College Point was originally settled by the Native American Matinecocks. The Indians sold much of it to New Netherland Governor William Kieft in 1645. William Lawrence was the first British…

The White Horse Tavern is one of NYC’s long-lived literary hangouts, and yet another with an ancient neon sign. It has been here on Hudson Street and West 11th since 1878,…

Bronx Park was acquired by the city in late 1888 and early 1889. By 1891, the city had allocated fully 250 acres to be used as a botanical garden, which…

A relatively new “ghost sign” can be found at 6408 Fort Hamilton Parkway, where there is still a painted ad for Rocco’s Famous Calamari. The Italian eatery was founded by…

Mayor Ed Koch named these steps leading from 1st Avenue to Tudor City at East 43rd Street in 1981 for Nathan Sharansky (1948 – ), a native Ukrainian who worked tirelessly to allow…

I have written about Manhattan between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges previously, and way uptown there is also a pair of bridges fairly close to each other that connect two…

The other day, I posted a photo of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues in about 1910, remarking on what has changed and what has stayed the same since then. Today I…

Occasionally Dyker Heights will surprise you with an aged building like this one, between 63rd and 64th on 12th Avenue, the Angel Guardian Home (later Mercy First) which sheltered unwed mothers…

In downtown Brooklyn, Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues meet at a triangle, with the third side filled by 4th Avenue. The triangle was formerly known as Times Plaza, after a long-defunct…

Remember when there could be large gatherings of facemask-free people for purely recreational purposes with no guilt trips? I know, the memory is fading. I remember them, though. I regretted…

Quite a bit of Queens real estate bears the name Hollis — the neighborhoods Hollis, Holliswood, Hollis Park Gardens and Hollis Hills, the LIRR Hollis station, Hollis Avenue, Hollis Hills Terrace…

NYC has its share of regional bakeries…Brooklynites swore by Ebinger’s up till about 1970 or so, and NYC still has its Entenmann’s; most of NYC’s urban neighborhoods have popular bakeries.…