Weekend History: Video of The 1996 Blizzard, Back When It Actually Snowed
This has been the second least-snowy New York winter in recorded history, a travesty to children everywhere and even to some ad … Read the rest of this entry >>
Children’s Museum Will Need to Tweak Its Plans to Renovate Church After Inconclusive Board Decision
The Children’s Museum of Manhattan will have to make some changes to its proposal to turn the First Church of Christ, Scientist on 96th Street and CPW into a m … Read the rest of this entry >>
Famed Garage Where Robert Caro Cracked the Robert Moses Code Now Gated Off
One of the holy sites of investigative journalism in New York City has been fenced off from public view – although the site is so obscure that few people realize its signific … Read the rest of this entry >>
Exhibit Sets the Life of Rock-and-Roll Impresario Bill Graham to the Music He Brought Us All
The Bill Graham exhibition at the New-York Historical Society is visually exciting, nostalgic and accompanied by a terrific soundt … Read the rest of this entry >>
Throwback Thursday: One of the Classic Upper West Side Movie Theaters
The New Yorker Theater at 2409 Broadway at 88th Street was one of the great Upper West Side movie houses of the 20th century. Woody Allen … Read the rest of this entry >>
Throwback Thursday: A Photographer Captured That 70s and 80s Vibe
Mark Futral has photographed Upper West Siders for decades, and he sent us some of his shots from the 1970s and 80s, along with … Read the rest of this entry >>
5 Events This Month to Learn Upper West Side History
There are five talks scheduled this month about local history, including two this week. Two are from the Bloomingdale History Group, which offers free program … Read the rest of this entry >>
Cathedral of St. John the Divine to Celebrate Inspiring Life of Rev. James Morton on Saturday
The Very Rev. James Morton, who led the Cathedral of St. John the Divine from 1972 to 1997, died on Saturday. Morton took over during a difficult … Read the rest of this entry >>
The 3 Businesses That Closed in the 2010s That We Miss the Most
As we say goodbye to the 2010s, we look wistfully back on businesses that were once important gathering places for generations of Upper West Si … Read the rest of this entry >>
Famous “Virginia,” as in “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” was an Upper West Side Girl
This neighborhood never ceases to amaze. It turns out that “Virginia,” as in, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clau … Read the rest of this entry >>
West Side Rag Jeopardy: 2019 Edition
You say you’re a devoted reader of the Rag? Let’s find out. Play “West Side Rag Jeopardy: 2019 Edition,” taken from some of the top stories of the past … Read the rest of this entry >>
The Tallest Steeple in North America is on the UWS, and Now You Can See the Views for the First Time in 18 Years
The best views in New York City may not be from the World Trade Center or the Empire State Building, but rather a church on the Upper West … Read the rest of this entry >>
An Appreciation: Bob Dylan Keeps Coming Back to the Beacon Theatre and I Haven’t Had Nearly Enough
It seems that autumn in NYC is a performance rite of passage for Bob Dy … Read the rest of this entry >>
The Origins of Halloween, In the Fields of Ireland, and In Your Lobby
According to the Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the areas that are now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, the night before their … Read the rest of this entry >>
Weekend History: Two Signs Emerge From the Past
As much as we try to paper over the past, it's usually still hiding near the surface. Two signs that were recently spotted in the neighborhood brought back memories from decades … Read the rest of this entry >>
Production Team Behind ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ Explains How They Recreate That 1950s UWS Flair
For some fans of Amazon’s original series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the show’s setting in 1950s Manhattan is more than just a quaint bac … Read the rest of this entry >>
The Yard-Less Yard Sale of West 104th Street Turns 30 on Saturday
This past Sunday, the New York Times ran a colorful web feature on the tradition of the New York City block party. Digging into the archives, the … Read the rest of this entry >>
An ‘Accidental’ Upper West Side Landlord Traveled a Rocky Road to a Windfall; A Young Al Pacino Was His Super!
As someone who started life in an orphanage, I never dreamed I’d one day become the landlord of two small apartment buildings on West 68th Street in New York … Read the rest of this entry >>
‘Boys in the Band’ is the Fourth Period Piece to Film on UWS This Summer
Directors have flocked to the Upper West Side this summer to film TV shows and films set in bygone eras. The most recent filming was for "Boys in the … Read the rest of this entry >>
Throwback Thursday: The ‘Broadway Ladies’ of the Late 70s
The photo and hand-coloring above are by Joan Menschenfreund, who has lived on the Upper West Side for 51 years. The women were sitting in the Bro … Read the rest of this entry >>
