The statue in Straus Park, which will celebrate a centennial anniversary early next month.
There are several free events coming up that celebrate local history. The following listings come from Landmarks West and the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group:
LANDMARK WEST! President Kate Wood Discusses “Upper West Side Landmarks”
Thursday, September 24, 6:30pm
Hostelling International, 891 Amsterdam Avenue at 103rd Street*
Please join in this FREE conversation about the history and current status of landmarks preservation on the Upper West Side, with special emphasis on buildings and historic districts between 96th and 110th Streets. Sponsored by Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group with Hostelling International and Columbus-Amsterdam BID.
 For more information, call (212) 666-9774 or email info@
*Hostelling International is located in the former Association for the Relief of Respectable Aged and Indigent Females, a NYC Individual Landmark designed by the prestigious architect Richard Morris Hunt and completed in 1883. Read more about this unique Landmark on the Bloomingdale History website.
Straus Park: A Centennial Celebration
Saturday, October 3, 10:00am to 5:00pm
Straus Park, Broadway at 106th Street
Friends of Straus Park celebrates the centennial of the naming of Straus Park in a day-long Art in the Park event. Join your neighbors for paintings, photographs, jewelry, clothing, food and music (by Blue Vipers of Brooklyn), all a tribute to Isidor and Ida Straus, Upper West Siders who lived in a frame house at 27-47 Broadway, near 105th Street (Isador was co-owner of Macy’s department store). The memorial fountain remembers the Strauses, who perished together aboard the Titanic on April 15, 1912.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission proposed including Straus Park within the boundaries of the Riverside-West End Historic District Extension II in 2011, but surprisingly voted to leave it out, along with most of Broadway, when the district was finally designated in June 2015. The district went before the New York City Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks on Monday, September 21st.
Fascinating Medical History
Date: Monday, October 5
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Hostelling International, 891 Amsterdam Avenue
The Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group is doing a presentation on the history of the Pasteur Institute, its remarkable medical approaches and its lavish building that once stood at 97th Street and Central Park West. The evening’s presenter is Dr. Bert Hansen, author of Picturing Medical Progress from Pasteur to Polio and professor of history at Baruch College, CUNY.
