Postcard Thursday: Calvert Vaux

Bike path on Ocean Parkway courtesy of the Museum of the CIty of New York

Today's postcard, dated 7/19/1908, shows the "cycle path" on Ocean Parkway -- the very first bike path in New York City.

This illustration is just one of many in James's article published earlier today on Curbed about the architecture of Calvert Vaux, one of the unsung heroes of mid-19th century New York City design. People who know his name associate it with his parks, including Central Park and Prospect Park, but he built a number of fantastic Victorian Gothic edifices all around the city.

Read the full article at:
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/08/07/mapping_central_park_architect_calvert_vauxs_other_nyc_work.php

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Explore more NYC history in

Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers

If you haven't had a chance to pick up a copy of Footprints yet,
you can order it from your favorite online retailers (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.) or
from independent bookstores across the country.

And, of course, Inside the Apple is available at fine bookstores everywhere.