The Bowery Boys: New York City History

• #452 How New York Got Its Name

  It's one of the most foundational questions we could ever ask on this show -- how did New York City get its name?You may know that the English conquered the Dutch settlement of New Netherland (and its port town of New Amsterdam) in 1664, but the details of this history-making day have remained hazy -- until now.Russell Shorto brought the world of New Amsterdam and the early years before New York to life in his classic history The Island At The Center of The World. His new book Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America functions as a sequel of sorts, revisiting the moment when New Amsterdam ceased to be -- and New York was born.Shorto joins Greg and Tom for a very spirited discussion of international warfare, displaced princes, frantic letter writing and ominous warships in the harbor.At the end of this story, you will not only know how New York -- the city, the state, the whole place, from Buffalo to Long Island -- got its name, you will know the exact forgotten historical figure who gave it that name.Visit the Bowery Boys website for more information. Get Russell Shorto's new book Taking ManhattanThis episode was produced and edited by Kieran Gannon

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• #451 The New Yorker Magazine: Talk of the Town for 100 Years

  The New Yorker turns one century old -- and it hasn't aged a day! The witty, cosmopolitan magazine was first published on February 21, 1925. And even though present-day issues are often quite contemporary in content, the magazine's tone and style still recall its glamorous Jazz Age origins.The New Yorker traces itself to members of that legendary group of wits known as the Algonquin Round Table -- renowned artists, critics and playwrights who met every day for lunch at the Algonquin Hotel.And in particular, to two married journalists – Harold Ross and Jane Grant – who infused the magazine with a very distinct cosmopolitan zest. High fashion, martinis and Midtown Manhattan mixed with the droll wit of a worldly literati.A new exhibition at the New York Public Library --  “A Century of the New Yorker” -- chronicles the magazine’s history, from its origins and creation by Harold Ross and Jane Grant to its current era, under the editorship of David Remnick.Greg and Tom interview the show's two curators Julie Golia and Julie Carlsen about the treasures on display from the New Yorker's glorious past -- from the magazine's first cover (featuring everybody's favorite snob Eustace Tilly) to artifacts and manuscripts from the world's greatest writers.Visit the website for more information and other Bowery Boys podcastsThis episode was edited by Kieran Gannon  

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• At The Movies with Meyers and Young (Side Streets)

  Greg and Tom have taken off their historian hats and have become -- movie critics? Close but not quite!This week we're giving you a 'sneak preview' of their Patreon podcast called Side Streets, a conversational show about New York City and, well, whatever interests them that week. In honor of the Academy Awards, the Bowery Boys hosts pay homage to the great Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert while looking at five award-worthy films with strong New York City connections:-- Anora with its captivating south Brooklyn locations-- A Complete Unknown, taking us back 1960s Greenwich Village -- Wicked, a spritely interpretation of the Broadway musical-- The Brutalist, an epic about more than just architecture-- Saturday Night, a frenetic tribute to the comedy-show icon which turns 50 years old this yearTo listen to all episodes of Side Streets, support the Bowery Boys on Patreon This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon

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• #450 Harlem in the Jazz Age: A Renaissance in New York

  This year marks the 100th anniversary of Alain Locke's classic essay "The New Negro" and the literary anthology featuring the work of Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Countee Cullen and other significant black writers of the day.The rising artistic scene would soon be known as the Harlem Renaissance, one of the most important cultural movements in American history. And it would be centered within America's largest black neighborhood -- Harlem, the "great black city," as described by Wallace Thurman, with a rising population and growing political and cultural influence.During the 1920s, Harlem became even more. Along "Swing Street" and Lenox Avenue, nightclubs and speakeasies gave birth to American music and fostered great musical talents like Count Basie, Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington. Ballrooms like the Savoy and the Alhambra helped turn Harlem into a destination for adventure and romance.What were these two worlds like -- the literary salons and the nightclubs? How removed were these spheres from the everyday lives of regular Harlem residents? How did the neighborhood develop both an energetic and raucous music scene and a diverse number of churches -- many (like the Abyssinian Baptist Church) still around today?Visit the website for more details and more podcastsGet tickets to our March 31 City Vineyard event Bowery Boys HISTORY LIVE! hereAnd join us for our Gilded Age Weekend in New York, May 29-June 1, 2025. More info here.This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon

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• #449 Italian Harlem: New York's Forgotten Little Italy

  One of America's first great Italian neighborhoods was once in East Harlem, once filled with more southern Italians than Sicily itself, a neighborhood almost entirely gone today except for a couple restaurants, a church and a long-standing religious festival.This is, of course, not New York's' famous "Little Italy," the festive tourist area in lower Manhattan built from another 19th-century Italian neighborhood on Mulberry Street. The bustling street life of old Italian Harlem exists mostly in memory now.If you wander around any modern American neighborhood with a strong Italian presence, you'll find yourself around people who can trace their lineage back through the streets of Italian Harlem. Perhaps that includes yourself.But it's not all warm nostalgia and fond recollections. Life could be quite hard in Italian Harlem, thanks to the nearby industrial environment, the deteriorating living conditions and the street crime, the early years of New York organized crime.So who were these first Italian settlers who left their homes for what would become a hard urban life in upper Manhattan? What drew them to the city? What traditions did they bring? And in the end, what did they leave behind, when so many moved out to the four corners of the United States?Visit the Bowery Boys website for more adventures into New York City historyThis show was produced by Kieran Gannon.FURTHER LISTENING: Past Bowery Boys episodes with links to this show-- The Story of Little Italy-- Nuyorican: The Great Puerto Rican Migration-- Columbus CircleJoin us on Patreon for extra podcasts and lots of other goodiesShare your love of the city’s history with a Bowery Boys Walks gift certificate! Our digital gift cards let your loved ones choose their perfect tour and date.Grab a Bowery Boys tee-shirt, mug or water bottle at our merchandise store.

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