Forgotten New York is in Association with the Greater Astoria Historical Society, a non-profit organization supported by the Long Island City community.
While meandering aimlessly in upper Manhattan in February 2013 I came upon a single intersection, Broadway and Isham Street, where there are several leftover relicts from several different ages that still survive. Before getting into those, I’d like to dispute the pronunciation of the name Isham, which, I’m told, is EYE-sham. This is plainly ridiculous. [...]
Categorized in: Forgotten Slices Tagged with: Inwood Manhattan
Here’s another one of those marvelous navy blue and white street signs used in Manhattan and the Bronx between about 1913 and 1964. Seaman Avenue and Isham Street are way up north in Inwood. It’s an incredible font. There was a real flair in the rendering. Look at those cap M’s. I’ve never before seen [...]
On a Saturday when the predicted rain did NOT materialize (in 2012 there has not been a drop of rain whatsoever during ForgottenTours so far) almost 30 ForgottenFans assembled at Dyckman Street and Broadway and 4 hours of Forgottening began. Humid and tropical it may have been, but we saw an area of Manhattan that [...]
The I’s have it in northern Manhattan, where seemingly everywhere you go, something begins with an I. There’s Inwood, the neighborhood; Inwood Hill Park; Isham Park; and Indian Road, which runs two blocks (actually a very short block and a much longer block) from West 214th to W. 218th Streets one block west of Seaman [...]
Categorized in: Forgotten Slices Tagged with: Inwood Manhattan
On Thanksgiving Friday I decided to walk the Harlem River area from Yankee Stadium north into Inwood, the most northerly neighborhood on Manhattan Island. Understand, though, access to the Harlem River is limited, as it’s lined with warehousing, industry and the twin barriers of the Major Deegan Expressway and the NY Central, now Metro-North, Railroad. [...]
Categorized in: Walks Tagged with: Bronx High Bridge Inwood Manhattan University Heights
As you are going north on the Harlem River between the Bronx and Manhattan, the University Heights Bridge is the tenth in a series of eleven that includes the Willis Avenue Bridge, 3rd Avenue Bridge, Metro-North railroad bridge, Madison Avenue Bridge, 145th Street Bridge, Macombs Dam Bridge, High Bridge, Alexander Hamilton Bridge, Washington Bridge, University [...]
Categorized in: Forgotten Slices Tagged with: Bronx Inwood Manhattan University Heights
Helping fulfill a recent self-promise to tour around in places such as upper Manhattan, Bronx and Staten Island locales that have so far gotten something of the short end of the stick, FNY-wise, I was in Inwood in upper Manhattan checking out its collection of one-block streets. True, I had already covered little known Manhattan streets [...]
Categorized in: Alleys Neighborhoods Tagged with: Inwood Manhattan
In September 2008 I took a ride up north … about as far north as you can go in Manhattan and still be on Manhattan Island. Because every rule has an exception, there is a piece of Manhattan actually on the mainland, Marble Hill (although it technically had beenon the island, then was an island [...]
Categorized in: Neighborhoods Tagged with: Inwood Manhattan
My fascination with the NYC subway’s infrastructure continues unabated and my love affair with the subways remains unrequited. That is made clear every weekend, when the MTA runs most lines completely differently than it does during the week. The subways are now over 105 years old (some lines are, at least) and while the sensible notion [...]
Categorized in: Subways & Trains Tagged with: Borough Hall Broad Channel Bronx Brooklyn Central Park Grand Concourse Inwood Kensington Manhattan Mott Haven Roosevelt Island Wanamaker’s Washington Heights
You’ll find a lot of books on the shelves, especially during the holiday season, that have dozens of old-time postcards of New York’s most famous landmarks…the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, and all the rest. Between about 1900 and 1950, hundreds of thousands of postcards depicting painted versions, as well as [...]
Categorized in: Street Scenes Subways & Trains Tagged with: Bath Beach Bay Ridge Borough Park Brooklyn Downtown Brooklyn East New York Inwood Manhattan Ozone Park Queens South Beach Staten Island
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
Most people think Manhattan is buried under layer upon layer of concrete, with all evidence of its primordial past vanished. There’s still hundreds of acres of natural Manhattan Island still left though! Take the IRT all the way to the last stop in Manhattan, at 215th Street, cross to Broadway, walk up the steps, go [...]
Categorized in: You'd Never Believe You're in NYC Tagged with: Inwood Manhattan
Categorized in: Street Scenes Tagged with: Brooklyn Crown Heights Inwood Manhattan
The highest point in Manhattan and second-highest point in New York City (second only to Todt Hill in Staten Island) is on Bennett Avenue in Washington Heights. It’s among the weirdest sites in Manhattan, too, because of the exposed cliffs, made of schist, that occur frequently in this part of the city. They are a [...]
Categorized in: Street Scenes Tagged with: Inwood Manhattan
Here we present some old designs that don’t easily fit the above categories, including the remains of the last gaslight-era lamp left standing. LEFT: This unprepossessing little pole, at the corner of Broadway and West 211th Street in Inwood in Manhattan represents a last dinosaur. Of the thousands of gaslamps that once populated [...]
Categorized in: Street Lamps Tagged with: Bronx Flushing Inwood Manhattan Queens Throgs Neck
