In 1868, a spirit’s guiding hand led two sisters to New York City, to a home on beautiful Washington Square--an address reserved for the elite of the Gilded Age. Behind its doors lived the richest man in America, Cornelius Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt sized up the ladies, Victoria Woodhull and Tennie Claflin, as sophisticated and savvy and, […]
The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 was one of the most dramatic events of the 20th century. Lost for over a century, the Titanic’s wreck site was finally discovered in 1985 and in 1998 a 20-ton fragment of the hull, the “Big Piece” was raised. This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the recovery of […]
culptor and author John Belardo brings to LW! the fascinating story of “Piccirilli Brothers Sculptors,” a family of immigrants who gave their new country masterpieces to last a nation’s lifetime. Though their names are perhaps not familiar, we know them well through the elaborate Maine Memorial at Columbus Circle and the heartbreakingly beautiful Fireman’s Memorial on Riverside […]
Architectural historian Jessica Larson will explore what previously existed on the site that is now occupied by the New York City Housing Authority’s Amsterdam Houses, as well as the history of the housing project’s development. In the first decades of the 20th century, the area that is today's Lincoln Square was a neighborhood called San […]
What was in Central Park before it became our Central Park? Sara Cedar Miller, historian emerita of the Central Park Conservancy and author of "Before Central Park" offers a glimpse. We'll learn about the 17th and 18th c. Dutch and English landowners; the land divisions of the 19th century; New York’s Common Lands; the early […]
19th-century asylums are often portrayed as sinister, but the Bloomingdale Asylum in upper Manhattan was different. Architectural historian Dr. Nina Harkrader reconstructs the site and buildings that from 1815 to nearly the end of that century were an important part of the treatment of thousands of troubled New Yorkers through the “Moral Treatment” approach to […]
Riverside Drive is best known for elegance and quiet. But behind its century-old facades lie secrets—from surprising architectural details to scandalous crimes. There are hidden passageways and “spite walls”, a surprising tower and a “slum with a view”, a hidden quintuplex apartment and a sweet and sad memorial to a young child. The Drive is […]
In August 1967, Mia Farrow, Roman Polanski and the cast and crew of the film Rosemary’s Baby arrived in New York City for two weeks of location shooting. The famed Dakota apartment building on the Upper West Side, where most of the story takes place, was the main focus of attention. Levin’s original inspiration for […]
LW favorite speaker Eve M. Kahn, curator of a spring '23 show at the historic Grolier Club museum, To Fight for the Poor with My Pen: Zoe Anderson Norris, Queen of Bohemia, brings to LW! the remarkable story of a foremother of modern-day social justice advocates and confessional bloggers. In millions of published words of fiction […]
The Upper West Side of Manhattan is filled with historic sites that help tell the stories of the past, both the struggles and achievements that got us to where we are today. Among these are many sites commemorating the people and important moments in our country and city's civil rights history. Landmark West! invites you […]