Bohemian and chaotic, St. Marks Place is just a short stretch of three blocks east of Eighth Street in the heart of East Village. However, much longer thoroughfares could envy its storied past and ever-evolving present. St. Mark’s Place began its existence in 17th-century New Amsterdam as farmland bought in 1651 by Peter Stuyvesant, the…
Category: NYC History
Central Park and the Museum Mile – city exploration game
New York. City of dreams, where fates turn in a flash, for better… or worse. You’re Thomas Clark, a famed detective known for solving art crimes. You’ve traveled the world finding long-lost masterpieces. No false modesty here – YOU ARE THE BEST. You’ve been hired to solve a case connected to Central Park. You are ready……
The Haughwout – where Royalty and Presidents Shopped for China
The Haughwout Building is one of the city’s most stunning cast-iron buildings. Its two cast-iron street fronts create a majestic visual effect achieved by the multitude of repeating columns. These facades make the Haughwout stand out among other cast-iron structures, which usually have just one cast-iron front attached to a brick framework. Technologically, cast-iron was…
Slumming in Gilded Age New York
“Slumming parties to be the rage this winter.“ New York Times, 1884 In the 1880s, the gilded shine of Fifth Avenue’s spectacular mansions contrasted sharply with the squalid living conditions of the New York poor, easily described as “slums.” Such was the difference between these two worlds that visiting the impoverished neighborhoods by the wealthy…