The Bowery Boys: New York City History
Click pic for greater detailCaption: Billy, peering over the edge of the hood, saw the motorman pass the package back to Sim Levy. Ah, the good old days! The image above was taken from amazing Dime Novels and Penny Dreadful website. If you want to wile away a couple hours when you should be doing… Read More
New nurses on Roosevelt Island, circa 1938 (courtesy Life Magazine)
Have you ever just walked around and run smack into some strangely named park (Major Mark Park? Doughboy Park? WNYC Transmitter Park?) that you’ve never had any idea existed before? There are parks crammed into every nook and cranny of the city, a testament to community groups and civic leaders who recognized that congested, overcrowded… Read More
Oh this old thing? The Morris-Jumel Mansion circa 1934 (courtesy of Jumel Terrace) Next up in our borough challenge — where in the city is the oldest New York home? Not oldest building per se, but actual place of (former) domestic living. Why would I care to rank this? Consider our city today, with shiny… Read More
Today’s faceoff determines which borough has the oldest bar in the city. These places have enjoyed longevity precisely because they weren’t on anybody’s radar. The secret to their success is being low-key, neighborhood establishments where booze and conversation come first. Although a few have some kooky decor, none are what anybody would call flashy. Of… Read More
The oldest living New Yorkers outdate all the skyscrapers, the highways and the parks in which most of them live. They have seen generations of New Yorkers come and go. And at least one of them even remembers the region’s original indigenous people. We’re talking about the native trees of New York City, those that… Read More
I’ll take two! A salesman goes the course to sell a spring hat in an unnamed New York City department store, circa 1962. (Courtesy LIFE, photographer Yale Joel) How Do I Look? The Tenement Museum blog and historian Warren Shaw has the scoop on how the old Lower East Side was depicted in the old… Read More
Sorry, I don’t have time to do a regular post today but I hope you all have a perfect weekend, courtesy of mayor Jimmy Walker and Babe Ruth….
Jimmy Walker, Hollywood version of a mayor KNOW YOUR MAYORS Our modest little series about some of the greatest, notorious, most important, even most useless, mayors of New York City. Other entrants in our mayoral survey can be found here. MayorJimmy Walker In office: 1926-1932 Has a New York mayor ever reflected the decade he… Read More
We’re busy preparing the questions for tonight’s New York City history trivia fest at the Musical Box. Hope you can make it out to join the fun. You can bring your friends to create a trivia group of up to four people, or just arrive a bit early and form a group with others to… Read More
The Concourse in 1966 (pic courtesy the Museum) The wide boulevard known as the Grand Concourse, turns 100 this year, and the Bronx Museum celebrates with Intersection: The Grand Concourse Beyond 100, part history lesson, part community outreach looking to revitalize and rethink the borough’s most prominent street for a new century. The Concourse was… Read More
An early edition of the LIRR, passing through bucolic Brooklyn The Long Island Railroad has been around for a very long time. Last month, in fact, the central railroad turned 187 years old, almost as old as train travel itself. And it is the The official birthday is April 24, 1834, when the charter was… Read More
Above: the crowded streets of Five Points, where the Forty Thieves first made mischief What does it mean to be the ‘first’ gang in New York? Most likely, it means you weren’t really the first. Just the first to be caught at doing it. New Yorkers seem to create a grim romanticism around 19th century… Read More
Longacre Square — the future Times Square — after the Blizzard A March blizzard like the one today is discouraging as we’re so close to ridding ourselves of winter forever. But putting it all in perspective, it’ll never top the absolute worst March snowstorm of all time, a snowy catastrophe that completely shut down the… Read More
Some New York neighborhoods are simply named for their location on a map (East Village, Midtown). Others are given prefabricated designations (SoHo, DUMBO). But a few retain names that link them intimately with their pasts. Other entries in this series can be found here. What is a Throgs Neck? And why isn’t it a Throggs… Read More