The Beresford Hotel 1893
We are looking north along Central Park West then (known as Eighth Avenue), from 81st Street. Continue reading
Old New York in Photos #1 – Central Park West & 81st Street
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Category Archives: New York
New York City MTA’s Select Bus Service – A Decent Idea, Poorly Executed
SBS Should Stand for Stupid Bus System
It has been several months since the Metropolitan Transit Authority replaced Limited Stop Bus Service on First and Second Avenues in Manhattan with Select Bus Service to speed up trips.
Having used it for most weekdays since its inception in October 2010 I’m ready to offer a judgment – it still needs a lot of improvements.
Now remember, this is the MTA. This is the organization that cannot determine if it has a deficit or a surplus in a year. They are the organization that has announcements on the subways that say, “Thank you for riding with MTA New York City Transit!” As if we have any choice but to use this bureaucratic monopoly. If they were a business entity they would be out of business or the board members would have all been fired.
So I should not expect the MTA to do much right, but foolishly I believe they will figure out the shortcomings of the SBS system by observation or complaints and make adjustments.
Apparently they will not.
Narrow Aisles
First the buses themselves. The bus aisles were designed by a groper. The aisles are so narrow that two people cannot pass each other without rubbing into one another. Either that or Nova Bus, a subsidiary of Volvo, hired Japanese transit designers. From what I’ve seen of the Japanese transit system they pack them in like sardines and actually have “pushers” to squeeze everyone into the trains (if someone did this to me I’d freak out.)
The articulated buses can supposedly hold 60 passengers. Providing that they are under 120 pounds each.
Don’t Yell Fire in Here
The buses get so crowded that I have seen people actually Continue reading
Old New York in Postcards #2 – Old Hotels Of New York City
A Longer Tour Around Old New York
Today we will look at the old hotels of New York. In some cases these buildings still stand. For others the names have changed. Some have been converted to apartments or other uses. And some are just a memory. Working our way from south to north let’s look at a dozen of the lesser known of New York’s hostelry’s.
Hotel Marlton just off of 5th avenue circa 1920. The center of Greenwich Village and now a street of endless cut price shoe stores, 8th Street was once a fashionable residential neighborhood. Many famous literary and artistic figures resided at the Hotel Marlton at one time. Starting in 1987 the Marlton was leased as a residence for students of The New School of Social Research. It is now closed as a hotel and a dormitory, and its future is undecided. Notice on the side of the hotel there is an advertisement for the hotel proclaiming it “absolutely fireproof.” There was a good reason for touting this feature. On St. Patrick’s Continue reading
New York Jewish Cemetery Vandalized
Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn Had Over 200 Monuments Desecrated and Toppled in December 2010 – Crime Still Unsolved in April 2011
Somehow or other this story did not make much of an impact in the news when it occurred in December 2010. This was done by a group of vicious, uneducated creeps. The words I would like to use to describe the vermin who did this I will not publish here.
The damage probably amounts to hundred of thousands of dollars. It also looks like more than 200 graves were harmed from the video posted below. With all the evidence Continue reading
Old New York in Postcards #1 – Around NYC 1900-1915
A Short Postcard Tour Around New York circa 1900-1915
How much has New York City changed? If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a postcard worth? These are all about 100 years old. Let’s start with these five views. We’ll be doing this feature regularly.
Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street looking North approximately 1915
Broadway looking North from Union Square circa 1910 Continue reading
Old Time Crime In New York – Prostitutes And Panel Thieves
19th Century Prostitution and a Sly Trick of the Trade
Every so often we will look back at the history of New York City.
Today’s entry is from “The Secrets of the Great City: A Work Descriptive of the Virtues and the Vices, the Mysteries, Miseries and Crimes of New York City” by Edward Winslow Martin published by Jones, Brothers & Co. 1868
Edward Winslow Martin was the pseudonym of James Dabney McCabe and he published this book or a slightly altered version of it many times beginning in 1868 under various titles and through different publishers until 1883 when he died. The illustrated book is a 600 plus page turner of practically every sleazy Continue reading
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
The Triangle Fire – One Hundred Years Later
Anniversaries of older, tragic events are usually the only time those events play into the public consciousness. Other than that, they are rarely thought about, discussed or even remembered.
This week a vast amount of attention has been devoted by newspapers, PBS, HBO and news stations in New York that are marking the 100th anniversary of The
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in which 146 people, mostly young immigrant girls, perished.
The details of the March 25th, 1911 conflagration which are summed up best by Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations School web site are heartbreaking. Many of these girls Continue reading
North Brother Island
A Close-up Look At Hidden New York: No People, But Lots Of Abandoned Buildings, Neglected Structures And A Safe Haven To Birds.
Having lived in New York City my whole life, there are places that I have never visited by choice and others that I have never been to because they are off-limits. One of those off-limits places is North Brother Island, which is a small island just off the southern coast of the Bronx near the entrance to Long Island sound.
North Brother Island, if known by the general public at all, is famous for two reasons:
1- In 1904 the excursion boat General Slocum caught fire and was beached near the island. The fire took the lives of over 1,000 people, mostly women and children going on a church outing to Long Island. Heroic rescuers who worked on North Brother brought many of the victims to the shores of the island.
2- Mary Mallon a.k.a. Typhoid Mary who was a carrier of typhoid and spread disease and death in turn of the century New York. She was quarantined there until she died in 1938.
I am fascinated by abandoned structures. 
North Brother Island is chock full of history. Presented here is the link to the fabulous web site The Kingston Lounge which has done a phenomenal history and photo essay of the decaying remains on this forgotten section of New York City.
The 19.3 acre island is now controlled by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and since its human abandonment in the 1970’s has become a bird sanctuary.
Happy Anniversary! Where’s The Snow? – The Great Blizzard of 1888
The Great Blizzard of ’88
For New Yorker’s who were able to obtain a newspaper on March 13, 1888, this is what they saw:
(click image to enlarge)
Starting very late in the evening of March 11 and continuing throughout March 12 and into March 13, 1888, modern New York City was paralyzed with its first stupendous blizzard. The weather forecast for March 12 called for mild weather!
Over a little more than a 24 hour period mostly between March 12 and 13 New York City received 25 inches of snow, bringing virtually Continue reading