Tag Archives: Central Park

Old New York In Photos #146 – The Plaza Hotel With Interior Views 1909

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The New Plaza Hotel And The Suite Of John W. “Bet A Million” Gates- 1909

This real photo postcard by Thaddeus Wilkerson shows the new Plaza Hotel. The hotel towers above its neighbors offering its guests terrific views of the city and the park. We are looking southwest from the Hotel Netherland on 60th Street and Fifth Avenue. The southern boundary of Central Park at 59th Street is on the right and on the extreme left is a portion of the Vanderbilt mansion on Fifth Ave and 58th Street.

The original Plaza Hotel on the same site was opened in 1890 and demolished in 1905.  The new Henry Hardenbergh designed Plaza Hotel was much larger than its predecessor.

The original estimate to buy the site, raze the old hotel and build the new hotel was Continue reading →

Jackie Kennedy Onassis And JFK Jr. Ride Bikes In Central Park

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A Famous Pair Ride Bicycles (Almost Unnoticed) In Central Park – 1969

Maybe most people in Central Park on this Fall day did not pay any special attention to the woman riding a bicycle behind a young boy. But Ron Galella did.

The original news caption reads: Continue reading →

This May Be The Oldest Manhole Cover In New York

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A Man Made Object In Central Park Almost As Old As The Park Itself

The 161- Year-Old Central Park Relic Hidden In Plain Sight

When you need to go to the restroom in Central Park there are few choices. Last year when a friend needed to use the bathroom we headed towards the closest one.

The tennis courts were empty as it was getting near dusk. But the bathrooms near the tennis courts were open, about 100 feet from the northern part of the Central Park reservoir.

I was waiting outside the building containing the women’s bathrooms looking down at the ground.

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Old New York In Photos #135 – Curling In Central Park

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Curling, “The Roarin’ Game” At Central Park 1894

Curling in Central Park 1894 photo – Joseph Byron later published by Detroit Publishing  

It may not be the most popular sport but curling may get the most television airtime during the 2022 Winter Olympics. Continue reading →

New York Scenes From “Central Park” – The Movie 1932

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Central Park 1932 Movie, On Location Shots

An out of work man, a beautiful woman, gangsters, an about to retire visually impaired cop, an escaped lion and a robbery at The Central Park Casino make up the plot of Warner Bros. 1932 drama Central Park. Continue reading →

Central Park Mall – Protect The American Elm

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The Signs Are There For A Reason

The trees lining The Mall in Central Park are mature American Elms, over 100-years-old.

You don’t need to be a dendrophile to appreciate the American Elm. But, most people take for granted the canopy of trees that surround The Mall.

For the last 93 years the American Elm has been decimated by the spread of Dutch Elm Disease. Those who study plant pathology, phytopathologists, first identified the fungus which causes Dutch Elm Disease in 1921. Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #124 – Central Park & The Dakota 1889

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Central Park On A Sunny Day In 1889

It is 1889 and we are looking west across Central Park on 72nd Street towards the Dakota flats apartment building. Unlike today, there are no bicycle lanes, rollerbladers or joggers on the roadway. And the park seems to be bereft of crowds. But the photograph, taken by the Albertype Co., does record a view in which all the elements seen are still present over 130 years later.

In 2021 there are still mounted police patrolling Central Park. Behind this mounted policeman a horse drawn carriage ambles crosstown.

The policeman observes the small group on the sidewalk who have stopped to gaze at the cameraman taking the picture. Continue reading →

A New York City Snowstorm In 2021 & 1857

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Big Snowstorm. Big Deal. New York City – Then and Now 1857 & 2021

New Yorkers making their way along Centre Street during a huge snowstorm. The building is the Tombs prison.  February 1857 Ballou’s Pictorial Magazine 2-21-1857

“Congealed rain, frozen particles, precipitated from the clouds, and preserved by the coldness of the atmosphere in a frozen state until they reach the earth.” Continue reading →

The 1910 Vanishing Of Dorothy Arnold – Part 2

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After Dorothy Arnold Vanished In New York City

The Mysteries of The Paramour, The Manuscripts & Her Family’s Strange Behavior

The Theories On Her Disappearance

Today we conclude the story of one of New York City’s greatest unsolved missing person cases. At the end of part one of the story, on December 12, 1910, Dorothy Arnold said goodbye to Gladys King, an acquaintance she had bumped into on Fifth Avenue. Gladys was the last person to see Dorothy Arnold alive.

From They Never Came Back by Allen Churchill (Crime Club, 1960) is part two of The Girl Who Never Came Back.

Dorothy Arnold St Louis Post Dispatch Jan 29 1911Return now to the Arnold home. Never had the well-brought-up Dorothy skipped a meal without warning the family ahead of time. Now when she failed to return for dinner an increasingly worried group ate without her, then began making discreet phone calls to Dorothy’s close friends asking if the girl had dropped in on them. Told she had not, the Arnolds begged that no mention ever be made of the phone call. Later they asked the same girls not to discuss the case with reporters, and it is indicative of the vast difference between society girls then and now that none of the girls ever did. Continue reading →