The State’s Historic Preservation Awards have been made to 11 projects across the state, including those that relate to African American landownership on Long Island, renovation of a former Carnegie Library in the Southern Tier, and rehabilitation of a former 1930s vacant high school into affordable housing in Western New York. [Read more…] about Historic Preservation Projects Honored Statewide
New York City
DEC Releases New York State Forest Action Plan
DEC’s Division of Lands and Forests has released the 2020 New York State Forest Action Plan. This document is revised every 10 years and provides long-term strategies for addressing the challenges faced by forests today. [Read more…] about DEC Releases New York State Forest Action Plan
NY State Parks, Historic Sites Set Attendance Record
New York’s State parks, historic sites, campgrounds, and trails welcomed a record-setting 78 million visitors in 2020 according to the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the state agency charged with the operation of New York State parks and historic sites
The milestone marks nine years of steady visitor growth and represents an overall increase of 34 percent, or more than 20 million visitors since 2011. [Read more…] about NY State Parks, Historic Sites Set Attendance Record
Race, Power and Urban Renewal In Nyack
On the February 2021 episode of “Crossroads of Rockland History,” the topic was the history and impact of Urban Renewal on Nyack, NY.
Clare Sheridan’s guests were Owen Voutsinas-Klose, author of Race, Power and Urban Renewal on the Hudson, and Bill Batson, whose family was directly impacted when their home was seized by eminent domain to make way for urban renewal in Nyack. [Read more…] about Race, Power and Urban Renewal In Nyack
African American History Transcription Project Seeks Volunteers
The National Archives has a Citizen Archivist project underway to help make records more searchable and findable in their Catalog. [Read more…] about African American History Transcription Project Seeks Volunteers
MicroHistory and Migration: From Moltrasio to London, New York and Montreal
Switzerland may not a member of the European Union, but it is part of the Schengen border-free travel zone. Checkpoints between countries are put up only during emergencies. The recent influx of refugees led to a decision for the border to be sealed, making Lake Como a migrant frontline. Those with the means to do so have turned to locals to help them cross the Alps on their journey towards Germany or Britain. [Read more…] about MicroHistory and Migration: From Moltrasio to London, New York and Montreal
John Morrissey: Toward Setting The Record Straight
John Morrissey was born in Ireland on this day, February 12th, in 1831.
As a result of bigoted attacks by his political enemies being carried forward by later writers like Herbert Asbury in Gangs of New York (1928), he’s been falsely accused of being in criminal league with Tammany Hall, for leading “the dead rabbits gang,” and for being involved in the killing of the nativist William “Bill the Butcher” Poole. [Read more…] about John Morrissey: Toward Setting The Record Straight
The Glacier That Made Long Island (Podcast)
The history of Long Island can be traced back to the advance (and retreat) of the massive glacier that covered much of North America near the end of the Pleistocene Era. Miranda Maliszka and Anthony Johnson, students at Hofstra University, join The Long Island History Project podcast to shed more light on this deep history. Their research, including GIS data and a Digital Elevation Model, looked at the melting of that glacier and other factors that affected the formation of Long Island. [Read more…] about The Glacier That Made Long Island (Podcast)
Starling Success Traced to Rapid Adaptation
Love them or hate them, there’s no doubt the European Starling is a wildly successful bird. A new study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in the journal Molecular Ecology examines this non-native species from the inside out.
The study looks at what exactly happened at the genetic level as the starling population exploded from just 80 birds released in New York City’s Central Park in 1890, peaking at an estimated 200 million breeding adults spread all cross North America. [Read more…] about Starling Success Traced to Rapid Adaptation
Great Backyard Bird Count Starts Friday
The 24th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is set to take place February 12th through 15th.
During the Great Backyard Bird Count people from around the world count the birds they see for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count, and then enter their checklists online. [Read more…] about Great Backyard Bird Count Starts Friday