While doing my ghost research this week, I came across an amusing article from an 1894 edition of the New York Times, back when ghost sightings might have merited a serious investigation. (Or, in this case, not so serious.) The location of the haunting was Brooklyn’s 27th Ward in today’s Bushwick area. After charting out… Read More
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Above: a Victorian home in Richmond Hill, Queens If you’re reading this blog, you will obviously find something exciting to do this weekend during the 6th Annual Open House New York, a veritable cornucopia of history and architectural activities relating to the city’s great history. Classic buildings, unique examples of architecture, rarely opened landmarks, neighborhood… Read More
There are many of you who read this blog who remember the 1964-65 World’s Fair well — and maybe even a few who remember the 1939-40 World’s Fair — so I thought you might be interested in this event: World’s Fairs in 3-DSaturday September 27, 6 pmThe Gershwin Hotel 7 East 27th StreetBetween Fifth and… 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. I have a friend of Jamaican descent that lives in Jamaica,… Read More
“Street Arabs,” as they called them, as photographed by Jacob Riis Sorry, it’s been a crazy week! Our second-part podcast on the history of Five Points will be up by this evening or early tomorrow morning.
The Bowery Boys-Dead Rabbits kerfluffle: it definitely happened, but not how you think it did In one of the sources we used for this week’s podcast — Tyler Anbinder’s wonderful and sober history on Five Points — the author throws out a theory that’s truly devastating for lovers of New York history, one that flies… Read More
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 first residents and its most scandalous pastimes. One of the most famous images of Five Points, accentuating its bustle and… Read More
Had there been a paparazzi in the 1880s, the woman they would have hounded the most would be New York stage singer and actress Lillian Russell. Like a Scarlett, she was always hanging on the arm of a famous, powerful man. Like an Angelina, she did dramatic things in her personal life that often upstaged… Read More
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Summer Reading: Old New York style
There are dozens of classics written about the contemporary New York of their creation, including The Great Gatsby and Catcher In The Rye. And thousands of trashy Manhattan stories chronicling gossip girls, magazine editors and cosmopolitan swilling divorcees. But the New York historical novel has only really flourished in the past forty years or so… Read More
This week’s show will be posted on here and up on iTunes tomorrow. Sorry for the delay, but it’s a good one! The show is about a former mayor of New York City. Check out our Know Your Mayors series for little tales on a few prior leaders of the city, the influential and ineffectual.… Read More
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History in the making – 6/14
Street art in Gowanus After checking out our podcast on Canal Street, stop by Forgotten New York for their beautifully photographed walking tour of the Manhattan Bridge area [Forgotten New York] Better hurry out to Coney Island; the pier and boardwalk may be closed as early as the end of the month. [Kinetic Carnival] It’s… Read More
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Lindbergh’s the man!
One very important American airfield associated with the city was omitted from this week’s podcast. Roosevelt Field was actually just outside the city of New York in Nassau County. Today it’s a 50 year old shopping mall! However, the most famous solo flight in human history originated from here over 80 years ago. The Army-owned… Read More
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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, and finally to the baby of mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. PODCAST TAKEN DOWN TEMPORARILY, WILL BE REPOST SOON! Wilbur Wright on… Read More
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Happy Memorial Day
Another angle of Alfred Eisenstaedt’s famous snapshot of some spontaneous love-making in Times Square on V-J Day
What if your best known accomplishment in this world was the fact that you posed for a well-regarded American masterpiece by your more talented older brother? Welcome to the world of Rubens Peale! Philadelphians and American art lovers in general should be quite familiar with Rubens’ father Charles Wilson Peale, one of early America’s pre-eminent… Read More