press conference at the National Press Club and, using more precise, more eloquent words than legend remembers, but in no uncertain terms, told New York…
We won! Webby Award for Best History Podcast (Individual Episode) 2025
The first part on our Amsterdam/New Amsterdam series — called Empire of the Seas — was just awarded the 2025 Webby Award for Best History Podcast (Individual Episode) A big thank you to our brilliant…
#456
Walking New York: Manhattan on Foot with Keith Taillon
Join Tom for an interview with Instagram historian Keith Taillon (@keithyorkcity), whose detailed posts about New York’s history have earned him nearly 60,000 followers and launched a successful tour business. Keith shares the story behind…
Daredevil and the Bowery Boys: On the Official Marvel Comics Podcast
It’s a Bowery Boys Podcast/Marvel Comics Podcast crossover for the ages! Greg was a guest on this week’s episode of the Official Marvel Comics Podcast, talking about the New York City origins of Daredevil. The…
#455
The House of Beauty: The Story of The Frick Collection
We invite you to come with us inside one of America’s most interesting art museums – an institution that is BOTH an art gallery and a historic home. This is the Frick Collection, located at…
#186
Hell’s Kitchen: New York’s Wild West
PODCAST Hell’s Kitchen, on the far west side of Midtown Manhattan, is a neighborhood of many secrets. The unique history of this working class district veers into many tales of New York’s criminal underworld and…
#454
Special Delivery: A History of the Post Office in New York City
The history of the United States Postal Service as it plays out in the streets of New York City — from the first post road to the first postage stamps. From the most beautiful post office…
#452
How New York Got Its Name: A Tale of Adventure and Betrayal with Russell Shorto
It’s one of the most foundational questions we could ever ask on this show — how did New York City get its name? You may know that the English conquered the Dutch settlement of New…
#451
The New Yorker Magazine: Talk of the Town for 100 Years
The New Yorker turns one century old — and hasn’t aged a day! The witty, cosmopolitan magazine published its first issue on February 21, 1925. And even though present-day issues are often quite contemporary in…
At The Movies with Meyers and Young: Celebrating New York City on the big screen
Greg and Tom have taken off their historian hats for a minute and have suddenly become — movie critics? Close but not quite! This week we’re giving you a ‘sneak preview’ of their Patreon podcast…
#450
Harlem in the Jazz Age: A Renaissance in New York, a Revolution on Swing Street
For the Bowery Boys episode number 450, we’re looking at the glamour and mystery of Harlem during the 1920s, a decade when the predominantly black neighborhood, in the words of Langston Hughes, “was in vogue.”…
#449
The Story of Italian Harlem: New York’s Forgotten Little Italy
One of America’s first great Italian neighborhoods was once in East Harlem, populated with more southern Italians than Sicily itself, a neighborhood almost entirely gone today except for a couple restaurants, a church and a…
The Return of the Waldorf Astoria: Grace, Glamour and International Intrigue
PODCAST A star of the New York City skyline is reborn — the Waldorf Astoria is reopening in 2025! And so we thought we’d again raise a toast to one of the world’s most famous…
#448
Inside the Memory Palace with Nate DiMeo
There were very few history podcasts around back in the year 2008, but the Bowery Boys Podcast was certainly here … and so was the Memory Palace, hosted by Nate DiMeo, presenting small, often forgotten…
The World of Tiffany Glass: Lighting the Gilded Age
Lets start the new year with something beautiful shall we? The latest in the Bowery Boys podcast feed — join Carl Raymond, host of The Gilded Gentleman podcast, and Lindsy Parrott of the Neustadt Collection…
#447
Bob Dylan’s Greenwich Village: The Neighborhood Which Shaped American Music
Greenwich Village is one of America’s great music capitals, an extraordinary distinction for an old neighborhood of tenements, townhouses, dive bars and a college campus. So many musical titans of jazz, folk, pop and rock…
#446
Mr. Morgan and His Magnificent Library: A ‘Bookman’s Paradise’ on Madison Avenue
Does your personal library overwhelm your home? Are there too many books in your life — but you’ll never get rid of them? Then you have a lot in common with Gilded Age mogul J.P.…
The Radio City Rockettes: New York City’s Dancing Queens
The Rockettes are America’s best known dance troupe — and a staple of the holiday season — but you may not know the origin of this iconic New York City symbol. For one, they’re not…
#444
Celebrating Classic New York Mom-and-Pop Shops (with New York Nico)
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…
#205
Whatever Happened to Dorothy Arnold? A tale of New York’s most famous missing person
PODCAST The mysterious disappearance of a young woman becomes one of the most talked-about events over one hundred years ago. The young socialite Dorothy Arnold seemingly led a charmed and privileged life. The niece of…
#384
Nuyorican: The Great Puerto Rican Migration to New York
PODCAST This episode focuses on the special relationship between New York City and Puerto Rico, via the tales of pioneros, the first migrants to make the city their home and the many hundreds of thousands…
#439
The History of the Ticker-Tape Parade: A Very New York Way to Celebrate
In 1886, during a miles-long parade celebrating the dedication of the Statue of Liberty, office workers in lower Manhattan began heaving ticker tape out the windows, creating a magical, blizzard-like landscape. That tradition stuck. Today…
#443
Ghost Stories of the Five Boroughs: The Bowery Boys Halloween Special
On January 1, 1898, Greater New York was formed from the union of two cities – New York and Brooklyn, along with other towns and villages of the region, creating the five boroughs we know…
#442
Urban Legends of New York City: Alligators, Maniacs and Aliens, Oh My!
New York City has its fair share of famous ‘urban legends’ — persistent rumors, too good to be true, often macabre and dark. No, we’re not talking about just about ghost stories. (Those arrive next…
#441
The Recluse of Herald Square: The Mystery of Ida Wood
Ida Wood had a secret. Born Ida Mayfield in New Orleans, Ida moved to New York in the 1850s and through her marriage to Benjamin Wood, publisher of the New York Daily News, she entered…
#280
The Ghosty Men: The Story of the Collyer Brothers
You better clean your room or you’ll end up like the Collyer Brothers. New York City, a city crammed of 8.6 million people. It’s filled with stories of people who just want to be left…
#440
When Longacre Square Became Times Square: Before the Bright Lights of Broadway
What was Times Square before the electric billboards, before the Broadway theaters and theme restaurants, before the thousands and thousands of tourists? What was Times Square before it was Times Square? Today it’s virtually impossible to…
#438
The Ramones at CBGB: A musical revolution on the Bowery
One-two-three-four! The Ramones, a four-man rock band from Forest Hills, Queens, played the Bowery music club CBGB for the very first time on August 16, 1974. Not only would Joey, Johnny, Tommy and Dee Dee…
The Bowery Boys Adventures in the Netherlands: All Episodes Now Available
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…
#168
Aaron Burr vs. Alexander Hamilton: The terrible consequences of an ugly insult
Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr met at a clearing in Weehawken, NJ, in the early morning on July 11, 1804, to mount the most famous duel in American history. But why did they do it?…
#437
Haarlem, Breukelen, Utrecht: Exploring New York’s Dutch Roots
Follow along with Greg and Tom in this travelogue episode as they visit several historic cities and towns in the Netherlands — Utrecht, De Bilt, Breukelen and Haarlem — wandering through cafe-filled streets and old…
#436
Finding Peter Stuyvesant (Amsterdam/New Amsterdam Mini-Series)
The name Stuyvesant can be found everywhere in New York City. — in the names of neighborhoods, apartments, parks and high schools. Peter Stuyvesant, the last director-general of New Amsterdam, is a hero to some,…
#435
The Radical Walloons: Amsterdam/New Amsterdam (Bowery Boys mini-series)
Our adventure in the Netherlands continues with a quest to find the Walloons, the French-speaking religious refugees who became the first settlers of New Netherland in 1624. Their descendants would last well beyond the existence…
#434
Amsterdam/New Amsterdam: Empire of the Seas (New Bowery Boys Mini-Series)
The epic journey begins! The Bowery Boys Podcast heads to old Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, to find traces of New Amsterdam, the Dutch settlement which became New York. We begin our journey at…
#433
New Amsterdam Man: An Interview with Russell Shorto
The Bowery Boys Podcast is headed to Amsterdam and other parts of the Netherlands for a very special mini-series, marking the 400th anniversary of the Dutch first settling in North America in the region that…
A History of the New York City Subway — from A to Z (and 1 through 9)
The New York City subway system turns 120 years old later this year so we thought we’d honor the world’s longest subway system with a supersized overview history — from the first renegade ride in…
#431
Up and Down Park Avenue: New York City History with a Penthouse View
The story of a filthy and dangerous train ditch that became one of the swankiest addresses in the world — Park Avenue. For over 100 years, a Park Avenue address meant wealth, glamour and the…
#430
The Story of Flushing: An Epic History of Queens Old and New
Few areas of the United States have as endured as long as Flushing, Queens, a neighborhood with almost over 375 years of history and an evolving cultural landscape that includes Quakers, trees, Hollywood films, world…
#426
Behind the Domino Sign: The Story of Brooklyn’s Bittersweet Empire
The Brooklyn waterfront was once decorated with a yellow Domino Sugar sign, affixed to an aging refinery along a row of deteriorating industrial structures facing the East River. The Domino Sugar Refinery, completed in 1883…
#425
It Happened at Madison Square Park: The Heart of New York During the Gilded Age
So much has happened in and around Madison Square Park — the leafy retreat at the intersections of Broadway, Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street — that telling its entire story requires an extra-sized show, in…
New York City Parks: The Bowery Boys Podcast Collection
We love talking about parks on the Bowery Boys podcast because they are an excellent way to experience history and recreation at the same time. In February we will be bringing you two all-new episodes…
Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball: The Absurd Story of a Marvelous Party
PODCAST Your ticket to Truman Capote’s celebrity-filled party at the Plaza. This month FX is debuting a new series created by Ryan Murphy — called Feud: Capote and the Swans — regarding writer Truman Capote‘s relationship with…
#424
Kosciuszko! The Man and the Bridge: A Thrilling Tale of Revolution and Pollution
The Kosciuszko Bridge is one of New York City’s most essential pieces of infrastructure, the hyphen in the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that connects the two boroughs over Newtown Creek, the 3.5 mile creek which empties into…
The Bowery Boys Podcast Year In Review 2023
Thank you for making 2023 another excellent year for the Bowery Boys podcast. This year our shows spanned hundreds of years of history — from the Dutch wall of New Amsterdam in the 1650s to…
#423
Leonard Bernstein’s New York, New York
On the morning of November 14th, 1943, Leonard Bernstein, the talented 25-year-old assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic, got a phone call saying he would at last be leading the respected orchestral group —…
#422
Grace Church: Heavenly Style and High Society in Gilded Age New York
Manhattan’s Grace Church sits at a unique bend on Broadway and East Tenth Street, making it seem that the historic house of worship is rising out of the street itself. But Grace is also at…
#410
The Roeblings: The Family Who Built The Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge, which was officially opened to New Yorkers 140 years ago this year, is not only a symbol of the American Gilded Age, it’s a monument to the genius, perseverance and oversight of…
#421
Evacuation Day: The Forgotten Holiday of the American Revolution
For decades New Yorkers celebrated Evacuation Day every November 25, a holiday marking the 1783 departure of British forces from a city they had occupied for several years. The events of that departure — that…
#420
Garbo Walks: A Tale of Old Hollywood in New York City
Garbo in New York! A story of independence, glamour and melancholy, set at the intersection of classic Hollywood and mid-century New York City. This is the biography of a legendary star who became the city’s…
#369
Last Dance at the Hotel Pennsylvania
PODCAST When it opened in 1919, the Hotel Pennsylvania was the largest hotel in the world. Over a hundred years later, its fate remains uncertain. Is it too big to save? (NOTE: Alas the hotel…
#215
The Bowery Boys Halloween Special: Ghosts of the Gilded Age
This newly edited edition of this episode of the Bowery Boys is now running on the The Gilded Gentleman podcast. Listen today: PODCAST Four strange and spooky tales taken from New York City newspaper articles…
#419
Ghost Stories by Gaslight: Hauntings of Old New York
A brand new batch of haunted houses and spooky stories, all from the gaslight era of New York City, the illuminating glow of the 19th century revealing the spirits of another world. Greg and Tom…
#418
Theodore Roosevelt’s Wild Kingdom: American conservation history with Ken Burns
Theodore Roosevelt was a New Yorker and a rugged outdoorsman, a politician and a naturalist, a conservationist and a hunter. His connection with the natural world begin at birth in his Manhattan brownstone home and…
#417
Walking the East Village: Culture Among The Ruins 1976-1996
PODCAST The rebirth of the East Village in the late 1970s and the flowering of a new and original New York subculture — what Edmund White called “the Downtown Scene” — arose from the shadow…
#416
Creating the East Village: Beatniks and Hippies Transform the Lower East Side
Before 1955 nobody used the phrase “East Village” to describe the historic northern portion of the Lower East Side, the New York tenement district with a rich German and Eastern European heritage. But when the…
#160
The rebellious history of Tompkins Square Park
This episode on the history of Tompkins Square Park ties right into an all-new two-part episode coming in September, the first part coming at you next week. Central Park has frequently been called ‘the people’s park,” but…
#415
The Early Years of Central Park: A Tale of Fountains, Castles and Rambling Walks
Stroll the romantic, rambling paths of historic Central Park in this week’s episode, turning back the clock to the 1860s and 70s, a time of children ice skating on The Lake, carriage rides through The…
#414
The Brooklyn Navy Yard and Vinegar Hill: Where American History Meets the Waterfront
The tale of the Brooklyn Navy Yard is one of New York’s true epic adventures, mirroring the course of American history via the ships manufactured here and the people employed to make them. The Navy…
#127
The Deadly Draft Riots of 1863: New York City and the American Civil War
This month we are marking the 160th anniversary of one of the most dramatic moments in New York City history – the Civil War Draft Riots which stormed through the city from July 13 to…
The Pride Collection: Celebrate gay history with these Bowery Boys podcast episodes
Today every shop seems to wear a Rainbow Flag and every corporation and major retailer seems to offer a welcoming message to the LGBTQ community or a line of multi-colored ‘gay apparel’. But keep in…
#412
The New York Parking Wars: How Cars Took Over The Curb
Take a look at a vintage photograph of New York from the 1930s and you’ll see automats, newsies, elevated trains and men in fedoras. What you won’t see — dozens and dozens of automobiles on…
#411
The Story of Miss Subways: Queens of the New York Commute
From 1941 and 1976, dozens of young women and high school girls were bestowed the honor of Miss Subways with her smiling photograph hanging within the cars of the New York subway system. This was…
#382
Architect of the Gilded Age: The Triumphant Tale of Richard Morris Hunt
Richard Morris Hunt was one of the most important architects in American history. His talent and vision brought respect to his profession in the mid 19th century and helped to craft the seductive style of…
#159
The Broadway Musical: A trip through American theater history
The Broadway Musical is one of New York City’s greatest inventions, over 150 years in the making! It’s one of the truly American art forms, fueling one of the city’s most vibrant entertainment businesses…
#409
The Great New York City Pizza Tour: History By The Slice
The history of pizza in the United States begins in Manhattan in the late 19th century, on the streets of Little Italy (and Nolita), within immigrant-run bakeries that transformed a traditional southern Italian food into…
#408
The Titanic and the Fate of Pier 54
In the early morning hours of April 15, 1912. the White Star ocean liner RMS Titanic struck an iceberg en route to New York City and sank in the Atlantic Ocean. Survivors were rescued by…
William ‘Boss’ Tweed: The King of Tammany Hall Was Born 200 Years Ago Today
One of our great sources of inspiration here on the Bowery Boys Podcast was born 200 years ago today — William Tweed, otherwise known as Boss Tweed. This doesn’t mean he was a great guy.…
#407
New York by Gaslight: Illuminating the 19th Century
Enter the magical world of New York by gaslight, the city illuminated by the soft, revolutionary glow of lamps powered by gas, an innovative utility which transformed urban life in the 19th century. Before…
#224
When The Irish Came To New York: An Immigrant Story
One of the great narratives of American history — immigration — through the experiences of the Irish. We just reedited and reworked our 2017 show on Irish immigration in time for St. Patrick’s Day and…
#406
How Wall Street Got Its Name: Stories from New Amsterdam and Early New York
Wall Street, today a canyon of tall buildings in New York’s historic Financial District, is not only one of the most famous streets in the United States, it’s also a stand-in for the entire American…
Glamorous Listening: Podcasts on New York and the Movies
New York City and Los Angeles may be separated by a few thousand miles — and rivalries between the two cities abound — but they are intimately linked due to the entertainment industry. In fact…
#405
The Guarded Smile: Mona Lisa at the Metropolitan Museum
The Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci’s stoic portrait and one of the most valuable paintings on earth, came to America during the winter of 1963, a single-picture loan that was both a special favor to Jackie…
The First Woman Ever Photographed: Light and Magic in Greenwich Village
Dorothy Catherine Draper is a truly forgotten figure in American history. She was the first woman to ever sit for a photograph — a daguerrotype, actually, in the year 1840, upon the rooftop of the…
#404
Nighthawks and Automats: The New York City of Edward Hopper
Within the New York City of Edward Hopper‘s imagination, the skyscrapers have vanished, the sidewalks are mysteriously wide and all the diners and Chop Suey restaurants are sparsely populated with well-dressed lonely people. In this…
#403
The Fulton Fish Market: History at the South Street Seaport
In the 19th century, the Fulton Fish Market in downtown Manhattan was to seafood what Chicago stock yards were to the meat industry, the primary place where Americans got fish for their dinner tables. Over…
The Sip-In of 1966: Celebrating Julius’ Bar, New York’s Newest Landmark
New York City has a new landmark, a little bar in the West Village named Julius’, officially recognized by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission on December 6th, 2022. It’s here that one moment of protest (the Sip-In…
#402
Treasures from the World’s Fair: Futuristic Objects from the Past
Flushing-Meadows Corona Park in the borough of Queens is the home of the New York Mets, the U.S. Open, the Queens Zoo, the Hall of Science and many other recreational delights. But it will always…
Birth of the Five Boroughs: 125 Years of Greater New York
On January 1, 2023, New York City will celebrate a special moment, the 125th anniversary of the formation of Greater New York and the creation of the five boroughs — The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens…
#401
The World Before Wordle: A Puzzling Conversation with A.J. Jacobs
Crosswords, jigsaws, mazes, rebuses, Rubik’s cubes, Myst, Words With Friends — and now Wordle? Not only have people loved puzzles for centuries, they’ve actually gone wild for them. Every few years, a new puzzle comes…
#400
The story of Jacob Riis and ‘The Other Half’ of Gilded Age New York
In 1890 the Danish-American journalist Jacob Riis turned his eye-opening reporting and lecture series into a ground-breaking book called How The Other Half Lives, a best seller which awoke Americans to the plight of the…
#399
The Changing Lower East Side: A View From Seward Park
In this special episode, we look at the history of New York City as seen through one corner of the Lower East Side. Created by the intersections of several streets, this is a place that…
#316
Jenny Lind at Castle Garden: New York City’s Most Famous Concert
What happens when P. T. Barnum, America’s savviest supplier of both humbug and hoax, decides that it is time to go legit? The result is one of the greatest concert tours in American history. The…
#398
Marilyn Monroe in New York: Her Year of Reinvention
In late December 1954 Marilyn Monroe came to New York City wearing a disguise. Monroe — by then the biggest movie star in the world — came to the East Coast to reinvent herself and…
#397
Ghost Stories of the Hudson River: Exploring Five Haunted Histories
Beware! The ghosts and goblins of the Hudson River Valley have been awakened from their dark slumber. In this year’s annual celebration of New York urban legends and folktales, we journey up the Hudson River…
#125
An Evening at Sardi’s: Dinner with a side of Broadway history
PODCAST REWIND The famous faces on the walls of Sardi’s Restaurant represent the entertainment elite of the 20th century, and all of them made this place on West 44th Street their unofficial home. Known for…
#396
National Calamity: Samuel Tilden and the Presidential Election of 1876
You may have heard about the messy, chaotic and truly horrible presidential election of 1876, pitting Democrat Samuel Tilden and Republican Rutherford B Hayes. But did you know that New York City plays a huge…
#395
The History of Jefferson Market and the Women’s House of Detention
In the heart of Greenwich Village sits the Jefferson Market Library, a branch of the New York Public Library, and a beautiful garden which offers a relaxing respite from the busy neighborhood. But a prison…
#394
New York Calling: A History of the Telephone
Just a few months ago, most of the remaining phone booths were removed from the streets of New York City, oft neglected, a nostalgic victim of our increasing use of cellphones. For almost a century…
#393
Capturing History: Ric Burns and James Sanders on “New York: A Documentary Film”
In today’s episode, Tom discusses the vast span of New York history with filmmakers and authors Ric Burns and James Sanders, creators of New York: A Documentary Film. Tom, Ric and James discuss the 8-part…
#197
Danger in the Harbor: World War I and the Black Tom Explosion of 1916
PODCAST The tale of the Black Tom Explosion which sent shrapnel into the Statue of Liberty and rocked the region around New York harbor. On July 30, 1916, at just after 2 in the morning,…
#189
TAXI: A History of the New York Taxi Cab
PODCAST The history of the New York City taxicab, from the handsome hansoms of old to the modern issues facing the modern taxi fleet today. In this episode, we recount almost 175 years of getting…
#391
A Walk Through Little Caribbean in Brooklyn
What wonderful surprises await the Bowery Boys in Little Caribbean? The Brooklyn enclave in Flatbush is one of the central destinations for Caribbean-American life and culture in New York City. Since the 1960s, thousands of…
#211
The Notorious Madame Restell: The Abortionist of Fifth Avenue
The story of New York’s most prominent abortionist of the 19th century and the unique environment of morality and secrecy which accommodated her rise on the fringes of society. Ann Lohman aka Madame Restell was…
#390
The Story of Flatbush: Brooklyn Old and New
Over 350 years ago today’s Brooklyn neighborhood of Flatbush was an old Dutch village, the dirt path that would one day become Flatbush Avenue lined with wheat fields and farms. Contrast that with today’s Flatbush,…
#389
The Ruins of Roosevelt Island: The macabre history of New York’s “city of asylums”
The Renwick Ruin, resembling an ancient castle lost to time, appears along the East River as a crumbling, medieval-like apparition, something not quite believable. Sitting between two new additions on Roosevelt Island — the campus…
Road Trip to the Hudson Valley: The Complete Series Now Available
The Bowery Boys Road Trip to the Hudson Valley mini-series, exploring stories of American history along the Hudson River, is now complete. Catch up on all three episodes — and join us on Patreon for…
#388
The Hudson River School: The Story of an American Art Revolution
PODCAST: Two landmarks to American art history sit on either side of the Rip Van Winkle Bridge over the Hudson River — the homes of visionary artists Thomas Cole and Frederic Edwin Church. Cole and…
#387
The Roosevelts of Hyde Park: American History on the Hudson
PODCAST Hyde Park, New York was the home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States. He was born here, he lived here throughout his life, and he’s buried here — alongside…
#47
The Story of Grant’s Tomb: Upper Manhattan’s Magnificent Mausoleum
The fascinating story of Grant’s Tomb — and a quirky history that includes an ambitious architect, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, lots of ugly raspberry paint, and strange charges of animal…
#386
On the Trail of the Old Croton Aqueduct: Walking Along an Engineering Marvel
What 19th century American engineering landmark invites you through nature, past historic sites and into people’s backyards? Where can you experience the grandeur of the Hudson Valley in (mostly) secluded peace and tranquility — while…
Road Trip to the Hudson Valley: A new three-part podcast series
Load up the cooler and crank up the tunes, because the Bowery Boys Podcast is heading back on the road! Presenting a NEW three part podcast series, exploring three historic places outside of New York…
#385
Frederick Law Olmsted and the Plan for Central Park
PODCAST Frederick Law Olmsted, America’s preeminent landscape architect of the 19th century, designed dozens of parks, parkways and college campuses across the country. With Calvert Vaux, he created two of New York City’s greatest parks…
#383
The Temple on Fifth Avenue: A Story of Jewish New York and Congregation Emanu-El
Temple Emanu-El, home to New York’s first Reform Jewish congregation and the largest synagogue in the city, sits on the spot of Mrs. Caroline Astor‘s former Gilded Age mansion. Out with the old, in with…
Electric New York: Illuminating the shadows, re-visualizing the night
This classic episode of the Bowery Boys: New York City History podcast (originally released in December of 2021) is featured in this week’s episode of the History Channel podcast HISTORY This Week. Since 2011 the…
#381
The Wonderful Home of Louis and Lucille Armstrong
PODCAST New York City has an impressive collection of historic homes, but none as unique and joyful as the Louis Armstrong House and Museum, located in Corona, Queens. What other historic home in the United…
#380
Dorothy Parker’s Last Party: A strange afterlife for the Jazz Age writer
PODCAST Dorothy Parker was not only the wittiest writer of the Jazz Age, she was also obsessively morbid. Her talents rose at a very receptive moment for such a sharp, dour outlook, after the first…
#379
How Chelsea Became a Neighborhood: From Orchards to Nightclubs
PODCAST What does the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea mean to you? Religion and architecture? Art galleries and gay bars? Shopping and brunch after a stroll on the High Line? Tens of thousands of people, of…
#378
The Dark, Glamorous, Sexy and Joyously Musical History of the Ansonia
PODCAST The strange, scandalous and sex-filled story of The Ansonia, an Upper West Side architectural gem and a legendary musical landmark. In the television show Only Murders in the Building, Martin Short, Steve Martin and Selena…
Looking Back Again: Your Favorite Bowery Boys Podcasts of 2021
There’s one more new Bowery Boys Podcast to come in 2021 (look for it on New Year’s Eve) — but we wanted to take a moment to thank you for making 2021 another fantastic year.…
#218
West Side Story: The Making of Lincoln Center
PODCAST Steven Spielberg’s new version of West Side Story is here — and it’s fantastic — so we’re re-visiting our 2016 show on the history of Lincoln Center, with a new show introduction discussing the…
Introducing The Gilded Gentleman, a new Bowery Boys spin-off podcast
Presenting a new history podcast produced by Tom Meyers and Greg Young from the Bowery Boys: New York City History Podcast. If you’re a fan of Downton Abbey, The Age of Innocence or Upstairs Downstairs, then we know The Gilded Gentleman podcast…
#376
The Story of Skid Row: The Bowery of the Forgotten Men
PODCAST A history of the Bowery in the 20th century when this street became known as the most notorious place in America. And the stories of the lonely and desperate men whose experiences have been…
#375
Historic Heist: The Great Bank Robbery of 1878
PODCAST The thrilling tale of a classic heist from the Gilded Age, perpetrated by a host of wicked and colorful characters from New York’s criminal underworld. Jesse James and Butch Cassidy may be more infamous…
#373
New York Underground: The Secret Stories of Cemeteries
PODCAST The following podcast may look like the history of New York City cemeteries — from the early churchyards of the Colonial era to the monument-filled rural cemeteries of Brooklyn and Queens. But it’s much…
#372
The Shuberts: The Brothers Who Built Broadway
PODCAST There’s no business like show business — thanks to Lee, Sam and JJ Shubert, the Syracuse brothers who forever changed the American theatrical business in the 20th century. Broadway is back! And the marquees…
#191
A Perilous Night in New York: The Great Fire of 1776
PODCAST We revisit the story of the Great Fire of 1776, the drumbeat of war leading up to the disaster, and the tragic story of the American patriot Nathan Hale. On the occasion of the…
#371
A Trip to Little Syria: A New York Immigrant Story
Just south of the World Trade Center district sits the location of a forgotten Manhattan immigrant community. Curious outsiders called it Little Syria although the residents themselves would have known it as the Syrian Colony.…
#370
Tragic Muse: The Life of Audrey Munson
PODCAST By the time Audrey Munson turned 25 years old, she had became a muse for some of the most famous artists in America, the busiest artist’s model of her day. She was such a fixture of…
#368
The Man Who Saved the Horses: Henry Bergh’s Fight for Animal Rights
PODCAST “Men will be just to men when they are kind to animals.” – Henry Bergh Today’s show is all about animals in 19th-century New York City. Of course, animals were an incredibly common sight…
#367
The Ice Craze: Triumphs and Scandals of the 19th Century Ice Trade
New York City on ice — a tribute to the forgotten industry which kept the city cool in the age before refrigeration and air conditioning. Believe it or not, ice used to be big business.…
#366
The dark history of North Brother Island, New York’s forbidden place
PODCAST There are two mysterious islands in the East River with a human population of zero. North Brother Island and the smaller South Brother Island sit near the tidal strait known as Hell Gate, a…
#93
Epicenter: The historic New York City Hall
PODCAST REWIND A story almost four hundred years in the making — and a place at the center of modern New York political life. New York City Hall sits majestically inside a nostalgic, well-manicured park,…
#52
Meet Mayor DeWitt Clinton, the man who built New York City’s future
With a new mayoral race on the horizon in New York City we think it is time that you Know Your Mayors! Become familiar with other men who’ve held the job, from the ultra-powerful to…
Road Trip to Long Island: All Episodes Now Available
We’ve now reached the end of our Road Trip To Long Island mini-series but not the end of Long Island history on our podcast. Let’s just say, we were on something of a test drive…
#364
The Very Gay History of Fire Island
How did one particular summer settlement on Fire Island become a ‘safe haven’ for gay men and lesbians almost ninety years ago, decades before the uprising at Stonewall Inn? This is the third and final…
#260
Long Island Gothic: A Journey to Grey Gardens
PODCAST The historical backstory of one of the most famous documentaries ever made – Grey Gardens. The classic film Grey Gardens, made by brother directing team Albert and David Maysles, looks at the lives of two former society women…
#363
The Sunny Saga of Jones Beach: Sand, Surf and Robert Moses
The Bowery Boys Podcast’s new mini-series Road Trip to Long Island featuring tales of historic sites outside of New York City. In the next leg of our journey, we visit Jones Beach State Park, the…
#362
Long Island Opulence: Gatsby and the Mansions of the Gold Coast
PODCAST Relive a little Jazz Age luxury by escaping into the colossal castles, manors and chateaus on Long Island’s North Shore, the setting for one of America’s most famous novels. This is the first part…
#361
The Landmarks of Coney Island (Extended Funhouse Mix)
PODCAST Coney Island is back! After being closed for 2020 due to the pandemic, the unusual attractions, the thrilling rides and stands selling beer and hot dog have finally reopened. So we are releasing a very…
#360
The Botanical Gardens of New York City: History in Full Bloom
PODCAST Nature and history intertwine in all five boroughs — from the Bronx River to the shores of Staten Island — in this special episode about New York City’s many gardens. A botanical garden is…
#297
Dr. Hosack’s Enchanted Garden: A Tale of Botany, Medicine and Discovery in Old New York
PODCAST: Dr. David Hosack was no ordinary doctor in early 19th-century New York. His patients included some of the city’s most notable citizens, including Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, both of whom he counted as close friends —…
#359
The Magic of the Movie Theater: A History of Palaces and Arthouses
PODCAST In celebration of 125 years of movie exhibition in New York City — from vaudeville houses to movie palaces, from arthouses to multiplexes. On April 23, 1896 an invention called the Vitascope projected moving…
#358
The Muppets Take Manhattan: The Bowery Boys Movie Club in Jim Henson’s New York
It’s spring in New York City and time for some frivolity! So we’ve just released an unusually whimsical episode of Bowery Boys Movie Club to the general Bowery Boys Podcast audience, exploring the 1984 comedy treat The Muppets Take…
#357
Edith Wharton’s New York: An Insider’s View of the Gilded Age
PODCAST New York’s upper class families of the late 19th century lived lives of old-money pursuits and rigid, self-maintained social restrictions — from the opera boxes to the carriages, from the well-appointed parlors to the…
#311
Uprising: The Shirtwaist Strike of 1909
EPISODE 311 Nobody had seen anything quite like it. In late November 1909, tens of thousands of workers went on strike, angered by poor work conditions and unfair wages within the city’s largest industry. New…
#355
Nights of Vice: The Midnight Adventures of Doctor Parkhurst
PODCAST Welcome to your tour of New York City nightlife in the 1890s, to a fantasia of debauchery, to a “saturnalia of crime,” your journey to a life of amoral delights! Courtesy a private detective,…
#354
Who Wrote the First American Cookbook?
PODCAST One of America’s most important books was published 225 years ago this year. You won’t find it on a shelf of great American literature. It was not written by a great man of letters,…
#353
Harlem Before The Renaissance: Making a mecca for Black America
PODCAST “If we were to offer a symbol of what Harlem has come to mean in a short span of twenty years, it would be another statue of liberty on the landward side of New…
#158
Harlem Nights at the Hotel Theresa
PODCAST The Hotel Theresa was once called the Waldorf of Harlem, a glamorous New York City accommodation known as a hub for Black society and culture in the 1940s and 50s — and for a…
#352
The Birth of Black Harlem: On the Road to a Renaissance
PODCAST How did Harlem become Harlem, the historic and spiritual center of Black culture, politics and identity in American life? This is the story of radical change — through radical real estate. By the 1920s,…
#350
The World Trade Center in the 1970s
PODCAST The World Trade Center opened its distinctive towers during one of New York City’s most difficult decades, a beacon of modernity in a city beleaguered by debt and urban decay. Welcome to the 1970s.…
#208
Strange Hoaxes of the 19th Century: Mischief from Manhattan to the Moon
PODCAST Two stories of outrageous hoaxes perpetrated upon New Yorkers in the early 19th century. New Yorkers can be tough to crack, maneuvering through a rapidly changing, fast-paced city. But they can, at times, also…
#349
The Queensboro Bridge and the Rise of a Borough
“The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald…
#254
The Destruction of Penn Station
On January 1, 2021 Moynihan Train Hall officially opened to the public, a new commuters’ wing catering to both Amtrak and Long Island Railroad train passengers at New York’s underground (and mostly unloved) Penn Station.…
The Construction of Penn Station and the North River Tunnels
On January 1, 2021 Moynihan Train Hall officially opens to the public, a new commuters’ wing catering to both Amtrak and Long Island Railroad train passengers at New York’s underground (and mostly unloved) Penn Station.…
#348
Cheers! The Stories of Four Fabulous Cocktails
EPISODE 348 It’s the happiest of hours! The tales of four fabulous cocktails invented or made famous in New York City’s saloons, cocktail lounges, restaurants and hotels. Cocktails are more than alcoholic beverages; over the…
#317
Two Stories of Historic Vaccines: The End of Polio and Smallpox
We released the following show on the history of vaccines back in early April 2020 when the idea of a COVID 19 vaccine seemed little more than distant fantasy. Just this past Monday, on December…
#347
Steam Heat: The Gilded Age miracle that keeps New York warm
PODCAST It’s hot in the city — even during the coldest winter months, thanks to the most elemental of resources: steam heat. EPISODE 347 This is the story of the innovative heating plan first introduced…
#346
The Beatles Invade New York! Memories of Beatlemania from the fans who helped create it
PODCAST: EPISODE 346 How Beatlemania both energized and paralyzed New York City in the mid 1960s as told by the women who screamed their hearts out and helped build a phenomenon. Before BTS, before One…
#190
The Curious Case of Typhoid Mary: The Race to Quell an Epidemic
PODCAST An account of a mysterious typhoid fever outbreak and the woman — Mary Mallon, the so-called Typhoid Mary — at the center of the strange epidemic. The tale of Typhoid Mary is a harrowing…
On the Radio: An early history of the airwaves, from the first broadcasts to ‘War of the Worlds’
Our latest podcast explores the early history of radio in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first commercial radio station (KDKA in Pennsylvania) and its first broadcast — the announcement of presidential election results.…
#344
Ghostbusters: The Bowery Boys Movie Club explores New York’s slimiest supernatural comedy
EPISODE 344 We’ve now made our Bowery Boys Movie Club episode on the film Ghostbusters available for everyone. Listen to it today wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is brought to you by those who support the Bowery…
#343
Literary Horrors of New York City: Scary Stories from Lovecraft, Irving, Highsmith and Ripley
EPISODE 343 In the 14th annual Bowery Boys Podcast Halloween special, we celebrate some classic tales of the strange and supernatural written by the most famous horror writers in New York City history. Since 2020 is…
#342
Ghost Stories of Old New York: ALIVE at Joe’s Pub
EPISODE 342 A very special Bowery Boys: New York City History podcast presentation, recorded live on Halloween Night 2019. For the past couple years we have put on a LIVE cabaret version of our annual…
#341
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 150 Years of History on Display
EPISODE 341 Celebrating the history of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 150th anniversary year of its founding — certainly one of the strangest years in its extraordinary existence. The Met is really the king of New…
The Mystery of the Central Park Obelisk
PODCAST Cleopatra’s Needle is the name given to the ancient Egyptian obelisk that sits in Central Park, right behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is the bizarre tale of how it arrived in…
#340
The Real Life Adventures of Tom Thumb
PODCAST The tale of one of the 19th century’s most unusual superstars, a man who spent his entire life in the media spotlight — thanks to promoter and friend P.T. Barnum and to his highly…
#121
Fraunces Tavern: Raise your glass to the Revolution!
PODCAST Fraunces Tavern is one of America’s most important historical sites of the Revolutionary War and a reminder of the great importance of taverns on the New York way of life during the Colonial era.…
#339
James H. Williams and the Red Caps of Grand Central Terminal
PODCAST EPISODE #339: An interview with author Eric K. Washington, author of “Boss of the Grips: The Life of James H. Williams and the Red Caps of Grand Central Terminal”. The Red Caps of Grand…
#116
Dinosaurs and Diamonds: Stories from the American Museum of Natural History
PODCAST Ancient space rocks, dinosaur fossils, anthropological artifacts and biological specimens are housed in New York’s world famous natural history complex on the Upper West Side — the American Museum of Natural History! Throughout the 19th…
#338
A New Deal for the Arts: How the WPA funded an American creative revolution
PART TWO of a two-part podcast series A NEW DEAL FOR NEW YORK. In this episode, we look at how one aspect of FDR’s New Deal — the WPA’s Federal Project Number One — was…
#337
Robert Moses and the Art of the New Deal
PART ONE of a two-part podcast series A NEW DEAL FOR NEW YORK. In this episode, we look at the impact New Deal funding had in shaping the city’s infrastructure — from bridges and tunnels…
#203
The story of Tesla: The spark of invention in Old New York
PODCAST The strange and wonderful life of Nikola Tesla in New York City. The Serbian immigrant Nikola Tesla was among the Gilded Age’s brightest minds, a visionary thinker and inventor who gave the world innovations in…
#336
The War on Newspaper Row: Pulitzer, Hearst and the Sinking of the USS Maine
EPISODE 336 The newspapers of Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst — the New York World and the New York Journal — were locked in a fierce competition for readers in the mid 1890s. New…
#335
Pulitzer vs. Hearst: The Rise of Yellow Journalism in Gilded Age New York
PODCAST (EPISODE 335) In the 1890s, powerful New York publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst engaged in an all-out battle for daily readers of their respective newspapers, developing a flamboyant, sensational style of coverage…
#330
Listening to the Silent Parade of 1917: The Forgotten Civil Rights March
Listen to our podcast on the history of the Silent Parade of 1917 here: “To the beat of muffled drums 8,000 negro men, women and children marched down Fifth Avenue yesterday in a parade of…
#206
Land of the Lenape: A Violent Tale of Conquest and Betrayal
PODCAST The story of the Lenape, the native people of New York Harbor region, and their experiences with the first European arrivals — the explorers, the fur traders, the residents of New Amsterdam. Before New…
Midnight Cowboy: I’m Walkin’ Here! Celebrating a gritty New York film classic
We’ve now made our Bowery Boys Movie Club episode on the film Midnight Cowboy available for everyone. Listen to it today wherever you get your podcasts. Midnight Cowboy, released one month before the Stonewall Riots, depicts several alternative scenes…
#333
Tearing Down King George: The Monumental Summer of 1776
PODCAST In New York City, during the tumultuous summer of 1776, the King of England lost his head. EPISODE 333 Two hundred and fifty years ago, Colonial New York received a monumental statue of King…
#332
Welcome to Yorkville: German life on the Upper East Side
EPISODE 332 The Manhattan neighborhood of Yorkville has a rich immigrant history that often gets overlooked because of its location on the Upper East Side, a destination usually associated with wealth and high society. But…
#230
Seneca Village and Other Stories of New York’s Forgotten Black Communities
PODCAST The history of African-American settlements and neighborhoods which once existed in New York City Today we sometimes define New York City’s African-American identity by the places where thriving black culture developed – Harlem, of…
#331
The East Side Elevateds: Life Under the Tracks
EPISODE 331 During the Gilded Age, New York City had one form of rapid transit — the elevated railroad. The city’s population had massively grown by the 1870s thanks to large waves of immigration from…
#329
The First Ambulance: The Humans (and Horses) That Saved the City
EPISODE 329 Did you know that the first modern urban ambulance — the ‘mobile hospital’ — was invented in New York City? On June 4, 1869, America’s first ambulance service went into operation from Bellevue…
#328
Chop Suey City: A History of Chinese Food in New York
EPISODE 328 New Yorkers eat a LOT of Chinese food and have enjoyed Chinese cuisine – either in a restaurant or as takeout – for well over 130 years. Chinese food entered the regular diet…
#326
At Home in New York City: Stories from Our Listeners
EPISODE 326/327 Two special episodes featuring the listeners of the Bowery Boys: New York City History podcast! What makes New York feel like home — whether you live here or not? What is that indefinable…
#325
The Staten Island Quarantine War
EPISODE 325 In 1858, during two terrible nights of violence, the needs of the few outweighed the needs of the many when a community, endangered for decades and ignored by the state, finally reached its…
#324
Moving Day! Mayhem and Madness in Old New York
EPISODE 324 At last! The Bowery Boys: New York City History podcast looks at one of the strangest traditions in this city’s long history — that curious custom known as Moving Day. Every May 1st,…
#323
The Bowery Wizards: A History of Tattooed New York
EPISODE 323 Two tales from New York’s incredible history with the art of tattooing. The art of tattooing is as old as written language but it would require the contributions of a few 19th century…
#322
Nickelodeons and Movie Palaces: New York and the Film Industry 1893-1920
The historic movie studio Kaufman Astoria Studios opened 100 years ago this year in Astoria, Queens. It remains a vital part of New York City’s entertainment industry with both film and television shows still made…
#321
At Home with Lauren Bacall: Living at the Dakota Apartments
EPISODE 321 The Hollywood icon and Broadway star Lauren Bacall lived at the Dakota Apartments on the Upper West Side for 53 years. Her story is intertwined the Dakota, a revolutionary apartment complex built in…
#320
The history of Hart Island, a place of strangeness and sorrow
Few people are allowed to go onto Hart Island, the quiet, narrow island in the Long Island Sound, a lonely place in sight of the bustling community of City Island. For over 150 years, Hart…
#319
The Tale of Charging Bull and Fearless Girl
EPISODE 319 In simpler times, thousands of tourists would flock to the northern tip of Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan to take a picture with a rather unconventional New Yorker — the bronze sculpture Charging…
#318
Moonstruck: That’s Amore! Love and family in 1980s New York City
“Do you love him, Loretta?” “Aw, ma, I love him awful.” “Oh God, that’s too bad.” Moonstruck, the 1987 comedy starring Cher and Nicolas Cage, not only celebrates that crazy little thing called love, but…
#315
Abandoned Pantheon: The Hall of Fame for Great Americans
The Hall of Fame for Great Americans, founded in 1900, was a precursor to the Nobel Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a vaunted tribute to those who have contributed greatly to the development…
#314
The Tale of Tillie Hart, the Holdout of London Terrace
EPISODE 314 — London Terrace, an English-inspired apartment complex, is a jewel of apartment living in the neighborhood of Chelsea. In 1929, a set of unusual townhouses — also named London Terrace — were demolished…
#313
The Straw Hat Riots of 1922: The bad kind of New York fashion week
For the next several weeks, the Bowery Boys Podcast will be going live two times a week — every Tuesday and Friday. Read our announcement here. EPISODE 313 “No man likes to have his hat…
#312
Has Jack the Ripper come to New York? A Gilded Age hysteria
PODCAST It’s time for a Gilded Age murder mystery, true-crime podcast style! The Whitechapel Murders of 1888 — perpetrated by the killer known as Jack the Ripper — inspired one of the greatest cultural hysterias…
#207
The First Subway: Alfred Ely Beach’s Marvelous Pneumatic Transit
Beach’s pneumatic subway — the first in the United States — opened 150 years ago today. To celebrate this anniversary, we are re-representing our 2016 show on the history of Alfred Ely Beach and his…
#310
1918: The Story of the Harlem Hellfighters
PODCAST (EPISODE 310): New York’s 369th Infantry Regiment was America’s first black regiment engaged in World War I. The world knew them as the Harlem Hellfighters. On February 17, 1919, the Hellfighters – who had…
#309
What Gets Saved? An explainer podcast on preservation, landmarks and historic districts
EPISODE 309 They’re tearing down your favorite old building and putting up a condo in its place. How is this even possible? New York City is so over. Before you plunge into fits of despair,…
#308
Andrew Carnegie and New York’s public libraries: How a Gilded Age gift transformed America
EPISODE 308 In the final decades of his life, steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie — one of the richest Americans to ever live — began giving his money away. The Scots American had worked his way…
#307
The Holland Tunnel: How a Jazz Age engineering marvel forever changed New York and New Jersey
EPISODE 307 The Holland Tunnel, connecting Manhattan with Jersey City beneath the Hudson River, is more important to daily life in New York City than people may at first think. Before the creation of the…
Here are the top Bowery Boys podcast episodes of 2019. Thanks for making this our greatest year yet!
Wow it’s been a busy time on the podcast this year. Twenty-seven new episodes of the Bowery Boys: New York City History podcasts in 2019 — along with seven episodes of the Bowery Boys Movie Club, four of The…
#306
Just Desserts: The origins of New York cheesecake, cannoli and other glorious sweet things
EPISODE 306 Recorded live at the WNYC Greene Space In this special episode, the Bowery Boys podcast focuses on the delicious treats that add to the New York experience. These aren’t just the famous foods that…
#305
The history of the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights: An electric holiday tradition illuminates Brooklyn
PODCAST: The history of the Dyker Heights Christmas lighting extravaganza, Brooklyn’s fabulous and flashy celebration of the holiday season. EPISODE 305 There’s a special kind of magic to Christmas in New York City. From that…
#304
The Miracle on Eldridge Street, restoring a landmark of American Jewish history
EPISODE 304: The Miracle on Eldridge Street The Eldridge Street Synagogue is one of the most beautifully restored places in the United States, a testament to the value of preserving history when it seems all is lost…
#303
Building Stuyvesant Town, the housing solution that became an emblem of the Jim Crow North
EPISODE 303: Building Stuyvesant Town, A Mid-Century Controversy The residential complexes Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, built in the late 1940s, incorporating thousands of apartments within a manicured “campus” on the east side, seemed…
#302
Once Upon A Time In Five Points: The Bowery Boys Movie Club revisits Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York”
As a celebration of filmmaker Martin Scorsese (whose film The Irishman opens this month), we’ve just released an episode of the Bowery Boys Movie Club to the general Bowery Boys: New York City History audience.…
#301
Haunted Houses of Old New York: Four historical tales of ghosts and ghouls who never left home
PODCAST Welcome to the unlucky 13th Annual Bowery Boys ghost stories podcast, where history combines with folklore for a bone-chilling listening experience. In this year’s Halloween-themed special, Greg and Tom take you into some truly…
Who was Andrew Haswell Green? Say hello to “the most important leader in Gotham’s long history.”
PODCAST EPISODE 300 — Andrew Haswell Green helped build Central Park and much of upper Manhattan, oversaw the formation of the New York Public Library, assisted in the foundation of great institutions such as the American…
#299
The story of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and the preservation of New York’s first historic district
PODCAST (Episode 299): Part Two of our series on the history of Brooklyn Heights, one of New York City’s oldest neighborhoods. By the 1880s, Brooklyn Heights had evolved from America’s first suburb into the City of…
#296
Talking Trash: A History of New York City Sanitation
PODCAST: A history of all things trash in New York City. Picture New York City under mountains of filth, heaving from clogged gutters and overflowing from trash cans. Imagine the unbearable smell rotting food and…
The New Americans: Look into the faces of the immigrants of Ellis Island (1904-24)
PODCAST The epic tale of Ellis Island and the process by which millions of new immigrants entered the United States. For millions of Americans, Ellis Island is the symbol of introduction, the immigrant depot that processed…
#295
Saving the City: Ten New York women who changed the world during the Progressive Era
This is a podcast about kindness and care. About the bold Progressive Era pioneers who saved the lives of thousands of people in need — from the Lower East Side to Washington Heights, from Hell’s Kitchen…
#294
That daredevil Steve Brodie! Did the former newsboy really jump off the Brooklyn Bridge?
PODCAST A tale of the ‘sporting life’ of the Bowery from the 1870s and 80s. A former newsboy named Steve Brodie grabs the country’s attention by leaping off the Brooklyn Bridge on July 23, 1886. Or did…
#293
Secret Places of Upper Manhattan: Visit these 20 historic sites in Washington Heights and Inwood
PODCAST A tour of historic sites in Washington Heights and Inwood, an unusual set of landmarks and curious destinations that comprise almost 400 years of Upper Manhattan history. In Washington Heights and Inwood, the two Manhattan neighborhoods above West…
Enter the Tombs, Five Points’ notorious house of detention in the heart of Old New York
PODCAST Many stories of 19th century New York City seem to lead to the Tombs, a stark prison complex with menacing architecture and a fearful reputation. Some might find it strange that the Manhattan Detention Complex —…
#202
The history of the bagel: A New York City story by way of Poland and the Lower East Side
PODCAST Some delicious bagel history! How did the bagel go from the basement bakeries of the Lower East Side to the supermarkets and breakfast tables of the entire country? The most iconic New York City…
#164
The Astor Place Riot of 1849: Bloodshed and Shakespeare splits New York at a busy crossroads
“By the pricking of my thumbs / something wicked this way comes” — Macbeth PODCAST In old New York, one hundred and seventy years ago, a theatrical rivalry between two leading actors of the day…
#288
The World of Tomorrow: Visiting the World’s Fair of 1939-40, the kitschy futurescape of Queens
PODCAST Visiting the first World’s Fair at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the unimaginable playground of the future, planted inescapably within the reality of the day. Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the fourth largest park in New…
Greenwich Village in the 1960s: A nostalgic stroll through an era of preservation and protest
This is the story of Greenwich Village as a character — an eccentric character maybe, but one that changed American life — and how the folky, activist spirit it fostered in arts, culture and the…
Uncovering Hudson Yards: The hidden history beneath New York’s newest destination
PODCAST All the history that came before the development of Hudson Yards, Manhattan’s skyline-altering new project. Hudson Yards is America’s largest private real estate development, a gleaming collection of office towers and apartments overlooking a self-contained…
#285
Boss Tweed’s House of Corruption: A Tale of Crooked Schemes and Unchecked Power
PODCAST: How the Tweed Courthouse became a symbol for everything rotten about 19th century American politics. The roots of modern American corruption traces themselves back to a handsome — but not necessarily revolutionary — historic…
Scott Joplin in New York: A Ragtime Mystery
PODCAST How did one of the greatest composers of the 20th century end up buried in Queens in a pauper’s grave? Scott Joplin, the “King of Ragtime”, moved to New York in 1907, at the height…
Walt Whitman at 200: Celebrating his life and legacy in the cities of New York and Brooklyn
A very special episode of the Bowery Boys podcast, recorded live at the Bell House in Gowanus, Brooklyn, celebrating the legacy of Walt Whitman, a writer with deep ties to New York and its 19th century sister-city Brooklyn. On…
Taxi Driver: Looking at 1970s New York City in Martin Scorsese’s gritty thriller classic
Welcome to the Bowery Boys Movie Club, a new podcast exclusively for our Patreon supporters where Tom and Greg discuss classic New York City films from an historical perspective. As we are currently prepare the newest…
#281
Treasures of Downtown Brooklyn: Remnants of the former independent city, hidden in plain sight
PODCAST The fascinating history of Brooklyn’s most bustling — and most frequently misunderstood — neighborhood. Downtown Brooklyn has a history that is often overlooked by New Yorkers. You’d be forgiven if you thought Brooklyn’s civic…
#278
Newark vs. LaGuardia: A story of airports and the first flying machines over New York City skies
PODCAST Newark Liberty International Airport or LaGuardia Airport? Which do you prefer? (Or is the answer — none of the above. Give me JFK!) In this episode, we present the origin stories of New York City’s…
#277
The marvelous history of New York comedy, from the Village coffeehouses to the heights of 30 Rock
PODCAST How New Yorkers (and New York City itself) changed the way the world laughs. New York City has always cast a melodramatic profile in the Bowery Boys podcasts, but in this episode, we’re walking…
#276
The Murder on Bond Street: Who Killed Dr. Burdell?
PODCAST A gaslight murder mystery with more twists than an Agatha Christie novel! On January 31, 1857, a prominent dentist named Harvey Burdell was found brutally murdered — strangled, then stabbed 15 times — in his office and…
#274
Ghost Stories of Hell’s Kitchen: Tales of haunted houses, creepy courtyards and spirited taverns
PODCAST The Manhattan neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen has a mysterious, troubling past. So what happens when you throw a few ghosts into the mix? Greg and Tom find out the hard way in this year’s ghost stories podcast,…
#273
Peter Stuyvesant and the Fall of New Amsterdam: Where did the Dutch roots of New York City go?
PODCAST There would be no New York City without Peter Stuyvesant, the stern, authoritarian director-general of New Amsterdam, the Dutch port town that predates the Big Apple. The willpower of this complicated leader took an endangered…
#272
Life in New Amsterdam: How the Dutch helped build the foundations of New York City history
PODCAST Back when old New York was once New Amsterdam. We are turning back the clock to the very beginning of New York City history with this special two-part episode, looking at the very beginnings…
#271
Counter Culture: A History of Automats, Lunchonettes and Diners in New York City
PODCAST The evolution of affordable dining — from oyster houses to lunch counters. The classic diner is as American as the apple pie it serves, but the New York diner is a special experience all its own,…
#270
Heaven on the Hudson: How Riverside Park covered its tracks and became a breathtaking spot
PODCAST The highs and lows of the history of Riverside Park In peeling back the many layers to Riverside Park, upper Manhattan’s premier ribbon park, running along the west side from the Upper West Side to Washington…
#269
Harry Houdini and the Golden Age of Magic: Spectacle, sorcery and spiritualism in New York
PODCAST The history of magic in New York City — in all its peculiar varieties. Harry Houdini became one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century, a showman whose escape artistry added a new dimension…
#268
The Astonishing Saga of Cyrus West Field and the Atlantic Cable, the “Eighth Wonder of the World”
PODCAST The origin of the Atlantic Cable — the first telegraph connection between the Old and the New Worlds — and the role of New York City in its creation. New Yorkers threw a wild,…
#267
The Origin of Broadway: The Story of a Street
PODCAST What makes a street so extraordinary that it becomes a destination in itself? What makes it Broadway? This is the history of New York City’s most famous street and a progression through the entire history of…
#266
New York City during the Revolutionary War: Besieged and occupied by the British (1776-1783)
PODCAST What was life like in New York City from the summer of 1776 to the fall of 1783 — the years of British occupation during the Revolutionary War? New York plays a very intriguing…
#265
Absolutely Flawless: A History of Drag in New York
PODCAST The story of New York City’s most colorful profession. Television audiences are currently obsessed with shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race and FX’s Pose, presenting different angles on the profession and art of drag. New York City has…
#263
The Pride of Brooklyn: Ebbets Field and the Glory Days of the Brooklyn Dodgers
The Robins. The Bridegrooms. The Superbas. The Dizziness Boys. Dem Bums. The Boys of Summer. Whatever you call them, they will always be known in the hearts of New Yorkers as the Brooklyn Dodgers, the…
#262
The secrets of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the unfinished beauty of Morningside Heights
PODCAST The history of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and a tour of its unique artistic treasures The Bowery Boys have finally made it to one of the most enigmatic and miraculous houses of…
#261
The Huddled Masses: Emma Lazarus and the many meanings of the Statue of Liberty
PODCAST The words of “The New Colossus,” written 135 years ago by Jewish poet Emma Lazarus in tribute to the Statue of Liberty, have never been more relevant — or as hotly debated — as they are today. What do…
#259
Crossing to Brooklyn: How the Williamsburg Bridge Changed New York City
PODCAST The story of the Williamsburg Bridge — poorly received when it was built but vital to the health of New York City Sure, the Brooklyn Bridge gets all the praise, but the city’s second bridge…
#258
Tales from Tribeca: The Hidden History of Manhattan’s Old Market Neighborhood
PODCAST Tribeca (or TriBeCa, Triangle Below Canal) is a breathtaking neighborhood of astounding architectural richness. But how much do you know about this trendy destination and its patchwork of different histories? You’ll be surprised to learn about the…
#256
The History of DUMBO, the Brooklyn neighborhood built upon a legacy of coffee and cardboard boxes
PODCAST The history of Brooklyn’s DUMBO neighborhood — from its industrial past to its hi-tech future. Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass (DUMBO) is, we think, a rather drab name for a historically significant place in Brooklyn where…
#255
The Rescue of Grand Central Terminal: Jackie and the Landmark Express go to Washington
PODCAST The story of how Grand Central was saved from the wrecking ball. The survival of New York City’s greatest train station is no accident. The preservation of Grand Central Terminal helped create the protections for all of America’s…
#253
Opening Day of the New York City Subway: Stand Clear of the (Very First) Closing Doors Please!
PODCAST What was it like to experience that epic symbol of New York City – the world famous New York City subway system – for the first time? In this episode, we imagine what opening day was like…
#252
New York City and the Underground Railroad: Escaping to freedom through a hostile city
PODCAST For thousands of people escaping the bonds of slavery in the South, the journey to freedom wound its way through New York City via the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a loose, clandestine…
#251
The Sinister Story of McGurk’s Suicide Hall: The Bowery’s Most Notorious Dive
PODCAST The unbelievable story of the most infamous dance hall in New York City. The old saloons and dance halls of the Bowery are familiar to anyone with a love of New York City history,…
#250
The Empire State Building: Story of an Icon
PODCAST The history of the Empire State Building revealed! Start spreading the news …. the Bowery Boys are finally going to the Empire State Building! New York City’s defining architectural icon is greatly misunderstood by…
#249
Madam C.J. Walker, Harlem’s self-made millionaire, and her daughter A’Lelia, patron of the Jazz Age
PODCAST The story of Harlem’s hair care queen and her daughter A’Lelia, a patron of the Harlem Renaissance. In 1867, Sarah Breedlove was born to parents who had once been enslaved on a Louisiana plantation.…
#248
‘Going Into Town’ with the New Yorker’s Roz Chast: A Conversation with the Bowery Boys
PODCAST The Bowery Boys celebrate the end of the year by sitting down with Roz Chast, who has been contributing cartoons to the New Yorker since 1978. She’s also the author of the New York Times best-selling graphic…
#246
Tales of a Tenement: Three Families Under One Roof
In today’s show, we’ll continue to explore housing in New York, but move far from the mansions of Fifth Avenue to the tenements of the Lower East Side in the 20th Century. Specifically, we’ll be…
#245
The Fall of the Fifth Avenue Mansions: Where to find the remnants of an opulent past
PODCAST The story of how Fifth Avenue, once the ritziest residential address in America, became an upscale retail strip and the home of some of New York’s finest cultural institutions. LISTEN HERE: In this episode,…
#244
The Rise of the Fifth Avenue Mansions: Revisiting Forgotten Architecture of New York’s Gilded Age
PODCAST At the heart of New York’s Gilded Age — the late 19th century era of unprecedented American wealth and excess — were families with the names Astor, Waldorf, Schermerhorn and Vanderbilt, alongside power players…
#243
New York In Neon: A History of the City in Lights
PODCAST A neon sign blazing on a rainy New York City street evokes the romance of another era, welcoming or mysterious — depending on how many films noir you’ve watched. In 2017, a neon sign…
#242
New York and the Dawn of Photography: Mathew Brady, Samuel Morse and the Daguerreotype Craze
PODCAST The saga of the early days of photographic images and how daguerreotypes became all the rage in 1840s New York. We’re taking you back to a world that seems especially foreign today – a world…
#241
Edgar Allan Poe in New York: Places where the master of gloom and horror made his mark
PODCAST Edgar Allan Poe was a wanderer — looking for work, for love, for meaning. That’s why so many American cities can lay claim to a small aspect of his legacy. Baltimore, Boston, Richmond and…
#240
The Ghosts of Greenwich Village: Four tales of haunted houses and forgotten graveyards
For this year’s annual Bowery Boys Halloween ghost stories podcast, we cautiously approach the dark secrets of Greenwich Village, best known for bohemians, shady and winding streets and a deeply unexpected history. You will never…
#239
Murder at the Manhattan Well: A shocking crime and a legendary trial with Hamilton and Burr
PODCAST The murder of a young woman in 1799 and the ensuing trial involving two of America’s Founding Fathers There once was a well just north of Collect Pond (New York’s fetid source of drinking…
#238
The History of Astoria and Long Island City, Queens
PODCAST The Bowery Boys head to northwestern Queens to uncover the origin of two close neighborhoods with divergent histories. The borough of Queens has a history unlike any in the New York City region, but…
#237
The History of Columbus Circle: A Century of Controversy
Columbus Circle, a center of media and shopping at the entrance to Central Park, has a history that, well, runs against the grain. Counter-clockwise, if you will. LISTEN TO OUR NEW EPISODE HERE: When the…
#236
Times Square in the 1970s: Grindhouses, peep shows and XXX neon nostalgia
PODCAST 42nd Street After Hours. Cinema and sleaze. Nostalgia and fantasy. The story of a real and imagined New York. Take a trip with us down the grittiest streets in Times Square — the faded…
The Wall Street Crash of 1929: The sobering end of New York’s Jazz Age
This is the final part of our three-part NEW YORK IN THE JAZZ AGE podcast series. Check out our two prior episode #233 The Roaring ’20s: The King of the Jazz Age and #234 Queen…
The Queen of the Speakeasies: A Tale of Prohibition New York
PODCAST Dry wit! Wet lips! The story of Prohibition during the Jazz Age and the movie star-turned-hostess who became the toast of New York nightlife. Texas Guinan was the queen of the speakeasy era, the…
#233
Jimmy Walker, Mayor of the Jazz Age (NYC and the Roaring ’20s Part One)
PODCAST For the first part in our New York City in the Roaring Twenties summer mini-series, we’re hitting the town with “Beau James,” New York’s lively and fun-loving mayor Jimmy Walker. And the king of…
#232
The Story of SoHo: The Iron-Clad History of ‘Hell’s Hundred Acres’
PODCAST The history of SoHo, New York’s 19th century warehouse district turned shopping mecca Picture the neighborhood of SoHo (that’s right, South of Houston) in your head today, and you might get a headache. Crowded…
#48
Revisiting the Stonewall Riots: The Evolving Legacy of a Violent Night
PODCAST The legacy of the Stonewall Riots and their aftermath, in a podcast history told over nine years apart (May 2008, June 2017). In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, undercover police officers…
The Devil and the First Broadway Musical (“The Black Crook”)
THE FIRST PODCAST The Black Crook is considered the first-ever Broadway musical, a dizzying, epic-length extravaganza of ballerinas, mechanical sets, lavish costumes and a storyline about the Devil straight out of a twisted hallucination. The…
#229
The Bowery Boys Live in Brooklyn! Celebrating Ten Years of Podcasting
PODCAST The Bowery Boys podcast turns ten years old in June. Greg and Tom take the celebration to the Bell House for a live show. In early June of 2007, Tom Meyers and Greg Young…
#228
The Pirate of Pearl Street: The All-True New York Adventures of Captain Kidd
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…
#227
The Hindenburg Over New York: The Airship Age Comes To An Abrupt End
PODCAST The era of the Zeppelin, how it shaped the New York skyline and the disastrous crash of the Hindenburg on an airfield in New Jersey. On the afternoon of May 6, 1937, New Yorkers looked…
#226
The Beauty Bosses of Fifth Avenue: Elizabeth Arden & Helena Rubinstein
PODCAST Fifth Avenue’s role in the ‘revolution’ of beauty, as led by Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein, New York’s boldest businesswomen of the Jazz Age. The Midtown Manhattan stretch of Fifth Avenue, once known for…
#225
Barnum and the Greatest Show on Earth: NYC and the American Circus
PODCAST The story of Phineas Taylor “P. T.” Barnum and his world-famous circus extravaganza. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages — the Bowery Boys present to you the tale of P. T. Barnum and…
#223
Presenting the Algonquin Round Table: The wits of New York’s Jazz Age
PODCAST The enduring legacy of the Algonquin Round Table and the brilliant (and sometimes forgotten) people who made it famous. One June afternoon in the spring of 1919, a group of writers and theatrical folk…
#222
Who Murdered Helen Jewett? A horrible crime exposes New York’s darkest secret
PODCAST The story of a brutal murder in a New York brothel and the prime suspect’s controversial trial which captivated Americans in the 1830s. In the spring of 1836, a young woman named Helen Jewett…
New York: The first federal capital and birthplace of the Bill of Rights
PODCAST Part Two of our two-part series on New York City in the years following the Revolutionary War. During a handful of months in 1789 and 1790, representatives of the new nation of the United…
#220
New York City and the Inauguration of George Washington
PODCAST Part One of our two-part series on New York City in the years following the Revolutionary War. The story of New York City’s role in the birth of American government is sometimes forgotten. Most…
#219
Newsies on Strike! The thrilling tale of New York newsboys fighting back
PODCAST We’re in the mood for a good old-fashioned Gilded Age story so we’re bringing back one of our favorite Bowery Boys episodes ever — Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst vs. the newsies! LISTEN…
Edwin Booth and the Players Club, New York’s home for high drama
PODCAST The thrilling tale of Edwin Booth and the marvelous social club he created for the acting profession Edwin Booth was the greatest actor of the Gilded Age, a superstar of the theater who entertained…
The Wheel: Ferris’ Big Idea (Special Preview of The First Podcast)
This is a special preview for the new Bowery Boys spin-off podcast series The First: Stories of Inventions and their Consequences, brought to you by Bowery Boys host Greg Young. 01: The first Ferris Wheel…
#214
Bronx Trilogy: The Bronx Was Burning (1955 to today)
PODCAST The trials and tribulations experienced by the Bronx through the mid and late 20th century. In the third and final part of our Bronx history series, we tackle the most difficult period in the…
#213
A History of the Bronx Part Two: Building The Borough
PODCAST The story of how the Bronx became a part of New York City and the origin of some of the borough’s most famous landmarks. In the second part of the Bowery Boys’ Bronx Trilogy…
#212
Bronx Trilogy: The Bronx Is Born — Before It Was A Borough 1638-1874
PODCAST A history of the land which would become the Bronx, from the first European settlement to its debut in 1874 as New York’s Annexed District. The story of the borough of the Bronx is…
#210
Digital City: New York and the World of Video Games
PODCAST The history of video games and arcades in New York City. New York has an interesting, complex and downright weird relationship with the video game, from the digital sewers below Manhattan to the neon-lit…
A Culinary Tour of the Lower East Side
PODCAST A flavorful walk through the Lower East Side, exploring the neighborhood’s most famous foods. Join Tom as he experience the tastes of another era by visiting some of the oldest culinary institutions of the…
#201
GOWANUS! Brooklyn’s Troubled Waters
PODCAST The history of the Gowanus Canal, at the heart of a trendy Brooklyn neighborhood today, once used to be quite beautiful and non-toxic. Brooklyn’s Gowanus — both the creek and the canal — is…
#200
Jane Jacobs: Saving Greenwich Village
PODCAST The story of Jane Jacobs, the urban activist and writer who changed the way we live in cities and her fights to preserve Greenwich Village in the 1950s and ’60s. Washington Square Park torn…
#199
Battle for the New York City Skyline: How Tall Can It Go?
PODCAST The story of growing tall in New York City and the two pivotal laws that allowed for the city’s dynamic, constantly evolving skyline. This year is the 100th anniversary of one of the most…
#198
The History of Greenpoint, Brooklyn: An Industrial-Strength Story
PODCAST The history of the Brooklyn neighborhood of Greenpoint and the oft-polluted Newtown Creek. Greenpoint, Brooklyn, has a surprising history of both bucolic green pastures and rancid oil patches. Before the 19th century this corner…
#194
Nellie Bly: Undercover in New York’s Notorious Asylum for the Insane
The story of New York World reporter Nellie Bly as she poses as a mental patient to report on the abuses of Blackwell’s Island’s Lunatic Asylum. PODCAST Nellie Bly was a determined and fearless journalist…
#193
St. Mark’s Place: It’s Party Time in the East Village!
PODCAST: The big, brash history of St. Mark’s Place, the East Village’s most interesting street. St. Mark’s Place may be named for a saint but it’s been a street full of sinners for much of…
#192
Haunted Landmarks of New York : Tourist Terrors in the Big Apple
PODCAST It’s the ninth annual Bowery Boys ghost stories podcast, our seasonal twist on history, focusing on famous tales of the weird and the disturbing at some of New York’s most recognizable locations. Don’t be frightened!…
The Murder of Stanford White
PODCAST The tale behind the brutal murder of renown architect Stanford White on the roof garden of Madison Square Garden, the building that was one of his greatest achievements. On the evening of June 25,…
#185
Adventures on Governors Island
PODCAST What can you find on Governors Island? Almost 400 years of action-packed history! This island in New York Harbor has been at the heart of the city’s defense since the days of the Revolutionary…
#184
Flatiron Building: A Three-Sided Story
PODCAST For our 8th anniversary episode, we’re revisiting one of New York City’s great treasures and a true architectural oddity — the Flatiron Building. When they built this structure at the corner of Madison Square…
#183
The Grand Tale of Orchard Street and Life on the Lower East Side
PODCAST The Lower East Side is one of the most important neighborhoods in America with a rich history as dense as its former living quarters. Thousands of immigrants experienced American life on these many crowded…
#182
Diamond Girl: How Mae West Brought ‘Sex’ and Scandal to Broadway
PODCAST Mae West (star of I’m No Angel and She Done Him Wrong) would come to revolutionize the idea of American sexuality, challenging and lampooning ideas of femininity while wielding a suggestive and vicious wit. But…
#181
Park Slope and the Story of Brownstone Brooklyn
PODCAST Park Slope — or simply the park slope, as they used to say — is best known for its spectacular Victorian-era mansions and brownstones, one of the most romantic neighborhoods in all of Brooklyn. It’s…
#180
Chelsea Piers: New York City in the Age of the Ocean Liner
PODCAST The Chelsea Piers were once New York City’s portal to the world, a series of long docks along the west side of Manhattan that accommodated some of the most luxurious ocean liners of the…
#179
Bryant Park: The Fall and Rise of Midtown’s Most Elegant Public Space
NEW PODCAST In our last show, we left the space that would become Bryant Park as a disaster area; its former inhabitant, the old Crystal Palace, had tragically burned to the ground in 1858. The…
The Crystal Palace, America’s first World’s Fair and bizarre treasury of the 19th century
PODCAST New York’s Crystal Palace seems like something out of a dream, a shimmering and spectacular glass-and-steel structure — a gigantic greenhouse — which sat in the area of today’s Bryant Park. In 1853 this…
#177
The big history of Little Italy
PODCAST Little Italy is the pocket-neighborhood reminder of the great wave of Italian immigration which came through New York City starting in the late 1870s.  This was the home of a densely packed, lively neighborhood of…
#176
Billie Holiday’s New York: Here’s to Swing Street, Harlem’s 133rd Street and other landmarks of jazz
PODCAST Grab your fedora and take a trip with the Bowery Boys into the heart of New York City’s jazz scene — late nights, smoky bars, neon signs — through the eyes of one of…
#175
The Best of 2014: The Bowery Boys Year In Review
PODCAST When historians look back at the year 2014, what events or cultural changes within New York City will they deem significant? In this special episode, the Bowery Boys look back at some of…
#173
Ruins of the World’s Fair: The New York State Pavilion, or how Philip Johnson’s futuristic architecture was almost forgotten
A little bit Jetsons, a little bit Gladiator, a little bit P.T Barnum. Photo/Marco Catini PODCAST The ruins of the New York State Pavilion, highlight of the 1964-65 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park,…
#172
Haunted Hipsters: Four Ghost Stories of Brooklyn
Dark skies over the Brooklyn Bridge, from a 1905 postcard (courtesy MCNY) PODCAST Brooklyn is the setting for this quartet of classic ghost stories, all set before the independent city was an official borough of…
#171
The Secrets of Gramercy Park (and you don’t even need a key)
PODCAST Gramercy Park is Manhattan’s only private park, a prohibited place for most New Yorkers. However we have your keys to the history of this significant and rather unusual place, full of the city’s…
#170
Rudolph Valentino, the seductive, tragic idol of the Jazz Age
PODCAST Rudolph Valentino was an star from the early years of Hollywood, but his elegant, randy years in New York City should not be forgotten. They helped make him a premier dancer and a glamorous actor. And on August…
#169
The Tallest Building In New York: A Short History
PODCAST One World Trade Center was declared last year the tallest building in America, but it’s a very different structure from the other skyscrapers who have once held that title. In New York, owning…
The wonderful mysteries of the Guggenheim Museum, the Frank Lloyd Wright ziggurat turned on its head
It’s ancient mysteries week on the Bowery Boys! What, you ask, I thought you only did New York City history? In fact, at least two great Manhattan landmarks evoke the great mysteries of ancient times,…
#166
American tragedy: The tale of the General Slocum disaster
PODCAST On June 15, 1904, hundreds of residents of Kleindeutschland, the Lower East Side’s thriving German community, boarded the General Slocum excursion steamer to enjoy a day trip outside the city. Most of them would…
#165
The sumptuous story of Ladies’ Mile: Cast-iron grandeur and Gilded Age architecture
The opening of Siegel-Cooper department store, 1896, created one of the great mob scenes of the Gilded Age. Today, TJ Maxx and Bed Bath and Beyond occupy this once-great commercial palace. PODCAST Ladies’ Mile —…
The history of the South Street Seaport: A robust story of economic power, historic preservation, rat fights and fish guts
The daily bustle at the Fulton Fish Market, 1936, photographed by Berenice Abbott (NYPL) PODCAST The glory of early New York came from its role as one of the world’s great ports. Today the South…
#162
The Bridge to Everywhere: The George Washington Bridge strangely political, unexpectedly naked, undeniably beautiful
PODCAST The George Washington Bridge is best known for being surprisingly graceful, darting between Washington Heights and the Palisades, a vital connection in the interstate highway system. Figuring out a way to cross over…
#161
At The Ready: The History of the New York City Fire Department
The distinguished members of New York’s various volunteer fire brigades, posing for the photographer Matthew Brady in 1858PODCAST The New York City Fire Department (or FDNY) protects the five boroughs from a host of…
Ghost Stories of Old New York: Tales from the Revolution, restless Indians, haunted forts and a drunk, headless actor
The Van Cortlandt House, 1906PODCAST This is the Bowery Boys 7th annual Halloween podcast, with four new scary stories to chill your bones and keep you up at night, generously doused with strange and…
#155
NYC in the modern TV age, from Sesame Street to Seinfeld, as the arrival of cable brings new production to the city
PODCAST In the third part of the Bowery Boys Summer TV Mini-Series, I give you a grand tour of the New York City television production world from the 1970s to today, from the debut of…
#154
New York City in the Golden Age of Television: Behind the scenes with nine classic TV shows filmed in the city
The Beatles in one of their many appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. [source]PODCAST This is the second part of the Bowery Boys TV Mini-Series, covering the years of New York City television production from the…
#153
New York City and the birth of the television industry, experimental broadcasts from the city’s greatest landmarks
An illustration from Science & Invention, one of Hugo Gernsback’s many technology journals, demonstrating the possibilities of his ‘telephot’ system. (Courtesy The Verge) PODCAST It’s the beginning of The Bowery Boys Summer TV Mini-Series, three…
#152
The startling history of Bellevue Hospital, beyond the horror stories, the last resort for the New York unwanted
Bellevue from the waterfront, 1879. Â Proximity to the shoreline — which once gave the original mansion here that ‘belle vue’ — was key in the early years of Bellevue, as sometimes it was the fastest…
#151
The many lives of the Limelight, aka the facade formerly known as the Church of the Holy Communion
Above: The Church of the Holy Communion — and once the quite infamous nightclub Limelight — as the less lauded follow-up, called Avalon. Within a couple years, the club would be transformed again —…
#148
Frozen in time: The Blizzard of 1888 knocks New York City off its feet, creating the deadliest commute in history
PODCAST This year is the 125th anniversary of one of the worst storms to ever wreak havoc upon New York City, the now-legendary mix of wind and snow called the Great Blizzard of 1888. Its…
#146
A whirlwind tour of Herald Square: More than just Macy’s, the intersection of publishing, theater and debauchery
Herald Square at night, 1910, with the flurry of shoppers, the churn of printing presses, the clanking and soot exhaust of the elevated train, the rush of the streetcar. The theaters, the drinking, the dancing.…
#145
Bicycle Mania! The story of New York on two wheels, from velocipedes to ten-speeds — with women’s liberation in tow
Alice Austen’s iconic photograph of a telegram bike messenger in 1896, a year where many New Yorkers were wild about bikes. Austen even rode one around with her camera. PODCAST The bicycle has always…
#144
Mysteries and Magicians of New York: Whimsical spirits, scary legends, strange magic and the original ghost busters
A session with a ouija board, a haunting illustration from a piece of 1901 sheet music ‘There’s A Charm About The Old Love Still’. (NYPL) PODCAST Our sixth annual ghost story podcast takes a little…
#143
The Croton Aqueduct: How New York got its drinking water
Above: The Croton Reservoir in 1850, in what would soon become Central Park. (NYPL)PODCAST One of the great challenges faced by a growing, 19th-century New York City was the need for a viable, clean water…
#142
New York University: A noble idea takes root in the Village, a school for the metropolis, but not without growing pains
Hogwarts of Washington Square: The beautiful and supremely ostentatious University Hall at the northeast corner of the park, circa 1850. [NYPL] PODCAST They once called it the University of the City of New York, an…
#141
On The House: A history of New York City beer brewing
Behold the lager: A German variety of beer revolutionized American drinking, inspiring a new kind of drinking establishment (Courtesy the New-York Historical Society Inspired by ‘Beer Here: Brewing New York’s History‘, the terrific summer show…
#140
The Rockaways and Rockaway Beach: The strange fortunes of New York’s former resort oasis and amusement getaway
The entrance to Rockaways’ Playland in the 1960s, one of the more nostalgic reminders of an era in the Rockaways gone by. (Image courtesy the blog Sand In Your Shoes)PODCAST The Rockaways are a world…
#139
The Brooklyn Academy of Music: Enduring floods, fires and snobbery to become New York’s oldest home for the arts
PODCAST One of America’s oldest cultural institutions, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (or BAM) has an unusual history that spans over 150 years and two separate locations. We trace the story from the earliest roots of…
The secrets of St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, and uncovering the East Village footprint of Peter Stuyvesant
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION Until May 21st, you can vote every day in the Partners In Preservation initiative, which will award grant money to certain New York cultural and historical sites among 40 nominees. Having trouble deciding which…
#135
The High Line: The wild, wild West Side, cowboys included, inspires an elevated railroad and a remarkable park
Joel Sternfeld’s extraordinary four-seasons photographs of the High Line — displayed in his 2002 show Walking The High Line — revealed a ribbon of nature surrounded by urbanity and presented a peek into forgotten history.…
Notes from the podcast (#134) St. Patrick’s Cathedral
A spectacle from a hundred years ago: St. Patrick’s in 1912, in a gauze of electric lights. The picture below this post illustrates how this particular light performance made the church standout among the as-of-yet…
#134
St. Patrick’s Cathedral: Stately grace in bustling Midtown, thanks to a fiery archbishop and a venerable hairdresser
During its early years, St Patrick’s neighbors were luxurious mansions. Today the surrounding streets house retail and tourist attractions. (Picture courtesy Library of Congress)PODCAST One of America’s most famous churches and a graceful icon upon…
#133
Notes from the podcast (#133): Red Hook, Brooklyn
A haunting snapshot of the Atlantic Docks, circa 1870-80s (possibly as early as 1872) photo by George Bradford Brainerd (courtesy the Brooklyn Museum) Quite a few notes on the podcast this week! There were a…
Red Hook, Brooklyn: A rich seafaring history, organized crime and the isolation of a beleaguered neighborhood
PODCAST Red Hook, Brooklyn, the neighborhood called by the Dutch ‘Roode Hoek’ for its red soil, became a key port during the 19th century, a stopping point for vessels carry a vast array of raw…
#131
Notes from the podcast (#131) The First Apartment Building
The Stuyvesant Apartments in 1934, already being dwarfed with a newer structure on the right. Please note the ornate entrance to the Third Avenue elevated train to the left of the picture, as well as the…
The Stuyvesant, New York’s first apartment building: Imported luxury style for a new middle class
The creation of ‘acceptable’ communal living: The Stuyvesant Flats, at 142 East 18th Street, designed by Richard Morris Hunt, photographed by Berenice Abbott. PODCAST Well, we’re movin’ on up….to the first New York apartment building…
Haunted Histories of New York: What horrors lie beneath the foundations of the city’s treasured landmarks?
Most Holy Trinity in Bushwick, Brooklyn, shrouded in shadow, a place where the ghosts of former clergy are alleged to lurk the halls and other spirits may torment the nearby school. PODCAST What mischievous phantoms…
#129
Manhattan’s Chinatown: a tribute to the old neighborhood, and to the temptations of rich delicacies and basement vices
PODCAST Manhattan’s Chinatown is unique among New York neighborhoods as its origins and its provocative history can still be traced in many of the buildings and streets still in existence. Two hundred years ago,…
#128
Hoaxes and Conspiracies of 1864: The Confederate Plot to Torch New York
Barnum’s American Museum at left (the building with the flag) and the Astor House at right, from the vantage of City Hall Park, circa 1850. Both buildings were victims of the Confederate plot of 1864…
#126
Fernando Wood, the scoundrel mayor during the Civil War: Will New York and Brooklyn secede from the Union?
His Honor, one of the most ambitious, most duplicitous leaders of New York in its history — as photographed by no less than Matthew Brady. PODCAST The first part of our Bowery Boys Go…
#124
Idlewild Airport/John F Kennedy International Airport: from a golf course to a motley crew of classic architecture
PODCAST Come fly with us through a history of New York City’s largest airport, once known as Idlewild (for a former golf course) and called John F. Kennedy International Airport since 1964. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia…
#123
A short history of Trump: the roots of Donald’s wealth, from quiet Queens beginnings to glitzy Midtown excess
PODCAST Sick of Donald Trump yet? (Probably.) Figured him out yet? Is he a financial wizard, reality sideshow, or political distraction? Or all of the above? The solution may be contained in the roots of…
Building Blocks: The Commissioners Plan of 1811, inventing a New York grid of streets and avenues
The simplicity of the New York grid system, seen overhead in a 1939 classic photo by Margaret Bourke-White. PODCAST The Commissioners Plan of 1811 How did Manhattan get its orderly rows of numbered streets and…
#119
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge: Robert Moses, Bay Ridge, and the birth of America’s longest suspension bridge
With Fort Wadsworth to its side, the last of Othmar Ammann’s New York bridges jets out over the Narrows. PODCAST The longest suspension bridge in the United States, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was one of Robert…
#118
Times Square: History in stages, chronicled in lights
The canyon, as seen from the Empire State Building. (Photography by the Wurts Brothers, courtesy NYPL) PODCAST: Times Square is the centerpiece of New York for most visitors and a place that sharply divides city…
#117
Mark Twain in New York, or His Adventures on Fifth Avenue
Photo courtesy LOCPODCAST You hear the name Mark Twain and think of his classic characters Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, his locales along the Mississippi River and his folksy wit. But he was equal parts…
#115
African Burial Ground: History from underneath the city, and the secret tale of New Yorkers once forgotten
A small cemetery for African slaves and free black New Yorkers developed along the southern edge of Collect Pond. But when that filthy body of water was drained and filled, the burial ground disappeared underground…
#114
Supernatural Stories of New York: spooky seances, violent Jazz Age ghosts and an island of despair
PODCAST It’s our fourth annual Halloween history special, and we’ve got four bloodcurdling stories for the season. The first three are spooky ghost tales — a haunted boardinghouse on 14th street with violent, vain spirits;…
#113
Niblo’s Garden: New York’s entertainment complex and home to the first (bizarre) Broadway musical
Show-stopping: The interior of Niblo’s Garden Theatre. Illustration by Thomas Addis Emmet, courtesy NYPL PODCAST It’s the 1820s and welcome to the era of the pleasure garden, an outdoor entertainment complex delighting wealthy New Yorkers…
#112
Gracie Mansion: How a bucolic summer home survived a couple wars, a society feud and a few live-in mayors
Photo by the Wurts Brothers, date unknown. Courtesy NYPL Archibald Gracie admired the extraordinary vistas at Horn’s Hook — overlooking the East River and the churning waters of Hell’s Gate — and decided to build…
The wild times of the subway graffiti era 1970-1989
The BMT Jamaica line, late 1970s (Courtesy NYT) PODCAST #111 Art. Vandalism. Freedom. Blight. Creativity. Crime. Graffiti has divided New Yorkers since it first appeared on walls, signs and lampposts in the late 1960s. Its…
Modern history of the New York City Subway: Expansion from the 1,2,3, the A, B, C, Second Avenue and beyond
The subway in 1951, a bevy of new lines thanks to the unification of the IRT, the BMT and the IND, a consolidation we live with today. (Pic courtesy of NYC Subway) PODCAST The amazing…
#109
The New York City Subway and the creation of the IRT
PODCAST In the fourth part of our transportation series BOWERY BOYS ON THE GO, we finally take a look at the birth of the New York City subway. After decades of outright avoiding underground transit…
#108
Cable cars, trolleys and monorails: Moving around on New York’s forgotten transit options
ABOVE: The Boynton Bicycle Railway, combining the best of the locomotive and the spinning wheel. This narrow little hot wheel took riders on a short ride through Coney Island. For the third part of our…
#107
New York City’s Elevated Railroads: Journey to a spectacular world of steam trains along the avenues
Above: The Third Avenue Line as it looked running along the Bowery, changing the nature of New York street life, even as its innovations helped expand the city. PODCAST Before there were subways, New York…
#106
The Staten Island Ferry: its story, from sail to steam
PODCAST The Staten Island Ferry is one of the last remaining vestiges of an entire ferry system in New York, taking people between Manhattan and its future boroughs long before any bridges were built. In…
#105
Newsies vs the World! The Newsboys Strike of 1899
Are you tough enough to mess with them? PODCAST Extra! Extra! Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst vs. the newsboys! Pandemonium in the streets! One hot summer in July 1899, thousands of corner newsboys went…
#104
CBGB & OMFUG: Punk music history on the Bowery
Photo courtesy araceli.g, Flickr PODCAST Modern American rock music would have been a whole lot different without the rundown dive mecca CBGB’s, a beat-up former flophouse bar that made stars out of young musicians and…
Case Files of the New York Police Department 1800-1915
Uniformly chic: Law enforcement officers of the New York Metropolitan Police from 1871 show off their fancy blue threads. Twenty years previous, they weren’t even required to wear standardized apparel. (Courtesy NYPL Digital Library) PODCAST…
#102
Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, at your leisure
Above: Manhattan Beach Hotel EPISODE 102 Today Brighton Beach is known for Brooklyn’s thriving Russian community, while its neighbor Manhattan Beach is calm and family oriented. But over a hundred years ago, these neighborhoods were…
#101
The Bronx Zoo: the tale of NYC’s biggest animal house
Postcard of the elephant house, now the central Zoo Center — and home today to a baby rhino below. (Courtesy NYPL) PODCAST New York City’s most exotic residents inhabit hundreds of leafy acres in the…
#100
Robert Moses: Did he save New York — or destroy it?
Photo above: Robert Moses, October 1952 by Alfred Eisensteadt (Courtesy Google Life) PODCAST: EPISODE 100 We obviously had to spend our anniversary show with the Power Broker himself, everybody’s favorite Parks Commissioner — Robert Moses.…
#99
Madison Square Garden, World’s Most Famous Arena(s)
Augustus Saint-Gauden’s Diana twirling overhead on the second and arguably greatest version of Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden is certainly the recognizable name in arena entertaining, hosting Rangers and Knicks games, concerts, even political…
#98
Manhattan Bridge: New York City’s dysfunctional classic
[from Flickr, taken by ajagendorf25] We love the Manhattan Bridge, but there’s no doubt it’s had a rocky history. For one hundred years, it’s withstood more than just comparisons to its far more iconic neighbor,…
#97
Trinity Church: anchor of Wall Street, New York’s landlord
Above: The seemingly unchanged Trinity in 1916, already dwarfed by skyscrapers PODCAST Trinity Church, with its distinctive spire staring down upon the west end of Wall Street, is more than just a house of worship.…
#96
Going medieval at the Cloisters and Fort Tryon Park
PODCAST The Cloisters, home of the Metropolitan Museum’s repository for medieval treasures, was a labor of love for many lovers of great European art. In this podcast, I highlight three of the most important men…
#95
Tin Pan Alley and the birth of modern popular music
“Down In The Subway,” published in 1904 by one of Tin Pan Alley’s most successful music men Jerome Remick ___________________________________ PODCAST The modern music industry begins…. on 28th Street? A seemingly nondescript street in midtown…
#94
Corlears Hook and the Pirate Gangs of the East River
The Short Tail Gang sit underneath a pier at Corlears Hook, picture taken in 1890, long after all the great pirate gangs of the area had disbanded, been eaten by rats, or joined the Confederate…
#92
Steinway and Sons: piano men and kings of Queens
Inside Steinway Hall 1890: the 14th Street concert venue could seat 2,000 and also functioned as a showroom for Steinway pianos Henry Steinway, a German immigrant who came to New York in 1850, made his…
Haunted Tales of New York: Urban Phantoms
Historic Gay Street, 1940: a tiny little lane literally crammed with ghosts It’s time for our third annual ‘ghost stories’ episode, our mix of historical facts and spooky legends from the annals of New York’s…
#90
Movin’ on up: from King’s College to Columbia University
We’re going back to school with one of New York’s oldest continually operating institutions — Columbia University. Or should we say, King’s College, the pre-Revolution New York school that spawned religious controversy and a few…
#89
Chelsea Hotel, the muse of New York counterculture
Berniece Abbott looks up to the Chelsea, 1936 Arguably New York’s least conventional hotel, the Chelsea Hotel (or rather, the Hotel Chelsea) is the one of New York’s culture centers, a glamorous, art-filled Tower of…
#88
Ellis Island: When the world came to New York City
For millions of Americans, Ellis Island is the symbol of introduction, the immigrant depot that processed their ancestors and offered an opening into a new American life. But for some, it would truly be an…
#87
Kings of New York Pizza: Lombardi, Totonno, Patsy, Ray?
Gennaro Lombardi and (I believe) Antonio Totonno Pero with a dog who must have been fed very well. You’ll notice that Lombardi’s is still a grocery store in this picture. Some bananas with your pizza?…
#86
William ‘Boss’ Tweed and the bitter days of Tammany Hall
Hail to the thief: an imposing man with money on his mind ___________________________________ You cannot understand New York without understanding its most corrupt politician — William ‘Boss’ Tweed, a larger than life personality with lofty…
Shakespeare in the Park: the drama behind the drama
What started in a tiny East Village basement grew to become one of New York’s most enduring summer traditions, Shakespeare in the Park, featuring world class actors performing the greatest dramas of the age. But…
#84
Prospect Park and the return of Olmsted and Vaux
Prospect Park, Brooklyn’s biggest public space and home to the borough’s only natural forest, was a sequel for Olmsted and Vaux after their revolutionary creation Central Park. But can these two landscape architects still work…
#83
Henry Hudson and the European Discovery of Mannahatta
We turn the clock back to the very beginnings of New York history — to the European discovery of Manahatta and the voyages of Henry Hudson. Originally looking for a passage to Asia, Hudson fell…
Roosevelt Island: New York’s former ‘city of asylums’
The original Smallpox Hospital, designed by James Renwick, still stands today thanks to diligent restoration. (Click pic for detailed view) Looking north over Roosevelt Island, which cleanly splits the East River. Picture the buildings gone,…
#81
The Puck Building “What Fools These Mortals Be!”
A 6-foot plump gold impish figure stares down as you look up to observe the gorgeous red-brick design of the Puck Building, built for one of the 19th century’s most popular illustrated publications. But this…
#80
Pennsylvania Station – Manhattan’s Missing Treasure
PODCAST: The story of Penn Station involves more than just nostalgia for the long-gone temple of transportation as designed by the great McKim, Mead and White. It’s a tale of incredible tunnels, political haggling and…
#79
The Whyos: Gang of New York – PODCAST
Faces of the Whyo Gang: Googy Corcoran, Clops Connolly, Big Josh Hines and Baboon Connolly PODCAST: The Whyos (pronounced Why-Ohs)Â were New York’s most notorious gang after the Civil War, organizing their criminal activities and terrorizing…
#77
PODCAST: Freedomland U.S.A.
What is Freedomland U.S.A.? An unusual theme park in the Bronx, only in existence for less than five years, Freedomland has become the object of fascination for New York nostalgia lovers everywhere. Created by an…
#76
PODCAST: The Woolworth Building
When this classic photo was taken in 1928, the Woolworth Building was still the tallest in New York F.W. Woolworth was the self-made king of retail’s newfangled ‘five and dime’ store and his pockets were…
#75
PODCAST: Williamsburg(h), Brooklyn
Williamsburg used to have an H at the end of its name, not to mention dozens of major industries that once made it the tenth wealthiest place in the world. How did Williamsburgh become a…
#73
PODCAST: Webster Hall
Webster Hall, as beautifully worn and rough-hewn as it was during its heyday in the 1910s and 20s, disguises a very surprising past, a significant venue in the history of the labor movement, Greenwich Village…
#72
PODCAST: Rockefeller Center
Listen or download it from HERE You can also download it for free from iTunes and other podcasting services In the veritable wilderness that would become midtown Manhattan, Dr. David Hosack opens his Elgin Botanic…
#71
PODCAST: Saks Fifth Avenue
A podcast that’s “very Saks Fifth Avenue,” we get to the origins of the famous upscale retailer, follow its path from Washington D.C. to Heralds Square and then to “the most expensive street in the…
#70
PODCAST: The Bowery Files
The Bowery of 1923, its livelihood segregated from the street by elevated railways. This is our “potpourri” episode with a little bit of everything in it. We open up some of our favorite readers mail,…
#69
PODCAST: The Plaza Hotel
It got off to a rocky start, but the Plaza Hotel has become one of the most recognizable landmarks in New York City. We take a look at its kooky history, from its days as…
#68
The race is on! A history of the New York City Marathon
Photo from Flickr A true five-borough episode! The New York City Marathon hosts thousands of runners from all over the world, the dream project of the New York Road Runners and in particular one Fred…
#67
PODCAST: The Guggenheim Museum
The spiral-ramped wonder that is the Guggenheim Museum began as the dream of two colorful characters — a severe German artist and her rich patron art-lover. So how did they convince the most famous architect…
#66
PODCAST: Who Murdered Mary Rogers?
It’s a mystery! It’s 1841 and the most desirable woman in downtown Manhattan — the ‘beautiful cigar girl’ Mary Rogers — is found horribly murdered along the Hoboken shore. Hear some of the stories of…
#65
PODCAST: Spooky Stories of New York
The Algonquin Hotel: the hippest haunt for the dead writer set By popular demand, we return to the creepier tales of New York City history, ghost tales and stories of murder and mayhem, all of…
#64
PODCAST: Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-wood Cemetery is one of New York’s oldest burial grounds, but its development reaches back all the way to the beginning of Brooklyn’s surprising history — in fact, to the founder of Brooklyn Heights. Find…
#63
PODCAST: New York Stock Exchange
We steal this week’s topic straight for today’s headlines! We look at the early days of New York finance and the creation of the New York Stock Exchange, beginning with Alexander Hamilton, some pushy auctioneers,…
#62
PODCAST: Shea Stadium
The Mets are movin’ out to Citi Field, but we can’t overlook the great stories contained in their old home, Shea Stadium, a Robert Moses project took years to get off the ground and has…
#61
PODCAST: The Pan Am Building
Today it’s the Met Life Building. It’s been called the ugliest building in New York City. It sits like a monolith behind one of the city’s most enduring icons Grand Central Terminal. But it’s got…
#60
PODCAST: The Fate of Five Points
Part two of our “Five Points” podcast. Join us as we explore the “wicked” neighborhood’s clean up, fall from grace, and eventual destruction. Listen to it for free on iTunes or other podcasting services. Or…
#59
The Story of Five Points: Wicked Slum
You’ve heard the legend of New York’s most notorious neighborhood. Now come with us as we hit the streets of Five Points and dig up some of the nitty, gritty details of its birth, its…
#58
PODCAST: Delmonico’s Restaurant Francais
The kitchen staff, 1902 Before Delmonico’s, New Yorkers ate in taverns or oyster houses. But the city caught the fine dining bug at this family-owned business, which standardized everything you know about restaurants today. Find…
#57
PODCAST: The Glory of Carnegie Hall
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Well, we can at least show you the way through its tumultuous history, from a fortunate meeting on a Norwegian cruise ship, passed a symphonic rivalry, and into…
#56
PODCAST: Randall’s Island and the 1936 Olympic trials
PODCAST The smaller islands of the East River reveal fascinating secrets of the city’s past, and Randall’s and Ward’s Islands are no exceptions. Found out how these former potter’s fields are related to the most…
#55
PODCAST: The Evolution of Central Park
When last we left the Park, it was the embodiment of Olmstead and Vaux’s naturalistic Greensward Plan. Then the skyscrapers came. Also, how did all those playgrounds, a swanky nightclub, a theater troupe and all…
#54
PODCAST: The Creation of Central Park
Above: Central Park’s first recreation was ice skating, almost as soon as the lake was completed in 1858. The Dakota Apartments look like a ski resort. Come with us to the beginnings of New York’s…
#51
PODCAST: McSorley’s Old Ale House
Grab yourself a couple mugs of dark ale and learn about the history of one of New York City’s oldest bars, serving everyone from Abraham Lincoln to John Lennon — and eventually even women! Listen…
#50
PODCAST: Collect Pond and Canal Street
Collect Pond (and what I assume to be Bunker Hill) as depicted in watercolors by artist Archibald Robertson in 1798 We celebrate a year of New York City history podcasting by re-visiting the topic of…
PODCAST: LaGuardia Airport
We embark on the tale of the birth of New York City flight — featuring a Wright brother on Governor’s Island, the site of a glue factory turned Brooklyn air strip, Queens’ forgotten first airport,…
#46
PODCAST: Barnum’s American Museum
You know PT Barnum from his circus, but he was bringing the freakshow to New York long before then. Come take a tour with us of the craziest museum to ever hit New York City.…
#45
PODCAST: Grand Central
Join the Bowery Boys for a trip through the history of Grand Central — the depot, the station, and the terminal. Listen to it for free on iTunes or other podcasting services. Or you can…
#44
PODCAST: Rikers Island
What do Salvador Dali, John Jacob Astor, Peter Stuyvesant, the Civil War, and a big pile of trash have to do with the world’s biggest penal colony? We connect the dots in this history of…
#43
PODCAST: Studio 54
Join us as we step behind the velvet ropes to explore the history of Studio 54, legendary dance club. Listen to it for free on iTunes or other podcasting services. Or you can download or…
PODCAST: The Triangle Factory Fire of 1911
Shirtwaist factory workers on strike! Come listen to the strange and shocking facts of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, of a workplace tragedy that changed how New Yorkers live and work in a world of…
#41
PODCAST: New York Post
Extra! Extra! Scandal Sheet Revealed To Be Started By Founding Father! New York Post May Be Responsible For Central Park! Rupert Murdoch Property Was Once A Nest of Liberal Sympathizers! PLUS: Was there really a…
#40
PODCAST: Union Square
This former English-garden style park became the heart of protest and the labor movement. Join the Bowery Boys as we dig into the history of Union Square, from Book Row to Klein’s. Listen to it…
#39
PODCAST: The New York Yankees
Get ready for nine innings (or 30 minutes) of the greatest sports team ever — the New York Yankees. Hear about their modest beginnings, their best players, and the fate of Yankee Stadium, their home…
#38
PODCAST: Breakfast at Tiffany & Co.
You’ll be surprised by Tiffany’s 170-year history as a vanguard in New York luxury. See how they went from selling horse whips to world class diamonds. Listen to it for free on iTunes or other…
#37
PODCAST: Henry Ward Beecher and Plymouth Church
We’ve never done such a saucy show — full of sex, lies, and petticoats. Meet Henry Ward Beecher, Brooklyn Heights’ most notorious resident, and find out about the fascinating and provocative history of the church…
#36
PODCAST: Life in British New York: 1776-1783
Join us as we stroll through the streets of revolutionary New York, examining what it would have been like to be a New Yorker under British rule. Listen to it HERE: New York as it…
#35
PODCAST: The British Invasion: New York 1776
It’s 1776 and revolution is in the air. Join the Bowery Boys as we tackle the British invasion and takeover of New York City. Listen to it for free on iTunes or other podcasting services.…
#34
PODCAST: Katz’s Delicatessen
We stop for a nosh at three Jewish culinary stalwarts of the Lower East Side — Katz’s Delicatessen (a movie-friendly dining experience), Russ and Daughters (a tale of herrings and girl power) and the Yonah…
#33
PODCAST: The New York World’s Fair of 1964-65
Come with us as we jettison ourselves into the future as it was seen in the past — namely the 1964-65 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens. Fans of Robert Moses, 1960s space-age optimism and…
#32
PODCAST: The Museum of Modern Art
Above: Guests admire a strange piece by Martin Puryear The biggest surprise behind the revolutionary creation of the Museum of Modern Art is that the characters who put it together were almost as colorful as…
#31
PODCAST: Battery Park and Castle Clinton
Take a stroll through southern Manhattan’s Battery Park and Castle Clinton. Listen to it for free on iTunes or other podcasting services. Or you can download or listen to it HERE A famous depiction in…
#30
PODCAST: Peter Cooper and Cooper Union
Cooper Union is one of New York City’s more storied institutions, not only fostering the best and brightest of art and architecture, but playing host to presidents and activists. Also, find out a little about…
#29
PODCAST: The Brooklyn Bridge
The Bowery Boys explore the story and the family behind the Brooklyn Bridge, one of New York’s most treasured landmarks. Plus: Looking to get really close with the Brooklyn Bridge? Take one of our Brooklyn…
#28
PODCAST: New Years Eve at One Times Square
The Times Square New Years Eve celebration would not be the same without One Times Square and its annual ball drop. But the quirky history of this sometimes abused building reaches all the way back…
#27
PODCAST: Radio City Music Hall & the Rockettes
Behind the glamour of New York’s greatest stage Radio City Music Hall is a story involving a toothpaste tube designer, an allergy to Brazil nuts, a hydraulic lift protected from the Nazis, and a man…
#26
PODCAST: The Flatiron Building
What are the Bowery Boys doing in Chicago? Just a little detour in our search for the origins of the Flatiron Building, the wedge shaped, wind producing oddity — built as an office space in…
#25
PODCAST: The Original Bowery Boys / B’hoys
For our very special 25th episode, we give you all sorts of Bowery boys — the cultural and fashion trend of the 1840s, the notorious enemy of the Five Points gangs, and that slapstick bunch…
#24
PODCAST: The Copacabana
To get you in the mood for the weekend, every Friday we’ll be celebrating ‘FRIDAY NIGHT FEVER’, featuring an old New York nightlife haunt, from the dance halls of 19th Century Bowery, to the massive…
#23
PODCAST: Macy’s – the Man, the Store, the Parade
What year is this picture taken? (Click on it to view details.) Note the elevated rail line, no automobiles, and the New York Herald building still standing. You can also tell that the building’s later…
#22
PODCAST: Staten Island: A Brief History
(flying over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge) The Bowery Boys take on the history of New York City’s most ‘forgotten’ borough, from its beginnings as a British outpost during the Revolutionary War to the controversy over that…
#21
PODCAST: The Astors and the Waldorf-Astoria
We’re going to the ‘original’ Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in this podcast to hang with the filthy rich. Our guides are the styling and eccentric Astor family, the centerpiece of 19th Century New York wealth and society.…
#20
PODCAST: The United Nations Headquarters
(Secretariat Tower, in a dazzling light show during a special session on the international HIV/AIDS crisis.) It’s the only area of Manhattan that actually belongs to the world (literally). Come along with the Bowery Boys…
#19
PODCAST: Washington Irving
In this mini-podcast, we bring you New York’s first famous writer Washington Irving and his creepy tale of the Headless Horseman. We’ll tell you where you can go to celebrate his life and work, and…
#18
PODCAST: Ghost Stories of New York
From the podcast: David Belasco and some his feminine daliances. Belasco is still believed to haunt his theater on 44th St. A city this size certainly has its share of ghosts, and the Bowery Boys…
#17
PODCAST: New York Public Library
The New York Public Library may be one of the most revered libraries in America, but it took a farflung combination of bookworms, millionaires and do-gooders to make it into the institution it is today.…
#16
PODCAST: The Statue of Liberty
Her torch may shine bright, but what story is she hiding under that copper-toned skin? The Bowery Boys bring you the story of the dinner party that created an American icon. Her official name…
#15
PODCAST: The Apollo Theater
Harlem’s jewel, the Apollo Theater, has more than lived up to its promise as a place “where stars are born and legends are made.” It’s been the cultural centerpiece of New York for more than…
#14
PODCAST: Peter Stuyvesant
Back when New York was New Amsterdam, it was the domain of the bullheaded, pear-growing, peglegged Peter Stuyvesant, who cleaned up the city and gave us our most important street. Find out why he still…
#13
PODCAST: Coney Island – 20th Century Freakshow
Come see the Wonder Wheel, the king of hot dogs, the “Freaks” in the Dreamland Sideshow, a beached whale and Donald Trump’s dad — all in one place! Its Coney Island of the 20th Century.…
#12
PODCAST: Coney Island – The Golden Age
The Coney Island that greeted vacationers and city folk in the years 1904 to 1911 was one of infinite imagination manifested in fantastic but cheaply built extravaganza. A world of amusement starts here in New…
#11
PODCAST: The Chrysler Building
Ah, the classic Chrysler Building! She’s got style, glamour and all that jazz. But what magical surprise did she spring on New York in October of 1929? Join us as we tell the story of…
#10
PODCAST: Central Park Zoo
From an odd assortment of abandoned creatures, to one of the most notorious zoos in the world, take a tour with us through Central Park’s storybook zoo. In the podcast I erroneously stated that a…
#9
PODCAST: St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral
The fashionable district of NoLIta happens to be home to a few ghosts as well, tucked behind the walls of St Patrick’s Old Cathedral. Come with us as we unearth some info about a mysterious…
#8
PODCAST: The Dakota Apartments
Angels and Demons Part 1: New York’s most famous horror movie and the fascinating story behind its insidious setting. Plus: Lauren Bacall, Connie Chung and some dumb waiters! Listen to it for free on iTunes…
#7
PODCAST: Washington Square Park
Something’s afoot in Washington Square Park. Join the Bowery Boys this week on an expedition through one of New York’s quirkiest (and most beloved) parks — from Hangman’s Elm to Bob Dylan. You’ll be moved……
#6
PODCAST: Governors Island
New York’s most underappreciated treasure gets the Bowery Boys treatment. Its Governors Island: a fort, a small town, a prison and a Burger King … all bought for one dollar. Listen to it for free…
#5
PODCAST: The Blackout of 1977
Flash back to the summer of 1977, when Star Wars and the Yankees ruled, gas prices were high, a serial killer roamed the streets, and the city experienced a little inconvenience called the New York…
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