Up on the roof, entertainment en plein air
Spring in New York City is glorious. Allergy issues aside, the season of rebirth is especially welcome after this winter’s polar vortex shenanigans. And though I celebrate the sunny days … Continue reading
Mel Rosenthal in the South Bronx
Mel Rosenthal (born 1940) grew up in the South Bronx. When he returned to the area 20 years later, after receiving a Ph.D. in English Literature and American Studies from … Continue reading
Inside the Glamour – Baumgarten Interiors
For a span of a few weeks last winter, I lived in two worlds. My real world consisted of a Brooklyn apartment filled with IKEA furniture, roommates, and the usual … Continue reading
Untimely Deaths of Stage Performers
The Museum is digitizing 30,000 photographs of Broadway and off-Broadway productions dating from the 1860s up to the 2000s with a Museums for America grant funded by the Institute of … Continue reading
Breeches on Broadway
With Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Kinky Boots, and Matilda currently on stage, Broadway has placed a spotlight on issues of cross-dressing and gender identity. While processing the Museum of … Continue reading
The Swedish Nightingale’s “Birds of America”
Jenny Lind, the acclaimed soprano from Sweden often referred to as the “Swedish Nightingale,” arrived in New York City in September of 1850. Her first two American concerts were delivered … Continue reading
William Auerbach-Levy, Artist and Neighborhood Preservationist
William Auerbach-Levy was born in 1889 in Brest-Litovsk, then part of the Russian Empire. He immigrated with his parents to the United States around 1894 and grew up on the … 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
Under the Vault: Behind the scenes at the City Museum
Palaces for the People: Guastavino and the Art of Structural Tile opened to the public at the Museum of the City of New York on March 26 and runs through … Continue reading
Alexander Jackson Davis Gothic Revival Chair
An iconic example of Gothic Revival furniture, a chair (MCNY 35.257.67) designed by Alexander Jackson Davis (1803-1892), is one of the highlights of the Museum’s furniture collection. It was designed … Continue reading
The World’s Richest Boy – the Life of William B. Leeds
Let’s face it: we all have baby albums, those pictures documenting our progression from newborns into children that we pray our parents don’t show anyone. When I came across a … 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
Animals on Stage
Thanks to a generous Museums for America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, I have the pleasure as Collections Assistant to aid in processing over 30,000 unique … Continue reading
MCNY Blog: New York Stories 