Using the Museum’s Collections to Teach Photography
The Photography Collection at the Museum of the City of New York is an incredible resource for anyone interested in photography, architecture, social history, New York City, and any number … Continue reading
Books and the City
New Yorkers love to read. Whether it’s just for a stolen moment at work… or enjoying (or hoping that whatever we’re reading will distract us from) our subway commute… or … Continue reading
Happy 25th Birthday to the Internet
Last week the Internet turned a quarter of a century old. On March 12, 1989, a British computer scientist named Sir Tim Berners-Lee proposed what he called an “information management” … Continue reading
Forgotten villages and neighborhoods of Manhattan
Hints about long vanished and forgotten aspects of New York surround us if we know where to look. The etymology of neighborhood names reveal long lost geographical quirks and the … Continue reading
Three spirits and a merry Christmas
It’s Christmas Eve. An old man sitting close to his fire is visited by his former business partner, his formerly alive business partner. Covered in chains and looking very much … Continue reading
John Stephenson Company Streetcars
New York would not be the city it is today without the comprehensive public transportation infrastructure developed during the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the major players of this … Continue reading
The Great Bygone Museum Tour
Ladies and Gentleman! Step this way! My dear blog readers, please accompany me on a tour to discover the unique and marvelous history of museums in New York City. Be … Continue reading
It’s a Hard Knock Life: The City as Playground
The image of a group of kids shooting craps in the street has for decades been a quintessential scene of growing up in New York. The history of street games … Continue reading
What lies beneath New York- the Minetta Brook
It is difficult to view this image of Manhattan from 1953 and imagine it as the idyllic island of Mannahatta that Henry Hudson first stepped onto in September 1609, but … Continue reading
Aftermath of a Fire in the Lower East Side
Chartered in 1875, the Manhattan Railway Company operated elevated train lines in Manhattan and the Bronx. In 1879, it leased elevated lines running along Second, Third, Sixth, and Ninth Avenues … Continue reading
The Mysterious Little Egypt of Coney Island
“There’s a place in France where the naked ladies dance…” Although many know this tune (there are surely hundreds of regional interpretations), few know of its origin and its importance … Continue reading
The Photographer’s Mirror
Like a patient waiting for a miracle cure, New York City embraced the arrival of photography as the perfect elixir. It was the missing ingredient for the modern city, a tool … Continue reading
A Century of Grand Central Terminal
There’s no place like Grand Central. The sheer scale and elegance of the main concourse transforms the daily commute into a complex choreography as commuters and tourists negotiate through the … Continue reading
