BY GARY FONVILLE, Forgotten NY correspondent This entry has been a long time in gestation. Unlike Kevin, your webmaster, who goes out and makes a day trip to do an entry, I take…

One of a pair of surviving painted ad signs on East 32nd near Lexington advertises the old Manning-Bowman Company, founded in 1832 and purchased in 1872 by Connecticutters Edward Manning…

After contemplating the presence of Koster and Bial’s “The Corner” building on 6th and 24th Streets miraculously still standing after 123 years despite the utter transformation of the rest of…

An acquaintance of mine, a ForgottenFan, recently complained in her blog entry about slow walkers in NYC, and the impositions they put on most other people in NYC, who like…

“Cadet,” according to The Word Detective, is derived from the Latin “capitellum,” a diminutive of Latin “caput,” meaning “head.” It was later applied to young men entering the military and interstingly, was…

Just when you think you’ve found them all… you just keep discovering even more. That’s the story of Forgotten New York’s fascination with ancient building advertising — there are still…

I frequently mention my childhood in FNY, since there’s so much material to draw from in terms of what’s gone or what’s altered beyond recognition. About once a month when I…

I was surprised, and disappointed, to see one of NYC’s iconic painted walldog ads is gone, as the giant Wellner Motors ad on Greenwich Avenue facing 8th opposite Jackson Square has…

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…

Rowland Hussey Macy (1822-1877) was a Nantucket seaman aboard the Emily Morgan whaling ship at age 15, and while serving there he picked up at a port of call a…

The city seems more determined than ever to rebuild, retool, and plan for the future, even as in 2006 entire neighborhoods like Flushing, Long Island City, and Williamsburg are being torn down…

As more and more historic treasures and well-designed, well-built businesses and dwellings are destroyed or under the gun, more and more we find that the things that are preserved are there strictly…