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: Secrets and Stories
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…
Blizzard, price gouging, and the death of a politician — Roscoe Conkling monument
At the southeast corner of Madison Square Park stands a statue marked by a laconic plaque: Roscoe Conkling. A towering figure in 19th-century politics, Roscoe Conkling owes this monument to a mighty nature calamity that led to his untimely demise. March 12, 1888, started as an ordinary spring day but ended as a major climate…
Sinatra, Napoleon III, and other Hoboken residents
For such a small town, it is quite remarkable how many world-renown personalities were born or lived here. Meet some of the people whose life paths led through a small town on the Hudson called Hoboken. Frank Sinatra (1915 – 1998) Hoboken’s most famous son was born and grew up here. The house at 415…
City Beautiful Blog 