The Bowery Boys: New York City History

There’s a chill in the air. The floorboards in New York’s historic houses seem to creak a little louder, while birds hidden among the trees of Central Park stare down from crooked branches. The lights atop the Empire State Building go dark, and the subway car you’re riding suddenly stops in the middle of a shadowy tunnel. That's right, it's an all-new ... Bowery Boys Ghost Stories of Old New York...

We have been recording Halloween podcasts about New York City -- for twenty years! The first Bowery Boys ghost story podcast was released on October 11th, 2007, the first time we used actual urban legends about wandering spirits and other unpleasant things as a way to share historical tales about the city. Before the arrival of next week's brand new episode, get in the mood with this best-of compi...

In the town of Hydesville, south of the bustling city of Rochester, a traveling peddler was brutally murdered and buried in the cellar of a forlorn wooden farmhouse. His restless spirit, it was claimed, haunted the house. In 1848, the teenage girls Kate and Maggie Fox claimed to receive spiritual transmissions from the murdered man. Their gifts included interpreting mysterious knocking sounds and...

In the summer of 1902, all of Newport was buzzing: a European prince was coming to town, and Mamie Fish — one of the reigning hostesses of American high society — was throwing a dinner in his honor. The young ladies practiced their curtsies. But what walked through the door that night was no prince, but did tell you everything about who Mamie Fish was. She hadn’t started anywhere near the top. Rai...

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the attacks on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. Today there’s an entire generation that only knows the World Trade Center as an emblem of tragedy. But people sometimes forget that the World Trade Center, designed by Japanese-American architect Minoru Yamasaki, was a very complicated addition to the New York skyline when it officially opened in 1973. Wh...

How do vibrant New York City neighborhoods react to major changes to city life while retaining their historic character? For the next three weeks, we will present three neighborhood-history shows from the Bowery Boys podcast in a new light, exploring how these historic areas survive sudden changes in economic growth, housing needs and tourism. And listen to our prior shows on SoHo and Downtown Bro...

Downtown Brooklyn has a history that is often overlooked by New Yorkers. You’d be forgiven if you thought Brooklyn’s civic center — with a bustling shopping district and even an industrial tech campus — seemed to lack significant remnants of Brooklyn’s past; many areas have been radically altered and hundreds of old structures have been cleared over the decades. But, in fact, Downtown Brooklyn is...

How do vibrant New York City neighborhoods react to major changes to city life while retaining their historic character? For the next three weeks, we will present three neighborhood-history shows from the Bowery Boys podcast in a new light, exploring how these historic areas survive sudden changes in economic growth, housing needs and tourism. Picture the neighborhood of SoHo (that’s right, South...

Before the era of the tabloid, New Yorkers got their gossip fix from a publication known as Town Topics , where the shocking secrets of the Gilded Age were revealed. But its publisher, William D'Alton Mann , was into more than just a bit of sleaze; he used these scandalous revelations to blackmail members of New York’s high society. In this very special presentation of the Gilded Gentleman podcast...

Our book, The Bowery Boys Adventures in Old New York, was just re-released as a 10th-anniversary edition with lots of brand-new entries. So to celebrate, we thought we would highlight three of our all-time favorite stories from the book. Featuring: — The Astor House , one of the first luxury hotels in the United States, owned by the original Astor himself — John Jacob Astor. When it opened in 1836...

It’s a scene more commonly imagined today in a Wild West saloon -- a shootout at Stanwyx Hall, across from the most elegant hotel in New York. The year was 1855, and the combatants were bitter rivals who had fought many times, including once in the notorious neighborhood of Five Points. By the end, one man lie bleeding on the floor -- William Poole, a member of the Bowery Boys street gang, better...

Alexander Hamilton vs Aaron Burr ! Delmonico's vs Sherry's ! John Adams vs everybody! Some of history's most fascinating stories involve important figures who did not like each other very much. In this edition of Bowery Boys History Live! , recorded at Manhattan's City Winery on May 26, 2026 , Greg Young from the Bowery Boys brings some of these stories to a live audience, featuring author Laurie...

Bowling Green is best known today as the calming, flower-filled oasis in lower Manhattan, next to the decidedly less calming, lumbering sculpture Charging Bull, which is popular with tourists. But this peaceful park was once home to New York City’s most infamous statue -- and the stage for America's first No Kings protest. In 1770, the old park became the home of a monumental statue of King George...

New York City will be at the center of celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the United States, thanks to the largest-ever flotilla of tall ships to sail into New York Harbor — a reminder of the city's storied maritime history. It will be like ghosts of the past returning from a long voyage. The parade of tall ships, known as Operation Sail , first assembled in New York waters for the 1 964 Wo...

The New York Knicks are the ultimate New York City sporting franchise. Why would we make such a big claim? It's all in the name . The Knicks were founded in 1946 as one of the inaugural teams from the sports professional league which became the National Basketball Association (NBA). Their owner Ned Irish, from Madison Square Garden , chose the name Knickerbockers, quite literally pulled it from a...

Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson 100 years ago on June 1, 1926. In late 1954, on the cusp of major Hollywood stardom, Marilyn moved to New York City on a quest to become a better actress and to find a little peace on streets where she could sometimes go unnoticed. The year 1955 was one of discovery for the star of The Seven-Year Itch and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes — exploring the city,...

She arrived in New York calling herself Eliza Brown — but she’d been born Betsy Bowen, daughter of a woman jailed for running a disorderly house in Providence. By the time she died in 1865, she was Eliza Jumel -- Manhattan’s richest woman, mistress of a hilltop mansion in Washington Heights, the widow of a former vice president, and the subject of so many wild rumors that even her New York Times o...

The Lincoln Center revival of Ragtime — with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and a book by Terrence McNally, adapted from the novel by E. L. Doctorow — has just garnered 11 Tony Award nominations, including Best Revival of a Musical, along with multiple acting nods for its acclaimed cast. This new production feels more timely and resonant than the one that first played on Broadwa...

Perched over the Hudson River near the city of Hudson sits Olana State Historic Site , once the wondrous home of painter Frederic Church . This Gilded Age mansion is unlike any in the valley, mystical and imposing, evoking Persian and Moorish architectural styles and reflecting the art and ambitions of its former owner. Church was more than a Hudson River School painter; he was an adventurer and d...

The Garment District in Midtown Manhattan has been the center of American fashion for almost one hundred years. The lofts and office buildings here still buzz with the business of making clothing — from design to distribution. But the district has become endangered today as clothing manufacturers move out and the entire industry faces new challenges from online sales and overseas production. Durin...

In our modern world, people are turning to all sorts of unusual beliefs and fringe disciplines just outside the bounds of medical science and psychology, all in search of a better understanding of the human mind and the origins of personality. In the mid-19th century, New Yorkers with similar questions became obsessed with the unusual practice of phrenology , which promised to unlock the secrets o...

Carnegie Hall is one of America’s greatest and most enduring cultural landmarks, enchanting audiences and making history since its opening night on May 5, 1891, when Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky appeared there in his first performance in the United States. This groundbreaking performance space (originally known simply as “Music Hall”) is in fact a trio of distinct venues, all nestled within a single,...

Once upon a time, the streets of the Lower East Side were lined with pushcarts and salespeople haggling with customers over the price of fruits, fish and pickles. Whatever became of them? New York’s earliest marketplaces were large and surprisingly well regulated hubs for commerce that kept the city fed. When the city was small, they served the hungry population well. But by the mid 19th century,...

In 1889, Robert Ray Hamilton, great-grandson of Alexander Hamilton, became ensnared in a sensational web of deceit — forged identities, attempted murder, and brazen fraud that captured headlines across the country. Although this gripping saga played out over a two-year period, it has largely faded from public memory.  In his book The Scandalous Hamiltons , author Bill Shaffer resurrects the scanda...

Why is the West Village both historically important and incredibly expensive? In the final part of our West Village mini-series , we look at the elements that define the modern neighborhood — from battles with Robert Moses to the protests that galvanized the gay-rights movement. The 19th-century charms of the old Village seem timeless, but they survive thanks to the 1969 Greenwich Village Historic...