Forgotten New York is in Association with the Greater Astoria Historical Society, a non-profit organization supported by the Long Island City community.
The fraternal organization Order of the Knights of Pythiaswas instituted in 1864 by Justus H. Rathbone and was actually the first such organization to be granted a charter by the US Congress. The name was inspired by the story of Damon and Pythias, an old story of loyalty: in ancient Syracuse, Pythias was accused of [...]
Categorized in: Forgotten Slices Tagged with: Manhattan Upper West Side
Brooklyn’s Furman Street runs along the East River waterfront for about 3/4 mile between Atlantic Avenue and Fulton Street, but in that long stretch intersects with only a couple of streets in between: Joralemon St. and tiny Doughty Street (three, if you count a dead-end stub of Montague). Brooklyn Heights is called thus because most [...]
Categorized in: Roads Street Scenes Tagged with: Brooklyn Brooklyn Heights Furman Street
6th Avenue in the Greeley Square area…from 29th north to 33rd… is undergoing change extremely rapid even by NYC standards, as structures from the early to mid 20th Century are quickly being razed and luxury towers, many with retail and restaurants on the ground floor, are replacing them. Sixth Avenue’s old Flower District and Sewing Machine [...]
Categorized in: Forgotten Slices Tagged with: Manhattan Penn Station
It’s widely known – at least to Queens history buffs, at any rate — that beginning in 1915 and continuing gradually over the next 15 years or so, Queens jettisoned its old street names (with a couple of historic districts, such as downtown Flushing, being allowed to keep their names) and repalced them all with numbers, [...]
Categorized in: Forgotten Slices Tagged with: Elmhurst Queens
On a recent ramble through my adopted home town, Little Neck, Queens I discovered an element peculiar to NYC’s more suburban locales: the grassy central median, or as they say in England, “roundabout.” I’ve only found one or two other than the ones shown on this page, both in Riverdale, Bronx. There’s a HUGE one in Brooklyn, where [...]
Categorized in: Forgotten Slices Tagged with: Little Neck Queens
I arrived in Roslyn on a March day in 2007 so clear and bright it crackled. It was, in fact, Easter Sunday. Visiting the North Shore, Long Island town of about 2600 on a day like this made me bewildered why I hadn’t more often; it’s full of history, ancient buildings and landmarks, and a gaggle [...]
Categorized in: Out of Town Tagged with: Roslyn
Categorized in: Forgotten Slices Tagged with: Bronx NY Botanical Garden
My relationship with Bayside, Queens has been an ambivalent one: I have worked here (albeit anywhere from one to three days a week, at the Bayside Times newspaper chain) since 1996, yet I’ve always resisted it as far as Forgotten New York is concerned since it all seemed rather…boring, but in a beautiful way; it [...]
Categorized in: Neighborhoods Tagged with: Bayside Queens
Once a year the burghers of Brooklyn in the Prospect Park South, Ditmas Park, Fiske Terrace, Midwood Park, and Beverl(e)y Squares East and West neighborhoods open their doors to allow the hoi-polloi to see what residential architecture looked like when houses were built when aesthetic principles, not economic ones, were paramount. The streets of Brooklyn south of [...]
Categorized in: Forgotten Slices Tagged with: Flatbush Prospect Park South
There are many American Streets in Philadelphia. Or, strictly speaking, there’s one American Street in about twenty different pieces… William Penn‘s and Thomas Holme‘s original Philadelphia grid pattern, developed in the 1680s, has proven to be a major influence on city plans across the United States; Manhattan’s grid pattern owes a debt to it, and Queens adopted [...]
Categorized in: Out of Town Tagged with: Philadelphia Pennsylvania
Categorized in: Neighborhoods Tours Tagged with: Bridges Brooklyn Manhattan
Roving FNY correspondent Gary Fonville has come up with yet another big catch of faded advertisements throughout the five boroughs. LEFT: This ancient relic was meant to be seen from the old 6th Avenue el and the street. Unfortunately, FNY’s camera could not get a better angle on this unintelligible sign. This as in all likelihood predates [...]
Categorized in: Ads Neighborhoods
