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11 events to celebrate and commemorate Women’s History Month in NYC

Women from all over the world unite at the Apollo Theater, photo by Shahar Azran, courtesy of the Apollo Theater

March 8, 2019

11 events to celebrate and commemorate Women’s History Month in NYC

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Women’s History Month comes but once a year in March, so until Women’s Day every day, we’ll have to make the most of what the city of New York has to offer. And that’s quite a lot considering all the art, culture, and history of the Big Apple. Here’s a list of what you can do to commemorate women’s indelible contributions to human flourishing, while also reflecting on how you can contribute to achieving equality, from art exhibits to comedy shows to seminars on female entrepreneurship.
Check out our 11 event picks
Spin your wheels at MCNY’s upcoming exhibit ‘Cycling in the City: A 200 Year History’

New York Awheel―On the Riverside Drive, Near the Great Monument, Munsey’s Magazine, May 1896, Illustrator: J.M. Gleeson, Private collection courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York

February 28, 2019

Spin your wheels at MCNY’s upcoming exhibit ‘Cycling in the City: A 200 Year History’

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With 100+ miles of protected bike lanes, a flotilla of Citi Bikes, and the robust Five Boro Bike Tour, New York City ranks as one of the top 10 cycling cities in the country. In fact, the nation's very first bike lane was designated on Brooklyn's Ocean Parkway in 1894, and the city's cycling history reaches back two centuries. Beginning March 14th, the Museum of the City of New York will celebrate and explore that history in the new exhibit, "Cycling in the City: A 200 Year History."
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From natural history museum to municipal weather bureau: The many lives of Central Park’s Arsenal

The Arsenal c. 1914, via Library of Congress

February 28, 2019

From natural history museum to municipal weather bureau: The many lives of Central Park’s Arsenal

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New York City boasts more than 1,700 parks, playgrounds, and recreational facilities covering upwards of 14 percent of the land across all five boroughs. This sprawling network of greenery falls under the jurisdiction of the NYC Parks Department. Once the storied provenance of Robert Moses, the Department functions today under the less-Machiavellian machinations of Mitchell Silver. Though no longer the fiefdom it once was, Parks still operates out of a medieval fortress known as the Arsenal, a commanding bulwark stationed in Central Park at 5th Avenue and 64th Street. The Arsenal also houses the Arsenal Gallery, the City Parks Foundation, the Historic House Trust, and the New York Wildlife Conservation Society. This wide array of agencies reflects the varied legacy of building itself. Since construction began on the Arsenal 1847 (completed 1851), it has served a stunning array of purposes, from police station to menagerie to weather bureau. The Arsenal has had time to live so many lives: it is one of just two buildings in Central Park that predate the park itself, which was established in 1857.
Hear more history of this historic headquarters!
After two years on the market, historic Brooklyn Heights home that inspired Truman Capote relists for $7.6M

Photo of Truman Capote via Wiki Commons

February 7, 2019

After two years on the market, historic Brooklyn Heights home that inspired Truman Capote relists for $7.6M

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In 1959, Truman lived in Brooklyn Heights around the corner from 13 Pineapple Street, a Federal-era home that inspired him to write the following lines: “Cheerfully austere, as elegant and other-era as formal calling cards, these houses bespeak an age of able servants and solid fireside ease; of horses in musical harness,” as 6sqft previously noted. The house, one of the oldest in Brooklyn, hit the market for the first time in 26 years in January of 2017 for $10.5 million and received a price chop the following year to $8.4 million. Now, after being on the market for two years, the owners have reduced the price again to a more conservative $7.6 million.
Look around
The history and future of the East Village’s Punjabi Deli; Wear socks inspired by subway tiles

Images: Via Flickr cc (L); Via Wiki Commons (R)

January 29, 2019

The history and future of the East Village’s Punjabi Deli; Wear socks inspired by subway tiles

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Images: Via Flickr cc (L); Via Wiki Commons (R) These $15 socks were inspired by the Carroll Street subway stop’s “lawn green” and “hunter green” wall tiles. [NYP] Target’s small-format store in Kips Bay is hiring 80 employees ahead of its April 7th opening. [NBC] The East Village’s Punjabi Deli has served as a hangout, rest […]

Power to the people: Looking back on the history of public protests in NYC Parks

First Earth Day, April 22, 1970. View of crowds in Union Square, NYC Parks Photo Archive, Neg #53262_28. All of the photos in this post are courtesy of the Parks Department.

January 16, 2019

Power to the people: Looking back on the history of public protests in NYC Parks

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Maybe you’ve gathered in Union Square. Perhaps you’ve marched up Fifth Avenue to Central Park. You could have even held signs aloft in Columbus Circle, Tompkins Square, or Zuccotti Park. If you have ever been part of a protest in any park across the five boroughs, you're in good company. New York City’s parks have a rich history of social protest that stretches back to the American Revolution. Today, the NYC Parks Department's Ebony Society will kick off a celebration of that history with “Power to the People," which will feature archival photographs alongside mixed-media art on the theme of public demonstration. To celebrate the exhibit, we checked out the history behind some of the protests highlighted in the show.
Read on for the history of seven protests in NYC Parks
From Brooklyn’s biggest bank to its tallest building: Behind the scenes at the Dime Savings Bank
January 7, 2019

From Brooklyn’s biggest bank to its tallest building: Behind the scenes at the Dime Savings Bank

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Since it opened in 1859, the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn has been integral to the history of the borough it calls home. True to its name, you could open a savings account with just a dime. The first person to make a deposit was a man named John Halsey who invested $50. Scores of Brooklynites followed suit, and by the end of the bank’s first business day, 90 people opened accounts; by the end of the first month, more than 1,000 people were depositing at Dime. But the bank cemented its prominent status in 1908 when the first subway tunnel between Manhattan and Brooklyn opened and Dime moved into its grand neo-classical building on Dekalb Avenue and Fleet Street. After the bank closed in 2002, the landmark still stood in all its former glory, operating as a special event space. Three years ago, JDS Development filed plans to build Brooklyn's tallest tower adjacent to Dime, incorporating its Beaux-Arts interior as retail space for the project. And with work now underway, 6sqft recently got a behind-the-scenes tour of Dime Savings Bank with Open House New York.
Explore the history and future of Dime Savings Bank
Live in this fully-furnished designer Brooklyn Heights studio for $2,450/month
December 10, 2018

Live in this fully-furnished designer Brooklyn Heights studio for $2,450/month

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On a quiet block in the heart of Brooklyn Heights, this charming studio at 38 Livingston Street doesn't offer a ton of square footage but the thoughtful design details make it worth a look. The fully-furnished unit is outfitted with chic, just-trendy-enough pieces that make a bold statement, and it's asking the semi-reasonable rent of $2,450 a month.
See the whole petite place
50 years at Co-op City: The history of the world’s largest co-operative housing development

All photos included in this post were taken at Co-op City in the early 1970s and are courtesy of Co-op City

December 10, 2018

50 years at Co-op City: The history of the world’s largest co-operative housing development

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When Governor Rockefeller, Robert Moses, Jacob Potofsky of the United Housing Foundation, and Abraham Kazan, known as “the father of US cooperative housing,” broke ground on Co-op City in the Baychester section of the Bronx on May 14, 1966, they were doing something truly groundbreaking. In fact, Rockefeller called it a “completely sound investment in a better society.” Co-op City is the world’s largest co-operative housing development. Built on 320 acres just north of Freedomland, the sprawling, self-contained development provides homes for over 15,000 families across 35 buildings, and supports its own schools, weekly newspaper, power plant, and planetarium. Originally built by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and the United Housing Foundation as cooperative, affordable, middle-income workers’ housing, Co-op city has remained dedicated to open membership, democratic control, distribution of surplus, and diversity for half a century.
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From Mark Twain and the Lovin’ Spoonful to Tech Hub: The overlooked history of Union Square South

Photo of 801 Broadway by Jim Henderson via Wikimedia Commons

December 7, 2018

From Mark Twain and the Lovin’ Spoonful to Tech Hub: The overlooked history of Union Square South

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Straddling Greenwich Village and the East Village, the neighborhood south of Union Square between Fifth and Third Avenues was once a center of groundbreaking commercial innovations, radical leftist politics, and the artistic avant-garde. With the city’s recent decision to allow an upzoning for a "Tech Hub" on the neighborhood’s doorstep on 14th Street, there are concerns that the resilient and architecturally intact neighborhood may face irreversible change. While they’re still here, take a tour of some of the many sites of remarkable cultural history, nestled in this compact neighborhood just south of one of our city’s busiest hubs.
See the full list
The 25-year history of the Union Square Holiday Market

Photo via Flickr cc

November 16, 2018

The 25-year history of the Union Square Holiday Market

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Today, flea markets, pop-up shops, and food halls are an everyday part of city life, but 25 years ago, this wasn't the case. In 1993, after working for several years at Urban Space Management in the UK, Eldon Scott arrived in NYC with the goal of opening a holiday market similar to those he'd worked on developing in London. He quickly set up the Grand Central Holiday Fair and shortly thereafter the Union Square Holiday Market. Modeled loosely on Christkindlmarkts, traditional holiday street markets held during advent that began in Germany, the Union Square market is now a holiday tradition for New Yorkers and out-of-towners alike, with 150+ vendors.
More history and info about this year's market
Cannoli, cheesecake, and an East Village icon: See history in action at 125-year-old Veniero’s Pastry
November 13, 2018

Cannoli, cheesecake, and an East Village icon: See history in action at 125-year-old Veniero’s Pastry

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Ask a group of New Yorkers where to find the best cannolis or cheesecake, and without a doubt, you'll hear Veniero Pasticceria and Caffé. An East Village institution, Veniero's is a family-owned and operated Italian pastry shop that was established by Italian immigrant Antonio Veniero in 1894. Veniero, who lived with his family next door, started the business as a candy shop. He then started serving Italian espresso and biscotti and by the 1920s, he had brought in master bakers from Sicily to run the kitchen.  A century later, Veniero's is still family-owned and is celebrating is 125th anniversary next year. We had the chance to tour the caffé and bakery with Robert Zerilli, the fourth-generation current owner and great-nephew of founder Antonio Veniero. Today, Veniero's serves more than 150 desserts, from traditional Italian butter cookies and cannolis to some more modern offerings such as red velvet cake and oreo cheesecake. Ahead, go behind the scenes to see how all these tasty treats are made, tour the historic interiors, and learn all about Veniero's history from Robert.
Hear Robert tell Veniero's story
Replacement approved for iconic Watchtower sign in Brooklyn Heights

Via Wikimedia

November 9, 2018

Replacement approved for iconic Watchtower sign in Brooklyn Heights

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The city's Board of Standards and Appeals voted on Thursday to allow for a replacement of the iconic 'Watchtower' sign in Brooklyn Heights, which was taken down last December. The 15-foot-tall red sign had sat atop the building, which served as the headquarters for the Jehovah's Witnesses, for nearly 50 years. The religious group sold the site at 25-30 Columbia Heights to the Columbia Heights Associates in 2016 and soon after the letters were removed, leaving its framework intact. While originally the Department of Buildings said the sign could not be replaced, the group of developers filed an appeal and won the right to put up new signage in the Brooklyn skyline, as the New York Post reported.
More here
$20M Brooklyn Heights penthouse could be the borough’s priciest sale ever

Via Moso Studio

October 10, 2018

$20M Brooklyn Heights penthouse could be the borough’s priciest sale ever

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A combination penthouse at Quay Tower, a brand new luxury condo building on the Brooklyn Heights waterfront, went into contract this week for over $20 million. If closed, the deal would become the most expensive residential sale in Brooklyn history, breaking the previous record of $16.645 million for a penthouse picked up by actor Matt Damon last year. And before that, a $15.5 million brick carriage house in Cobble Hill held the record for most expensive single residence sale in Brooklyn, which was purchased by photographer Jay Maisel in 2015.
More on the deal this way
Campaign launches to rename a Brooklyn building after Flatbush native Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Via Borough President Eric Adams Change.org petition

September 28, 2018

Campaign launches to rename a Brooklyn building after Flatbush native Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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In some not-terrible Supreme Court news, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg could be getting a Brooklyn Building named after her. Borough President Eric Adams launched a campaign on Thursday calling on City Hall to rename the Brooklyn Municipal Building after Ginsburg, a native of Flatbush. This past August marked Ginsburg's 25th year as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, as only the second woman to sit on the court.
More here
First look at interiors and private park at Jeanne Gang’s Downtown Brooklyn condo
September 26, 2018

First look at interiors and private park at Jeanne Gang’s Downtown Brooklyn condo

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To coincide with the sales launch at Downtown Brooklyn's 57-story tower at 11 Hoyt Street, Tishman Speyer has released a slew of new renderings of the Jeanne Gang-designed condo. Previous views have shown how Gang's signature metallic rippling effect will be applied to the facade, but the new batch gives us a better look at the nearly 27,000-square-foot private park and the first glimpse of the interiors and amenity spaces.
All the renderings and details this way
Apply for three middle-income units in Brooklyn’s historic Weeksville

Weeksville’s historic Hunterfly Road Houses via Wiki Commons

September 17, 2018

Apply for three middle-income units in Brooklyn’s historic Weeksville

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After the state of New York State abolished slavery in 1827, the country's second-largest free black community was established in Brooklyn. Known as Weeksville, today the neighborhood falls a bit under the radar, surrounded by more sought-after neighborhoods like Crown Heights and Bed Stuy. But it's a charming little enclave, lined with many two-family homes and small brick rowhouses, that has done well to preserve its history. And just down the street from the Weeksville Heritage Center is a new 10-unit rental building at 1520 Prospect Place that just opened an affordable housing lottery for three $2,098/month one-bedrooms.
See the qualifications
Brooklyn Heights’ oldest home returns to the market after a $2M price chop
September 4, 2018

Brooklyn Heights’ oldest home returns to the market after a $2M price chop

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Owning a piece of New York City history just got a little cheaper. The oldest home in Brooklyn Heights, located at 24 Middagh Street, has hit the market again, this time asking $4.5 million, a price drop of over $2 million from when it was listed last year. The five-bedroom Federal-style home boasts a private, landscaped courtyard and a separate two-bedroom carriage house.
Enough of a discount?
Inside the worst train wreck in NYC history; Lower East Side ferry route launches today

A photo of the Malbone Street Wreck on Nov. 1, 1918, courtesy of the New York Transit Museum (L); Via NYC Ferry (R)

August 29, 2018

Inside the worst train wreck in NYC history; Lower East Side ferry route launches today

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On Nov. 1, 1918, 100 lives were lost when a Brooklyn Rapid Transit employee lost control of a train at the Prospect Park station. The event was so horrific that the name of the street was changed so New Yorkers would not be reminded of it. [NYP] Eight unique ways to celebrate Labor Day weekend in […]

Take a tour of Dead Horse Bay, Brooklyn’s hidden trove of trash and treasures
August 28, 2018

Take a tour of Dead Horse Bay, Brooklyn’s hidden trove of trash and treasures

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Dead Horse Bay is a small body of water in Brooklyn that got its name from the horse rendering plants that were on the former Barren Island in Jamaica Bay near the shoreline of Flatlands. In the late 1850s, Barren Island was the site of the largest dump in New York City, fed by barges carrying garbage and animal remains. Factories on the island used the carcasses of horses, which were put in large vats and boiled until the fat could be removed, for use in fertilizer, glue, and oils. The bones of the horses were then chopped up and dumped into the water. Starting in 1930, the island also became the site of the first municipal airport (Floyd Bennett) after the city filled in marshland to connect it to the mainland. The last horse rendering factory on the island closed in 1935 and in 1936, the island’s final 400 residents were evicted to make way for the creation of the Belt Parkway. The City continued using the area as a garbage dump until 1953 when the landfill was capped. Since 1972, the area surrounding Dead Horse Bay has been part of the Jamaica Bay Unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area. We joined Robin Nagle, NYC Department of Sanitation’s Anthropologist-in-Residence for an exclusive exploration of Dead Horse Bay earlier this year with the City Reliquary Museum and had a chance to speak with her about this mysterious area, which is strewn with glass bottles, fragments of centuries-old horse bones, and mounds of trash.
Have a look around
The Battle of Brooklyn 242 years later: Where the fighting played out in present day

Battle of Long Island, 1858 by Alonzo Chappel

August 24, 2018

The Battle of Brooklyn 242 years later: Where the fighting played out in present day

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242 years ago on August 27th, less than two months after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the largest battle of the Revolutionary War played out across Brooklyn. What was first known as the Battle of Long Island (Brooklyn was still just a small town at the time of the attack) was later dubbed the Battle of Brooklyn. On this summer day in 1776, The British took their troops from Staten Island to stealthily attack George Washington and his Continental Army at their Brooklyn camp. Greatly outnumbered in size and skill, Washington sent many of his soldiers on an escape route through Brooklyn Heights and across the foggy East River to Manhattan. To distract the British and buy the rest of the troops time, Washington also sent the entire 1st Maryland Regiment, known as the Maryland 400, on a suicide mission. All 400 soldiers from the regiment were killed in battle with the British, but the Continental Army made its escape and went on to win the war. Not surprising since these harrowing events played out across a good portion of the borough, there are monuments, a museum, and plaques to commemorate it. And then there are popular Brooklyn locales—from Prospect Park to Green-Wood Cemetery—that you might not realize were former battlefields. After the jump, 6sqft rounds up the modern-day locations once crucial to the Battle of Brooklyn, with some tips on how to commemorate the event this weekend.
Keep reading
This 1946 map shows how Native American trails became the streets of Brooklyn
July 30, 2018

This 1946 map shows how Native American trails became the streets of Brooklyn

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While we take for granted the paths and roads we use on a daily basis, it's interesting to find out how they came to be. It's not a new concept that paths worn by the comings and goings of early dwellers and subsequent settlers in a particular area became roads, streets and thoroughfares, often with names that reflect their beginnings. Brooklyn Heights Blog (via Viewing NYC) shares some insight into Brooklyn's familiar roads that began as Native American trails on a 1946 map titled "Indian Villages, Paths, Ponds and Places in Kings County."
Peruse the map
Men of steel: How Brooklyn’s Native American ironworkers built New York

Roger Horne, a Mohawk Ironworker in the Raising Gang, ca. 1970 via the Smithsonian

July 25, 2018

Men of steel: How Brooklyn’s Native American ironworkers built New York

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The Empire State Building. The George Washington Bridge. The United Nations. The Woolworth Building. 30 Rock. The Seagram Building. Lincoln Center. The Waldorf Astoria. Virtually all of New York’s most iconic structures were raised in part by Mohawk Native American ironworkers. Since 1916, when Mohawk men made their way to New York to work on the Hell Gate Bridge, ironworkers from two Native communities, Akwesasne (which straddles Ontario, Quebec, and New York State) and Kahnawake (near Montreal), have been “walking iron” across the city.
Get the rest of this stories-high story
The history of Weeksville: When Crown Heights had the second-largest free black community in the U.S.

Historic Hunterfly Road Houses via the Brooklyn Historical Society

July 18, 2018

The history of Weeksville: When Crown Heights had the second-largest free black community in the U.S.

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It’s a mighty sounding moniker, but the name “King’s County” also speaks to Brooklyn’s less-than-democratic origins. At the turn of the 19th century, the city of Brooklyn was known as the “slaveholding capital” of New York State and was home to the highest concentration of enslaved people north of the Mason-Dixon Line. But, after New York State abolished slavery in 1827, free black professionals bought land in what is now Crown Heights and founded Weeksville, a self-supporting community of African American Freedman, which grew to become the second-largest free black community in Antebellum America. By 1855, over 520 free African Americans lived in Weeksville, including some of the leading activists in the Abolitionist and Equal Suffrage movements.
More about free black Brooklyn
Brooklyn Bridge Park’s five-acre Pier 3 opens with an interactive labyrinth and moveable furniture

Photo by Nicholas Sella

July 11, 2018

Brooklyn Bridge Park’s five-acre Pier 3 opens with an interactive labyrinth and moveable furniture

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With the opening of five lush waterfront acres of park at Pier 3 on Tuesday, Brooklyn Bridge Park is now 90 percent complete. Designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, it's the final pier to be converted into parkland and features two lawns surrounded by shrubs and trees, which will offer both shade and protection from gusts of wind. "Brooklyn Bridge Park is a gem that gleams brighter with each exciting acre it adds, building on our borough’s commitment to offer high-quality open space that brings people together from all walks of life," Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said.
Plan your visit
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