A City Council District’s ‘Carve-Out’ Has a Fascinating History Involving Race and Class
There is a small section of the Upper West Side separated from the rest of it by its City Council district. Located in the northeastern c … Read the rest of this entry >>
Weekend History: 18th Century Bloomingdale Residents Before the American Revolution
New York City’s colonial history provides a context for Bloomingdale’s history before the American Revolu … Read the rest of this entry >>
Throwback Thursday: Remembering When ‘Off to the Races’ Meant West 72nd Street
"...the clientele was considered by non-bettors to be unattractive, lazy or just unsavory. I, however, did not see it that wa … Read the rest of this entry >>
An Old Church Has a New Life as a Theater; Shows This Weekend!
Unbeknownst to many, that beautiful church building on the corner of West 86th and Amsterdam is being used as a theatre and artist space … Read the rest of this entry >>
Throwback Thursday: Remembering Countess Vera, the Lady Who Loved Pigeons
I think most people thought she was a crazy old lady, but I knew that was not true, be … Read the rest of this entry >>
Pilates Was Created During the Last Pandemic; It’s Back on the UWS as We Fight the Latest Pandemic
Pilates, a mind-body exercise method which focuses on strengthening, stretching and core work, was founded in Europe in the midst of the Influenza pandemic of … Read the rest of this entry >>
Weekend History: The Story Behind An Upper West Side Ice Cream Sign
Upper West Siders treated themselves to ice cream long before the likes of Emack and Bolio’s and Shake Shack came along. The building at 302 Columbus Avenu … Read the rest of this entry >>
Throwback Thursday: Ye Very Olde Bloomingdale Road (Broadway) in the Colonial and Post-Revolutionary Era
A few months ago, a new website developed by John Jay College caught my attention. Like many institutions of higher education, the Co … Read the rest of this entry >>
Columbus Statue Still Getting Round-the-Clock Police Protection
On a rainy Thursday morning several months ago in June the police arrived at Columbus circle and they have not left … Read the rest of this entry >>
Two UWS Sites Make Citywide Map of Black History
The Landmarks Preservation Commission has created an interactive map of important sites from Black history, and there are two locations in the neighbor … Read the rest of this entry >>
Hundreds of Vignettes About Former ‘Notable’ Neighbors Collected in a New Book; Hear More at 5:30 Tuesday
At the age of 34, in her Lockheed Vega, Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic without stopping, a … Read the rest of this entry >>
How Do You Turn a Century-Old Church into a Child-Friendly Museum? An Architect Explains and Shows New Renderings
The Children's Museum of Manhattan is building a new home in an unlikely spot -- the landmark First Church of Christ, Scientist on Central Park … Read the rest of this entry >>
40th Anniversary of John Lennon’s Death Brings A Large Crowd to Strawberry Fields, and Sparks Emotional Memories
John Lennon died 40 years ago today, after being shot by a man of questionable sanity in front of his home at the Dakota Apartments, on West 72nd Street and Central Park … Read the rest of this entry >>
Monday: Hear from the Author of a Book on Notable Upper West Siders
Local historian Jim Mackin has written a book on famous Upper West Siders -- from Humphrey Bogart to Thurgood Marshall -- including stories about 600 l … Read the rest of this entry >>
Throwback Thursday: Photos of the Thanksgiving Parade in 1953
Macy's started holding a Christmas parade through the city starting in 1924, and switched it to a Thanksgiving parade three years l … Read the rest of this entry >>
Throwback Thursday: The Astor Market Was a First (Failed) Attempt at a Supermarket on the Upper West Side
Just over 100 years ago, a member of the famed Astor family tried a unique experiment on 95th Street and Broadway -- a market where people coul … Read the rest of this entry >>
Local Group Attempts to Gather the History of This Tumultuous Year; How You Can Help
The history books may one day have a whole chapter devoted to 2020, and not because it was awesome. One local history group is making an e … Read the rest of this entry >>
Frankie the Doorman Has 26 Years of Stories, and He Even Told Us One About De Niro
And then there was this time when Sting told Robert De Niro that Frankie does comedy at the Stand Up NY … Read the rest of this entry >>
Local Street Could Be Named ’RBG Way’ if Councilman Has His Way
City Councilman Mark Levine is introducing legislation to co-name the street where Ruth Bader Ginsberg lived when she was a Col … Read the rest of this entry >>
The UWS Was Once the Center of the Movie-Going World; Learn That History on Tuesday
The Bloomingdale History Group is holding a Zoom session on Tuesday explaining the history of movie theaters on the Upper West Side -- there were once a whopping 17 thea … Read the rest of this entry >>
