Forgotten New York is in Association with the Greater Astoria Historical Society, a non-profit organization supported by the Long Island City community.
Was Ichabod Crane, the scrawny schoolteacher who met the Headless Horseman in Washington Irving’s classic “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” a real person? Of course he was, and he rests in peace in Staten Island. Or rather, his namesake does. This isn’t the Ichabod Crane of fantasy and fiction, but rather, an army major who [...]
Categorized in: Cemeteries Tagged with: Bulls Head Ichabod Crane New Springville Staten Island
Queens has an abundance of small, out-of-the-way, ancient cemeteries, many of which go back to the 1700s, some of which are barely suspected by neighbors. Ancient burial grounds are alngside two-family homes, in parks and even UNDER a lot of places they wouldn’t be expected. LAWRENCE FAMILY BURIAL GROUND, Astoria Though the historical marker [...]
Categorized in: Cemeteries Tagged with: Astoria Cambria Heights Fresh Meadows Glendale Long Island City Middle Village Queens
On October 28, 2000, one of the most beautiful days ever for a Forgotten tour, we met at the 215th Street station, one of the original IRT stations on its elevated section north of Dyckmen Street. But before meeting the other 20 Forgottoners (and one pooch), I made some observations on my own… The Dyckman Street [...]
Categorized in: Neighborhoods Tours Tagged with: Inwood Manhattan
Categorized in: Street Scenes Tagged with: East Village Manhattan Stuyvesant Square
In the 1990s, the Long Island Rail Road made great strides in improving things for its customers…a brand new terminal in Penn Station, rebuilt and restored station houses, and brand new cars. Few consider, though, that Brooklyn is a part of Long Island as well. Looking at the defunct Brooklyn branches of the LIRR shows [...]
Categorized in: Subways & Trains Tagged with: Brooklyn Queens Ridgewood
The LIRR Bushwick Branch, probably the least-known active railroad in New York City, runs from Bushwick Place and Montrose Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn to its junction with the Long Island Rail Road Montauk Branch near Flushng Avenue and Rust Street in Maspeth, Queens. At some points it’s smooth and well-maintained, but at others, it’s overgrown [...]
Categorized in: Subways & Trains Tagged with: Brooklyn Bushwick
Tiny Stuyvesant Street, crossing E. 9th Street between 3rd and 2nd Avenues, is notable for being the one and only diagonal street in Manhattan north of 8th Street and south of Central Park except Broadway. (We’ll leave Greenwich Village out of it, since it’s always had its very own street system quite independent of the [...]
Categorized in: Alleys Tagged with: East Village Manhattan Stuyvesant
