10 Fun Facts about NYC’s Essex Street Market, a Lower East Side Survivor
The Essex Street Market is one of NYC’s most historic public markets, in the Lower East Side for over 75 years. Here are 10 fun facts about the market’s history.
More
10 Fun Facts About NYC’s New Second Avenue Subway Line
The long awaited Second Avenue line is finally up and running. Here are the fun facts and secrets of this line, which has been close to a hundred years in the making.
More
The Top 10 Secrets of LaGuardia Airport in NYC
While LaGuardia Airport might be frequently likened to a “Third World airport,” here are 10 secrets and fun facts about the history and current airport in NYC.
More
A View From NYC’s Triborough Bridge By Urban Explorer Dark Cyanide
See the view from atop NYC’s Triborough Bridge with photos by urban explorer Dark Cyanide, while learning a bit of history on the bridge along the way.
More
The Parts of NYC Moved from the United Kingdom, Now Part of City’s Land & Architecture
The parts of NYC that have been moved from England to become part of the city’s land and architecture, from the colonial era until now.
More
Top 10 Secrets of the George Washington Bridge Connecting NYC and New Jersey
You readers really surprised us with the amount of love for our Top 10 Secrets of the Lincoln Tunnel last week. We’ve all been stuck in there and it’s fun to think there are secrets even of the most essential of infrastructure. This week, we’re tackling that other Hudson River crossing: the George Washington Bridge. …
More
Daily What?! The Flatiron’s Mysterious “Victory Arch” at Madison Square Park
Why is there a photograph of a triple arch in the Flatiron District? We reveal the story behind the 1918 Victory Arch which Fiorella Laguardia deemed the “Altar of Extravagance.”
More
Daily What?! Vintage American Airlines Hangars at LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia airport in NYC has vintage elements that can be easily overlooked, like this American Airlines hangar with original company logos.
More
Vintage Photos: Mayor LaGuardia Sledgehammers Slot Machines in New York
Photo from the Library of Congress
A famous photograph of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia sledgehammering slot machines was part of a public campaign waged by the mayor against the mafia in the 1930s. Taking to the radio, LaGuardia told New Yorkers, “Let’s drive the bums out of town,” and on this particular day in September …
MoreThe One-Armed Bandit: Frank Costello and Slot Machines in the New York Cosa Nostra
In Part I of this short series, The One-Armed Bandit: Slot Machines and Organized Crime in New York City, we looked at the origins of the slot machine in Brooklyn and the technological manipulations developed later to hide the illegality of slot machine activity throughout the country.
The rise of Frank Costello (born Francesco Castiglia) …
MoreThe One-Armed Bandit: Slot Machines and the Mafia in New York City
With more than 25,000 slot machines in NYC in the 1930’s placed in prosaic locations, the general populace was both knowingly and unknowingly touched by the mafia.
More