The Bowery Boys: New York City History

One of America's first great Italian neighborhoods was once in East Harlem, once filled with more southern Italians than Sicily itself, a neighborhood almost entirely gone today except for a couple restaurants, a church and a long-standing religious festival.This is, of course, not New York's' famous "Little Italy," the festive tourist area in lower Manhattan built from another 19th-century Italian neighborhood on Mulberry Street. The bustling street life of old Italian Harlem exists mostly in memory now.If you wander around any modern American neighborhood with a strong Italian presence, you'll find yourself around people who can trace their lineage back through the streets of Italian Harlem. Perhaps that includes yourself.But it's not all warm nostalgia and fond recollections. Life could be quite hard in Italian Harlem, thanks to the nearby industrial environment, the deteriorating living conditions and the street crime, the early years of New York organized crime.So who were these first Italian settlers wh

A star of the New York City skyline is reborn -- the Waldorf Astoria is reopening in 2025! And so we thought we'd again raise a toast to one of the world's most famous hotels, an Art Deco classic attached to the Gilded Age's most prestigious name in luxury and refinement.Now, you might think you know this story -- the famous lobby clock, Peacock Alley, cocktail bars! -- but do we have some surprises for you.The Waldorf Astoria — once the Waldorf-Astoria and even the Waldorf=Astoria — has been a premier name in hotel accommodations since the opening of the very first edition on 34th Street and Fifth Avenue (the location of today’s Empire State Building).But the history of the current incarnation on Park Avenue contains the twists and turns of world events, from World War II to recent diplomatic dramas. In essence, the Waldorf Astoria has become the world’s convention center.Step past the extraordinary Art Deco trappings, and you’ll find rooms which have hosted a plethora of important gatherings, not to mention

There were very few history podcasts around back in the year 2008, but the Bowery Boys Podcast was certainly here ... and so was The Memory Palace, hosted by Nate DiMeo, presenting small, often forgotten vignettes from history in a descriptive, narrative format.In this special interview episode, Greg talks with Nate on the occasion of his new companion book "The Memory Palace: True Short Stories of the Past" (Penguin Random House) which features many of his fable-like historical portraits, including many from New York City history -- from revolutionary amusements on Coney Island to less frequented corridors within the Metropolitan Museum of ArtAnd Greg and Nate go deep on the relationship between history and memory, on the reliability of memory to help us relive the past and how our own experiences can help fill in the gaps within histories that seem lost to us today. Featuring a couple of elephants, the Wallendas, Parks and Recreation, the X-Men, a very large painting of Versailles, and the big secret about

Just the name "Tiffany" evokes the glamour and elegance of the Gilded Age. But there is much more to the story than just the eponymous retailer who continues to sell fine jewelry and decorative objects today. In this episode of the Gilded Gentleman podcast, Carl Raymond is joined by Lindsy R. Parrott, the Executive Director of The Neustadt Collection, one of the country's most important collections of Tiffany glass and archival materials, to discuss the two Tiffanys - Charles Lewis Tiffany who began the original retail silver and jewelry and his son Louis Comfort Tiffany who created revolutionary designs in stained glass.   Subscribe and follow The Gilded Gentleman Podcast for more tales of America during the Gilded Age.This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon

 Greenwich Village is one of America's great music capitals, an extraordinary distinction for an old neighborhood of tenements, townhouses, dive bars and a college campus.So many musical titans of jazz, folk, pop and rock and roll got their start in the Village's many small nightclubs and coffeehouses, working alongside artists, writers, actors and comedians to create an American cultural mecca unlike any other.And it was here, on January 24, 1961, that a nineteen-year-old young man from Minnesota entered the fray -- Robert Zimmerman, otherwise known as Bob Dylan.The Village completely transformed the young folk singer into the voice of a generation, working out his transformation on the minuscule stages of the Gaslight, Cafe Wha? and Gerde's Folk City.But this show isn't strictly about Dylan's ascent to greatness, but the neighborhood -- the people, the streets, the basements! -- which cultivated artists like Dylan (and Billie Holiday and Nina Simone and Pete Seeger and Barbra Streisand and Joan Baez and so

Does your personal library overwhelm your home? Are there too many books in your life -- but you'll never get rid of them? Then you have a lot in common with Gilded Age mogul J.P. Morgan!Morgan was a defining figure of the late 19th century, engineering corporate mergers and crafting monopolies from the desk of his Wall Street office. In the process Morgan became one of the wealthiest men in America -- but he did not tread the traditional path through New York high society. He preferred yachts over ballrooms.And books! There were so many books that Morgan decided to start the new century with his own personal project -- the construction of a library.Today the Morgan Library and Museum is open to the public and, as an active and thriving institution, continues to highlight the world's greatest examples of the printed word -- from Charles Dickens's manuscript for A Christmas Carol to past exhibitions on Beatrix Potter, James Joyce and even The Little Prince.Tom and Greg explore the biography of J. Pierpont Morg

The Rockettes are America’s best known dance troupe — and a staple of the holiday season — but you may not know the origin of this iconic New York City symbol. For one, they’re not even from the Big Apple!Formerly the Missouri Rockets, the dancers and their famed choreographer Russell Markert were noticed by theater impresario Samuel Rothafel, who installed them first as his theater The Roxy, then at one of the largest theaters in the world — Radio City Music Hall.The life of a Rockettes dancer was glamorous, but grueling; for many decades dancing not in isolated shows, but before the screenings of movies, several times a day, a different program each week. There was a very, very specific look to the Rockettes, a look that changed — and that was forced to change by cultural shifts — over the decades.This show is dedicated to the many thousands of women who have shuffled and kicked with the Rockettes over their many decades of entertainment, on the stage, the picket line or the Super Bowl halftime show.This sh

What is Thanksgiving without the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? The annual march through Manhattan -- terminating at Macy's Department Store -- has delighted New Yorkers for a century and been a part of the American tradition of Thanksgiving since it was first broadcast nationally on television in the 1950s.Macy's began the parade in 1924 as a way to promote the new Seventh Avenue extension of their Herald Square location -- and to overshadow its department store rival Gimbel's. That first parade had many of the hallmarks of our modern parade -- from floats to Santa Claus - however it was much longer. Six miles!One major tradition is thankfully gone -- releasing the parade balloons into the air and encouraging New Yorkers to chase after them. After one near disaster in 1932 (airplane, meet balloon zebra) this curious contest was discontinued.By the late 1930s, the real world began seeping into the fairy-tale parade route, and during World War II, the parade was cancelled entirely -- a prohibition kicked off

The energy and personality of New York City runs through its local businesses -- mom-and-pop shops, independently run stores and restaurants, often family run operations.We live in a world of chain stores, franchises, corporate run operations and online retailers that have run many of these kinds of stores out of business. But what is New York without its diners, its small book shops, its curious antique stores and its historic delis?These kinds of shops contribute to the health of a neighborhood. And today we're celebrating them with Nicolas Heller, better known to his 1.4 million Instagram followers as New York Nico, "the unofficial talent scout of New York City."But he's also helped lift up small businesses and even helped them survive through the pandemic and beyond.And now Heller's new book New York Nico's Guide to NYC, he highlights 100 of his favorite small business from all five boroughs. So we thought we'd geek out with him for about an hour, talking about our favorite small places in the city.FEATUR

The young socialite Dorothy Arnold seemingly led a charmed and privileged life. The niece of a Supreme Court justice, Dorothy was the belle of 1900s New York, an attractive and vibrant young woman living on the Upper East Side with her family. She hoped to become a published magazine writer and perhaps someday live by herself in Greenwich Village.But on December 12, 1910, while running errands in the neighborhood of Madison Square Park, Dorothy Arnold — simply vanished.In this investigative new podcast, we look at the circumstances surrounding her disappearance, from the mysterious clues left in her fireplace to the suspicious behavior exhibited by her family.This mystery captivated New Yorkers for decades as revelations and twists to the story continued to emerge. As one newspaper described it: “There is general agreement among police officials that the case is in a class by itself.”ALSO: What secrets lurk in the infamous Pennsylvania ‘House of Mystery’? And could a sacred object found in Texas hold the key

On January 1, 1898, Greater New York was formed from the union of two cities – New York and Brooklyn, along with other towns and villages of the region, creating the five boroughs we know and love today. But each of those five boroughs brings their own unique histories and personalities. And so for this year’s annual Bowery Boys Halloween Special, we thought we’d give each borough the spotlight – or rather the spooklight – to highlight the city’s haunted landscape, from rural escapes to densely populated urban centers. Ghosts, you see, can manifest anywhere!And a special treat -- every single one of these ghost stories was sourced from actual newspaper and magazine reporting of their respective eras. Journalists on a ghost beat, finding ghostly activity in every corner of the city.The Bronx: The Reptile House at the Bronx Zoo doesn't seem like a haunted house, but when a sudden ghost whistling disturbs both man and beast alike, zoo directors call a meeting .... and a medium.Brooklyn: When a former hospital in

New York City has its fair share of famous 'urban legends' -- persistent rumors, too good to be true, often macabre and dark.No, we're not talking about just about ghost stories. (Those arrive next episode.) We mean far fetched, reality defying fantasies sometimes rooted in science fiction and horror – with just enough bearing to the real world that many people believe them to be true.Tom and Greg go deep into their favorite New York urban legends. breaking down their origins and revealing the hidden truths that live beneath the legends. This episode answers the questions:-- Are there alligators in the sewer? Believe it or not, there are. Or at least, there were. Kinda. New York's most famous urban legend has a fun and twisted origin.-- Does the Cropsey Maniac stalk the corridors of a New York ruin? Campfire tales collide with genuine institutional breakdowns and real-life horrors in this somber story set in Staten Island.-- Did somebody really sell the Brooklyn Bridge? The truth is even more surprising!-- Ha

Ida Wood had a secret. Born Ida Mayfield in New Orleans, Ida moved to New York in the 1850s and through her marriage to Benjamin Wood, publisher of the New York Daily News, she entered society. By the 1870s, Ida’s name was regularly found in the social columns of the city’s newspapers. So why, in 1907, did Ida Wood cash in – withdrawing her fortune from the bank and then, along with her sister and daughter, retreat into a suite at the Herald Square Hotel… for decades?This is the story of a Gilded Age Belle turned recluse, who chose to withdraw from society while still living in the heart of it. It’s also the story of the fortune hunters who circled around her in her final years. And most incredibly – it’s the story of what happened next. Check out the Bowery Boys website for photos of Ida, Ben, the Herald Square Hotel, plus the "alternate ending" proposed by Joseph Cox, author of The Recluse of Herald Square.After listening to this episode, dive into these past shows with similar themes and locations-- Herald

In 2022, Greg received a large box in the mail, containing hundreds of news clippings and documents related to the Collyer Brothers. This expanded, newly edited version of his 2019 show on the Collyer Brothers includes some of this research.New York City, with over 8 million people, is filled with stories of people who just want to be left alone – recluses, hermits, cloistering themselves from the public eye, closing themselves off from scrutiny.However, none attempted to seal themselves off so completely in the way that Homer and Langley Collyer attempted in the 1930s and 1940s.Their story is infamous. In going several steps further to be left alone, these 'ghosty men' drew attention to themselves and to their crumbling Fifth Avenue mansion – dubbed by the press ‘the Harlem house of mystery’.They were the children of the Gilded Age, clinging to blue-blooded lineage and drawing-room social customs, in a neighborhood about to become the heart of African-American culture. But their unusual retreat inward — off

What was Times Square before the electric billboards, before the Broadway theaters and theme restaurants, before the thousands and thousands of tourists?What was Times Square before it was Times Square? Today it’s virtually impossible to find traces of the area’s 18th and 19th century past. But in this episode, Tom and Greg will peel away the glamour and chaos — evict the Elmos and the pedicabs — to explore a far different world — of colonial estates, rolling farms, horse stables, and beer-themed hotels.They’ll be ENDING their story today on the date December 31, 1904, when the very first New Year’s Eve celebration was held here – in the plaza newly christened as Times Square. But if you had walked through here fifty years earlier, you certainly would not have called it ‘the crossroads of the world.’FEATURING: The Vanderbilts, the Pabsts, the Ochs, and the biggest musical of the 1900s! And a few connections in Times Square where you can still find these 19th-century traces of the past.This show was edited by

In 1886, during a miles-long parade celebrating the dedication of the Statue of Liberty, office workers in lower Manhattan began heaving ticker tape out the windows, creating a magical, blizzard-like landscape.That tradition stuck. Today that particular corridor of Broadway -- connecting Battery Park to City Hall -- is known as the "Canyon of Heroes" thanks to the popularity of the ticker-tape parade.While many cities with skyscrapers host ticker-tape parades today, New York was the place they originated in the late 19th century and for a very obvious reason -- the ticker-tape itself, a byproduct of the Financial District which revolutionized the way stocks were traded.New York has regularly honored athletes, politicians, pilots, kings and queens, astronauts and generals with ticker-tape parades for over 125 years. Today, they're best known as a way to celebrate New York sports teams, the winners of the World Series, the Super Bowl or the Stanley Cup.The story of the ticker-tape parade is also a story of mode

One-two-three-four! The Ramones, a four-man rock band from Forest Hills, Queens, played the Bowery music club CBGB for the very first time on August 16, 1974.Not only would Joey, Johnny, Tommy and Dee Dee reinvigorate downtown New York nightlife here -- creating a unique and energetic form of punk -- but they would join with a small group of musicians at CBGB to revolutionize American music in the 1970s.In this episode we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Ramones' first performances in downtown Manhattan. But this also a tribute to New York rock music of the 1970s and to the most famous rock-music club in America.CBGB & OMFUG officially stands for "Country, Bluegrass, Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers," and Hilly Kristal's legendary hole-in-the-wall music venue on the Bowery would be best defined by that "other music" -- namely punk, new wave and later hardcore.Over the course of 70 performances, the Ramones would perfect their sound and appearance on the ragged little stage here a

Carl Raymond of The Gilded Gentleman podcast and his guest Keith Taillon invite you into one of the most historically exclusive spaces in New York City -- the romantic and peaceful escape known as Gramercy Park. This small two-acre square, constructed in the 1830s, has been called “America’s Bloomsbury”. Taking the reference from London’s famous neighborhood once home to many great writers and artists, New York’s Gramercy Park has similarly included noted cultural icons as architect Stanford White, actor Edwin Booth and the great politician Samuel Tilden. Wandering along the park today it’s easy to gain a view back into the past — many of the original Greek Revival brick townhouses and brownstone mansions remain, some still in private hands. The park in the center is one of the most unique places in America — it is a private park, not a city property and its upkeep has been managed since its inception in the early 19th century by the property owners around the park itself. Writer and historian Keith Taillon j

Follow along with Greg and Tom in this stand-alone travelogue episode as they visit several historic cities and towns in the Netherlands -- Utrecht, De Bilt, Breukelen and Haarlem -- wandering through cafe-filled streets and old cobblestone alleyways, the air ringing with church bells and street music.But of course, their mission remains the same as the past three episodes. For there are traces of Dutch culture and history all over New York City -- through the names of boroughs, neighborhoods, streets and parks.From Spuyten Duyvil Creek flowing into the Harlem River along the Bronx shoreline to New Utrecht, Gravesend and Cortelyou Road in Brooklyn. All of those place names can be traced to the Dutch presence of New Amsterdam and New Netherland.In the final Bowery Boys episode recorded in the Netherlands, Tom and Greg head to several places that have unique links to the New York City area, mostly through Dutch colonial connections made in the 17th century.Utrecht -- The medieval city with its unique canal whar

The name Stuyvesant can be found everywhere in New York City -- in the names of neighborhoods, apartments, parks and high schools. Peter Stuyvesant, the last director-general of New Amsterdam, is a hero to some, a villain to others -- and probably a caricature to all. What do we really know about Peter Stuyvesant?In their last days in Amsterdam (before heading to other parts of the Netherlands), Tom and Greg spend their time getting to know  Stuyvesant, thanks to their special guest Jaap Jacobs, the author of a forthcoming biography on the elusive and controversial figure.And outside the mayor's residence in Amsterdam's exclusive Gouden Bocht (Golden Bend), they meet up with Jennifer Tosch of Black Heritage Tours (with tours in New York and Amsterdam) to investigate the story of New Amsterdam and the Dutch slave trade.PLUS They stroll around New Amsterdam on a dark, stormy evening. No really! Well, it's the village of Marken where one can find the closest approximation of what New Amsterdam looked like.AND A