See these majestic granite eagles? They adorn what was then known as the First Street overpass, built in 1912 as part of Brooklyn’s Shore Parkway. The overpass was torn down in 1941 to construct the Belt Parkway. And luckily, the eagles didn’t end up i... »
See these majestic granite eagles? They adorn what was then known as the First Avenue overpass, built in 1912 as part of Brooklyn’s Shore Parkway. The overpass was torn down in 1941 to construct the Belt Parkway. And luckily, the eagles didn’t end up i... »
I love the decorative street lamps and lack of traffic signs (as well as street furniture like newspaper boxes and garbage cans) in this undated postcard, which depicts the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street. The General Sherman statue is there, so... »
Constructing the Brooklyn Bridge didn’t just claim the lives of up to 30 laborers. John and Washington Roebling, the father and son engineers in charge of building the bridge, were also casualties. John Roebling, right, lost his life early on. Named ch... »
At the time of his death in 1893, there was no controversy at all: Dr. J. Marion Sims was heralded as a surgical pioneer and a hero—thought of so highly, a statue memorializing him went up a year later in Bryant Park. Sims’ achievement: He developed an... »
On September 19, 1902, the body of a young woman turned up in a canal in Jersey City. Police identified the corpse as that of Anna Pulitzer, a married prostitute who lived on Broadway and West 46th Street. Police fanned out to solve the crime. A crucia... »
The first time was in the summer of 1916. “Ellis Jones, an editor at the humor magazine Life, had called upon his fellow Villagers to join him in a second American Revolution declaring their community independent of the United States,” wrote Ross Wetzs... »
The names chiseled onto city tenement building entrances are often pretty puzzling. The typical tenement is more than 100 years old. With the original builders long-gone, who can explain where some of these names come from, and why they were chosen? Li... »
City parks are filled with animal sculptures—some quite brutal and realistic, reminding genteel urbanites of the power and grandeur of nature. But one statue pays homage to a specific brave creature: Balto the Siberian husky. In 1925, Balto led a team ... »
New York has lots of beautiful ballroom, bar, and lobby ceilings. One of the most magical is at the Bethesda Arcade—the arched walkway in the center of the park that brings you to Bethesda Fountain and the Central Park Lake. It’s an enchanting place to... »
