Posted: Sep 19, 2012 | 11:42 AM
by Jared Goldstein
"New York is the concentrate of art and commerce and sport and religion and entertainment and finance, bringing to a single compact area the gladiator, the evangelist, the promoter, the actor, the trader and the merchant."
- E.B. White
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Posted: Sep 19, 2012 | 1:50 AM
1738: The NYC Common Council founds the fire department by appointing thirty "Strong, Able, Discreet, Honest and Sober" volunteers to be the 'Firemen of the City of New York."
1792: William B. Astor, NYC's top Real Estate and Fur Heir and Real Estate Developer born. After marriage to his old money wife and the death of John Jacob Astor, he became the richest man in America. The Astors developed a huge amount of low-rent
tenements across Manhattan. The Astors determined the list of the
elite in town, known as 'the 400,' for the amount of people that could fit in their ballroom.
The last of the great Astor Heiresses died in the early XXIst Century. She was known for her fur coats and her generous philanthropy to housing organizations. She would have her limousine drive her to the Community Based Organizations, step out, meet the organization and its beneficiaries and write a check. A real beloved NYC character.
I would not be surprised if some of the beneficiaries lived in buildings that the Astors developed in the 19th Century.
1934: Brooklyn's Bruno Hauptmann was arrested and charged in New York for 'the Crime of the Century,' the kidnapping and murder of "the Lindbergh baby" of the world-famous NYC-based aviator Charles Lindbergh.
1934: Al Oerter, the New York Athletic Club member who won the shotput gold medal in four consecutive Olympics (1956-1968), born in NY.
1960: Fidel Castro – in New York City to address the United Nations moves to the Theresa Hotel in Harlem after disputing with the management of the Shelburne Hotel in midtown.
Castro wanted to cook his own chickens in his room. He was probably trying to avoid poisoning since the CIA was sending him exploding cigars and the mob was not happy about losing their casinos. The American media portrayed him as a country bumpkin uncivilized campesino who did not know that people don't cook over camp fires in hotel rooms. Decades later the US public learned that Castro was actually an educated upper-middle class revolutionary.
Castro's stay at Harlem's Theresa Hotel, the Black Waldorf=Astoria, was also a sign of solidarity with the radical part of the civil rights movement. Indeed, the same building was headquarters for Malcolm X who frequently spoke at rallies outside.
1977: Ed Koch Manhattan's Greenwich Village Congressman defeated New York Secretary of State Mario Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary en route to his first of three teams as mayor. Cuomo would later be a multi-term Governor of NYS during NYC's Koch era.
1995: The New York Times and The Washington Post published the Unabomber's manifesto, leading to Ted Kaczinski's capture because his brother recognized his writing style.
2008: The Bush administration asked Congress for $700 billion to buy troubled mortgage-related assets from U.S. financial institutions.
2008: AMC's "Mad Men," 'the most awarded show that no one watches (but me and 1% of my tour-guuests),' became the first basic-cable show to win the best series' Emmy award.
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Posted: Sep 17, 2012 | 11:14 PM
1837: Tiffany & Co. opens on lower Broadway.
1851: The New York Times (nee' The New York Daily Times) publishes its first issue, four pages, which includes a woman killed by an ice cart, two fires, two executions, and Presidential politics.
1903: Frederick Joseph "Bun" Cook born in Ontario, an original Ranger for 10 years he led the Rangers to the Stanley Cup in 1928 and 1933.
1963: Mets lose to the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 during the final game at the Polo Grounds.
1970: Jimi Hendrix dies.
I believe that his "Crosstown Traffic" song is about getting from his West Village recording studio to his East Village pot dealer, or at least going across Manhattan.
I have a couple of stories about his 62 E 8th St Electric Lady Studios that I would be happy to share with you.
1982: The New York Cosmos Soccer Team wins the Soccer Bowl NASL Championship beating San Diego 1-0.
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Posted: Sep 17, 2012 | 10:59 PM
by Jared Goldstein
"As soon as you feel you understand New York, an unpalatable fact becomes apparent: your understanding is obsolete."
- John Gattuso
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Posted: Sep 17, 2012 | 2:37 PM
1730: Frederick von Steuben born. A German officer, he was a hero of the American Revolution. As I recall, his family life was the opposite of glorious. He died in 1794. NYC continues to honor him with a parade since the 1950s. It is an unofficial NYC 'German Day.'
1910: Columbia University hero Clifford Montgomery born; he was Quarterback and Captain of Columbia's 1934 Rose Ball winning team. He played for the Brooklyn Football Dodgers as well. 53 years later, Columbia's Lions would be the losingest team in NCAA history.
1911: Calbraith B. Rogers takes off for the first transcontinental airplane flight from Brooklyn's Sheepshead Bay to California. It took him seventy hops over 49 days due to weather and repairs. What guts!
1945: Basketball playing and coaching great Phil Jackson born. He helped the 1972-73 NY Knicks' championship team, played on the team for 10 years, then played two years for the Nets. Later he coached the Michael Jordan era Chicago Bulls to six NBA champions in eight years.
2001: Stock trading on Wall Street resumed for the first time since the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks on the nearby World Trade Center. This was its longest shutdown in decades. The entire rest of Downtown was closed until around 9/28 due to the toxic dust on the streets, buildings and in the air.
I went down to the area to pick up my cellphone charger from my office at the other end of Wall Street. All the buildings were locked down, dark and guarded. Huge cables from all the buildings on Wall Street ran to the Stock Exchange.
The Dow lost 684 points on this date, the worst one-day point drop in history.
2002: Patrick Ewing, Knicks great for 15 years, Hall of Famer, and more, retired from the NBA. He averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. His #33 is retired, hanging from Madison Square Garden's rafters.
2011: Hundreds protest and crowd into Zuccotti Park revealing the Occupy Wall Street protest.
The group's planning was under the great tree in Tompkins Square Park throughout the summer.
Their demands were manifold and naught, nor did they have a leader or spokesperson. This way an individual leader could not be attacked like Wikileaks' Julian Assange, since all individuals do something embarrassing, nor could their demands be attacked or co opted politically, like the Tea Party of 2010.
While this lack of demands puzzled and angered many, their "We are the 99%" phrase entered the lexicon, calling attention to the "1 percent" that benefited from the 2008-2009 Financial Crisis that continues to play out, while everyone else pays higher taxes, student loans, and mortgage costs greater than the value of their homes or their ability to afford it. To this date, no one from the crisis has been disciplined for the crisis, which was another impetus for the protests.
My sense is that this group was made up of the Hope and Change crowd that so enthusiastically backed Obama's candidacy in 2008, but was disappointed in him.
For weeks the movement consisted of a few hundred people until a series of shocking and obvious NYPD abuses increased the crowds to thousands in NYC alone, and inspired over 1000 Occupy protest encampments across the world.
@TourGuideStan (O'Connor) and myself created an Occupy Wall Street Tour of what became "Liberty Park" since it mirrored society as a whole with an egalitarian General Assembly, a Sanitation unit, Public Affairs desk, Medical station, Library, Drum and Arts circles, a Security detail, and even uptown and inner city residential areas, which were a counterpoint to the group's radically egalitarian philosophy.
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Posted: Sep 17, 2012 | 2:25 PM
by Jared Goldstein
BROADWAY
What hurrying human tides or day or night!
What passions, winnings, losses, ardors, swim thy waters!
What whirls of evil, bliss and sorrow, stem thee!
What curious questioning glances -- glints of love!
Leer, envy, scorn, contempt, hope, aspiration!
Thou portal -- thou arena -- thou of the myriad long-drawn lines and groups!
(Could but thy flagstones, curbs, facades, tell their inimitable tales;
Thy windows rich, and huge hotels -- thy side-walks wide;)
Thou of the endless sliding, mincing, shuffling feet!
Thou, like the part-colored world itself -- like infinite, teeming, mocking life!
Thou visor'd, vast, unspeakable show and lesson!
-Walt Whitman
Posted: Sep 15, 2012 | 9:02 PM
by Jared Goldstein
Saul Bellow always makes me want to stay in bed with depression. Here's an example why:
"New York makes one think of the collapse of civilization, about Sodom and Gomorrah, the end of the world. The end wouldn't come as a surprise here. Many people already bank on it."
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Posted: Sep 15, 2012 | 8:33 PM
1776: The Battle of Harlem Heights. After strategically realigning (retreating/evacuating) from the British in the Battle of Long Island (Brooklyn), Washington's Continental Army killed 70 Brits, their greatest casualties since Bunker Hill. Harlem Heights was renamed Morningside Heights for real estate and educational marketing purposes, and it is home of Columbia University's 116th Street Campus, both sides of which has plaques about its formerly eponymous battle.
1914: James Sullivan dies at 51 in NY. He founded the AAU (American Athletics Union), which governs amateur sports. He also founded the American Sports Publishing Company in 1893. The Sullivan Award is given annually to the USA's premier amateur athlete.
1920: America's first truck bombing on Wall Street kills dozens, injures over 100, and takes out windows 1 mile around (1.6k).
The attackers are still a mystery. Please contact the FBI or InterPol if you have information.
1924: Happy Birthday Lauren Bacall, the smiling resident of the Dakota, where she can be seen in her window watering her plants.
1925: Happy Birthday, B.B.King.
1956: The Pope of Greenwich Village, Mickey Roark, born.
1966: The Metropolitan Opera premiers its new home at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
1971: Amy Poehler of Saturday Night Live and the Upright Citizens' Brigade Comedy center born.
1992: Mayoral candidate Rudolph Giuliani incites thousands of off-duty police to a race riot that storms New York City Hall.
2008: The USA announces an $85 billion emergency loan to keep AIG, the world's leading insurance company, and the banking system it insured afloat.
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Posted: Sep 15, 2012 | 1:17 AM
The British take Manhattan from the east - Kips Bay and Murray Hill, while the revolutionaries move up to Harlem Heights.
Legend has it that Mrs. Murray (of Murray Hill) entertained the British officers as they passed through serving them a long leisurely lunch while Washington and his troops escaped uptown.
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Posted: Sep 15, 2012 | 1:17 AM
1776: The British take Manhattan from the east - Kips Bay and Murray Hill, while the revolutionaries move up to Harlem Heights.
Legend has it that Mrs. Murray (of Murray Hill) entertained the British officers as they passed through, serving them a long leisurely lunch while Washington and his troops escaped uptown.
1907: Fay Wray, whom King Kong loved, was born.
1921: Babe Ruth hits a 55th Home Run, setting a season record at the Polo Grounds for a 10-6 victory versus St. Louis.
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