September 30th in NYC History
Posted: Sep 30, 2012 | 1:40 AM
1868: Louisa May Alcott publishes her best-selling children's classic novel Little Women.
We see her uncle's home on MacDougal Street, where she may have done some writing, on my Greenwich Village tour.
On my Greenwich Village Walking Tour we stroll by her uncle's charming row house where she is reputed to have written some of this novel.
1911: History's first Stuntman Lieutenant Henry "Hap" Arnold filled in for an actor during filming for "The Military Air Scout" in NYC, where the film industry started.
Around 30 years later he would head the pivotal United States Air Force in WW2. An amazing individual, his life even more impressive than his stunt work.
1916: The NY Giants make and end the longest winning streak in baseball history. 26 games in a row. That same day the streak was broken during the second double header game against Boston's Braves.
1924: Truman Capote born. The author of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "In Cold Blood", loved living in Brooklyn Heights, which he said was the only place to live in NYC.
In Capote's day, though, the neighborhood was much more a tenderloin rooming-house district for sailors. Greenwich Village, which was working class in the years before, was becoming too expensive for writers, so Brooklyn Heights was where they went, just one subway stop from Manhattan.
The house where he lived recently sold for around $11M.
I love to show it off on a Brooklyn Heights walking tour, which can be combined with a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and a visit to DuMBO, as well as a January or February architectural walking tour, a great time for a Greenwich Village walk or a Brooklyn Heights tour to see the lovely architecture through the bare trees. If weather doesn't permit, we can easily reschedule.
1927: Babe Ruth swats his 60th home run of the season and with it sets a record that would stand for 34 years and one day (see October 1st) when Yankee Roger Marris broke Ruth's record.
1931: The landmark Waldorf=Astoria Hotel opens at its present Park Avenue location. The famous edifice is completing a renovation by 2013.
Join me on a tour to find out why there is a equal sign acting like a hyphen in the name. We will find out somewhere between the UN and Rockefeller Center.
1957: Happy Birthday to actress and comedienne Fran Drescher, born in Flushing.
2010: Tony Curtis the beloved actor died. He was born Bernard Schwartz on June 3, 1925 to Hungarian Jewish immigrants. His acting training, handsomeness and personal life led to a great Hollywood career after service in WW2.
Curtis grew up in very trying circumstances. He struggled to attend Seward Park High School, which we see on my Lower East Side of Manhattan tours. Among his classmates was fellow Seward Park alumnus Walter Matthau, and my father Joe. Tony Curtis is also known as Jamie Lee Curtis' dad.