Jared The NYC Tour Guide® | Custom walking tours of New York City

Jared the NYC Tour Guide Blog

Posted: Jan 8, 2013 | 3:32 PM
by Jared Goldstein

Jan 8th in NYC History

1790: GW delivers first state of the union address
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-george-washington-delivers-first-state-of-the-union

1904 Peter Arno, a pioneering cartoonist for the New Yorker magazine, is born.

1933Charles Osgood, Broadcast journalist, turns 80

1941 William Randolph Hearst halts ads for Citizen Kane
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/william-randolph-hearst-stops-citizen-kane-ads

1965...The world's largest sapphire – the Star of India
– comes home to New York in the coat pocket of an assistant district
attorney. The stone had been stolen, along with several others, from the
Museum of Natural History three months earlier. They are recovered from
a locker in a Miami bus depot with the help of one of the thieves.

1971Jason Giambi, Baseball player, turns 42

Ragtime wins the National Book Critics Circle Award, 1976

?1982AT&T settled the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against it by agreeing to divest itself of the 22 Bell System companies.?

1987The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 2,000 for the first time, ending the day at 2,002.25.

1988: Defying bans on destroying SRO's and demolishing buildings without permits or safety, Developer Harry Macklowe had four buildings, including two SROs demolished overnight. Macklowe perfunctorialy pad the $2 million fine and constructed the luxurious 43-story Hotel Macklowe there.

1998Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was sentenced in New York to life in prison.

2007A Moroccan man convicted of aiding three of the four pilots who committed the 9/11 attacks was sentenced by a German court to the maximum 15 years in prison.

?
80John Carroll 1/8/1735 - 12/3/1815
First Roman Catholic bishop in the United States58

Nicholas Biddle 1/8/1786 - 2/27/1844
American financier

72Frank Nelson Doubleday 1/8/1862 - 1/30/1934
American publisher

80Jose Ferrer 1/8/1912 - 1/26/1992
American actor and director
?

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Posted: Jan 7, 2013 | 12:37 AM
by Jared Goldstein

January 7th in New York City History

NYC proposed as independent and neutral city-state for Civil War,
and many big birthdays, big events and firsts.

1789: The first US Presidential election elected George Washington. As it was during the Confederation from 1784-1788, NYC was the capitol of the former British colonies along the east coast.

1861: As Civil War loomed, Mayor Fernando Wood proposed that New York become a "free city" so as not to lose trade with seceding Southern states. More specifically, Wood proposed that New York City secede from the Union and become a city-state to preserve its profitable trade with the South.
The City Council rejected the suggestion by a wide margin.

1873: Adolph Zukor, who built Paramount, born.

1891: Harlem Renaissance figure, writer, and researcher Zora Neale Hurston born.

1912: Cartoonist Charles Addams born. He died in 1988.

1927: Transatlantic telephone service begins connecting New York and London.

1946: Jann Wenner, born in NYC, Magazine publisher (Rolling Stone based in NYC), turns 67.

1955: Singer Marian Anderson debuted with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, becoming the first black person to perform as a member in its 71 year history.

She sang contralto in the role of the dramatic sorceress Ulrica in Verdi's Masked Ball, which earned her many curtain calls, including from two black porters who bought tickets to see her as audience members.

1957: Talk show host Katie Couric turns 56 years old today.

1970: Lou Rawls sings the ABCs song on the first season of Sesame Street.

1976: Former Yank 2nd baseman Alfonso Soriano born.

1991: The US Supreme Court refused to consider a challenge to the NFL's free agency system. To see how it turned out for the players and owners, see January 6th 1993.

1992: Met's pitcher

Tom Seaver elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with the highest margin, 98.8%. It would have been higher, but for a protest vote against the banning of Pete Rose.

1996: The Blizzard of '96 closed schools and most businesses. 20.2 inches of snow blew in over about a day and a half. At that point, it was the city's 3rd largest snowfall, coming in behind the blizzards of 1947 and 1888.

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Posted: Jan 6, 2013 | 12:34 AM
by Jared Goldstein

January 6th in NYC History:

Teddy and Dizz Died;
E.L.Doctorow and the Telegraph Born;
the importance of Morristown, NJ;
Elvis waist up;
Wires submerged;
Free-Agents Capped.

1777: After recent victories, Washington sets up camp 33 miles east of New York City, in Morristown, N.J. This helped inspire 17,000 New Yorkers to join the militia.

1838: Samuel Morse publicly demonstrated the telegraph, in Morristown, N.J. He died famous and wealthy in New York City April 2, 1872, at 80. On my Greenwich Village Tour, we see NYU where he was a Professor of Painting and Sculpture.

1890: NYC completed the massive project to move most communications lines underground. This was two years after the Blizzard of 1888 caused havoc when the rainforest of telegraph and telephone wires were grounded.

This didn't work out after 2012's Super Storm Sandy Surge. As of this date, there are still businesses Downtown without Verizon phone service. 122 years of uptime isn't bad, though.

1919: NYC's Teddy Roosevelt,, the 26th president of the United States, died in Oyster Bay, N.Y., at age 60.

1933: E.L. Doctorow, New York writer, born.

1947: Courts uphold NYC's ability to require rent control.

1957: Elvis Presley performs his last time on The Ed Sullivan Show. The uproar over his previous performances result in filming him only from the waist up. We see the Ed Sullivan Theater on my John Lennon's NYC Tour.

1993: Jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie died after 75.

1993: The NF L granted players free agency, and owners a salary cap.

1996: Blizzard of 1996 begins, among many others on the East Coast, there are deaths in Harlem beneath a collapsed church roof.

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Posted: Jan 5, 2013 | 1:47 AM
by Jared Goldstein

Jan 5 in NYC History

Robinson retires;
Sugar Hill crosses over into the charts;
Birthdays;
Birth of scheduled shipping revolutionizes trade.

1818: The sailing ship James Monroe sets off from New York for Liverpool at exactly 10 a.m., marking the beginning of international shipping run on a set schedule – a revolutionary idea in its day.

This is just part of the South Street Seaport's rich and innovative heritage that I touch on in my Seaport Tours, which is the official tour of both the South Street Seaport Museum and the South Street Seaport Mall.

1877: Clergyman Henry Sloane Coffin born. He died in 1954.

1925: Lou Carnesecca, champion basketball coach for St. John's University (1989 NIT and 1985 NCAA Final Four), and the New York Nets' 1972 ABA Finals, born in NYC.

1931: Alvin Ailey Jr., choreographer and dancer; founded Ailey American Dance Theater, born. He died in 1989.

1942: Charlie Rose, Broadcast journalist, turns 71.

1946: Diane Keaton, Actress, turns 67.

1953: George Tenet, Former CIA director, turns 60.

1957: Jackie Robinson, who integrated the Major
Leagues in 1947, announced his retirement from baseball weeks after the Dodgers trade him to the cross-town rival Giants for $35,000 and a pitcher.

1970: Soap opera "All My Children" premiered on ABC-TV.

1973: Bruce Springsteen's debut album, "Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.," released.

1980: The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" becomes hip-hop's first Top 40 hit. We see the Sugar Hill projects during my Harlem tours.

1993: Reggie "Mr. October" Jackson becomes a Baseball Hall of Famer.

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Posted: Jan 4, 2013 | 3:53 PM
by Jared Goldstein

A testimonial about an Introduction to Manhattan walking and subway tour

From a former tour-going guest (SLQ from Texas) who referred me her cousins:

Dec 25th 2012

"Thank you Jared for taking care of my family while they were visiting NY from Louisiana. They enjoyed their time in the city They are Julie M______ and Carly Tammy Murphy and Justin! They had a wonderful Christmas Vacation. Hope you are having a wonderful Christmas. Thanks again!"

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Posted: Jan 4, 2013 | 3:15 PM
by Jared Goldstein

Testimonial about my Harlem Tour Dec 23, 2012

“private tour in Harlem”

Reviewed December 26, 2012

it happened that I was the only one on the tour to Harlem and Jared was my guide on that walking tour that sunny day!

He was very informative and fun about so many things which are hidden from a regular tourist! We visited a baptist church on Sunday and I enjoyed the mess and gospel singing. Then we had a walk around the district and I've got many curious explanation from Jared.

It seems Harlem became closer now that it used to be before.

Visited December 2012

Thank you, Poleff from Moscow!

I did this tour through my beloved client NYC Urban Adventures. Booking me through them provides a more affordable alternative if you want a standardized tour offered at certain times.

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Posted: Jan 4, 2013 | 2:39 AM
by Jared Goldstein

January 4th in NYC History

1821: Elizabeth Ann Seton goes to heaven. Born in 1774, Sainted in 1975, the First American-born Saint. On Downtown Tours we see the Shrine of Elizabeth Ann Seton, as well as St Peter's Church where she had her miraculous vision.

1877: Railroad and shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt died, leaving an estate of more than $100 million. Vanderbilt had built the New York Central Railroad and Grand Central Terminal. I like to share stories of 'the Commodore' on my tours of Grand Central Terminal, which he built, and tours of Staten Island Ferry, which he founded.

1936: Billboard Magazine (founded 1894 in NYC), published the first pop music chart based on record sales. This signaled the transformation of popular music from sheet music performed on pianos.

1944: Ralph Bunche becemees the first African-American in the U.S. State Department, when he joins the staff as a territorial studies expert.

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Posted: Jan 3, 2013 | 12:19 AM
by Jared Goldstein

January 3rd in NYC History:

Babe Ruth and George Steinbrenner joined the Yankees.
Eli Manning born.

1841: Herman Melville set sail for the South Seas.

1870: Ground breaks for the Brooklyn Bridge, which will open in 1883.

1887: Rabbi Dr. Sabato Morais opened the Jewish Theological Seminary on 19th Street. In 1902 it moved to its present location above Columbia University on 123rd St.

1899: The New York Times adopts the French mot 'automobile' in America.

1920: The Yankees purchased Babe Ruth from Boston for $125,000, the largest cash sum for a player.

Boston felt that they were becoming a one-man team. Ruth had belted 29 home runs in 1919 with Boston, a league record.

In 1920 with the Yankees, Ruth broke that record with 54, then 59 in 1921. Ruth's performance helped baseball recover from the 1919 Black Sox gambling scandal.

1970: "Mame," the Broadway musical, closed after 1508 performances.

1973: George Steinbrenner and several 'prominent business executives and sportsmen' buy the NY Yankees from CBS for $10 million, $3.2 million less than CBS paid in 1964, the last pennant year for the Yankees. CBS doesn't seem to have been successful with the Yankees. Steinbrenner, a Cleveland ship-building magnate, pledged "absentee ownership as far as running the Yankees is concerned." He turned out to be wrong about that, but the Yankees were much more successful in his era.

1981: New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning born.

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Posted: Jan 2, 2013 | 4:38 PM
by Jared Goldstein

January 2nd in New York City History

Joe Namath Joined the Jets;
Isaac Asimov born;
Bobby Fischer wins at 16

1871: George Lewis (Tex) Rickard, the president of Madison Square Garden, born. He was the one who demolished the Stanford White designed MSG2 in 1925, after around 20 years, moved MSG3 to 49th St and 8th Ave, where it remained until around 1963. As far as I can tell, the place had terrible sight lines and acoustics.

1900: Automobile bus service begins in NYC. The route goes from Washington Square Park to the uptown barn where the horses from the era ending the day before lived. 12 passengers ride for a nickel each.

1920: Prolific writer, most known for his science fiction, Isaac Asimov born in Russia. As a New Yorker, he will write nearly 500 books!

1944: Boston trounces the NY Rangers 13-3, their worst home ice loss.

1960: Bobby Fischer wins the US Chess Championship at 16.

1962: The Weavers, a folk rock bastion, were banned from Jack Parr's NBC show after they refused to sign a loyalty oath.

1965: Joe Namath joins the Jets for a record $427,000. He was drafted from the University of Alabama. He was the Quarterback to lead the Jets to its only Superbowl glory.

1968: Cuba Gooding Jr born in the Bronx.

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Posted: Jan 2, 2013 | 12:40 AM

January 1st in NYC History

1637: North American postal service begins between Nieuw Amsterdam (now New York City) and Boston, using horses.

1819: The first official American heavyweight champion, 1841-52, Tom Hyer, born.

1864: Alfred Stieglitz born.

1879: William Fox of Fox Pictures born.

1892: Ellis Island opens as an Immigration Station opened.

Annie Moore from Ireland is the first of 12 million to come. There is a statue of her at Ellis Island.

That day, three large ships discharged 700 immigrants, and nearly 450,000 immigrants passed through the Island the rest of the year.

1898: The City of Greater New York is born. With great fanfare – and controversy – the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten
Island merge with Manhattan to form what the Herald Tribune calls "the greatest experiment in municipal government – the enlarged city."

1901: Rocky Graziano born.

1919: J.D. Salinger born. On my Central Park tours we discover what the ducks do in winter.

1934: Columbia wins the Rose Bowl 7-0 over Stanford in Pasadena. This signals the end of Ivy League football dominance, as this is the last Bowl game won by an Ivy.

1938: Frank Langella born.

1942: Fordham wins the Sugar Bowl, beating Missouri in front of 73,000 in the New Orleans rain.

1958: Grandmaster Flash born. He grew up in the Bronx.

1966: John Lindsay faces a 13-day transit strike on his first day as mayor. Public Schools closed and half the workforce stayed home. Approximately 5 million rides per day didn't happen.

1978: Ed Koch begins the first of his three terms as mayor, helping to turn the city around. Despite his protests, he did preside over local-grassroots solutions to the city's thousands of abandoned lots and buildings, as well as partnering with businesses to start the turn-around of Times Square, among many other things.

1985: VH-1, an MTV spinoff, begins broadcasting.

1990...David Dinkins is sworn in as the city's first African-American mayor.

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