Greenwich Village: Today and Yesterday

Eighth Street, ca. 1945, by Berenice Abbott

Seventy years ago, photographer Berenice Abbott and writer Henry Lanier published Greenwich Village: Yesterday and Today, a book that was one part photographic portrait of the neighborhood, one part history, and one part (quasi) walking tour.

Earlier this summer, James headed out with a copy of the book to see how much of Lanier and Abbott's neighborhood still exists. The results were published today by Curbed NY and can be read at 

https://ny.curbed.com/2019/9/4/20847376/greenwich-village-berenice-abbott-history-tour

Abbott's photos, while not as famous as those she took in the 1930s for Changing New York, capture the Village on the cusp of change. As James notes in the article, many of the places Abbott photographed were already on the verge of closing when she captured the images. Some of the Abbott photos that weren't reproduced in the story are included below.

The Lafayette Hotel, ca. 1945, by Berenice Abbott

Edward Hopper in his studio, ca. 1945-48, by Berenice Abbott

Children playing in Washington Square Park, ca. 1945, by Berenice Abbott

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Read more in

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City
-- NOW OUT AS AN AUDIOBOOK! --

and don't forget

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

Law and Order: New York on Screen

Next year, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit will launch its twenty-first season, becoming the longest-running prime-time television show in history. (The current season wraps up next week.)

For thirty years and hundreds of episodes, the various versions of Law and Order have depicted a New York City that is both real and unreal at the same time. This week for Curbed New York, James explored his personal relationship to the show and how the New York City it depicts has changed over time.

Read the full story at https://ny.curbed.com/2019/5/8/18525787/law-and-order-svu-new-york-filming-locations.

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Read more in

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City
-- NOW OUT AS AN AUDIOBOOK! --

and don't forget our chapter on New York in the movies in
Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers

Some Spring Updates from Michelle and James

Spring Updates from Michelle and James Nevius Two new articles by James Nevius: Recently, James had two interesting stories published on the architectural history of the New York. In Curbed New York, he authored a history of the Grand Hyatt Hotel (formerly the Commodore) next to Grand Central Terminal. The hotel opened a century ago and is now slated for demolition. James chronicles the various twists and turns in the story, including Donald Trump's mid-1970s "rescue" of the hotel. The winding history of Donald Trump’s first major Manhattan real estate project Then, in The New York Post, James took a look at the history of tin ceilings, which were once common not just in the New York but around the country. Why so many NYC buildings boast tin ceilings ITALIANS IN GREENWICH VILLAGE sponsored by the Merchant's House Museum and Village Preservation TUESDAY, JUNE 18, at 6:00PM After the Civil War, hundreds of thousands of Italian immigrants came to America, most of them making New York City their first stop. While the Lower East Side and Little Italy are well-known for their immigrant history, many may not remember that the area south of Washington Square was one of the most densely populated Italian precincts in the country. This illustrated presentation will look at how the Village came to be separated into a wealthier area north and west of Washington Square and a more working-class neighborhood to the south and east. We’ll look at who paved the way for Italians in the district and talk about the importance of holding on to the Italian places that still exist in the area -- RIP Trattoria Spaghetto -- so as to preserve this heritage. TICKETS ARE FREE BUT ARE CURRENTLY SOLD OUT Please join the waitlist at https://gvshp.wufoo.com/forms/the-new-new-york-italians-in-the-village-waitlist/

Postcard Thursday: The Year at Curbed

The Elevated Railway near Morningside Park

'Tis the season for year-end wrap-ups and "Best of 2018" lists.

James is pleased to have been awarded two slots in Curbed New York's list of  the "Thirteen Best Longreads of 2018" for his history of Co-op City in the Bronx and his look back at the 150th anniversary of the first elevated railway to be erected in the city.

If you aren't already a reader of Curbed NY, it is a great resource for journalism on architecture, urbanism, transportation, and more. The other stories in the "best of" list include Karrie Jacobs's trek to La Guardia airport on foot, Nathan Kensinger's photo essays about Canal Street and Long Island City, and a first-hand look at "glamping" on Governors Island.

Check out the entire list at https://ny.curbed.com/2018/12/19/18146998/best-longreads-new-york-city-history-architecture-2018.

James had a number of other pieces published by Curbed NY this year, including

• Long Island City's Forgotten History
• How Wall Street became Wall Street
• When Trinity Ruled Lower Manhattan
• A Walking Tour of 1909 New York
• A "Futuristic Vision for Harlem"

Thank you for your support this year. We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

Michelle and James Nevius

If you are looking for a great gifts this holiday season, Inside the Apple and Footprints in New York look great on anyone's shelves!

 

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

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City

Postcard Thursday: Wall Street

For nearly four centuries, the lower tip of Manhattan has been defined by Wall Street, the path of which was originally marked by a nine-foot-high wooden palisade.

James digs deep into the the street's history for Curbed NY in his most recent feature story, which you can read here: https://ny.curbed.com/2018/9/26/17900962/wall-street-new-york-city-history.

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REMINDER: On Sunday, October 7, at 11:00AM, we will be guiding a tour of Gilded-Age New York. All the details are at http://blog.insidetheapple.net/2018/09/postcard-thursday-gilded-age-walking.html. There are only a few spots left at just $15 a piece -- book now!

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Want to hear more about NYC history?

Inside the Apple has recently been released for the first time as an audio book!

Visit Amazon or Audible to download today

Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City

Postcard Thursday: The Elevated Railway

Earlier this week, James had a story appear in Curbed about the history of New York's elevated railways. Next week marks the 150th anniversary of the first successful run of what would become the Ninth Avenue El.

You can read the full story at https://ny.curbed.com/2018/6/27/17507424/new-york-city-elevated-train-history-transportation

One small detail the story mentions is the "View of St. Paul’s Church and the Broadway stages, N.Y.," by Hugh Reinagle, a painting that illustrated all the different stage coaches that plied Broadway in the 1830s. Since the print itself wasn't able to be included in the story, we've posted it here.

Enjoy the story!

* * * * Read more about NYC history in   Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City

Postcard Thursday: Examining History with an Old Guidebook

James has a story that ran in Curbed NY yesterday detailing a walk around Lower Manhattan using a guidebook written in 1909.

Initially, his plan was simply to see how accurate that guidebook could be today, but along the way, he encountered a number of plaques and markers commemorating the Revolutionary War, and this set him on a different tack. You can read all about it in the article: https://ny.curbed.com/2018/3/28/17168160/new-york-city-walking-tour-historic-guidebooks-1909.

A number of the spots talked about in the story will also feature in our walking tour on Saturday, April 21, "Hidden History" of Lower Manhattan. There are only a few spots left for this unique walk, so please read all the details at http://blog.insidetheapple.net/2018/03/hidden-history-lower-manhattan-walking.html and sign up today!

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Read more about NYC history in

 

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

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City

Postcard Thursday: Skyrise for Harlem

Skyrise for Harlem; Esquire magazine, April 1965

There's a terrific exhibit at the Queens Museum called "Never Built New York," that features dozens of plans for unbuilt architecture that would have remade the city. (The show only runs through February 18, so catch it while you can.)

When we were visiting the show in October, we were struck by the plan from 1965 to tear down much of Harlem and replace it with giant, 100-story towers (seen above). James researched the subject further and his essay on "Skyrise for Harlem" appeared yesterday in Curbed NY. The story not only outlines the plan -- which architect Buckminster Fuller created with writer June Jordan -- but also looks at how Harlem real estate transformed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

You can read the story here: https://ny.curbed.com/2018/1/10/16868494/harlem-history-buckminster-fuller-development-rezoning.

From the ARCH/CAEHT plan for the East Harlem Triangle redevelopment; from the Louisiana State University archives

Fuller and Jordan weren't the only planners who were trying to figure out how to improve housing conditions in Harlem in the 1960s. The drawing above is from the Architects’ Renewal Committee in Harlem's suggested plan for the rezoning of the East Harlem Triangle. As James notes in his article:

In 1964, the Architects’ Renewal Committee in Harlem (ARCH) was founded to serve, in the words of architectural historian Brian D. Goldstein, as a “community design center” but then transformed—as the influence of black nationalism became more prominent in Harlem’s political life—into a way to “resist and revise official urban development plans".... Take, for example, the ARCH proposal for the East Harlem Triangle redevelopment.... The city’s plan was to turn the area—the triangle bounded by Madison Avenue, 125th Street, and the Harlem River—into an industrial zone. Pushback from the newly formed Community Association of the East Harlem Triangle (CAEHT) convinced the city to consider alternate proposals. Working with CAEHT, the planners at ARCH, led by its director, African-American architect J. Max Bond Jr., produced a plan that would not only radically transform the East Harlem Triangle, but would create a “distinctively black and democratic urban space.” 

As opposed to “Skyrise for Harlem,” the East Harlem Triangle plan advocated the preservation of newer townhouses and tenements, while new construction would preserve “positive features of the present living patterns".... On a reconfigured 125th Street, most of the traffic is eliminated in favor of wide sidewalks and tree-lined medians with bench seating. Typical examples from the urban planning wishlist are present, like a dedicated lane for bus traffic, while very specific symbols of Harlem abound: the bus boasts an ad for Muhammad Speaks, the newspaper of the Nation of Islam. A man in a dashiki stands in the median, while a woman on the sidewalk raises a black power salute.

The Queens Museum panorama, with some of the Fuller/Jordan Skyrise towers superimposed over Harlem

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Speaking of Curbed, three of James's pieces were singled out for the "Best of 2017" lists for both the local and national sites this year:

•  Curbed New York's "12 Best Longreads of 2017" includes "The Ever-Changing Bowery" and "A Walking tour of 1767 New York."

• The national site's "13 favorite Curbed Longreads of 2017" includes James's examination of early works by of one of America's greatest architects, "Becoming Frank Lloyd Wright."

 

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

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City