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Urban History

The Unpleasant Side of Life With Horses in Cities

February 8, 2021 by Guest Contributor 4 Comments

Roosevelt Island HorsesReturn with me to the thrilling days of yesteryear when the automobile was viewed as the solution to transportation noise, fumes and congestion.

The problem: Horses.

A lot of horses. [Read more…] about The Unpleasant Side of Life With Horses in Cities

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Environmental History, Horses, Roosevelt Island Historical Society, Transportation History, Urban History

George Waring’s Men In White

January 24, 2021 by Judith Berdy 1 Comment

Col George R Waring in 1883George Waring was born in Pound Ridge, New York, the son of George E. Waring Sr., a wealthy stove manufacturer. Trained in agricultural chemistry, he began to lecture on agricultural science. In 1855, he took charge of Horace Greeley‘s farm at Chappaqua, New York. [Read more…] about George Waring’s Men In White

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Central Park, Civil War, Military History, New York City, Public Health, Roosevelt Island Historical Society, Urban History

New Book On Audubon Park: The Neighborhood Manhattan Forgot

September 29, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Audubon Park CoverBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

Matthew Spady’s new book The Neighborhood Manhattan Forgot: Audubon Park and the Families Who Shaped It (Fordham University Press, 2020) is the story of Audubon Park’s origins, maturation, and disappearance. The book is the study of a rural society evolving into an urban community, an examination of the relationship between people and the land they inhabit. [Read more…] about New Book On Audubon Park: The Neighborhood Manhattan Forgot

Filed Under: Books, History, New York City Tagged With: Architecture, Audubon Park Historic District, Books, Manhattan, Urban History

Real Estate, Philip Payton And The Rise of Black Harlem

August 4, 2020 by James S. Kaplan 1 Comment

Philip A Payton Jr circa 1914The Underground Railroad Coalition recently announced a major effort to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the New York State constitutional provision that ended slavery in the State on July 4, 1827.

The emancipation provision in the New York State Constitution of 1799 provided for the gradual elimination of slavery in New York, but it did not end the widespread legal race discrimination in the state. The most glaring example of this was the New York State Constitution of 1821, which eliminated property qualifications to vote for white men, but denied black men owning less than $250 worth of property the right to vote. [Read more…] about Real Estate, Philip Payton And The Rise of Black Harlem

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Black History, Harlem, Harlem Renaissance, Housing, Jewish History, New York City, Slavery, Urban History

Meddling With Nature: The Acclimatization Movement and Central Park Starlings

July 13, 2020 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

A murmuration of starlingsEuropean starlings are one of the most common bird species in the United States. They are known for their stunning aerial displays (murmerations), but many observers consider them a curse.

Starlings aggressively compete for the nesting places of native birds; they can damage crops (grapes, olives, cherries, grain) and spread disease; they can mess up the environment and be a threat to aviation. The story of invasive starlings is part of a wider narrative that reflects both the ambitions and fears of the Victorian era. [Read more…] about Meddling With Nature: The Acclimatization Movement and Central Park Starlings

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City Tagged With: birding, birds, Environmental History, Invasive Species, nature, Science History, Urban History, Wildlife

Dirty Laundry: The Backyard Clothesline In The 1950s

June 24, 2020 by John Nehrich 21 Comments

closeup on laundry courtesty Library of CongressWhen I was growing up in the 1950s, my mother had one of those old Maytags. The washing machine agitated the clothes in the soapy water until she turned it off.

Then each garment would be passed through the wringers to squeeze out as much water as possible. Finally, the damp clothes would be put out on the clothes line, our “solar-powered dryer.” [Read more…] about Dirty Laundry: The Backyard Clothesline In The 1950s

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Labor History, Social History, Urban History

Subversion of NYC’s Police Brutality Policies: A Short History

June 10, 2020 by Lawrence Wittner 1 Comment

Policemen with African American protesters during the Bedford–Stuyvesant riot of 1964In early November 1966, my sister and I ― armed with a bucket of home-made paste, a wide brush, and a thick roll of “Vote No” posters ― headed off from my student apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan to plaster the surrounding area with the signs.

The Patrolman’s Benevolent Association (PBA), a very powerful police union, had placed a referendum on the New York City ballot to remove civilians from the Civilian Complaint Review Board. [Read more…] about Subversion of NYC’s Police Brutality Policies: A Short History

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Black History, Crime and Justice, NYPD, Urban History

Seneca Village: Razed To Build Central Park

February 6, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

In the 1820s, bootblack and cartman Andrew Williams bought land in the primarily African American community of Seneca Village, which once thrived on land that is now part of Central Park, from West 83rd Street to West 89th Street. [Read more…] about Seneca Village: Razed To Build Central Park

Filed Under: Events, History, New York City Tagged With: Black History, Central Park, New York City, Seneca Village, Urban History

New Book on Immigrant Builders and Architects in New York

May 5, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

the decorated tenementZachary J. Violette’s new book The Decorated Tenement: How Immigrant Builders and Architects Transformed the Slum in the Gilded Age (University of Minnesota Press, 2019) reexamines urban America’s tenement buildings born of the housing reform movement embraced by the American-born elite in the late nineteenth century, centering on the immigrant neighborhoods of New York and Boston.

Violette focuses on what he calls the “decorated tenement,” a wave of new buildings constructed by immigrant builders and architects who remade the slum landscapes of the Lower East Side of Manhattan and the North and West Ends of Boston in the late nineteenth century. [Read more…] about New Book on Immigrant Builders and Architects in New York

Filed Under: Books, History Tagged With: Architecture, Immigration, New York City, Urban History

Rethinking the NYC Street Grid Event at CUNY

April 30, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

gotham centerThe Gotham Center for New York City History has announced Rethinking the Grid, a program looking at the NYC street grid, has been set for Monday, May 6th, at 6:30 pm, in the The Graduate Center of CUNY, Skylight Room (9th Floor).

Although the Manhattan grid plan was conceived over two centuries ago, its impacts on the city and the mystery surrounding its creation continue to foster controversy and debate. Four scholars will challenge some of the widely-held myths and misconceptions about it. [Read more…] about Rethinking the NYC Street Grid Event at CUNY

Filed Under: Events, History, New York City Tagged With: CUNY, Manhattan, New York City, Urban History

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