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Jared the NYC Tour Guide Blog

Posted: Feb 9, 2013 | 12:00 AM
by Jared Goldstein

Feb 9th in NYC History

1864: New York approved the formation of a company of black soldiers to fight in the Civil War. This was the first time that black soldiers were allowed to enlist in the Union army.

1942: Singer and songwriter Carole King born.

1942: Fire destroyed the French luxury liner "Normandie," while it was being converted to wartime use while docked at West 48th Street. The great ship capsized. After the war it was sold for scrap.

1943: Actor Joe Pesci born.

1945: Actress Mia Farrow born.

We see her apartment and her fictitious one on my Upper West Side Tours.

1964: The Beatles made their first live American TV appearance for tens of millions, on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

We go to several venues, including the Ed Sullivan Theater, where the Beatles played historic concerts on my John Lennon NYC Tour.

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Posted: Feb 7, 2013 | 11:31 PM
by Jared Goldstein

Feb 8th in New York City History

1834: Happy Birthday American Valentine! Robert Elton sold the US' first mass-produced Valentine cards.

1940: Ted Koppel, ABC television journalist born.

His show Nightline was an outgrowth of his nightly special coverage of the American Embassy Hostage Crisis in Iran during the Carter Administration.

No such shows developed during the Reagan hostage crises, even after it was revealed that Reagan was bribing the Iranians to release hostages who then took more to replace the freed ones, the Iran-Contra Scandals.

1942: Pride of the Bronx, comedian Robert Klein, born.

1971: NASDAQ, the world's first electronic stock exchange, held its first trading day.

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Posted: Feb 7, 2013 | 10:46 AM

Feb 7 in NYC History

1784: The first mayor to serve New York after the American Revolution, wealthy attorney James Duane is appointed mayor. He is honored by a street name, which is the namesake of Duane Reade stores.

1932: Writer Gay Talese born.

1964: Beatlemania in the USA. Thousands of fans greet the Beatles at JFK airport for their first American visit.

1983: Jazz great Eubie Blake born in Brooklyn. He was born in 1883.

1995: Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the conceiver of the 9/11/01 attacks (Project Bojinka or Operation Bojinka), was arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan. Ramzi Yousef's uncle Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

(No biography or history dot coms or NYHistory)

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Posted: Feb 5, 2013 | 11:39 PM

Feb 6th in NYC History:
Babe born;
Ashe died;
Get Rich or Die Tryin';
Burr Born;
Rip Torn;
Freedom Ship;

1756: Aaron Burr, America's third vice president, founder of America's second bank, Bank of Manhattan, and prominent New York lawyer who killed rival Alexander Hamilton was born in Newark, N.J.

We explore some of Burr's heritage on Greenwich Village tours, Colonial NYC tours, Wall Street tours, and Seaport tours.

1820: Freed slaves depart back to Africa.

1895: The Yankees' baseball star 'Babe' Ruth born in Baltimore. He died in 1948.

1898: Poet and Harlem Renaissance Scholar Melvin Tolson born. He died in 1966.

1931: Broadway and HBO star Rip Torn born.

1940: Tom Brokaw, television anchor, born elsewhere.

1943: Frank Sinatra makes his radio debut on Your Hit Parade.

1986: Minoru Yamasaki,

original World Trade Center architect, died after being born in 1912.

We explore his glories and failures on my World Trade Center tours.

1989: Pulitzer Prize winning historian Barbara Tuchman died in CT after being born in NYC in 1912.

1993: Arthur Ashe, Tennis Hall of Famer, died in NYC at 49 after a life of activism addressing racism in sports, bias against AIDS, and excellence in sport.

2003: Pride of South Jamaica Queens, Rapper 50 Cent's 8 platinum debut CD, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," was released.

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Posted: Feb 4, 2013 | 12:35 AM
by Jared Goldstein

February 4th in NYC History

1766: The Sons of Liberty appointed a committee to communicate with radical groups in other cities.

1783: Britain formally ceased hostilities in the American Revolutionary War.

Consider the Sons of Liberty organizing for independence seventeen years prior.

1938: Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town" opened on Broadway.

1952: Jackie Robinson became the first African-American to become a U.S. television network executive (at NBC).

1959: NY Giant Lawrence Taylor, Football Hall of Famer, born.

1999: West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is killed
in a hail of 41 shots at the 23-year-old, hitting him 19 times. His death sparked demonstrations against racial profiling. The four officers involved were to be acquitted of criminal charges, and in January of 2004 the Diallo family reaches a $3 million settlement in a civil lawsuit against the city.

2005: Civil rights activist and actor Ossie Davis died.

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Posted: Feb 4, 2013 | 12:16 AM
by Jared Goldstein

February 5th in NYC History:
Ten Years Ago: Colin Powell takes one for the Bush Team, and so does the world;
8 birthdays, 6 of which are excellent;
1 death;
1 terrorism trial; and
a SuperBowl for the Gints.

1663: A "great earthquake" is recorded throughout the New Netherland colony.

1776: Continental Army General Charles Lee takes control of New York City. His army camped outside town, where City Hall Park is now, and barricaded the town against the expected British attack.

We see this historic spot on Colonial NYC tours, and George Washington's New York City tours.

1849: City College opened on East 23rd Street, offering a free education to New York City's public school graduates.

1906: Actor John Carradine born in Greenwich Village.

1914: Writer, actor, unredeemed junky William S. Burroughs born. While he was in New York City he fostered the literary potential of the Columbia scenesters who became 'the Beats.'

1915: Robert Hofstadter, Nobel Prize winning physicist and pride of City College, born in NYC. He died in 1990 at Stanford.

1926: Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, former publisher of The New York Times, born.

1944: Possibly the greatest musician you never heard of, or confused with Alice Cooper, Al Kooper born in Brooklyn.

See this curmudgeon in concert and you'll realize how many great songs of his you know. He also performed organ on Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," founded Blood Sweat and Tears, discovered and produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played for the Rolling Stones, the Who, and Jimi Hendrix, for examples.

1948: Actor, director, writer, musician, and screenwriter Christopher Guest born in NYC. After graduating from Bard's High School of Arts and Music then Tisch, he was on SNL, then became famous as Nigel Tufnel in This is Spinal Tap.

1964: Actress Laura Linney born in NYC. She attended Julliard and performed on Broadway before making it in movies.

1967: Chris Parnell, Actor and comedian from "Saturday Night Live" born.

1968: Roberto Alomar, Baseball Hall of Famer, and New York Met for part of his career, born in Puerto Rico.

1972: Marianne Moore, poetesse , died in Brooklyn where she made her career in letters, which garnered her the Pulitzer and Bollingen Prizes, and a National Book Award. She was born in St. Louis in 1887.

Sometime in between, Moore was a professor of English who taught Jim Thorpe at Carlisle College.

2001: The African Embassies Bombers' trial commences in NYC's Federal Court.

Their trial was supposed to continue on 9/11/01, but it was postponed due to the attacks on the World Trade Center about five blocks away.

Bin Laden, their leader, was never indicted for the 9/11 attacks, only for the African embassies' bombings.

2003: Colin Powell took one for the Bush Team's war campaign, falsely alleging to the United Nations that

his vial,

diagrams, and satellite images were evidence and analogies demonstrating that Iraq was associated with the sort of terrorism that visited the US on 9/11/01. This case led to war which we are still fighting and paying for today and many years to come.

Harlem's, the Bronx', and City College's Colin Powell backed by Brooklyn's and Columbia's School of International Affairs' CIA Director George 'Slam Dunk' Tenet at the United Nations asserting a case for war, possibly the US's worst international mistake and disaster.

2012: The New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots at Super Bowl XLVI.

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Posted: Feb 3, 2013 | 12:16 AM
by Jared Goldstein

Feb. 3rd in New York City History

1811: Horace Greeley, editor and politician, born.

1821: Elizabeth Blackwell, pioneering medical practitioner, born.

1837: "The Great Kiln Road," often called the "Great Kill Road," had its name changed to Gansevoort Street. This road was where so many were killed which was the impetus for the High Line. Herman Melville walked this street named for his illustrious Dutch ancestors. This comes up in High Line tours.

1894: Illustrator Norman Rockwell born in NYC. He died in 1978.

1907: James Michener, author, born in NYC.

1918: The Bronx' actor, comedian, and talk show host, Joey Bishop born.

1956: Broadway favorite Nathan Lane born.

1989: John Cassavetes died at 59.

He was the ambitious climbing actor in Rosemary's Baby, which took place at the Dakota, which we see on Upper West Side tours and John Lennon Tours.

2006: "Grandpa" Al Lewis, actor from "The Munsters," restauranteur, and social activist died.

2008: Super Bowl XLII: The New York Giants upset the New England Patriots.

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Posted: Feb 1, 2013 | 10:27 PM

Feb. 2nd in New York City History
Groundhog bites Mayor, Nieuw Amsterdam, Guggenheim, Rand, National League, Barry and Boris, Aaron Douglas, Sid Vicious.

1653: Nieuw Amsterdam incorporated. "New Amsterdam" received a municipal charter, transforming the colony into North America's first city.

The charter curbed the powers of the former colonial CEO/Governor/Mayor Peter Stuyvesant. He led a parade down
"Broadway" to celebrate the reform anyway.

1861: Solomon R. Guggenheim, businessperson and philanthropist, born.

1876: The National League was established. It is the oldest professional sports league.

1905: Ayn Rand born in Russia. She died 1982 in her NYC apartment.

Fred Cookingham does Ayn Rand's NYC Tours.

1913: 150,000 visit Grand Central Terminal on its opening day.

I plan to be there at least four times today.

1942: Media mogul and High Line benefactor Barry Diller of Paramount Pictures and IAC (expedia, ask.com, QVC, HSN, and TicketMaster) born.

1968: Sanitation workers to strike for eight days while garbage piled.

1969: Horror Actor Boris Karloff died.

He lived in the Dakota, which we see on Upper West Side tours and John Lennon tours.

1979: Painter and Harlem Renaissance luminary Aaron Douglas died.

1979: Sex Pistols punk bassist and singer Sid Vicious o.d.'d in NYC at 21. This fatal heroin binge happened hours after being freed on bail in the stabbing death of his girlfriend at the Chelsea Hotel.

We visit the Chelsea Hotel on NYC Literary tours.

2009: Groundhog Staten Island Chuck tussled with and bit Mayor Bloomberg at the SI Zoo. Video reveals the struggle.

This is hilarious. He's in a cuffed shirt.

In subsequent Ground Hog's Days, the Mayor was outfitted with heavier gloves.

Enmity and bitter struggle breeds respect between man and rodent.

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Posted: Feb 1, 2013 | 12:43 PM
by Jared Goldstein

Feb. 1st in NYC History

1790: The Supreme Court meets for the first time; the official session commenced the following day. Hearings would not begin until 1792.

1902: Langston Hughes, poet, playwright and luminary of the Harlem Renaissance, was born in Joplin Missouri.

We visit his secret resting place on Harlem tours.

"There is so much to see in Harlem!" - Langston Hughes.

1913: Grand Central Terminal opens.

1937: Garrett Morris, actor and comedian of "Saturday Night Live" fame born.

1982: "Late Night with David Letterman" premiered on NBC. Letterman has the record for late night television longevity, surpassing Johnny Carson.

2002: Wall Street Journal investigative reporter and humanitarian Daniel Pearl slain by Pakistani terrorists with links to their government's military and covert operations.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, mastermind of the 9/11/01 attacks, claims that he personally killed Pearl. He is being tried for other crimes. His proceedings are in Guantanomo Bay, the US base in Cuba.

2013: Three term Mayor Ed Koch died at 88.

Here are some remarkable things about Koch dying today:

His Trinity Church (155th St) tombstone contains a quote from slain journalist Daniel Pearl affirming Jewish identity. Pearl died on this day in 2002.

A major documentary about Koch premiers today.

We visit Koch's tomb on Washington Heights tours.

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Posted: Jan 30, 2013 | 10:57 PM
by Jared Goldstein

January 31st in NYC History

Founder, Puzzler, Entertainer, Baseball Legend, Writer, Composer, Actress and Comedian born, Inventor died, Lockerbie Justice denied.

1752: Gouverneur Morris, a founder of our nation, Senator, proponent of Federal power, and proponent of New York and New England secession, born.

1841: Puzzle King and Chess expert Sam Loyd born in Philadelphia, but he grew up, made his career and lived in NYC. He died in Brooklyn in 1911.

Some accounts state he was born on January 30th.

1892: NYC born comedian, singer, songwriter and radio star Eddie Cantor born, as Edward Israel Iskowitz, to Russian immigrants.

1919: 1919, Jackie Robinson, who made history in 1947 as the Brooklyn Dodger who integrated major league baseball, was born in Georgia. He died in 1972.

1923: Writer Norman Mailer born.

We go by his old home during Brooklyn Heights tours.

1937: Happy Birthday to the East Village's Philip Glass, Composer.

We go by his townhouse on East Village tours.

1937: Actress Suzanne Pleshettte born.

1954: Edwin Armstrong the great but beleaguered inventor died. He was born 1890.

1977: Saturday Night Live's Bobby Moynihan born.

1984: Bishop John J. O'Connor of Pennsylvania succeeded the late Terrence Cardinal Cooke to head the New York Catholic Archdiocese.

1994: Gerry Adams, leader of the IRA's Sinn Fein party, is finally granted a visa allowing him into New York to attend a peace conference.

1995: George Abbott, the legendary Broadway director died at 106.

2001: A Scottish court convicted one Libyan and acquitted a second in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie; the flight was bound for New York.

The Scottish court would soon commute this sentence for 'compassionate grounds' as Abdelbaset al-Megrahi had cancer and was asserted to have only weeks left to live, even though the medical evidence was skimpy. It is suspected that oil and other interests, such as selling arms, were behind the scheme.

Al-Megrahi returned to a hero's welcome in Libya. He lived another three years in his villa. He served about eight years in prison for 270 counts of murder. He died at 60 in May 2012.

Most of his victims were college students heading home for Christmas. They would be in their forties today.

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