A Home Deferred: Revisiting Langston Hughes’ Harlem Brownstone
By Kevin Cepero | Have you ever heard of what happens to a “dream deferred”? Well a home deferred is no different. Harlem, a large section of the borough of Manhattan, is predominantly a black neighborhood. It has been home to thousands of black families since they migrated north during the early twentieth century. Due […]
Mystery on 35th Street: Searching for Rex Stout’s Brownstone
By Melanie I. Hernandez | In 1996, a bronze plaque was placed to pay tribute to mystery novelist Rex Stout’s seventy-two Nero Wolfe stories at 454 West 35th Street in New York City. Stout’s protagonist, Nero Wolfe, was a private investigator who solved crimes that the New York Police Department and FBI couldn’t. He did […]
Ginsberg and “Kaddish”: The End of it All in the East Village
By Oluwaseun Eleyinafe | Allen Ginsberg’s former apartment building, 170 East Second Street, was built in 1899. It is a Beaux Arts building that joins comfort with an older East Village style. Ginsberg lived in the apartment from 1958 to 1963. And while Ginsberg fans can’t gain visit the apartment today, it is alluringly described on […]
“Pitcher, Catcher, Fielder, Batter”: The Poetry of Yankee Stadium
By M. R. | Like most of the world, I have never stepped foot inside Yankee Stadium and watched the talented baseball players give their all to win against their opponents. Instead, I have imagined what it is like as I hear the roar of the crowds from eight blocks away while watching the stadium […]
Ellis Island: Almost in “the Land of the Free”
By M. M. | When you leave the Ellis Island ferry, the main immigration building consumes your entire view. Red brick walls with tan trim, a terra cotta roof, and teal chimneys, and large, floor-to-ceiling windows with green frames reflect the architectural styles of the nineteenth century. A red iron and glass portico lines the […]
“Queen of Snark”: Dorothy Parker and How She Made Her Name at the Algonquin Hotel
By J. S. | The Algonquin Hotel, located at 59 West 44th Street, is one of literary New York’s most important places. The building, which opened as a hotel in 1902 and was designed by Goldwin Starrett, is marked as a New York City Historic Landmark. It was named for the Algonquin tribes that used […]
Bruno and The Garden: A Story of Professional Wrestling’s Greatest Champion and His Rise From Humble Immigrant To Sports Icon
By G. R. | When walking down the streets of Manhattan, you may get lost in all of the tall buildings and crowds, but there is no missing Madison Square Garden: that special round building with an entire subway system beneath it. Those bright lights surrounding the enormous monitors outside that show the upcoming events […]
The Nuyorican Poets Café : Home of Passionate Souls
By NF Coundol | Have you ever found yourself in a place where you feel like you just belong? Have you ever wondered what took you so long to find that place? From the moment I stepped into the Nuyorican Poet’s Café, located on 236 East 3rd Street in New York City, I felt as […]
The Audubon Ballroom: Malcolm X’s Final Chapter
By E. P. | The Audubon Ballroom, now named The Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center, is located at 3940 Broadway between 165th and 166th Streets in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan in New York City. When going through the plate-glass doors, you see a full-size Malcolm X statue standing […]
Douglass’s Next Stop: Freedom In New York City
By D. W. E. | My destination, 339 West 29th Street, is in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. It seems like an ordinary address, but this is no ordinary place. When I arrived at my destination, to my shock, I didn’t feel as if I was standing in front of something so important to history. […]
Washington Irving’s Sunnyside: The Making of a Legend
By. D. Cruz | Originally hailing from New York City, Washington Irving moved to Tarrytown in 1835 when yellow fever spread and it was unsafe to stay in the city. In the years ahead, Washington Irving began to refurbish the two-story cottage located at 3 West Sunnyside Lane. After returning froma diplomatic mission in Spain, […]
In Remembrance of Fallen Soldiers: The “Dough-Boy” and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “May Day”
By C. R. | The “Doughboy,” a statue memorializing American soldiers who died in World War I, is found in the Bronx on Mosholu Parkway and Marion Avenue. Two soldiers and an eagle cast in bronze stand atop a pedestal about five feet tall. One soldier, helpless, lies on his side, while the other stands […]
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Sojourn in Morningside Heights
Fitzgerald must have walked by Butterfield’s statue many times while worrying about Zelda, rejection letters, and his unfulfilling work downtown. In fact I, I like to think that he had a fondness […]
American Psycho: The Silent Insanity that Neighbors Us All
By Amy Catano | In Bret Easton Ellis’s novel American Psycho (1991), Patrick Bateman is the insanely neurotic antihero who must have the best of the best. Among his many material possessions, he owns an apartment on the Upper West Side that should be sufficiently capable of causing envy among his peers. When I decided […]
A Dream Deeply Rooted: Remembering King on the Banks of the Harlem River
By H. H. | The elegant bronze statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. is smooth to the touch with alterations in color due to oxidation. Engraved below the statue is an excerpt from the world famous “I Have a Dream Speech” that solidified his place in history. The statue of Dr. King was created in the […]
Edgar Allan Poe’s Home in the Bronx
By Abigael Hazell | The Bronx, a residential section of New York City, has a few historical gems for history and literature enthusiasts sprinkled throughout the borough. Fans of literary author Edgar Allan Poe will be thrilled to know his home is open to visitors, easily accessible by bus or train. Since I am a […]
Taking Wing in Spanish Harlem: The Dos Alas Mural
By S. F. | Getting off the 6 train that runs on the Lexington line, I see construction signs all around and many bodegas. I am in Spanish Harlem, home to many Hispanics. As I walk to the street mural called “Dos Alas,” I pass through a neighborhood filled with a diverse crowd of people. […]
‘Creepy’ Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
By K. R. | Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, which opened in 1849, is home to American writer Washington Irving’s final resting place, and the town in which it lies is the setting for one of his best known tales, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” When I visited the cemetery in early May of this year, I noticed […]
Frederick Douglass’ Legacy Lives On in West Harlem
By K. T. | There are several renowned monuments throughout the United States that honor Frederick Douglass, a former slave who became one of the country’s most unforgettable African-American leaders. Recently, I had the privilege to visit the memorial located on West 110th Street and 8th Avenue (Central Park West and Frederick Douglass Boulevard) in […]
A Mississippi Man With New York Aspirations: Richard Wright in Greenwich Village
By C. A. | Standing between a luxury building and short narrow townhouses, 82 Washington Place seems almost out of place amid these structures and with the NYU freshmen dorms rounding out the other corner. But that’s the beauty of New York City. Streets filled with all types of buildings and housing their own history […]
150 Years On: Recrossing Brooklyn Ferry
By Kiki Melvelle | The trip on the East River Ferry was like no other trip that I had taken before with my children. I mean, we had been to Disney World, the place of every child’s dream, but even Disney World had not produced the excited reaction that I got when we boarded the […]
The 135th Street YMCA: A Gathering-Place for African-American Luminaries
By Theresa Carter Grant | A towering beacon of red and brown brick with its recognizable red and white neon sign, the 135th Street YMCA has long been a monument in the Harlem community for African-Americans, many of whom came to New York from the South to escape Jim Crow laws, overwhelming oppression, and racial division. This […]
Slavery in New York: Hunts Point Burial Ground and Jupiter Hammon
By A. C. | The Hunts Point Slave Burial Grounds in the Hunts Point section in the Bronx is located on the tip of Hunts Point Avenue and Longfellow Avenue. The surrounding neighborhood is mostly auto body repair shops, chop shops, and other industrial businesses. One side of the park, along Longfellow Avenue, is busy with […]
The Tombs of Melville and Bartleby
By A. C. | Inside the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx lies American novelist Herman Melville. He is remembered for his great literary works such as Moby Dick and Bartleby. His tomb is located on Plot Catalpa, Section 23, and his tombstone is engraved with the traditional name, birth, and date of decease as well […]
Faith, Freedom and Riverside Church
By K. J. | Riverside Church is an immense building located at 490 Riverside Drive New York, NY. The congregation began in 1841 as a Baptist church. It wraps around four blocks with separate entrances, one on Riverside Drive and another on Claremont Avenue. The church features a sanctuary and main worship space that features […]
Stonewall: A Fight that Lasted a Lifetime
By A. O. | The Stonewall Inn, also known as Stonewall, is a gay bar located at 53 Christopher Street in New York City. It is one of the most important sites leading to the gay liberation movement and is still used today to support gay and lesbian rights (Stonewall Inn). In 1969, the original […]
Harriet Tubman: Our Northern Star
By N. F. | “Aye lemme hold a Tubman!”—That might be a common future phrase. 103 years after her death, Harriet Tubman will be placed on the $20 bill. Would she be proud? That’s not for us to decipher, but one thing for sure is African-Americans were quick to create the Harriet Tubman meme. Just […]
The ‘S Marvelous and ‘S Wonderful Morgan Library
By A. M. | The Morgan Library, opened to the public in 1924 and the former home of Pierpont Morgan, is located on Madison Avenue and 36th Street in the Murray Hill district in Manhattan. Entering the large, vertically lined, bronze-gated door immediately provides the feel of stepping back into history. The Rotunda, the first […]
The Soul Food of Sylvia’s Restaurant
By A. D. | When I first arrived to Sylvia’s Restaurant in Harlem, New York, there were many things that came to mind: the smell of all the fresh dishes arriving at the table and people singing along to the music assured me that this was going to be a great visit. I also noticed the […]
Welcome to Baxter Street: The Five Points Neighborhood
By U. J. | Baxter Street is located in the Five Points neighborhood, which was densely populated with people, structures and debris in the 1800s. The street is known to have housed African Americans, Irish, Italians, and other poor immigrants. These groups had fled their homes in Europe or the South to look for better lives […]
“The World Was Wide Enough”: Hamilton & Burr
By A. J. | Recently, I visited the dueling grounds in Weehawken, NJ, where Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton in July of 1804. I made my visit on a rainy and cloudy Friday afternoon. Aside from three to four other people around the site and in Hamilton Park, located right next to it, the area was deserted. The bleakness […]
The Cover Girl in the Bay
By J. N. | Skin made of bronze while standing 305 feet tall. This goddess watches over me day and night. Weathering any storm, she battles the elements. A symbol of liberty and freedom, she stands not just me but for all the world to see. Her beauty admired by most. She is the fairest of them […]
The Hall of Fame for Great Americans: Emerson, Irving and Washington
By E. V. | A New York City landmark designed by the architectural firm of Stanford White, the Hall of Fame for Great Americans is located on the leafy campus of Bronx Community College high above the Harlem River. The architectural style of the landmark, created in 1900, is Classical Revival. Right behind it stands […]
DeWitt Clinton: Then and Now
By Ronal Cedano | At first glance, DeWitt Clinton High School on Mosholu Parkway and Paul Avenue looks like a college campus because of its large baseball field, football field, and main building. On Paul Avenue you can find other schools that lead up to Clinton like Lehman College and the Bronx High School of Science. […]
The Timeless Invisible Man
By D. P. | The Manhattan borough of New York City is home to many hidden gems. On 150th Street and Riverside Drive in Harlem, the “Invisible Man” sculpture is one monument worth visiting. Weighing 5,000 pounds and standing 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide, this rectangular bronze structure celebrates Ralph Waldo Ellison, the […]
The Summer White House: Teddy Roosevelt on Long Island
By G. M. | Among the dying words of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, were: “I wonder if you will ever know how I love Sagamore Hill.” Sagamore Hill, Roosevelt’s long-time home, nicknamed the “summer white house,” is located in Oyster Bay, a mere 45-minute drive from the Bronx. Roosevelt described his home as […]
