Forgotten New York is in Association with the Greater Astoria Historical Society, a non-profit organization supported by the Long Island City community.
Bronx’ own Little Red Schoolhouse, PS 15, is at 4010 Dyre Avenue, near the end of the line on the #5 train. The architectural gem was built in 1877, designed by architect Simon Williams and was originally a school in the town of Eastchester in Westchester County before its capture by NYC in 1895. It [...]
Categorized in: One Shots Tagged with: Bronx Eastchester
Just as archaeologists search for arrowheads to ascertain ancient Native American settlements, so do I look for arrowheads — arrowhead signs that point the way to NYC bridges. These first appeared in the 1930s, and while they have given way to larger directional signs, newer versions of these have actually appeared as painted arrowheads within [...]
Categorized in: One Shots Signs Tagged with: Bronx Eastchester
Categorized in: One Shots Out of Town Signs Tagged with: Bronx Eastchester
CONTINUED FROM PART 1 In early April 2012 I walked the route of the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway, or the closest possible approximation along the tracks, from the Bronx Park East station all the way northeast to Dyre Avenue. It gave me a chance to traverse the Pelham Gardens and Eastchester sections of [...]
Categorized in: Subways & Trains Tagged with: Bronx Eastchester
There’s a New England undercurrent running through the Bronx. The New York Yankees’ rivalry with the Boston Red Sox began when the Sox’ owner Harry Frazee sold his pitching and slugging star, Babe Ruth, to the Yankees before the 1920 season, and the subsequent championship tally, 27 to 2 in favor of the Yanks, has [...]
Categorized in: Subways & Trains Tagged with: Bronx Eastchester Pelham Parkway Unionport
In The Prisoner, one of the Swingin’ Sixties’ most surreal, mind-bending TV series, Astoria’s own Patrick McGoohan played a government operative who is knocked out and spirited away to a mysterious location known only as The Village, where no one goes by name…just a number, and where a succession of headmasters by turns try to [...]
Categorized in: Neighborhoods Tagged with: Boston Road Bronx Eastchester
Rattlesnakes? In New York City? Not anymore. The last rattlesnakes in the Bronx, their last stronghold, died off around the turn of the last century because of encroaching civilization as streets were laid out and housing was built. People and rattlesnakes aren’t a good mix; snakes have fangs and people have pitchforks. (Smaller snakes like [...]
Categorized in: You'd Never Believe You're in NYC Tagged with: Bronx Eastchester Parks
The Bronx is not to be outdone when it comes to obscure alleys and lanes. Some are in leaf-filled enclaves like Riverdale and others are to be found in teeming districts like Fordham. Wherever in the Bronx they are, each has its own story to tell. Shrady Place Doctor George Shrady, editor of the New [...]
Categorized in: Alleys Tagged with: Baychester Bronx City Island Eastchester Fordham Kingsbridge Heights Morris Park Morrisania Norwood Riverdale Wakefield Westchester Square
Categorized in: Subways & Trains Tagged with: Bronx Eastchester Morris Park Williamsbridge
There are still a few of them left and some are actually working. “Crescent moon” style luminaires, called “crescents” because of their shape, were in vogue from the mid-40s until they were replaced by mercury vapor lamps in the early 60s. The “crescent moons” were very flexible in that they could be used both on [...]
Categorized in: Street Lamps Tagged with: Bronx Brooklyn Eastchester Manhattan Bridge Midwood Van Cortlandt Park
