From the Fulton Market to the Forty-Deuce: Leland Bobbé’s New York in the 1970s
In 1970 Leland Bobbé lived on Beekman Street near what used to be the Fulton Fish Market. He was a musician trying to make it in the city, and … Continue reading
New York Illustrated by Camera: Manhattan in the 1930s
August is a time for traveling, and so with the city full of visitors this month, we’re turning our attention to the outsider lens on New York, circa 1930. Recently, … Continue reading
The play within a play’s the thing!
“The play’s the thing…” William Shakespeare’s Hamlet famously says at the end of Act II, “…wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.” For Shakespeare’s depressed Danish prince, a group … Continue reading
Conserving the Rufus King Traveling Medicine Chest
The New York City of statesman and diplomat Rufus King (1755-1827) was a grim place. Disease crippled the city, with its rampant overcrowding and meager sanitation. And despite their stature, the … Continue reading
The Apple Peeler and Corer: Behind the Scenes, New York at Its Core
Manhattan’s Lower East Side, one of the most sought-after zip codes for young New Yorkers to settle today, would scarcely be familiar to the people who arrived here at the … Continue reading
Shakespeare in the Summer; the Winter’s Tale
For some folks summertime in New York City means free concerts or picnics in the park or just an excuse to get out of town, but for me, summer in … Continue reading
Corsets Begone: Women’s Fashions of the Roaring Twenties
The decade that gave rise to the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings, the speakeasy, and the big band also brought with it soaring hemlines, breast-freeing bandeaus and the “uplift” brassiere, … Continue reading
Tea, a New York drink
Okay, coffee is more popular, be it a regular deli cup (hot, light, and sweet) or a compostable cup of slow-drip, cold-brewed, artisanal bean. With your alluring caffeinated goodness and … Continue reading
Swan Hats and Fringed Coats: Remembering Bill Cunningham
Bill Cunningham (1929–2016) was known for many things—his keen eye for trends on the streets of New York, his anthropological approach to his work, his omnipresent bicycle and blue jacket, … Continue reading
Brigs, Barges & Wild Rovers: Transit from the Port of New York
Before the mid–20th century, when air travel took over as the fastest mode of transporting people and our things around the globe, our ancestors primarily relied on ships for trade … Continue reading
A Dinner on Horseback
We have written about quite a few dinners and parties of the Gilded Age on this blog but I don’t think many top C.K.G. Billings’s Horseback Dinner held at Sherry’s Hotel and … Continue reading
Alexander Hamilton’s “sweet project”: The Grange
Now that Alexander Hamilton has been restored as one of the most talked-about New Yorkers (including his story’s place as Broadway’s best new musical in the 2016 Tony Awards sweep), … Continue reading
Lost Cures: Jacques & Marsh, Druggists
In 1979 and 1980, a team of archaeologists led by Diana Wall and Nan Rothschild, excavated the Stadt Huys Block. This site was located between Pearl, Stone, and Broad Streets and … Continue reading
MCNY Blog: New York Stories 