The Bowery Boys: New York City History

The mysterious disappearance of a young woman becomes one of the most talked-about events in New York City history.

Ghost stories from New York City's five boroughs -- from Staten Island's tombstone-toting ghost to the Hessian ghouls in a Flushing house of worship.

Are there alligators in the sewers? Tom and Greg go deep into their favorite New York urban legends. breaking down their origins and revealing the hidden truths that live beneath the legends.

This is the story of Ida Wood, a Gilded Age belle turned recluse, who chose to withdraw from society while still living in the heart of Old New York.

New York City is filled with stories of people who just want to be left alone – recluses, hermits, cloistering themselves from the public eye, closing themselves off from scrutiny. None attempted to seal themselves off so completely in the way that Homer and Langley Collyer attempted in the 1930s and 1940s.

What was Times Square before the electric billboards and the Broadway theaters? What was Times Square before it was Times Square?

In this episode we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Ramones' first performances in downtown Manhattan. But this also a tribute to New York rock music of the 1970s and to the most famous rock-music club in America.

Come explore one of the most historically exclusive spaces in New York City -- the romantic and peaceful escape known as Gramercy Park.

Follow along as Greg and Tom visit several historic cities and towns in the Netherlands -- Utrecht, De Bilt, Breukelen and Haarlem -- wandering through cafe-filled streets and old cobblestone alleyways, the air ringing with church bells and street music.

The name Peter Stuyvesant can be found everywhere in New York City -- in the names of neighborhoods, apartments, parks and high schools. But what do we really know about legendary figure?

All roads lead to Leiden where our adventure continues with a quest to find the Walloons, the French-speaking religious refugees who became the first settlers of New Netherland in 1624.

The Bowery Boys Podcast heads to old Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, to find traces of New Amsterdam, the Dutch settlement which became New York.

The Bowery Boys Podcast is going to Amsterdam and other parts of the Netherlands for a very special mini-series. But before they go, they're kicking things off with the man who inspired the journey.

Announcing an epic new Bowery Boys mini series -- The Bowery Boys Adventures in the Netherlands. Exploring the connections between New York City and that fascinating European country.

The Lenape were among the first in northeast North America to be displaced by white colonists. But the Lenape did not disappear. Through generations of great hardship, they have persevered.

The New York City subway system turns 120 years old later this year so we thought we'd honor the world's longest subway system with a supersized overview history.

The story of a filthy and dangerous train ditch that became one of the swankiest addresses in the world -- Park Avenue.

Few areas of the United States have as endured as long as Flushing, Queens, a neighborhood with almost over 375 years of history and an evolving cultural landscape that includes Quakers, trees, Hollywood films, world fairs, and new Asian immigration.

Tom visits the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side to walk through the reconstructed two-room apartment of an African-American couple who lived in 1870 on Laurens Street in today’s Soho neighborhood.

The Age of Innocence is Edith Wharton’s most famous novel, an enduring classic of Old New York that has been rediscovered by a new generation. What is it about this story of Newland Archer, May Welland and Countess Olenska that readers respond to today?

Tom and Greg are joined by Kevin Baker, author of The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City, to discuss the early history of the sport and its unique connections to New York City.

The Chrysler Building remains one of America's most beautiful skyscrapers and a grand evocation of Jazz Age New York. But this architectural tribute to the automobile is also the greatest reminder of a furious construction surge that transformed the city in the 1920s.

Brooklyn's Domino Sugar Refinery, built in 1882, was more than a factory. During the Gilded Age and into the 20th century, this New York landmark was the center of America's sugar manufacturing, helping to fuel the country's hunger for sweet delights.

A look at 200 years of history and culture in and surrounding Madison Square Park, one of America's most famous parks thanks to the performing venue which bears its name.

Truman Capote's 1966 masquerade ball at the Plaza Hotel would bring together a most outrageous collection of famous folks -- movie stars, socialites, politicians, publishing icons. An invite to the ball was the true golden ticket, coveted by every celebrity and social climber in America.

Why is the Kosciuszko Bridge, one of New York City's most essential pieces of infrastructure, named for the Polish national hero Tadeusz Kościuszko, a man who spent little time in New York City?

Maestro Leonard Bernstein is one of New York’s most influential cultural figures. He spent most of his life in the city, and that’s the focus of today’s story. The creator and his urban inspiration – Leonard Bernstein’s New York.

Grace Church was one of the most fashionable churches in New York City for several decades in the 19th century. The fashionable weddings and funerals hosted at Grace sometimes drew thousands of onlookers, and a few celebrated ceremonies were as raucous and chaotic as rock concerts.

An especially festive podcast with double the holiday fun, tracing the history of Christmas and holiday celebrations over 19th-century New York City history. And a look at Charles Dickens and "A Christmas Carol."

For decades New Yorkers celebrated Evacuation Day every November 25, a holiday marking the 1783 departure of British forces from the city they had occupied for several years during the Revolutionary War. So where did it go?

Greta Garbo in New York! A story of freedom, glamour and melancholy, set at the intersection of classic Hollywood and mid-century New York City.

Easter Sunday, 1886, and a new war is brewing in Gilded Age society. Are you ready to pick a side?

At the heart of New York’s Gilded Age — the late 19th-century era of unprecedented American wealth and excess — were families with the names Astor, Waldorf, Schermerhorn, and Vanderbilt, and all would make their homes — and in the case of the Vanderbilts, their great many homes — on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.

A brand new batch of haunted houses and spooky stories, all from the gaslight era of New York City, the illuminating glow of the 19th century revealing the spirits of another world.

The story of Theodore Roosevelt -- naturalist, hunter and conservationist -- with special guest Ken Burns discussing his new documentary mini-series The American Buffalo.

The rebirth of the East Village in the late 1970s and the flowering of a new and original New York subculture -- "the Downtown Scene" -- arising from the shadow of urban devastation and anchored by a community that reclaimed its own deteriorating neighborhood.

When Manhattan's Third Avenue El was torn down in 1955, those who were attracted to the culture of Greenwich Village -- with its coffeehouses, poets, and jazz music -- began flocking to the east side, attracted to low rents. And thus the East Village was born.

The history of Tompkins Square Park, a place of counter-culture, protest and pride in the heart of Manhattan's East Village.

Stroll the romantic, rambling paths of historic Central Park in this week's episode, turning back the clock to the 1860s and 70s, a time of children ice skating on The Lake, carriage rides through the Mall, and bewildering excursions through The Ramble.

The tale of the Brooklyn Navy Yard is one of New York's true epic adventures, mirroring the course of American history via the ships manufactured here and the people employed to make them.

Interviews with three "new storytellers" who explore the culture and history of New York City, including Nicolas Heller (New York Nico, the "unofficial talent scout of New York City"), Riley Arthur (Diners of NYC) and Tommy Silk (Landmarks of NY).

It’s one of the great narratives of American urban history — the northward trek of New York society up the island of Manhattan during the 19th century.

This month we are marking the 160th anniversary of one of the most dramatic moments in New York City history – the Civil War Draft Riots which stormed through the city from July 13 to July 16, 1863. In many ways, however, our own city seems to have forgotten these significant events.

This is the story of the invention of the Pledge, a set of words that have come to embody the core values of American citizenship. And yet it began as part of a for-profit magazine promotion, written by a Christian socialist minister.

Long-term and overnight parking used to be illegal in the early 20th century. But in 1950, street parking was legalized with the advent of alternate-side parking rules, and soon parking meters and 'meter maids' were attempting to keep a handle on the chaotic situation. Eventually the car took over. Will it always be this way?

From 1941 and 1976, dozens of young women and high school girls were bestowed the honor of Miss Subways with her smiling photograph hanging within the cars of the New York subway system.

The Brooklyn Bridge is not only a symbol of the American Gilded Age, it’s also a family tree of sorts. This episode is arranged as a series of mini biographies of the three family members who gave us the bridge -- John Roebling, his son Washington Roebling and Washington's wife Emily Warren Roebling. Through their stories, we’ll watch as the Brooklyn Bridge is designed, built and opened in 1883.

The Broadway Musical is one of New York City's greatest inventions, over 160 years in the making! But why Broadway, exactly? And how did our fair city go from simple vaudeville and minstrel shows to Shuffle Along, Irene and Show Boat, surely the most influential musical of the Jazz Age?

Pizza lovers of all kinds will find much to enjoy in this show, tracing the early origins of American pizza and specifically how New York City-style pizza was born. (What even is New York style pizza? Even that answer is trickier than you think.)

On the rainy evening of April 18, 1912, survivors from the Titanic disaster were brought to the berth of the Cunard liner Carpathia at Pier 54 at the Chelsea Piers in Manhattan. On that very spot today, a fanciful waterfront development juts out into the Hudson River called Little Island.

Enter the magical world of New York by gaslight, the city illuminated by the soft, revolutionary glow of lamps powered by gas, an innovative utility which transformed urban life in the 19th century.

One of the great narratives of American history — immigration — through the experiences of the Irish.

The story of how Wall Street, that short little street in Lower Manhattan, became synonymous with the American financial system and how it got that most interesting name.

Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci's stoic portrait and one of the most valuable paintings on earth, came to America during the winter of 1963 and was received as though she were a rock star. At the Met, thousands lined up outside in the freezing cold to catch a glimpse of the painting.

Dorothy Catherine Draper was the first woman to ever sit for a photograph — a daguerrotype, in the year 1840, upon the rooftop of the school which would become New York University. What was her story?

In this art-filled episode of the Bowery Boys, Tom and Greg look at Edward Hopper's life, influence and specific fascination with painting New York City (albeit in his own unusual way).

The Fulton Fish Market in downtown Manhattan was once to seafood what the Chicago stock yards were to the meat industry, the primary place where Americans got fish for their dinner tables. Today its former home is known by more familiar name -- the South Street Seaport. But you can still find ghosts of the market along these historic stone streets.

New York City has a new landmark, a little bar in the West Village named Julius', where one moment of protest (the Sip-In of 1966) set the stage for a political revolution, “a signature event in the battle for LGBTQ+ people to gather, socialize, and celebrate openly in bars, restaurants, and other public places.”

There is much nostalgia today for the 1939-1940 World's Fair and its stranger, more visually chaotic 1964-65 World's Fair. And that nostalgia has fueled a thriving market for collectables from these fairs -- the souvenirs and other common household items branded with the two fairs' striking visual symbols.

Reflecting upon New York City restaurants from the 1990s (Mars 2112, anyone?), praising the strange wonders of Chez Josephine and Congee Village and revealing some great places for pizza in New York City.

A.J. Jacobs, author of "The Puzzler: One Man’s Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life," leads Greg and Tom down a maze of fascinating origins for the world's most popular puzzles.

Absinthe was one of the most popular and most mysterious drinks of the Belle Epoque and late Victorian and Edwardian worlds. Myths sprang up that the elixir created dramatic hallucinations and even provoked ghastly crimes.

In 1890 Jacob Riis turned his eye-opening reporting about New York's tenement districts into a ground-breaking book called How The Other Half Lives, a book which awoke Americans to the plight of the poor and laid the groundwork for the Progressive Era.

In this special episode, we look at the history of New York City as seen through one corner of the Lower East Side, best known for its landmark Seward Park. Created by the intersections of several streets, it's a place that has gone by many names -- in the past and even today.

In late December 1954 Marilyn Monroe came to New York City wearing a disguise. By then she was the biggest movie star in the world and she had come to the city to reinvent herself and her career. 1955 would be a year of discovery for Marilyn -- exploring the city, working on her craft and generally being the toast of the town.

The story of how two very big cities (New York and Brooklyn) and a whole bunch of small towns and villages — completely different in nature, from farmland to skyscraper — became the second largest city in the world on January 1, 1898.

Tales of mystery and the supernatural have possessed the villages and towns of the Hudson River Valley since ancient times. In this episode, Greg and Tom explore several of the region's spookiest legends.

In honor of the exciting new theater season, we're revisiting our 2011 episode on the history of Sardi's restaurant, the Theater District institution, updated to cover the trials and triumphs of the past decade.

You may have heard about the messy, chaotic and truly horrible presidential election of 1876 -- pitting Democrat Samuel Tilden and Republican Rutherford B Hayes -- but did you know that New York City plays a huge role in this moment in American history?

In the heart of Greenwich Village sits the Jefferson Market Library, a branch of the New York Public Library, But historically this space is more notoriously known for America's first night court (at the Jefferson Market Courthouse) and the Women's House of Detention, a facility which cast a gloom over the Village for over 40 years.

Ever since Alexander Graham Bell brought his first model telephone to Manhattan 145 years ago, the telephone has helped us make plans, share urgent news, and has even allowed people to move away from each other – but still feel close.

In today's episode, Tom discusses the vast span of New York history with filmmakers and authors Ric Burns and James Sanders, creators of "New York: A Documentary Film".

The history of the New York City taxicab, from the handsome hansoms of old to the modern issues facing the modern taxi fleet today.

Domestic servants during the Gilded Age did more than simply maintain the mansions of the wealthy. New York City simply could not function with these 'invisible' armies of butlers, housekeepers, footmen, ladies maids, cooks, valets and others.

Greg and Tom celebrate the 15th anniversary of their very first episode of the podcast -- recorded on June 19, 2007 -- by looking back at the year 2007 and answering listener questions.

Part 2 in our Flatbush series: Tom and Greg discuss the history of Caribbean immigration to the United States with Dr. Tyesha Maddox of Fordham University, then head off on a walking and eating tour of Little Caribbean with Shelley Worrell, founder of I Am caribBEING.

There have been many different Flatbushes -- rural, suburban and urban. In today's show we highlight several stories from these phases in this neighborhood's life.

On this episode from our friends at "Cautionary Tales", award-winning choreographer Twyla Tharp and rock legend Billy Joel come close to opening the worst Broadway musical of all time.

The Renwick Ruin, resembling an ancient castle lost to time, appears along the East River as a crumbling, medieval-like apparition, something not quite believable. Sitting between two new additions on Roosevelt Island -- the campus of Cornell Tech and FDR Four Freedoms Park -- these captivating ruins, enrobed in beautiful ivy, tell the story of a dark period in New York City history.

Greg and Tom head up to the historic towns of Catskill and Hudson to celebrate the Hudson River School, an assemblage of 19th century American painters captivated by natural beauty, led by a pioneering artist and his star pupil -- Thomas Cole and Frederic Church.

Tom and Greg visit Hyde Park, New York, and Springwood, the estate of Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt. Learn about FDR's life in Hyde Park, tour his home, visit the couple's private cottages and go inside the FDR Presidential Library and Museum.

What 19th century American engineering landmark invites you through nature, past historic sites and into people's backyards? Join us on this journey along the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail, 26,5 miles of dusty pathway through some of the most interesting towns and villages in Westchester County.

We wanted to present to you one of our favorite new podcasts of the year -- and one we think you'll love. It's called History Daily. And yes, it really is history, daily!

Frederick Law Olmsted, America's preeminent landscape architect of the 19th century, designed dozens of parks, parkways and college campuses across the country. With Calvert Vaux, he created two of New York City's greatest parks -- Central Park and Prospect Park. Yet before Central Park, he had never worked on any significant landscape project and he wasn't formally trained in any kind of architecture.

This episode focuses on the special relationship between New York City and Puerto Rico, via the tales of pioneros, the first migrants to make the city their home and the many hundreds of thousands who came to the city during the great migration of the 1950s and 60s.

Temple Emanu-El, home to New York's first Reform Jewish congregation and the largest synagogue in the city, sits on the spot of Mrs. Caroline Astor's former Gilded Age mansion. The synagogue shimmers with Jazz Age style from vibrant stained-glass windows to its Art Deco tiles and mosaics. When its doors opened in 1929, the congregation was making a very powerful statement. New York City's Jewish community had arrived.

Richard Morris Hunt was one of the most important architects in American history. His talent and vision brought respect to his profession in the mid-19th century and helped to craft the seductive style of the Gilded Age. So why are there so few examples of his extraordinary work still standing in New York City today?

We’re bringing you something special this week. The trailer for a new podcast produced by Pineapple Street Studios called Love Thy Neighbor. Hosted by journalist Collier Meyerson, this five-episode series is about two communities in the New York City neighborhood of Crown Heights: the Lubavitch Jewish community and the Caribbean-American community. It’s a story about immigration; white flight; the downfall of New York City’s first Black mayor, David Dinkins; and the rise of Rudolph Giuliani. But it’s also a story about Meyerson’s own journey as a Black, Jewish New Yorker and what it means to be a neighbor. Love Thy Neighbor is available now wherever you listen to your favorite shows! Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

New York City has an impressive collection of historic homes, but none as unique and or as joyful as the Louis Armstrong House and Museum, located in Corona, Queens. What other historic home in the United States has a gift shop in its garage, aqua blue kitchen cabinets, bathroom speakers behind silver wallpaper, mirrored bathrooms and chandeliers over the bed? Elvis Presley's Graceland perhaps comes close, but the Louis Armstrong House has a charming comfort and a genuine grace and modesty to it, befitting its legendary former occupants.  Louis Armstrong is one of the most influential and most popular musicians in American history. Louis, like jazz itself, was born in New Orleans; in 1943, Armstrong moved to this house in Corona, thanks to the influence of his wife Lucille Armstrong, a former Cotton Club dancer and a fascinating personality in her own right.  In this episode Greg charts Armstrong's path to international fame -- and then his journey to becoming a New Yorker. And he pays a visit to the house itself, a magnificent treasure on a quiet street in Queens. FEATURING audio of Louis and Lucille courtesy the Louis Armstrong House and Museum. And lots of music! Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

Dorothy Parker was not only the wittiest writer of the Jazz Age, she was also obsessively morbid. Her talents rose at a very receptive moment for such a sharp, dour outlook, after the first world war and right as the country went dry. Dorothy Parker’s greatest lines are as bracing and intoxicating as a hard spirit. Her most successful verse often veers into somber moods, loaded with thoughts of self-destruction or wry despair. In fact, she frequently quipped about the epitaph that would some day grace her tombstone. Excuse my dust is one she suggested in Vanity Fair.  In this episode, Greg pays tribute to the great Mrs. Parker, the most famous member of the Algonquin Round Table, and reveals a side of the writer that you may not know -- a more engaged, politically thoughtful Parker. Death did not end the story of Dorothy Parker. In fact, due to some unfortunate circumstances (chiefly relating to her frenemy Lillian Hellman), her remains would make a journey to several places before reaching their final home -- Woodlawn Cemetery. Joining Greg on the show is author and tour guide Kevin Fitzpatrick of the Dorothy Parker Society who has now become a part of Parker's legacy. boweryboyshistory.com   Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

PODCAST What does the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea mean to you? Religion and architecture? Art galleries and gay bars? Shopping and brunch after a stroll on the High Line? Tens of thousands of people, of course, call it home. But before it was a neighborhood, it was the Colonial-era estate of a British military officer who named his bucolic property after a London veterans hospital. His descendant Clement Clarke Moore would distinguish himself as a theologian and writer; he invented many aspects of the Christmas season in one very famous poem. But he could no longer preserve his family estate when New York civic planners (and the Commissioners Plan of 1811) came a-calling. Moore parceled the estate into private lots in the 1820s and 30s, creating both the exclusive development Chelsea Square and the grand, beautiful General Theological Seminary. Slowly, over the decades, this charming residential district (protected as a historic district today) would be surrounded by a wide variety of urban needs -- from heavy industrial to venues of amusement. One stretch would even become "the Bowery of the West Side." Further change arrived in the late 20th century as blocks of tenements were replaced with housing projects and emptied warehouses became discotheques and art collectives. Then came the Big Cup. Join us as we celebrate over 200 years of urban development -- how Chelsea the estate became Chelsea the neighborhood. Visit the Bowery Boys website for more information on Chelsea. If you like the show please rate and review The Bowery Boys podcast on Apple Podcasts Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

The strange, scandalous and sex-filled story of the Ansonia, an Upper West Side architectural gem and a legendary musical landmark. In the television show Only Murders in the Building, Martin Short, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez play podcasters attempting to solve a mystery in a building full of eccentric personalities. Their fictional apartment building is called The Arconia, a name partially inspired by The Ansonia, a former residential hotel with a history truly stranger than fiction. Built by the copper scion W.E.D Stokes, the lavish Ansonia remains one of the grandest buildings on the Upper West Side. But its hallways have seen some truly dramatic events including one of the greatest sports crimes in American history. Today the Ansonia is still known as the home for great musicians and many of the most famous composers and opera stars have lived here. But it's the music legacy of the Continental Baths, a gay bathhouse once in its basement, that may resonate with pop and rock music lovers as the launching pad for one of America's great performers. PLUS: The hedonistic disco delights of Plato's Retreat. NOTE: This show feature discussions of adult sex clubs and bathhouses. Although the show does not linger on the specifics, parental guidance is nonetheless suggested.  boweryboyshistory.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

Believe it or not, we've got one more brand new Bowery Boys: New York City History podcast for 2021. Look for it on January 31. But for today we wanted to give you another sampling of our new spin-off podcast calledThe Gilded Gentleman, a look at America's Gilded Age period, hosted by social and culinary historian Carl Raymond.  In this new episode, Carl looks at one of the most legendary figures of the period – Caroline Astor, or the Mrs Astor, the ruler and creator of New York’s Gilded Age high society in the early 1870s. In collaboration with Southern social climber Ward McAllister, Astor essentially created the rules for who was 'acceptable' in New York social circles. But she's also known for her battles with family members -- most notably with her nephew (and next door neighbor) William Waldorf Astor. What was behind her unusual motivations? And in what unusual way did she decide to cap her legacy at the end of her life? Carl is joined by Tom Miller, creator of the website Daytonian in Manhattan, documenting the history of New York City, one building at a time.  Subscribe to the Gilded Gentleman now and you’ll get ANOTHER new episode on the life of Murray Hall, a Tammany Hall politician and operator of an employment agency for domestic help in the late 19th century. But Murray had a secret – one that he took to his grave. A remarkable story and one we think will move you.  Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

Steven Spielberg's new version of West Side Story is here -- and it's fantastic -- so we're re-visiting our 2016 show on the story of Lincoln Center, with a new podcast introduction discussing the film and the passing of musical icon Stephen Sondheim. The fine arts campus assembles some of the city's finest music and theatrical institutions to create the classiest 16.3 acres in New York City. It was created out of an urgent necessity, bringing together the New York Philharmonic,the New York City Ballet, the Metropolitan Opera, the Julliard School and other august fine-arts companies as a way of providing a permanent home for American culture. However this tale of Robert Moses urban renewal philosophies and the survival of storied institutions has a tragic twist. The campus sits on the site of a former neighborhood named San Juan Hill, home to thousands of African American and Puerto Rican families in the mid 20th century. No trace of this neighborhood exists today. Or, should we say, ALMOST no trace. San Juan Hill exists, at least briefly, within a part of classic American cinema.  The Oscar-winning film West Side Story, based on the celebrated musical, was partially filmed here. The movie reflects many realities of the neighborhood and involves talents who would be, ahem, instrumental in Lincoln Center's continued successes. boweryboyshistory.com Originally released as Episode #218, December 9, 2016 Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

The following is a special presentation — the first episode of brand spin-off podcast called The Gilded Gentleman, hosted by social and culinary historian Carl Raymond. In this debut episode, recorded at Greenwich Village's Salmagundi Club, Tom and Greg sit with Carl to formally introduce him to listeners and also to discuss the ideas surrounding the Gilded Age, a period of great wealth and great inequality during the late 19th century. PLUS: Subscribe to The Gilded Gentleman on your favorite podcast player and get the second episode NOW -- on the opening night of the Metropolitan Opera. With many more exciting new episodes arriving in the coming weeks. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree has brought joy and sparkle to Midtown Manhattan since the early 1930s. The annual festivities may seem steady and timeless but this holiday icon actually has a surprisingly dramatic history.  Millions tune in each year to watch the tree lighting in a music-filled ceremony on NBC, and tens of thousands more will crowd around the tree's massive branches during the holiday season, adjusting their phones for that perfect holiday selfie. But the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is more than just decor. The tree has reflected the mood of the United States itself -- through good times and bad.  The first tree at this site in 1931 became a symbol of hope during the Great Depression. With the dedication of the first official Christmas tree two years later, the lighting ceremony was considered a stroke of marketing genius for the grand new "city within a city" funded by JD Rockefeller Jr.. The tree has also been an enduring television star -- from the early years in the 1950s with Howdy Doody to its upgrade to prime time in the 1990s.  Join Greg for this festive holiday history featuring kaleidoscopic lighting displays, painted branches, whirling snowflakes, reindeer and a very tiny owl. boweryboyshistory.com If you like what you hear, please rate and review our show on Apple Podcasts. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

Presenting a new history podcast produced by Tom Meyers and Greg Young from the Bowery Boys: New York City History. If you’re a fan of Downton Abbey, The Age of Innocence or Upstairs Downstairs, then we know The Gilded Gentleman podcast will be your cup of tea. You’re cordially invited to join social and culinary historian Carl Raymond for a look behind the velvet curtains of America’s Gilded Age, Paris’ Belle Époque and England’s Victorian and Edwardian eras. The food, the music, the architecture -- the scandals! The first two episodes arrive promptly on December 7.  Please RSVP by subscribing to The Gilded Gentleman wherever you get your podcasts -- so you don't miss an episode.      Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

Presenting a history of the Bowery in the 20th century when this street became known as the most notorious place in America. And the stories of the lonely and desperate men whose experiences have been mostly forgotten. From the moment that elevated train went up in 1878, the historic Bowery became a street of deteriorating fortunes. And by the 1940s, things had gotten so bad that the Bowery had taken on the nickname Skid Row. For decades it had become the last resort for men down on their luck, filling the flophouses and the cheap gin mills. For most of the people who found themselves here, these were not the ‘good ole days’. The only thing holding the Bowery back from total ruin were the rescue missions which began sprouting up here in the late 19th century, providing food and shelter for tens of thousands of people. The most renown of these places was the Bowery Mission which was founded in 1879. And is still, believe it or not, on the Bowery. Performing pretty much the same function as it did over 140 years ago. Greg and Tom take you through the dramatic history of the Bowery, then pay a visit to Jason Storbakken at the Bowery Mission to get a look at the rescue mission's current challenges and surprising struggles. boweryboyshistory.com If you like what you hear, please rate and review our show on Apple Podcasts. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys