Categories
Bowery Boys Bookshelf Sports

Opening Day at Shea Stadium: A nostalgic trip to the New York Mets’ beloved old home

Shea Stadium has been gone ten years now. With mourning fans looking on, the final section of seats were torn out on the morning of February 18, 2009. Awaiting fans a short distance away was the sparkling new Citi Field which would open for business with a thrilling game between the San Diego Padres and the field’s home… Read More

Categories
Landmarks

The Plaza Hotel: From the Champagne Porch to the Black and White Ball

PODCAST REWIND  The Plaza Hotel has become one of the most recognizable landmarks in New York City, a romantic throwback to the last days of the Gilded Age. It epitomized the changes that were arriving on Fifth Avenue, steering away from the private mansions of the moneyed class and towards a certain kind of communal living… Read More

Categories
Mad Men

‘Mad Men’ notes: The rock gods of Forest Hills, Queens

WARNING The article contains a few spoilers about last night’s ‘Mad Men’ on AMC, so if you’re a fan of the show, come back once you’re watched the episode. Lusty groupies, ample drug intake, smoky hallways and deafening rock music. One might have thought last night’s ‘Mad Men’ — partially centered around the backstage antics… Read More

Categories
American History

Where were you when John Lennon was killed?

Originally posted 2010 — Today is the 30th anniversary of the death of John Lennon. Although he was murdered by Mark David Chapman on December 8th, it occurred at 10:50pm EST, and thus most heard about it the following day. On the evening of December 9th, thousands of people turned out for memorials throughout the… Read More

History in the making: Beatles, Lincoln, James Duane

Ladies in a fountain: fans wait impatiently outside the Plaza Hotel Forty-five years ago today, the Beatles arrive in New York City for their first American appearance. Needless to say, there was some enthusiasm. Read all about it here. Another American icon Abraham Lincoln didn’t have quite the same reception when he arrived here for… Read More

FRIDAY NIGHT FEVER: Peppermint Lounge

pictured: Joey Dee and the Starliters, who turned a small midtown gay hustler bar into a dance hit in 1961 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… Read More

Wild girls, rock music and the Plaza Hotel!

(picture courtesy the NY Post) Scandalous, I know, but I was out of town on Monday and missed the 100th anniversary party for The Plaza Hotel, the famous French Renaissance playground-lodge for the rich, very rich and famous. It seems wrong not to have had at least one Bowery Boy there. Oh well. The Plaza… Read More