The Bowery Boys: New York City History

What's Up With Downtown Brooklyn? (Rewind)

Downtown Brooklyn has a history that is often overlooked by New Yorkers. You’d be forgiven if you thought Brooklyn’s civic center — with a bustling shopping district and

The Story of SoHo: A Lofty History (Rewind)

How do vibrant New York City neighborhoods react to major changes to city life while retaining their historic character? For the next three weeks, we will present three n

The Gossip Game: The Man Who Blackmailed the Gilded Age

Before the era of the tabloid, New Yorkers got their gossip fix from a publication known as Town Topics, where the shocking secrets of the Gilded Age were revealed. But i

#491 Adventures in Old New York

Our book, The Bowery Boys Adventures in Old New York, was just re-released as a 10th-anniversary edition with lots of brand-new entries. So to celebrate, we thought we wo

#490 The Murder of Bill the Butcher

It’s a scene more commonly imagined today in a Wild West saloon -- a shootout at Stanwyx Hall, across from the most elegant hotel in New York. The year was 1855, and the

#489 Heated Rivalries from American History (Live at City Winery)

Alexander Hamilton vs Aaron Burr! Delmonico's vs Sherry's! John Adams vs everybody! Some of history's most fascinating stories involve important figures who did not like

Tearing Down King George: Revolutionary Summer 1776 (Rewind)

Bowling Green is best known today as the calming, flower-filled oasis in lower Manhattan, next to the decidedly less calming, lumbering sculpture Charging Bull, which is

#488 Party Like It's 1976!

New York City will be at the center of celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the United States, thanks to the largest-ever flotilla of tall ships to sail into New Yor

#487 The Knicks and the Knickerbockers: The Story of a Name

The New York Knicks are the ultimate New York City sporting franchise. Why would we make such a big claim? It's all in the name. The Knicks were founded in 1946 as one o

Marilyn Monroe at 100: Her Life in New York City (Rewind)

Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson 100 years ago on June 1, 1926. In late 1954, on the cusp of major Hollywood stardom, Marilyn moved to New York City on a que

#486 The Many Intrigues of Eliza Jumel

She arrived in New York calling herself Eliza Brown — but she’d been born Betsy Bowen, daughter of a woman jailed for running a disorderly house in Providence. By the ti

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 —

#485 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

The Garment District: Where New York Fashion Is Made (Rewind)

The Garment District in Midtown Manhattan has been the center of American fashion for almost one hundred years. The lofts and office buildings here still buzz with the bu

#484 The Phrenology Craze

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

#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 Pyot

The Pushcarts of the Lower East Side (Rewind)

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. Whateve

The Scandalous Hamiltons: Sex, Lies and Blackmail (The Gilded Gentleman)

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

#482 Pride and Preservation (The Streets of the West Village Part 3)

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 m

#481 How The West Village Became A Neighborhood (The Streets of the West Village Part 2)

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 t