History

Hotel Chelsea’s iconic neon sign headed to auction

Image via WikiCommons

September 6, 2024

Hotel Chelsea’s iconic neon sign headed to auction

By Aaron Ginsburg

Here's a chance to own an iconic part of New York City. The original neon letters from the Hotel Chelsea will be coming to auction this month as part of Guernsey's "Downtown Auction," celebrating the culture of downtown Manhattan over the last 60 years. Before its first sale in 2011, the hotel at 222 West 23rd Street was known for its celebrity and creative-minded residents, like Jimi Hendrix, Andy Warhol, Madonna, and many others.
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A history of the U.S. Open in New York: From the West Side Tennis Club to Arthur Ashe Stadium

Photo by Jeff Horne on Flickr

August 22, 2024

A history of the U.S. Open in New York: From the West Side Tennis Club to Arthur Ashe Stadium

U.S. Open fever has again swept New York City. Although nowadays it's all Coco and Djokovic and Honey Deuce cocktails and lobster rolls, there's a long history behind the world-famous event. Ahead, take a look at how the international tournament made its way from an elite, private club in Newport, Rhode Island to Forest Hills' West Side Tennis Club and finally to its current home in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, even uncovering a little connection to the 1964 World's Fair.
All the tennis history right this way

History

8 iconic NYC venues still hosting live music

Cafe Wha? Photo by Meredith Ryncarz

August 13, 2024

8 iconic NYC venues still hosting live music

By Aaron Ginsburg

Live music has always been an integral part of New York City's identity, with many of the last century's cultural movements taking root in the basements and stages of iconic music venues. While many of these historic spots have disappeared, a few continue to host live performances today. Ahead, we dive into the best music venues in NYC that are still rocking, from the recently restored Brooklyn Paramount to iconic places like Cafe Wha? and the Bitter End in Greenwich Village, where legendary performers like Bob Dylan made their start.
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Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center opening, marking 55th anniversary of historic uprising

Renderings courtesy of EDG Architecture + Engineering

June 21, 2024

Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center opening, marking 55th anniversary of historic uprising

By Aaron Ginsburg

The first visitor center in the National Park Service dedicated to the gay rights movement officially opens in Greenwich Village next week. Overseen by the advocacy group Pride Live and the NPS, the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center will open its doors on June 28, marking the 55th anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall uprising. Located next to the Stonewall Inn tavern on Christopher Street, the 2,100-square-foot center offers an immersive look into LGBTQIA+ history and the fight for equality for all, with engaging programs, art installations, lectures, and more.
take a look

NYC’s gilded Crown Building is landmarked

Photo credit: Landmarks Preservation Commission

May 16, 2024

NYC’s gilded Crown Building is landmarked

By Devin Gannon

One of Midtown Manhattan's crown jewels is finally a city landmark. The Landmarks Preservation Commission this week designated the Heckscher Building at 730 Fifth Avenue as an individual landmark, officially recognizing the tower's ornate French Renaissance style, influence on Midtown's iconic commercial corridor, and overall impact on the New York City skyline. The tower, built 100 years ago and renamed the Crown Building in the 1980s for its gilded appearance, is now home to Aman New York, a luxe hotel-condo with 83 hotel rooms and 22 residences.
details here

Vintage photos look back on the futuristic 1964 New York World’s Fair in Queens

Two observation decks at the New York State Pavilion provided a 360-degree view of the World’s Fair. Image Source Attributed to NYC Parks’ Archived Collection

May 14, 2024

Vintage photos look back on the futuristic 1964 New York World’s Fair in Queens

By Aaron Ginsburg

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens. Taking place just 25 years after the 1939 World’s Fair in the same location, the World’s Fair was the largest international exhibition ever constructed in the United States, with 140 pavilions representing 80 nations, 24 U.S. states, and more than 45 corporations across 656 acres. The event, which took place for two six-month seasons between April 1964 and October 1965, provided a sense of optimism for a country embroiled in unrest both at home and abroad. Led by "master-builder" Robert Moses, the fair embraced the Space Age era, which included a creative, futuristic aesthetic inspired by advancing technologies and innovative architecture. Ahead, explore the World’s Fair with historic photos and hear from World's Fair expert, Bill Cotter, on the lasting legacy of the event in New York and beyond.
SEE WHAT THE FAIR WAS LIKE

Book fair will feature rare photos of the chaotic and complex early construction of the NYC subway

Broadway & 116th Street. All photos courtesy of Capitol Hill Books

April 4, 2024

Book fair will feature rare photos of the chaotic and complex early construction of the NYC subway

By Michelle Cohen

The ABAA New York International Antiquarian Book Fair (NYIABF) will be back at the Park Avenue Armory for its 64th year this month. A highlight of the fair is Capitol Hill Books' photographic archive of 37 albumen photographs that show the very first branch of the NYC subway system being built. Taken in 1901 and 1902, the photos reveal the complex first stages of the city's transit system, which has been running without interruption since it opened to the public in 1904. The rare photos show now-defunct sections like the Elm Street Route and the laborers who built the system, largely by hand.
More NYC Subway construction photos

New-York Historical Society exhibit looks back at NYC’s lost landmarks

Unidentified photographer, Manhattan: the Hippodrome, Sixth Avenue between, 43rd Street and 44th Street, 1905. Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, New-York Historical Society

April 2, 2024

New-York Historical Society exhibit looks back at NYC’s lost landmarks

By Aaron Ginsburg

A new installation at the New-York Historical Society explores the forgotten places that once defined New York City. The installation, called "Lost New York," brings to life the city's lost landmarks, including the original Penn Station, the Croton Reservoir, the Chinese Theater, and river bathhouses, through more than 90 items from the museum's collections and first-hand accounts from community voices. On view from April 19 through September 29, the museum is launching a new pay-as-you-wish program on Friday evenings from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. to coincide with the new exhibition.
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How to celebrate Women’s History Month in NYC

Suffragists marching, probably in New York City in. New York, 1915. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress

March 1, 2024

How to celebrate Women’s History Month in NYC

By Aaron Ginsburg

Every March, Americans celebrate Women's History Month, a chance to highlight the invaluable contributions of women who helped shape the history of the nation. In New York City, where the month-long holiday began in 1909, there is a large selection of engaging, informative, and entertaining ways to show your admiration for influential women. Ahead, here are some ways to celebrate Women's History Month in NYC, from learning about women who changed the history of the five boroughs with the Urban Park Rangers to listening to hilarious comics at the Knockout Women's Comedy Festival.
find ways to celebrate

Village Cigars in Greenwich Village closes amid rent dispute

Photo by Eden, Janine and Jim via Flickr cc

February 12, 2024

Village Cigars in Greenwich Village closes amid rent dispute

By Aaron Ginsburg

Village Cigars, the iconic Greenwich Village smoke shop in front of Hess Triangle, New York City's smallest piece of private land, has closed after over a century in business. The shop, located at 110 Seventh Avenue and Christopher Street within a distinctive red triangle-shaped building, shut its doors amid an alleged rent dispute between owner Andy Singh and landlord Jon Posner, as reported by Curbed. Posner claims that he signed a separation agreement with Singh, which required him to vacate the store by February 7.
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Popular Articles

One of the earliest maps of Manhattan will be on display at the New-York Historical Society

The Castello Plan. Photo via WikiCommons

January 31, 2024

One of the earliest maps of Manhattan will be on display at the New-York Historical Society

By Aaron Ginsburg

A new installation opening at the New-York Historical Society provides a look at everyday life in New Amsterdam at the peak of its settlement. Marking the 400th anniversary of the Dutch colony's founding, the installation "New York Before New York: The Castello Plan of New Amsterdam" centers around the Castello Plan, a historic map depicting New Amsterdam in 1660 right before the English took control. On view from March 15 through July 14, the installation also features rare documents and objects that explore the lives of settlers, Indigenous people, and enslaved Africans who resided in the colony.
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10 secrets of the Brooklyn Bridge

Photo by Ling Tang on Unsplash

January 4, 2024

10 secrets of the Brooklyn Bridge

On May 24, 1883, throngs of New Yorkers came to the Manhattan and Brooklyn waterfronts to celebrate the opening of what was then known as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge. It was reported that 1,800 vehicles and 150,300 people total crossed what was then the only land passage between Brooklyn and Manhattan. The bridge--later dubbed the Brooklyn Bridge, a name that stuck--went on to become one of the most iconic landmarks in New York. There's been plenty of history, and secrets, along the way. Lesser-known facts about the bridge include everything from hidden wine cellars to a parade of 21 elephants crossing in 1884.
All the secrets right this way

7 historic places in NYC recommended for state and national designation

William Ulmer Brewery, at the corner of Belvidere Street and Beaver Street, Brooklyn (ca. 1920). Image courtesy of DXA Studio

January 2, 2024

7 historic places in NYC recommended for state and national designation

By Aaron Ginsburg

Gov. Kathy Hochul last week announced the 36 properties and places in New York nominated for potential placement on the State and National Register of Historic Places. The seven New York City recommendations include Bushwick's historic William Ulmer Brewery, the city's first cast-iron office building, and a new historic district in Central Harlem that illustrates the neighborhood's development as a Black working-class residential neighborhood.
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In the 1800s, a group of NYC artists and writers created the modern-day Santa Claus

Ever the New Yorker, Santa catches the trolly to Bloomingdales! The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, The New York Public Library, NYPL Digital Collections

December 8, 2023

In the 1800s, a group of NYC artists and writers created the modern-day Santa Claus

By Lucie Levine

Saint Nicholas arrived in New York with the Dutch and became the Patron Saint of New York City in the early 19th century, but Santa, as we know him, is a hometown boy. New York’s writers and artists were the first to depict the modern Santa Claus, transforming the figure of Dutch lore into a cheerful holiday hero. The illustrious Claus gained his sleigh in Chelsea and his red suit on Franklin Square. With a little help from the likes of Washington Irving, Clement Clarke Moore, and Thomas Nast, jolly old St. Nick became the merriest man in Manhattan.
More about Santa's New York Roots!

NYC launches first-ever Hart Island public walking tours

Image courtesy of David Trawin on Flickr

November 15, 2023

NYC launches first-ever Hart Island public walking tours

By Aaron Ginsburg

Hart Island, the nation's largest public cemetery, will open to the public for the first time this month. The city's Parks Department on Wednesday announced that free walking tours of the Bronx island will be offered twice per month starting November 21. Hart Island, which has served as the final resting place of more than one million people since the Civil War, has long been inaccessible to visitors, with extremely stringent security and once-a-month visitation days. Now, with NYC Parks managing the site, the public can get an up-close look at the island's history, helping undo historical stigmas. The tours will last roughly 2.5 hours, with ferry transportation provided to and from the island.
learn more about the walking tours

New-York Historical Society expansion will feature new Democracy Wing

The New-York Historical Society new wing and renovation by Robert A.M. Stern Architects as viewed from 76th Street. Image courtesy of Alden Studios for Robert A.M. Stern Architects.

November 14, 2023

New-York Historical Society expansion will feature new Democracy Wing

By Michelle Cohen

New York's oldest museum, the New-York Historical Society Museum and Library, begins construction this month on an 80,000-square-foot renovation and expansion project. As 6sqft previously reported, the $140 million five-story extension at the rear of the museum's Upper West Side location will be designed by architect Robert A.M. Stern. New-York Historical president and CEO Louise Mirrer announced Monday the new addition will feature a Democracy Wing. When construction is completed in 2026–just in time for the nation's 250th anniversary–the new wing will offer educational programs and a home for valuable materials on American democracy.
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At 50, the Village Halloween Parade has become New York City’s ‘healing ritual’

All photos courtesy of New York’s Village Halloween Parade

October 30, 2023

At 50, the Village Halloween Parade has become New York City’s ‘healing ritual’

Fifty years ago, Ralph Lee took a walk around Greenwich Village with his puppets on Halloween night. It resonated with people. A couple of years later, as part of the City in the Streets program, Theater for the New City stepped in and produced the event on a larger scale, hitting more Village streets and attracting more participants. After Lee stopped his involvement with the parade, Jeanne Fleming stepped in. Today, over four decades under Fleming’s careful eye as artistic and producing director, the Village Halloween Parade is a part of New York City’s cultural identity — an event that through hardship and triumph over the past 50 years, has remained a ritual.
more on on the iconic event here

Village home and studio of Roy Lichtenstein opens after renovation, honored with historic plaque

Photo courtesy of Village Preservation on Flickr

October 27, 2023

Village home and studio of Roy Lichtenstein opens after renovation, honored with historic plaque

By Aaron Ginsburg

The Whitney Museum of American Art and Village Preservation on Thursday unveiled a historic plaque at the Greenwich Village home and studio of the renowned artist Roy Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein lived and worked at the 11,000-square-foot building at 741-745 Washington Street from 1988 until his passing in 1997. The building, constructed in 1912 as a metalworking shop, has officially reopened after receiving a full renovation by Los Angeles-based architects Johnston Marklee. The building now serves as the first permanent home for the museum's Independent Study Program (ISP), which supports future artists and scholars.
learn more about the famed studio

190-year-old West Village wooden house with storied history asks $6M

All photos courtesy of Allyson Lubow for The Corcoran Group

October 26, 2023

190-year-old West Village wooden house with storied history asks $6M

By Devin Gannon

A 19th-century wooden house in the West Village that has lived many lives over its nearly 190-year-old history is now on the market. Built in 1834, the property at 392 West Street (also known as 6 Weehawken Street) was originally part of the open-air Greenwich Market and later operated as a tavern, cigar store, pool hall, speakeasy, and two gay bars. The building's last owner, Jean-Louis Goldwater Bourgeois, made headlines in recent years after claiming he would leave the home to the Lenape people, the original Manhattanites. But when Bourgeois died last year, the house went to his estate and is now on the market for $6,000,000, as Gothamist reported.
see inside

Coney Island celebrates 200th birthday by displaying its oldest artifact

Image courtesy of the Coney Island History Project

October 26, 2023

Coney Island celebrates 200th birthday by displaying its oldest artifact

By Aaron Ginsburg

Celebrate Coney Island's 200th anniversary by honoring the neighborhood's oldest surviving artifact this weekend. The Coney Island History Project, located at 3059 West 12th Street next to the entrance to Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, is displaying the 200-year-old Coney Island Toll House sign from 1823. The artifact will be on view on Saturday, October 28, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
MORE ON CONEY ISLAND's 200-YEAR HISTORY HERE

Sewer alligator sculpture in Union Square channels century-old New York City myth

All photos courtesy of Jane Kratochvil

October 18, 2023

Sewer alligator sculpture in Union Square channels century-old New York City myth

By Aaron Ginsburg

A new sculpture in Union Square Park plays on the century-old myth that alligators live in New York City's sewer system. Created by Swedish artist Alexander Klingspor in collaboration with Mollbrinks Gallery, "NYC Legend" is a bronze sculpture depicting a life-sized alligator sitting atop a manhole cover. The artwork is inspired by an urban legend that originated 100 years ago claiming New Yorkers set pet baby alligators loose in the sewers after they grew too large to handle. The installation is on display through June 2024.
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Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire memorial unveiled in Greenwich Village

Photo courtesy of Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition.

October 13, 2023

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire memorial unveiled in Greenwich Village

By Aaron Ginsburg

The first permanent memorial honoring the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was officially unveiled in Greenwich Village on Wednesday. Designed by artists Richard Joon Yoo and Uri Wegman and commissioned by the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition, the memorial is located on steel panels fixed to the exterior of 23-29 Washington Place, also known as the Asch Building, where the devastating event took place. All 146 names of the workers who perished on that fateful day are etched into the panels.
more on the memorial

History

17 of NYC’s oldest bars and restaurants you can still dine at today

Photo of Gage & Tollner by Hamish Smyth for Order Design.

October 9, 2023

17 of NYC’s oldest bars and restaurants you can still dine at today

The Statue of Liberty was erected in 1886. The Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883. Grand Central Terminal opened to the public in 1913. Fraunces Tavern, a famed Financial District watering hole, has been serving New Yorkers since 1762.
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Vietnam Veterans Memorial replica coming to Queens park

Photo courtesy of Marsha Miller for LBJ Library on Flickr (public domain)

September 27, 2023

Vietnam Veterans Memorial replica coming to Queens park

By Aaron Ginsburg

A replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial will be on display in Queens in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. "The Wall That Heals," a traveling three-quarter-scale version of the memorial in Washington D.C., arrives in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park on Thursday, a way for New Yorkers to remember the lives lost during the conflict. The memorial is free and open to the public from September 28 through October 1.
read more about the memorial

NYC dedicates 220-year-old tombstone of Irish immigrant in Washington Square Park

Photos courtesy of NYC Parks

September 22, 2023

NYC dedicates 220-year-old tombstone of Irish immigrant in Washington Square Park

By Aaron Ginsburg

A 220-year-old tombstone uncovered in Washington Square Park over a decade ago will now be honored and put on display. The New York City Parks Department on Friday dedicated the headstone of James Jackson, an Irish immigrant who died in 1799 and was buried in Washington Square Park, a potter's field from 1797 to 1825. The headstone was discovered during a renovation project at the park's Sullivan Street entrance in 2009. The relic is now being presented in one of the windows of the Park House close to where it was discovered, accompanied by an informative sign where visitors can learn more.
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History

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